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jaklenke's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
dsicard's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sidnilayne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
3.0
The Little Mermaid as a retelling is not my favorite retelling I've read, but then again, TLM is literally just a romance in hindsight. Odette puts her own spin on it, and that makes it more interesting, but I just couldn't stay interested in it when I picked it up.
katsdaysarebooked's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kreela's review against another edition
5.0
“Here, I’m just a grain of sand on the seashore. Invisible. Inconsequential. Just a girl dressed as a boy, lifting trinkets from pockets as smoothly as the girls in the Orchid Garden lift their skirts.”
Swoon. I swoon over lovely writing just as much as the girls in this competition swoon over the hot billionaire…or in this case, immigrant in need of a wife to gain citizenship. This hot target of affection is not your average prince; he is sworn to a church and the son of a murderer of the fae.
Princess Maisie is the royal in this story, but she is also the runaway Robin Hood with a decidedly anti-biblical moral character (a manipulator). After living in a cosmopolitan city for a year, she has survived by stealing, some of which is donated to the theater as her rent. However, when her mother, the queen of assassins, catches up to Maisie, she is forced into a bridal competition to kill the man…and kiss him. It is love and war. “I like men with a little extra blubber.” (Say what? Oh, wait, my sister said that once.)
The city of Sin and Salvation has the BEST churches. They auction men! I don’t know how they attract male worshipers, but the women flock to the churches. Plus, they sponsor beauty pageants. I love this city district! The mix of tourists, dens of iniquity, churches, bakeries, and nightly theaters make me want to visit, especially after forgoing a vacation for two years.
But there are other interesting characters. Her BFF is a crab (sorry: fungus fae), her fairy godmother is an aerial acrobat. My favorite is probably the impersonator. She acts so evil and mocking, yet I really want a story about her. She seems so tortured.
And father Viktor: the staid older man who tries to be modern even if modern has passed him by: “Next, let’s hear from Briony Rose and pray to the Almighty her speech will be far less scathing.”
* Selkie Robin Hood
* Unwitting patrons of the arts
Swoon. I swoon over lovely writing just as much as the girls in this competition swoon over the hot billionaire…or in this case, immigrant in need of a wife to gain citizenship. This hot target of affection is not your average prince; he is sworn to a church and the son of a murderer of the fae.
Princess Maisie is the royal in this story, but she is also the runaway Robin Hood with a decidedly anti-biblical moral character (a manipulator). After living in a cosmopolitan city for a year, she has survived by stealing, some of which is donated to the theater as her rent. However, when her mother, the queen of assassins, catches up to Maisie, she is forced into a bridal competition to kill the man…and kiss him. It is love and war. “I like men with a little extra blubber.” (Say what? Oh, wait, my sister said that once.)
The city of Sin and Salvation has the BEST churches. They auction men! I don’t know how they attract male worshipers, but the women flock to the churches. Plus, they sponsor beauty pageants. I love this city district! The mix of tourists, dens of iniquity, churches, bakeries, and nightly theaters make me want to visit, especially after forgoing a vacation for two years.
But there are other interesting characters. Her BFF is a crab (sorry: fungus fae), her fairy godmother is an aerial acrobat. My favorite is probably the impersonator. She acts so evil and mocking, yet I really want a story about her. She seems so tortured.
And father Viktor: the staid older man who tries to be modern even if modern has passed him by: “Next, let’s hear from Briony Rose and pray to the Almighty her speech will be far less scathing.”
* Selkie Robin Hood
* Unwitting patrons of the arts
ceruleanshelves's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I killed the first boy I kissed, and if I ever press my lips to another’s, he won’t be the last. And I do very much hope he’s the last. Not because I dislike kissing....
Kissing is fine. It’s the killing I’m not so fond of.
little mermaid retelling where she's a kleptomaniac selkie cursed to kill with her kiss. after a run-in with the sea witch, she makes a reluctant deal to forever remove the curse and save herself - she must win a bridal pageant and kiss the groom-to-be. he's got his own dark past, but when push comes to shove will she be able to do the deed?
i had fun with this one. sometimes there was a bit of info dumping but i thought this was a cute take. i love odette's fae world with its juxtaposition of uptight regency era humans clashing with the more laidback, uninhibited fae.
i always love how her characters have interesting background stories as well, even her side characters. podaxis was a fun addition and i would love to know more what happened with him.
maisy had me cackling at her quips and though sometimes the whole "clumsy fmc" can be overdone or annoying, i thought it was utilized well here to create some tension and awkward moments. i enjoyed learning more about dorian and the growth of his character and their chemistry.
i will be using "shells" as an expletive now and "the elephant seal in the room" 🤭 and it was fun to see "the governess and the rake" play come up as an easter egg here hehe (a rivalry of hearts).
“Are we kindred spirits who understand one another? Two souls cut from the same cloth? Or are we two volatile components that should never be combined?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Death of parent
buzzzybooks's review against another edition
5.0
Very different from the original story from Disney, but I love how creative Tessonja is with each of these retellings. Her storytelling is wonderful! I tell myself one more chapter and then suddenly I’ve read five without realizing it. Love it!
e_j_cook's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75