Jaime Reviews ~ Emerge (Mer Chronicles #1) by Tobie Easton
By Tobie Easton
Published on April 19, 2016
Published by: Month9Books LLC
Source: Month9Books LLC
Published by: Month9Books LLC
Source: Month9Books LLC
Lia Nautilus may be a Mermaid but she’s never lived in the ocean. War has ravaged the seven seas ever since the infamous Little Mermaid unleashed a curse that stripped Mer of their immortality. Lia has grown up in a secret community of land-dwelling Mer hidden among Malibu’s seaside mansions. Her biggest problems are surviving P.E. and keeping her feelings for Clay Ericson in check. Sure, he’s gorgeous in that cocky, leather jacket sort of way and makes her feel like there’s a school of fish swimming in her stomach, but getting involved with a human could put Lia's entire community at risk.
So it’s for the best that he’s dating that new girl, right? That is, until Lia finds out she isn't the only one at school keeping a potentially deadly secret. And this new girl? Her eyes are dead set on Clay, who doesn't realize the danger he's in. If Lia hopes to save him, she’ll have to get closer to Clay. Lia’s parents would totally flip if they found out she was falling for a human boy, but the more time she spends with him, the harder it is for her to deny her feelings. After making a horrible mistake, Lia will risk everything to stop Clay from falling in love with the wrong girl.
Emerge...
I have been trying for a long time to find a story that focuses on Mermaids that I could actually read all the way through. Normally, it just doesn't happen. I hear people rave about this one and that one, I get excited, then end up DNF'ing and wondering what is wrong with me. Well, I finally found a mermaid story that I was able to finish. It wasn't perfect, there may have been some skimming along the way, but I FINISHED IT!
After a curse stemming from the legendary Little Mermaid shattered the immortality of mermaids, new leaders started emerging left and right, claiming to know how to break the curse. After years of fighting and death, a group of Mermaid's decided to leave the ocean depths behind and live on land, as humans. Lia and her sisters have lived on land since they were born, daughters of the Foundations leaders. It has always been made clear that relationships with humans is against the law. The risk is just too great to all of Mer kind. Unfortunately for Lia, she falls in love with a human. She does everything she can to stay away from him until a new Mermaid comes along and threatens him with her song. She is a siren. To protect Clay, Lia does the unthinkable. Now, she is in a race to save Clay before Mel can take things too far. A battle ensues over one boy that may affect the entire Mer race.
Emerge was an incredibly cute story. There were some darker moments to it but for the most part this story is a really cute love story. Lia is a good character, who makes some really dumb decisions. But we all make dumb decisions for love, so....Clay was a good character as well. Incredibly sweet, but we really didn't see much of who he really is for.... reasons. The entire character list is a long one, but each one is unique. Ms. Easton is great at defining a character, which I can appreciate.
The pacing of Emerge is slow at times, and there are a lot of info dumps and some serious inner dialogues going on. And angst. To me, it felt like the characters were a lot younger than their 16-17 year old ages. The whole story felt geared more towards the middle school girls age than my decidedly older age. This is what led to a lot of the skimming. It was very.... cutesy.
But I finished it, so that has to tell you something. I did enjoy this story. Like I said, it is cutesy and sweet. The romance was very cutesy and sweet. I enjoyed the history of the Mer's, and their language. My absolute favorite part of the entire story were the descriptions of the homes the Mer's built for themselves. Absolutely breathtaking to imagine, and I wish that I could build one exactly like them. World-building and beautiful description is Tobie Easton's strong point, to be sure.
Emerge is a book that I would HIGHLY recommend to middle school and early high school young women. That would definitely be the sweet spot. For me, it was a little too young, but I still enjoyed it and look forward to more from this wonderful author!
I have been trying for a long time to find a story that focuses on Mermaids that I could actually read all the way through. Normally, it just doesn't happen. I hear people rave about this one and that one, I get excited, then end up DNF'ing and wondering what is wrong with me. Well, I finally found a mermaid story that I was able to finish. It wasn't perfect, there may have been some skimming along the way, but I FINISHED IT!
After a curse stemming from the legendary Little Mermaid shattered the immortality of mermaids, new leaders started emerging left and right, claiming to know how to break the curse. After years of fighting and death, a group of Mermaid's decided to leave the ocean depths behind and live on land, as humans. Lia and her sisters have lived on land since they were born, daughters of the Foundations leaders. It has always been made clear that relationships with humans is against the law. The risk is just too great to all of Mer kind. Unfortunately for Lia, she falls in love with a human. She does everything she can to stay away from him until a new Mermaid comes along and threatens him with her song. She is a siren. To protect Clay, Lia does the unthinkable. Now, she is in a race to save Clay before Mel can take things too far. A battle ensues over one boy that may affect the entire Mer race.
Emerge was an incredibly cute story. There were some darker moments to it but for the most part this story is a really cute love story. Lia is a good character, who makes some really dumb decisions. But we all make dumb decisions for love, so....Clay was a good character as well. Incredibly sweet, but we really didn't see much of who he really is for.... reasons. The entire character list is a long one, but each one is unique. Ms. Easton is great at defining a character, which I can appreciate.
The pacing of Emerge is slow at times, and there are a lot of info dumps and some serious inner dialogues going on. And angst. To me, it felt like the characters were a lot younger than their 16-17 year old ages. The whole story felt geared more towards the middle school girls age than my decidedly older age. This is what led to a lot of the skimming. It was very.... cutesy.
But I finished it, so that has to tell you something. I did enjoy this story. Like I said, it is cutesy and sweet. The romance was very cutesy and sweet. I enjoyed the history of the Mer's, and their language. My absolute favorite part of the entire story were the descriptions of the homes the Mer's built for themselves. Absolutely breathtaking to imagine, and I wish that I could build one exactly like them. World-building and beautiful description is Tobie Easton's strong point, to be sure.
Emerge is a book that I would HIGHLY recommend to middle school and early high school young women. That would definitely be the sweet spot. For me, it was a little too young, but I still enjoyed it and look forward to more from this wonderful author!
Jaime Lynn
