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blewballoon's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- 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
There were things I liked about this book. One is that it was refreshing to have a male main character/love interest who didn't have "hard planes of abs" for a change. I think there's been a lot of progress in terms of having romance novels with female leads that are a larger size, but I feel like there's still a big lack of the same for male leads. Another is that I like that the story concludes essentially that friends and family are just as important, if not more than, a month long romantic relationship. Although, I do feel like the rest of the text didn't really support that conclusion since it spent a lot more time developing the romantic relationship than any others.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Car accident
sunflower7skull's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- 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
This was not really my kind of book, to be honest. It was fairly well-written but I found myself cringing often - in truth, I'm usually not one for romcoms anyway. But I loved the rep and overall didn't dislike the book, it just wasn't for me. I'd definitely recommend this book to someone who's a fan of romance books with unconventional twists and anyone who really enjoyed mermaid books growing up!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Transphobia, Violence, and Car accident
writewithapendragon's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
Loved the mermaid lore, characterization, and perfect level of romance for a YA title. Great body rep and queer rep. Highly recommend, can’t wait to read their other books!!!
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
refrejarator's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
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? Yes
5.0
I was so excited to see a book with a nonbinary main character, and was not disappointed! The gay mer romance of the summer, and all summers to come!
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
All warnings are super mild and dealt with in a really great way, and personally found it to be very safe.mattyb's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Vomit
kylielf's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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? Yes
4.0
I really loved this book. I don't usually like the fake dating trope but I think that it made sense in the context of the story. The choices that the characters were making felt age-appropriate and worked in terms of the plot. I hated how <spolier> the characters don't end up together at the end, because I was really rooting for them . Despite this, still a fun, cheesy, happy book to read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Transphobia
Minor: Sexual content, Car accident, and Dysphoria
evelynyle_88's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Holy crap!
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Alcohol
rickireadss's review against another edition
3.0
i REALLY wanted to like this but it ended up just being very mid. the idea was cool, the execution was subpar. i liked our mcs but also wanted to just shake them because wtf were some of those decisions. i think the ending was severly lacking - i just didn't like it. the narrator for cress/ross had a very annoying voice, which made me not want to continue listening (sorry not sorry). i think the LGBTQIA+ rep was good though! just the plot and actual story was ehhh, so-so.
⚠️: infidelity, toxic relationship, car accident, body shaming, mental illness (depression, sc), fatphobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Minor: Mental illness
bashsbooks's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
2.75
Out of the Blue is cute, and I love that one of the main characters is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. But I don't think it successfully pulled off the subversive ending that it was going for, sadly, and I think the reason why pervades the whole book: it gets distracted by being preachy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Alcohol
-Explicit description of drowning -The transphobia is specifically some very brief misgenderingasparagusisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Rep: nonbinary character, gay character, bisexual indian character, bisexual latinx character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, and Car accident