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A review by zorhose
Out of the Blue by Jason June
2.0
this one... didn't hit for me.
i do love some good merfolk stories, but here the magical aspects didn't click with me. #fishing is not the way i prefer seeing fantasy elements modernized and some of the humorous elements(vampires, santa, etc. also being real) took away from the magic by confusing the lore. If I were Sean I'd have a lot more questions than what was on that PowerPoint.
I liked the concept of the journey and appreciated the moments where some of the implications of giving them only one month to decide the rest of your life were seriously discussed.
I also liked the fact that they didn't end up together. They are teenagers and even if they are legitimate soulmates, leaving your life behind for one person is rarely a decision that ends well. Maybe because I had to make a similar decision when my gap year ended, but I thought that was a good call by the author and the characters.
One thing that could've made this book better would've been to focus more on Sean and his best friend towards the end. She made a lot of questionable choices and I wish there had been a longer discussion between the two of them once the main conflict was resolved.
She did have her rant at earlier in the book, which also didn't feel entirely justified since she shut him out and hid her feelings from him and to then give him an ultimatum like that... yeah idk. I think it's probably realistic for a teen going through that kinda thing with her mom, but I wish there was any pushback on the notion that he sees her as a side character when he was literally worried about her the entire book, while he was going through his own heartbreak (which makes everone a little self centered).
Sean in general is a bit too gentle and easy to forgive in my eyes. At least there's a little character development on that front, but I feel like he had a right to call out at least Miguel and his bestie a bit more. (Even if Miguel didn't know Sean's ex cheated I still think it's a pretty dicky move to complain to Sean (again, his currents bf's ex) that he's not getting the promposal of his dreams yet, sorry.) But maybe I'm the problem.
Maybe, at the end of the day, I'm just too much of a rom-com hater and the only thing I find worse than a rom-com is a self aware rom-com, so me and this book were never meant to be. Either way, just keep swimming~
i do love some good merfolk stories, but here the magical aspects didn't click with me. #fishing is not the way i prefer seeing fantasy elements modernized and some of the humorous elements
I liked the concept of the journey and appreciated the moments where some of the implications of giving them only one month to decide the rest of your life were seriously discussed.
She did have her rant at earlier in the book, which also didn't feel entirely justified since she shut him out and hid her feelings from him and to then give him an ultimatum like that... yeah idk. I think it's probably realistic for a teen going through that kinda thing with her mom, but I wish there was any pushback on the notion that he sees her as a side character when he was literally worried about her the entire book, while he was going through his own heartbreak (which makes everone a little self centered).
Maybe, at the end of the day, I'm just too much of a rom-com hater and the only thing I find worse than a rom-com is a self aware rom-com, so me and this book were never meant to be. Either way, just keep swimming~