A review by a_novel_ty
Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
5.0
Celia is a triplet who doesn't quite know how to be just Celia. However that begins to change when a boy named Jude falls off of the pier, into the ocean and is rescued by a girl named Lo who lives in the ocean, trying day after day to remember who she once was and fighting what she's becoming.
Fathomless is definitely my favorite of the three fairytale retelling's that I've read by Jackson Pearce. It was beautiful, dark, captivating, mysterious and enthralling. I was invested in the story from the very beginning and I loved every bit of it up until the very last period. Jackson Pearce definitely brought her "A" game with this installment.
With the previous two books, there was always a little something missing that made the book just miss the mark for me in terms of pure and utter enjoyment, but after reading this book, I think that just had to do with setting up the baseline for the overall arc of the series. I say this because in Fathomless...all of the little pieces from Sisters Red and Sweetly are finally starting to fit together. Knowing all that I know of the previous books and watching everything unfold, the twists and turns that I definitely did not see coming was just so entertaining. EVERYTHING IS STARTING TO MAKE SENSE NOW!
I'm not going to go too much into the details of this book, because while it is a companion novel...mentioning certain plot points might spoil some things or make it easier to guess what is going on...and all the fun is in NOT knowing whats going on.
SO! with that being said...
What I liked about "Fathomless": A few things. I definitely liked the characters. I feel like with each book, Jackson is getting better at building a connection with her characters. In "Sisters Red," I disliked Scarlet. In "Sweetly," I didn't care about Ansel or Gretchen. In "Fathomless," I LOVED Celia, Lo, Jude, Jane, and Anne. They were all such dynamic and authentic characters. One of my issues with these books have been that some of the characters or their relationships seemed forced...that isn't the case with Fathomless. It was just really good.
I also liked that while there was a love interest in this installment, the focus wasn't on that. It was on the story and the relationship between Celia and her sisters and the friendship between Celia and Lo.
What I didn't like about "Fathomless": Some things, mainly about the ocean and the rules, weren't explained, which I guess could be attributed to the fact that the story is written in dual, first person POV's, so if the characters don't understand whats going on, then the reader doesn't understand...but I would still like to know...Why was Lo able to breathe inside and outside of the water? Why was it so painful for her to go out of the water but not impossible? What exactly was happening to her inside the water that was making her forget? And why didn't she just forget again after she remembered. There were a bunch of little things like that, that after finishing the book, i'm curious about, but while reading, I was so wrapped up in the story that the answers to those questions didn't matter. As long as I understood what was going on, and it made sense for the most part considering the circumstances.
Overall I really loved and enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read the next one and see how all of this culminates and wraps up...if Coldspell is actually the last book in this series that is...Also for those who are reading this book who may not have read the previous books...you should read them first.
This was definitely a great pick for "Mermaid May."
Fathomless is definitely my favorite of the three fairytale retelling's that I've read by Jackson Pearce. It was beautiful, dark, captivating, mysterious and enthralling. I was invested in the story from the very beginning and I loved every bit of it up until the very last period. Jackson Pearce definitely brought her "A" game with this installment.
With the previous two books, there was always a little something missing that made the book just miss the mark for me in terms of pure and utter enjoyment, but after reading this book, I think that just had to do with setting up the baseline for the overall arc of the series. I say this because in Fathomless...all of the little pieces from Sisters Red and Sweetly are finally starting to fit together. Knowing all that I know of the previous books and watching everything unfold, the twists and turns that I definitely did not see coming was just so entertaining. EVERYTHING IS STARTING TO MAKE SENSE NOW!
I'm not going to go too much into the details of this book, because while it is a companion novel...mentioning certain plot points might spoil some things or make it easier to guess what is going on...and all the fun is in NOT knowing whats going on.
SO! with that being said...
What I liked about "Fathomless": A few things. I definitely liked the characters. I feel like with each book, Jackson is getting better at building a connection with her characters. In "Sisters Red," I disliked Scarlet. In "Sweetly," I didn't care about Ansel or Gretchen. In "Fathomless," I LOVED Celia, Lo, Jude, Jane, and Anne. They were all such dynamic and authentic characters. One of my issues with these books have been that some of the characters or their relationships seemed forced...that isn't the case with Fathomless. It was just really good.
I also liked that while there was a love interest in this installment, the focus wasn't on that. It was on the story and the relationship between Celia and her sisters and the friendship between Celia and Lo.
What I didn't like about "Fathomless": Some things, mainly about the ocean and the rules, weren't explained, which I guess could be attributed to the fact that the story is written in dual, first person POV's, so if the characters don't understand whats going on, then the reader doesn't understand...but I would still like to know...Why was Lo able to breathe inside and outside of the water? Why was it so painful for her to go out of the water but not impossible? What exactly was happening to her inside the water that was making her forget? And why didn't she just forget again after she remembered. There were a bunch of little things like that, that after finishing the book, i'm curious about, but while reading, I was so wrapped up in the story that the answers to those questions didn't matter. As long as I understood what was going on, and it made sense for the most part considering the circumstances.
Overall I really loved and enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read the next one and see how all of this culminates and wraps up...if Coldspell is actually the last book in this series that is...Also for those who are reading this book who may not have read the previous books...you should read them first.
This was definitely a great pick for "Mermaid May."