Scan barcode
blewballoon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unfortunately, I also disliked aspects of the book. I had seen that the reviews for this weren't great, but I tried to go in optimistically. I have to admit that the negative reviews are probably justified. The book did give me the vibes of reading merperson AU fanfic written by an inexperienced young author. I read The Spells We Cast by this same author and thought it was well written and very enjoyable, so maybe they have improved a lot. It does seem like this was a fun project for the author, so I'm happy they shared it.
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Car accident
sunflower7skull's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Mental illness and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Transphobia, Violence, and Car accident
so_many_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book is okay and fun up until the end.
It's a queer merfolk YA story with an adorable pairing. Crest/Ross is a merperson who goes on their month-long journey to experience life on land and help a human to complete their quest. Sean is a chubby, heartbroken guy who's determined to get his ex back.
The story leans heavily on the fake dating and rom-com tropes. It tries to recreate the vibes of every slightly shallow teen movie ever created with queer representation. Which is actually a nice idea. The characters are very relatable to hormone-fuelled teenagers with emotional burst, feeling like a heartbreak will ruin their lives, being horny all the time, and just generally figuring themselves out.
The story has a good concept, though diving deeper into details and comparisons between life in the sea and on land would've been nice. It would have made the story less shallow.
What I didn't like much was the toxicity of Sean's ex. I know it was part of the character growth of Sean to move past a shitty relationship, but come on. There were so many signs.
And the other thing that was a ig miss is the ending. Up until the 70-80% mark, there was a vague but definite direction the story was going. Where Crest was heading in their journey. Where their relationship with Sean was headed. But in the end , it was just a jumbled up mess of emotions, mistakes, hurtful acts, and don't even get me started on the very end. Instead of explaining how both of them came to their decisions at the end of their month together, it was a moment and then puff. End.
I don't like these types of endings (and I'm not gonna go into detail what I mean because of spoilers). But there was so much potential to make it satisfying. And yet it left me WTF.
The best thing about this book is definitely the representation. It is set in a queernormative world and has some interesting thoughts about gender and gender expression. Crest/Ross is non-binary, Sean is gay, Kavya and Miguel are bi.
I liked it.
All in all, I think this is an okay story with some really great aspects and some mistakes. I enjoyed it because of the characters, but it left me unsatisfied at the end.
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity
reading_srsly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
If you’re looking for a more serious and intricately designed plot, you may want to keep looking for your next great read. But if you’re looking for an adorable, lighthearted LGBTQ+ coming of age story geared towards teen audiences, you’ll love Out of the Blue!
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity and Mental illness
theaceofpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Firstly, yay for enby merfolk! DeFINitely one of the things that drew me in. I'm a little older than the target market for this, so please keep this in mind for my review.
Crest (ugh Ross) is forced to go ashore for a moon cycle so that they can become an elder merperson. They expect to hate every minute - humans are terrible after all. But they don't count on meeting Sean, a lifeguard, who shows them that humans can be good. They agree to help Sean get his boyfriend back as their selfless act so that they can return home at the end of the month, but as the fake dating trope goes, they end up falling in love. Crest then has to decide if they want to go back to the home they have always loved, or if they should stay on land with Sean, never to return to the mer world.
I have to agree with Crest. People are terrible. I know that drama is pretty typical of YA books (and this book is very YA - I don't mean that as a good thing or a bad thing but as a simple fact) but oh man, the characters were incredibly annoying. Is it accurate for their ages? Yeah, probably, but that doesn't change the fact that I ended up hating pretty much all of them. I did kind of like Crest (or at least disliked them less) but they too weren't the greatest. (sidenote: I liked the way they referred to people and didn't gender everything!)
That being said, this was a fun and easy read. Between being annoyed at everyone and the dragging middle I had a good time reading this. I think queer teens will enjoy this one! Just be prepared to be annoyed at everyone. And hey, queerphobes aren't really a thing in this book so if you are looking to escape that this would be a good choice.
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content
People assume Sean will be a bad swimmer because of his weightdallas_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Mental illness
rdubs15's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Vomit
mattyb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Infidelity and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Vomit
bookishchef's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I really wanted to like this.
Fake dating and the chubby filmbro falls for non binary merperson?
That sounds amazing!
However... It's not.
As a chubby ex-media major who used to swim competitively, I really want to like Sean. The guy literally has a lot of the same life experiences as I do. So, I thought he would be super super relatable.
He wasn't.
His tendency to turn real life events into small movies in his head, felt unrealistic and was annoying to read.
It comes down to entire paragraphs being written like this:
"Scene 1: Dominic and I make out. Close up.
Scene 2: Dominic and I still make out. Mid shot.
Scene 3: Dominic and I are still making out. Wide shot"
Like bitch please. I had the film/camera brainrot for a while while I was in uni too, but never THAT bad. People don't think in shotlists THAT much.
He constantly thinks of his life as a plot in a movie too. And while I get that to some extent, he insists that his life will follow movie cliches too. He'll make Dominic jealous and they'll have to kiss and make up by prom because that's oh so romantic and oh so dramatic.
Honey, this is real life. Even media majors know the difference between real life and movie cliches and shorthand. He treats the people around him like sidecharacters. Stop 🛑.
Crest isn't much better. I wanted to like them, I really did. Like wow a non binary merperson? And they're sassy and kind of a cunt too? They had all the potential to become my favourite character.
BUT the way they're written is just so cringe. The bumbling idiocy around human culture isn't cute, it's really really cringe.
There are detailed descriptions of kissing and how boners work and it honestly made me a little nauseous. I really did not need the detailed mental image of a tongue being halfway down someone else's throat. When described that way, it sounds super gross.
And as you can tell from all the complaints so far, the writing is mostly where my issues with this book lie. The writing is cringey, overly childish and very repetitive. The repetition wasn't just in the writing style either. It was also in the specific words chosen. I think I've heard the phrases "bubble guts", "donkey laugh", "jellyfish tingles", "Dominic looked crestfallen", "the romcom of my life", and "that weird eel moved" (TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE'S DICK), at least a million times. Half of those are metaphors. And they weren't even good metaphors the first time they were used. Let alone the bazillionth time.
Unfortunately, there's also some story beats that hit me wrong. Sean is kind of toxic sometimes. And so is his relationship with Crest.
By the end, their relationship is disgusting and Sean is a massive dickhead. This doesn't feel like a romance at all. I truly don't think it is one.
:(
Sean viewing everything as a movie becomes a problem. And I love that Kavya eventually calls him out on it.
Sean *is* manipulative. Sean *is* selfish. He doesn't consider Miguel's feelings, or even really Dominic's or Crest's. He forces Crest into a fake relationship. He enjoys it when Crest and Dominic fight over him!
Yet, the plot rewards him for it. By the end, Crest wants to be with Sean again.
Sean is the first person Crest meets and shows them kindness. Crest is a bumbling idiot when it comes to the human world. And is oh so innocent. And of course, that means Crest gets attached to Sean. He's confused and needs guidance. But Sean doesn't seem aware of that power imbalance. Of that dependency that Crest has on him (even though Crest outright says "what am I supposed to do without you?")
So their entire relationship hit me wrong. It felt icky.
Sean getting angry at Crest when Crest tries to fuck Drop? Literally gtfo. Y'all weren't exclusive. You called yourselves friends with benefits for fuck's sake. That does not imply exclusivity!
That entire speech against Crest was vile. And really made me hate Sean. Sean calling Crest selfish? Humans destroy merpeople's ecosystem and environment constantly, and this enby STILL came out to help someone, against their own wishes. That's literally the most selfless thing. So Sean can fuck all the way off.
Yet, Crest does a full 180.
After that speech, they get angry with Drop instead of Sean. Tell DROP that Drop and Crest weren't exclusive so Crest should be allowed to fuck Sean???
What???
Is it opposites day or some shit? They should get mad at Sean! Telling them they're not exclusive so Crest is allowed to fuck Drop! I feel like I'm going insane.
And then suddenly Miguel and Sean are best friends? And Miguel wants Sean to get back with Crest despite thinking Crest cheated on Sean?
Insane behaviour.
And then Crest basically admits to themselves that they just want physical contact with Sean and not much else. Which is valid but HOW TF is that romantic?
Then Kavya admits to Sean that she called Drop to Crest. And that somehow makes Sean forgive Crest for what he perceives as cheating? Like... Crest made the voluntary decision to hook up with Drop. Whether Kavya caused Drop to show up or not, Crest still jumped at the opportunity to fuck Drop. Kavya didn't force them to do that. So why does Sean forgive them?
And then due to PLOT somehow both Crest and Sean end up as merpeople. Crest does another 180 and suddenly wants to be with Sean for more than just physical stuff. The "love" word is dropped.
And then Sean decides that he DOES NOT want to be together with Crest and Sean becomes a human again.
SO HOW THE FUCK IS THIS A ROMANCE
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Vomit
evelynyle_88's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I never knew I needed a book of merfolk that came out so perfect like this. Out Of The Blue was just a perfect light fantasy with a gentle touch of magic for me. This is perfect for me who love The Little Mermaid in general.
This book has a sweet and cute story (but with some heartfelt moment) that made me; who read it... cry. I just love Sean and Ross (a.k.a Crest). I love them so much equally. They're made for each other. A fantasy dream book of merfolk and brief their history for me.
Oh! And I love Kavya too.. also Elder Kelp! We can't forget about them and their wisefulness. Thank you for bringing this book to life, Jason. I appreciate you. Can't wait to read Jay's Gay Agenda as my other read for your book!
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Alcohol