Reviews

A Little Mermaid by Aya Ling

maddiepalmer443's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

This should have been Martin's book!!! -.25 stars

shaekin's review against another edition

4.0

This retelling of the little mermaid was really good, and explains any deviations from the original script, which most Little Mermaid versions nearly ignore completely. The main character in this book is not one of the woodcutter children, and the only woodcutter child in the book is only a minor character. That took me a minute to get used to, but the story is still good. Looking forward to finishing the series off.

darquedreamer's review against another edition

5.0

A Little Mermaid sparkles with magic and whimsy. It's a delightful retelling of a beloved classic with a few fun twists. For lovers of mermaids, faerie tales, and light-hearted stories, this one is sure to have you floating with fancy!

This one was such a fun tail (😉), pun intended. I have always loved mermaids, and The Little Mermaid was one of my absolute favorite Disney movies as a child. Aya did such a great job with bringing this tale back to life for me as an adult, and giving me that childhood nostalgia.

She was able to capture the essence of the Entwined Tales series by bringing in familiar characters, including our beloved Grumpy Faerie Godfather. But, she also added her own spin on things and made her author voice heard. I enjoyed her cheerful writing style and the way she brought Clio to life without her being able to speak.

Clio was so adorable. She was a love stricken teenager with a carefree life. I loved how her character changed and grew as the story went on. She was a little whiny at times, but she called herself out for it, which made me admire her even more.

I thought Aya brought joy and vividness to the tale. It had humor, charm, and happiness. It captured the heart and soul of the original tale, and kept me in a cheerful mood the entire time. If you loved the original tale, or the Disney version, you will love this one! 4.5 stars!

Thank you to the author for providing me with this free e-copy in exchange for my honest review!

vanquishingvolumes's review

3.0

This was a very sweet albeit quick retelling of The Little Mermaid. It read like a middle grade novel however please don't take that to mean it was not a good book. It was a very cute sweet and adorable story that if I had read this when I was younger I think I would have appreciated it more. It doesn't change terribly much of the story while at the same time inventing new twists to refresh the story.

books2graham's review

2.0

I hate to give such a low rating but this book was between 2 to 2.5 stars in rating. There were just too many holes in the book where things didn't add up or make sense. Like i could see what the author was aiming at, but it was poorly executed. Even the romance aspect needed some help. Out of all the characters, I think I liked Martin the best because he was the only steady character who seemed mature and well rounded. Every other character (even the main ones) were inconsistent, immature and overall lacking. I will give the author credit for the plot twist near the end. Though it was a little sloppy in how it all happened, the general idea of who was behind the attacks did surprise me and I though it was very clever on the author's part.
Overall, I would skip this one and read some of the other books in this series.. (A Beautiful Curse and A Bears Bride) they're a little more fulfilling for a fun read.

the_reading_pantry's review

4.0

Fun read

This was exactly what I was needing. I read so many books that I never know exactly when that book will hit the spot. This was a fun twist to the little mermaid that made it super enjoyable. Sometimes fairytales can seen redundant. Not this one. I highly recommend it.

oushneek's review

3.0

It was relaxing to read a fairy tale after so long time. I started reading this because I always loved Disney's little mermaid. The main character here is Clio and she is exactly opposite of Ariel. She doesn't want to go above the water. She has no interest in humans and she has a crush on another merman prince. On the other hand her elder sister has all those things in her character , that Ariel had. Clio had to make sure her elder sister doesn't get too close to the humans and doesn't get lost. The story actually began when the fairy mixed up Lucanus- the merman prince with -Lucas-the human prince; and thought that Clio wanted to be with Lucas-which she did not at all- and gave her legs.

emlickliter's review

4.0

Mortimer somehow managed to straighten out a mess instead of merely making it worse in this one! Practice granting boons seems to be improving his odds of success. This story follow's the Woodcutter's only son, Martin, to his new job as a bodyguard for a prince. Prince Lukas, total flirt training to be king, is suffering from a would be assassin and a need for a wife while his regent uncle is prepping him to ascend the throne. Clio, a mermaid princess, seems to have a knack for saving the prince from near death experiences. Mortimer grants her the traditional little mermaid boon (legs in exchange for her voice) against her will. Clio demands Mortimer help her fix the mess he made, and between them they manage to help heal the very tense relationship between the mer-people and their land-dwelling neighbors. For those of us who poke at the holes in fairy tales, this one patches up the voicelessness problem with literacy! Yeah for a princess who can still communicate!!

destiel74's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It was a funny little reimaging of the little mermaid.

sharon1112chh's review

3.0

The story was quite enjoyable, there are some continuity issues in Clio's thought processes but that could be easily glazed past. The character building was satisfactory while the chemistry was underdeveloped, especially between the main characters. The book was, otherwise, a nice, light/medium-ish read.

In comparison to [b:The Ugly Stepsister|23162056|The Ugly Stepsister (Unfinished Fairy Tales, #1)|Aya Ling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1425195799s/23162056.jpg|42708375]'s Kat and Edward, from the author's previous work, the romance part of this book was weaker. Where Kat and Edward had overcome obstacles together and grown stronger as a couple, Clio

and Lukas

was love at first sight

-she admired Lukas's looks even though he didn't have a tail and I count that as already having a unconscious crush on him-

and they didn't really do much

except one keeps flirting with the other who keeps hitting back in response.

However, I must point out that I enjoyed this book because of the mystery. It was so unexpected, I thought this was a fairy tale romance with a formula story pattern but the story turned out to be a mystery story too. The revealed suspect was a good surprise.

Damen, I had suspected was behind this. I had a theory that he might have been Lukas's half brother (in the book he was described to look a little like Lukas) so maybe that's why he plotted all those accidents... But I didn't suspect a single thing about Hermia, I cried out in shock!

I have always enjoyed the author's writing style and this one was no exception. Also, I love how the author drop some references of Disney and also Hans Christian Anderson's version of the story in, it is cleverly hinted so that it becomes part of that world...

I am grateful to the author, Aya Ling, for the opportunity to review this ARC.