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Deep Waters #3
Echoes of the Tide
Ace has spent her entire life hiding who she is. First, it was from friends and family who didn't know she was stealing from the rich. Then it was hiding her true self in a prison city under the water. The worst was hiding herself from new friends who helped her destroy Alpha. What she didn't know, was that decision would force her to come into the light.
Maketes has always been the jokester. No one takes him seriously, and if they do, it's only because he was born violent. But then he starts talking with a human through droids, and he finds a kindred spirit in them. When he's given an opportunity to find out who this human really is, he takes it.
But what he finds in that prison city is not just the person he was friends with. He finds a villainous group of people who wish to use him to their advantage, and a woman who captivates his entire soul.
Together, they travel throughout the remains of Gamma, a city long forgotten. And while they search for a key that will change how they see the entire world underneath the ocean, they find themselves growing closer. Soon enough, they realize that perhaps hiding their entire lives has prevented them from experiencing the greatest part of life.
Maketes has always been the jokester. No one takes him seriously, and if they do, it's only because he was born violent. But then he starts talking with a human through droids, and he finds a kindred spirit in them. When he's given an opportunity to find out who this human really is, he takes it.
But what he finds in that prison city is not just the person he was friends with. He finds a villainous group of people who wish to use him to their advantage, and a woman who captivates his entire soul.
Together, they travel throughout the remains of Gamma, a city long forgotten. And while they search for a key that will change how they see the entire world underneath the ocean, they find themselves growing closer. Soon enough, they realize that perhaps hiding their entire lives has prevented them from experiencing the greatest part of life.
440 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2024
1001 people are currently reading
4738 people want to read
About the author
Emma Hamm
72 books4,589 followers
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 583 reviews
November 21, 2024
Um so, I spent my reviews on the last two books talking about how much I loved Maketes and couldn't wait for his book. So to finally get his book and not like it? Major bummer.
I like to make note of things that stand out to me while I read, and I ended up having a lot of notes on this, which I will organize to the best of my ability for the review, which will have spoilers btw
Starting off with a minor complaint about the occasional cringy dialogue. I've come to expect it from Emma Hamm, but it did feel a little more ramped up and noticeable to me in this book.
Next is, do the main characters of these books not speak to each other? Anya found out that Ace was a girl from her father, so it's crazy to think she didn't mention this to Maketes before he went off to search for her. And Arges didn't bother to tell anyone about the secret fourth city he has known about since book 1?!? Come on man...
In my last review, I said "I hope we get something a little more unique in Maketes' book since he stands out the most from his brothers." Did we? No. Which is shocking since the set-up was there for it.
Unlike the others, Ace and Maketes already knew each other and wouldn't be hostile at first glance. Not to mention, she had access to the undine language files so there wouldn't be a language barrier to get through.
The book tells us that they were supposedly friends even before meeting, which would've been great... if we got to see it. At the end of book 2, it's mentioned that they communicated to infiltrate Alpha, but that's it. When did they become friends? What were their interactions like? You need to actually do the friends part first if you wanna do friends to lovers. At least have one of them looking back on their chat logs or something. Having them be pen pals would've been so cute.
We also get told that Ace's main motivator is protecting her sister since her boss threatens to kill her if she doesn't stay in line. That's a solid motivation, but it's flimsy since we don't get a flashback or anything to make their relationship feel real and substantial until Chapter 25. For reference, there's only 40 chapters in this book. That's a crazy long time to go without fleshing out the driving force for the narrative.
Instead of doing that, her inner monologue is honestly mostly just really horny for Maketes. Its marketing said that "he falls first, she falls harder" but like, what? She falls immediately after she stops being scared of him. Also, she was marketed as a "morally grey criminal," so seeing her being so scared of Maketes and other stuff felt out of place to me. Like instead of a smart, stone cold baddie who never cracks a smile, we got an insecure shoplifter in over her head.
Speaking of Maketes, where was he? Cause this sure as heck didn't feel like him. The only times when I felt like Maketes was himself was when he was talking to Fortis. Their banter was nice and I ended up feeling like they had even more chemistry than Maketes and Ace lol
At the beginning of the book, it's shown that he feels lonely since his brothers already have their mates. Knowing this, and since the set up to his relationship with Ace was fumbled, it ended up feeling like he only got into this relationship cause he was the only single one left and she was there.
And their romantic scenes were not it. Saying she stinks and throwing her in the water? Not cute or funny, just read as childish. And then the other one where he was showing her his claws and stuff? It reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood when she was questioning the wolf dressed as her granny lol
And Maketes' main issue was that he is essentially built like a fuckboy but wants to be boyfriend material really bad, even though he sucks at it. It's played straight, but is literally the most ridiculous problem I've read about for a love interest.
And circling back around to Maketes not feeling like himself, he's not really funny in this book. He's just anothing big, scary undine whose soft on his "female." I was really hoping we'd tone that down by now. It was fine in Book 1 bc it was their introduction to each other's species, then I was expecting it in Book 2 since Daios is the most macho of the bunch, but 3 books full of that kind of talk is pushing it.
Now onto the plot. It's similar to the other books, undine and human alone together for a while, they fall in love, she does something brave he warned her not to do, she does it anyway and almost dies, and he comes to save her. And this sequence of events happens multiple times in this one book actually.
You got some random scary stuff peppered in, like the cannibals. But like the big deep sea fish gods Agres visited and the addictive and halluciogenic sulfuric water Daios swam in, I doubt they'll make a reappearance and were mostly just there for shock value.
The reveal of the secret shadow government made of immortals with super futuristic weapons was what did me in. I doubt I'm going to be reading the next book because it has crossed the line from campy to corny, especially with the cartoony speech that the villians had.
I had some time to think of what this book would be like before it was released, so I wanted to share some of my ideas. I thought it would lean a bit more into a romcomy relationship and atmosphere, so I was really surprised to see it went the opposite way into action.
I thought the plot with the key was super contrived and made the whole story feel like a set up to the next book. The key really had nothing to do with either Ace or Maketes, so it felt impersonal. It also made Ace feel like she lacked agency since she was being forced to get it.
Instead, I would've loved if she put her hacker skills to use against Tau from the start. Like, maybe Tau kidnapped her sister bc she accidentally found out too much, and Ace is actually prepared to do real nefarious deeds to get her back. It would've been more in line with her character than this wild goose chase for a random key.
I also had this vision of the traditional undine and human roles being switched. Like, instead of taking Ace into the ocean, Maketes sneaks into the city in order to spy and they get into antics as she tries to hide him and keep him alive. Maybe not the best idea, but it would've been a nice change of pace.
This review is longer than it has any right to be, so thanks for listening to my rant lol
2 stars since I'm already too far into the series to give it a 1
I like to make note of things that stand out to me while I read, and I ended up having a lot of notes on this, which I will organize to the best of my ability for the review, which will have spoilers btw
Starting off with a minor complaint about the occasional cringy dialogue. I've come to expect it from Emma Hamm, but it did feel a little more ramped up and noticeable to me in this book.
Next is, do the main characters of these books not speak to each other? Anya found out that Ace was a girl from her father, so it's crazy to think she didn't mention this to Maketes before he went off to search for her. And Arges didn't bother to tell anyone about the secret fourth city he has known about since book 1?!? Come on man...
In my last review, I said "I hope we get something a little more unique in Maketes' book since he stands out the most from his brothers." Did we? No. Which is shocking since the set-up was there for it.
Unlike the others, Ace and Maketes already knew each other and wouldn't be hostile at first glance. Not to mention, she had access to the undine language files so there wouldn't be a language barrier to get through.
The book tells us that they were supposedly friends even before meeting, which would've been great... if we got to see it. At the end of book 2, it's mentioned that they communicated to infiltrate Alpha, but that's it. When did they become friends? What were their interactions like? You need to actually do the friends part first if you wanna do friends to lovers. At least have one of them looking back on their chat logs or something. Having them be pen pals would've been so cute.
We also get told that Ace's main motivator is protecting her sister since her boss threatens to kill her if she doesn't stay in line. That's a solid motivation, but it's flimsy since we don't get a flashback or anything to make their relationship feel real and substantial until Chapter 25. For reference, there's only 40 chapters in this book. That's a crazy long time to go without fleshing out the driving force for the narrative.
Instead of doing that, her inner monologue is honestly mostly just really horny for Maketes. Its marketing said that "he falls first, she falls harder" but like, what? She falls immediately after she stops being scared of him. Also, she was marketed as a "morally grey criminal," so seeing her being so scared of Maketes and other stuff felt out of place to me. Like instead of a smart, stone cold baddie who never cracks a smile, we got an insecure shoplifter in over her head.
Speaking of Maketes, where was he? Cause this sure as heck didn't feel like him. The only times when I felt like Maketes was himself was when he was talking to Fortis. Their banter was nice and I ended up feeling like they had even more chemistry than Maketes and Ace lol
At the beginning of the book, it's shown that he feels lonely since his brothers already have their mates. Knowing this, and since the set up to his relationship with Ace was fumbled, it ended up feeling like he only got into this relationship cause he was the only single one left and she was there.
And their romantic scenes were not it. Saying she stinks and throwing her in the water? Not cute or funny, just read as childish. And then the other one where he was showing her his claws and stuff? It reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood when she was questioning the wolf dressed as her granny lol
And Maketes' main issue was that he is essentially built like a fuckboy but wants to be boyfriend material really bad, even though he sucks at it. It's played straight, but is literally the most ridiculous problem I've read about for a love interest.
And circling back around to Maketes not feeling like himself, he's not really funny in this book. He's just anothing big, scary undine whose soft on his "female." I was really hoping we'd tone that down by now. It was fine in Book 1 bc it was their introduction to each other's species, then I was expecting it in Book 2 since Daios is the most macho of the bunch, but 3 books full of that kind of talk is pushing it.
Now onto the plot. It's similar to the other books, undine and human alone together for a while, they fall in love, she does something brave he warned her not to do, she does it anyway and almost dies, and he comes to save her. And this sequence of events happens multiple times in this one book actually.
You got some random scary stuff peppered in, like the cannibals. But like the big deep sea fish gods Agres visited and the addictive and halluciogenic sulfuric water Daios swam in, I doubt they'll make a reappearance and were mostly just there for shock value.
The reveal of the secret shadow government made of immortals with super futuristic weapons was what did me in. I doubt I'm going to be reading the next book because it has crossed the line from campy to corny, especially with the cartoony speech that the villians had.
I had some time to think of what this book would be like before it was released, so I wanted to share some of my ideas. I thought it would lean a bit more into a romcomy relationship and atmosphere, so I was really surprised to see it went the opposite way into action.
I thought the plot with the key was super contrived and made the whole story feel like a set up to the next book. The key really had nothing to do with either Ace or Maketes, so it felt impersonal. It also made Ace feel like she lacked agency since she was being forced to get it.
Instead, I would've loved if she put her hacker skills to use against Tau from the start. Like, maybe Tau kidnapped her sister bc she accidentally found out too much, and Ace is actually prepared to do real nefarious deeds to get her back. It would've been more in line with her character than this wild goose chase for a random key.
I also had this vision of the traditional undine and human roles being switched. Like, instead of taking Ace into the ocean, Maketes sneaks into the city in order to spy and they get into antics as she tries to hide him and keep him alive. Maybe not the best idea, but it would've been a nice change of pace.
This review is longer than it has any right to be, so thanks for listening to my rant lol
2 stars since I'm already too far into the series to give it a 1
dnf
November 25, 2024Dnf @ 50% lol. I was so excited for this bc I generally enjoyed the last two books and I love a silly guy/grumpy girl combo. But this was a train wreck
June 21, 2025
Was really doubting whether to give this 2 or 3 stars. The story is solid, but just not great? I had quite some problems with it, even though some other parts were great.
I absolutely adored Maketes, such a sweet pie. However, I feel like a lot of authors write a funny, lighthearted side character, and when their book comes around the corner, he is not as lighthearted anymore. Although it was not that bad with this book, it still was kinda the case. He was still a good character, and I enjoyed reading about him, but he was different from the first two books. However, I did not care that much about Ace, I felt she was kinda boring. Also, I just really dislike it when a fuller character is written who thinks nobody will love her.
The book was a nice continuation of the last two books and set it up nicely for the next book. It was also nice to read about the other cities, even though they were horrific.
As said, I just could not care about Ace. Also, the droids, which are an important part of the story, don’t really do it for me. However, that's all okay. I felt that the biggest issue I had with this book was the romance story. The main characters were supposed to have a great friendship, which is why they were hesitant to start dating. Where was the friendship? I don’t remember whether this happened in the last book, but why not start this one with that friendship so we could actually see it? They were talking about their friendship, but we did not see it at all. Maybe this is me, but I found it quite odd.
Either way, still enjoy this series, but I hope the next one is as great as the first one was.
2,0 stars!
I absolutely adored Maketes, such a sweet pie. However, I feel like a lot of authors write a funny, lighthearted side character, and when their book comes around the corner, he is not as lighthearted anymore. Although it was not that bad with this book, it still was kinda the case. He was still a good character, and I enjoyed reading about him, but he was different from the first two books. However, I did not care that much about Ace, I felt she was kinda boring. Also, I just really dislike it when a fuller character is written who thinks nobody will love her.
The book was a nice continuation of the last two books and set it up nicely for the next book. It was also nice to read about the other cities, even though they were horrific.
As said, I just could not care about Ace. Also, the droids, which are an important part of the story, don’t really do it for me. However, that's all okay. I felt that the biggest issue I had with this book was the romance story. The main characters were supposed to have a great friendship, which is why they were hesitant to start dating. Where was the friendship? I don’t remember whether this happened in the last book, but why not start this one with that friendship so we could actually see it? They were talking about their friendship, but we did not see it at all. Maybe this is me, but I found it quite odd.
Either way, still enjoy this series, but I hope the next one is as great as the first one was.
2,0 stars!
October 30, 2024
”Your flaws are just as beautiful as your perfections.”
UGH my heart!!! Each book in this series I fall more in love, and each time my brain says “ok wait no he’s my fave”. So who knows anymore.
Maketes is the cutest lil golden himbo speed demon there ever was. His flirting is top tier but goddamn if I wasn’t obsessed every time he dramatically thought Ace was dying. Or every time he told her she stank. The majority of my highlights are monologues of him waxing poetic over her assumed death or being so befouled by the way she smells and eats. But it’s so cute in the way that he still adores Ace, and admires her, and encourages her, and he do a protec of course. He’s the perfect balance of dom/simp + class clown jock with hidden insecurities that make you just wanna squeeze his face
Ace ranks second in my FMCs from this world, with Mira standing strong at number 1. Ace is grounded, logical, and brave enough to be brave. I love her and her snark remarks towards Maketes lmao <3 also, droid builder? Ok bitch go awf 💅🏻 (suuuper close to being my #1 fave fmc so far when she said fuck it full send x2 iykyk)
SUPER STOKED at the interwoven plot progression this third book gave us!!!
Thank you Emma for trusting me with an eARC—it’s like you knew I was foaming at the mouth for this book but unfortunately, now I am once again rabid for the next book 💀
UGH my heart!!! Each book in this series I fall more in love, and each time my brain says “ok wait no he’s my fave”. So who knows anymore.
Maketes is the cutest lil golden himbo speed demon there ever was. His flirting is top tier but goddamn if I wasn’t obsessed every time he dramatically thought Ace was dying. Or every time he told her she stank. The majority of my highlights are monologues of him waxing poetic over her assumed death or being so befouled by the way she smells and eats. But it’s so cute in the way that he still adores Ace, and admires her, and encourages her, and he do a protec of course. He’s the perfect balance of dom/simp + class clown jock with hidden insecurities that make you just wanna squeeze his face
Ace ranks second in my FMCs from this world, with Mira standing strong at number 1. Ace is grounded, logical, and brave enough to be brave. I love her and her snark remarks towards Maketes lmao <3 also, droid builder? Ok bitch go awf 💅🏻 (suuuper close to being my #1 fave fmc so far when she said fuck it full send x2 iykyk)
SUPER STOKED at the interwoven plot progression this third book gave us!!!
Thank you Emma for trusting me with an eARC—it’s like you knew I was foaming at the mouth for this book but unfortunately, now I am once again rabid for the next book 💀
March 20, 2025
Loved it! I'm shocked at the new info on who is behind everything. I was always excited for Maketes story and it didn't disappoint.
June 23, 2025
Didn’t hit quite the same as the first 2 books, still a fun silly time but was missing that certain je ne sais quoi. I honestly preferred Maketes in the first 2 books, his funny personality fell a little flat in this one for me
November 12, 2024
Three books and three times I have cried for Byte, Bitsy, and now Tera. Androids. God damn it.
November 18, 2024
Echoes of the Tide feels out of place in the series. I managed to complete reading it, but even from the start, the book had a different feel to it. Maketes was not an interesting lead and I didn't like Ace. They both felt bland and underdeveloped as characters. I also think Maketes had a different personality in this book than the others, so it felt like I got lied to somehow. The story also focused too heavily on setting up the next book instead of building the relationship between the main characters.
In the previous books, I felt like there was a comparatively equal amount of focus put into building the characters/relationship and building the story. The plot progressed and I felt like it reasonable for the characters to feel the way they did at any given point in the story. This time, everything that happened felt like it was setting up for the next story. I didn't think there was much chance for a bond to build between the main characters, but somehow it did. The lack of chemistry between the main characters really stood out to me.
Another gripe I had about this book was Maketes as a character. To sum it up, I think the author was aiming to create a character who hides their insecurities behind jokes and a smile. They seem easy to read at first, but there's so many complex feelings beneath the surface. You know the type, right? Well she completely missed.
From the other books, we are told Maketes is the jokester who mediates conflict between his brothers. He thinks carefully, he's more reasonable and open-minded than his brothers, and he's the easiest to talk to.
He really did come across that way in the other books, but in this book, Maketes feels like he has a different personality. And not in a "I thought he was only funny but there's a deeper side" way, more like a "is this even the same character" kind of way.
Maketes now talks a lot, but it rarely come off as easygoing, even when the relationship was established. He rarely tried to make jokes or get Ace to laugh, and I'm pretty sure he fought more people in this book than Daios did in the last book. Which is weird because Daios is the one who's supposed to be the angry warrior who hates humans but found exactly one that he has a soft spot for. (I understand Maketes is still a warrior, but it felt jarring, which is why I think the author really failed if she was trying to develop his character.)
I also think Ace was lacking as a character. Mira had her brain and mechanics skills, Anya had her hearing impairment, and Ace had her sister. Yes, Ace can use her droid, but it felt less like something she needed for herself or the story and more like a plot convenience.
Her story did little to showcase her or her strengths and plot did her no favors. Mira really struggled to make a connection with Arges, so it felt strong when they both learned to accept each other. Anya and Daios built the majority of their chemistry through the plot forcing them to work together. But Echoes of the Tide couldn't build the chemistry between the characters because it was too busy setting up for the next book and some sort of big reveal. Since it's all set up now, I hope the next book will be better.
In the previous books, I felt like there was a comparatively equal amount of focus put into building the characters/relationship and building the story. The plot progressed and I felt like it reasonable for the characters to feel the way they did at any given point in the story. This time, everything that happened felt like it was setting up for the next story. I didn't think there was much chance for a bond to build between the main characters, but somehow it did. The lack of chemistry between the main characters really stood out to me.
Another gripe I had about this book was Maketes as a character. To sum it up, I think the author was aiming to create a character who hides their insecurities behind jokes and a smile. They seem easy to read at first, but there's so many complex feelings beneath the surface. You know the type, right? Well she completely missed.
From the other books, we are told Maketes is the jokester who mediates conflict between his brothers. He thinks carefully, he's more reasonable and open-minded than his brothers, and he's the easiest to talk to.
He really did come across that way in the other books, but in this book, Maketes feels like he has a different personality. And not in a "I thought he was only funny but there's a deeper side" way, more like a "is this even the same character" kind of way.
Maketes now talks a lot, but it rarely come off as easygoing, even when the relationship was established. He rarely tried to make jokes or get Ace to laugh, and I'm pretty sure he fought more people in this book than Daios did in the last book. Which is weird because Daios is the one who's supposed to be the angry warrior who hates humans but found exactly one that he has a soft spot for. (I understand Maketes is still a warrior, but it felt jarring, which is why I think the author really failed if she was trying to develop his character.)
I also think Ace was lacking as a character. Mira had her brain and mechanics skills, Anya had her hearing impairment, and Ace had her sister. Yes, Ace can use her droid, but it felt less like something she needed for herself or the story and more like a plot convenience.
Her story did little to showcase her or her strengths and plot did her no favors. Mira really struggled to make a connection with Arges, so it felt strong when they both learned to accept each other. Anya and Daios built the majority of their chemistry through the plot forcing them to work together. But Echoes of the Tide couldn't build the chemistry between the characters because it was too busy setting up for the next book and some sort of big reveal. Since it's all set up now, I hope the next book will be better.
November 7, 2024
I had high hopes for this but it fell flat. There is zero chemistry between the MMC and FMC. I really wasn't a fan of Ace.
November 7, 2024
Somewhere between 2.5 and 3 ⭐️ This one didn’t impress me as much as the other two in the series. The main characters didn’t seem to have much chemistry, and maketes was supposed to be silly and goofy, and I never really got that part of his personality. Some of the plot felt like it was either rushed or just too convenient to workout in their favor so quickly, and while the added storyline is cool, it felt like it was thought about and added after the world was built.
The world is still super intriguing, so I’m hoping the fourth in the series is better.
The world is still super intriguing, so I’m hoping the fourth in the series is better.
November 14, 2024
1.5
The only reason I finished this book was because I am behind on my Goodreads Reading Challenge.
The only reason I finished this book was because I am behind on my Goodreads Reading Challenge.
February 28, 2025
*2.5
I don’t wanna go to crazy on this review because let’s be honest, we know this is just merfolk smut.
I did not post reviews of the first two books, but I enjoyed them quite a bit more than this one. While they’re not particularly amazing works of fiction, they were really fun.
And this was also fun, but just less so. Maketes and Ace really did not have a whole lot of chemistry, so it made everything feel sort of forced and awkward. There were typos and grammatical issues, just as there were with the first two, but because it was hard to get into the plot, it is hard for me to be as forgiving as I was previously.
I’m giving it a 2.5 solely based on me having a soft spot for the characters and the previous books.
One thing to note if you do want to read these books, you REALLY gotta know how to suspend disbelief.
I don’t wanna go to crazy on this review because let’s be honest, we know this is just merfolk smut.
I did not post reviews of the first two books, but I enjoyed them quite a bit more than this one. While they’re not particularly amazing works of fiction, they were really fun.
And this was also fun, but just less so. Maketes and Ace really did not have a whole lot of chemistry, so it made everything feel sort of forced and awkward. There were typos and grammatical issues, just as there were with the first two, but because it was hard to get into the plot, it is hard for me to be as forgiving as I was previously.
I’m giving it a 2.5 solely based on me having a soft spot for the characters and the previous books.
One thing to note if you do want to read these books, you REALLY gotta know how to suspend disbelief.
November 10, 2024
Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into this one. It makes me sad cause Maketes has been my favorite undine in the other books. I expected a lot more silly antics and laughs and didn’t get that at all.
The story this time was just blah in general as well.
I wasn’t a big fan of Ace either. I saw Maketes with someone more playful like him.
The story this time was just blah in general as well.
I wasn’t a big fan of Ace either. I saw Maketes with someone more playful like him.
November 23, 2024
Me gustó pero no tanto como los anteriores, no me sentí tan conectada con la pareja como con los libros anteriores y no sé porque pero obvio lo disfrute. Me interesa ver cómo se desarrolla la historia sobre las ciudades y estoy súper intrigada con el próximo libro porque estoy casi segura quien va a ser el próximo prota.
May 4, 2025
Another banger! This might have been my favorite. They are the cutest. Friends to lovers! And from the descriptions my girl Ace was a thick lil chubby queen 😌🫶🏼 and he worshipped his luscious queeeeen as he should.
November 8, 2024
This was about 3 1/4 stars for me. I was certainly entertained for most of the book, and it ranks that high mostly because Maketes was an absolutely feral little high vis monster. His fight scenes were so much more animalistically violent than Arges or Daios, and I like to think it's because he's got that thing that small dogs have where they are way more aggressive and more likely to bite than big dogs to compensate for being little guys in a world full of much bigger guys.
Of all the humans so far, Ace is probably my least favorite. She's afraid of everything, including Maketes, whose been established as the smallest and least frightening of his brothers. Her being afraid of Makete's non-human features and needing to be reassured after she told him that his gills and such freaked her out was sort of irritating to read considering in the previous book Anya was down to be a freak immediately and I loved that for her.
After reading Anya and Daios's book where they are both absolutely insane and violate the geneva convention without a second thought, Ace and Maketes were far less interesting and complex to read. Also the plot in this book was absolutely all over the place, at points it felt like I was watching a play just jump from scene to scene with no transition and then eventually things kind of worked out. I will absolutely be reading the fourth book.
Of all the humans so far, Ace is probably my least favorite. She's afraid of everything, including Maketes, whose been established as the smallest and least frightening of his brothers. Her being afraid of Makete's non-human features and needing to be reassured after she told him that his gills and such freaked her out was sort of irritating to read considering in the previous book Anya was down to be a freak immediately and I loved that for her.
After reading Anya and Daios's book where they are both absolutely insane and violate the geneva convention without a second thought, Ace and Maketes were far less interesting and complex to read. Also the plot in this book was absolutely all over the place, at points it felt like I was watching a play just jump from scene to scene with no transition and then eventually things kind of worked out. I will absolutely be reading the fourth book.
August 31, 2025
Unfortunately the weakest of the bunch. But hey, I’m not here for quality 🤷🏼♀️
November 5, 2024
I knew I was gonna love Maketes and he didn’t disappoint. He had some serious impulse control issues he had to work on, but a good heart. Ace is who I wanna be when I grow up. She was protective of her sister, brave enough to do the scary things she needed to, intelligent, and dedicated to what she thought was right. They both learned to see their own worth with help from each other. He did the sweetest things for her. Also, I want answers cuz that was a MEAN cliffy!
Spice: 2.5/5
Triggers: violence, gore, murder, cannibalism, drowning, severe injury, family estrangement, blackmail, non-violent encounters with sharks, hunting, poverty, malnutrition, imprisonment/exile, torture, fatphobia, grief, implied threat of SA to side character
Spice: 2.5/5
Triggers: violence, gore, murder, cannibalism, drowning, severe injury, family estrangement, blackmail, non-violent encounters with sharks, hunting, poverty, malnutrition, imprisonment/exile, torture, fatphobia, grief, implied threat of SA to side character
November 28, 2024
dnf at 62%
Sorry chat I just couldn’t do it ://
Sorry chat I just couldn’t do it ://
October 27, 2024
GAHHHHHHHHHH! I am obsessed with these mer people 🥹 The plot that has been woven in has me hooked. I need to know what’s happening ASAP!
WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Maketes, the wholesome ass undine that you are🥹 Ace my love, you are a bad ass bitch. 💅🏼 Both of their growth and self love was just amazing and so beautiful.
Fortis…I just know you are going to be DADDY and I cannot wait 😌
Thank you Emma for the arc 💛
WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Maketes, the wholesome ass undine that you are🥹 Ace my love, you are a bad ass bitch. 💅🏼 Both of their growth and self love was just amazing and so beautiful.
Fortis…I just know you are going to be DADDY and I cannot wait 😌
Thank you Emma for the arc 💛
April 15, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
SWEET BABY BOY MAKETES!! i didn’t expect to love this book as much as i did, mainly because i know Maketes is a softer boi and “friends to lovers” usually isn’t a fav trope of mine. WELL this is me eating my words, because i ate this book uP.
Maketes is THE mirrorball merman™️ and Ace is just a sweetie archer girl 🥺 i’m such a simp for the mirrorball boy x archer girl combo, sorry i was raised by Percabeth i simply have no choice
SWEET BABY BOY MAKETES!! i didn’t expect to love this book as much as i did, mainly because i know Maketes is a softer boi and “friends to lovers” usually isn’t a fav trope of mine. WELL this is me eating my words, because i ate this book uP.
Maketes is THE mirrorball merman™️ and Ace is just a sweetie archer girl 🥺 i’m such a simp for the mirrorball boy x archer girl combo, sorry i was raised by Percabeth i simply have no choice
November 10, 2024
I didn't like the characters in this one as much as the other two, but the plot at the end brought it back up a bit for me. With that said, the plot at the beginning was so confusing I spent like 50 pages baffled as to where they were. I think part of that was it just prioritizing Maketes and Ace becoming friends over plot stuff, but I felt like they went to five different rooms looking for the same thing and I wasn't sure if they were in the same city or the same place or if they were looking for something new now. Maketes ended up being a much different character than I was expecting, which wasn't neccessarily bad, just surprising. The other books spent so long establishing Arges as the leader and Daios as the fighter and Maketes as the silly one it caught me off guard when he did more individual kills on page than the other two. I think Daios still has him beat for like number of people dead since he helped orchestrate several massive explosions, but Maketes was ripping people's heads off left and right for a minute there. I don't dislike Maketes, I just didn't find him as interesting or compelling as Daios or Arges. I also think it's a little unfair his book was after Daois' bc I personally really enjoyed his and Anya's characters the most, and thought their romance felt more compelling than the other two.
Ace as a character falls into a couple tropes I personally dislike (I have to do all the work to support my special and perfect sibling, woe is me), but I did feel like she was enough of a person outside of those to keep me from hating her. I think it helped that when her sister did show up she actually had a personality and had to fight her own battles too, and that they didn't end up fighting about who had it worse and were just happy to see each other. I always appreciate a plus size MC but I think it maybe could've committed harder to that bit bc I was confused for a lot of the book if I was just reading into her descriptions or not. Also as a side bar, the book did not address the fact she was wearing glasses underwater and there's no way she could've seen ANYTHING while they were swimming. Maybe her prescription isn't super high but she still would've mostly been flying blind.
I did really appreciate this book gave us more information about the surface and why humans live underwater now, since I was idly wondering about that for the other books. I also love that these books have turned out to be absolutely balls to the wall unhinged with the lore of the undersea cities. If you told me book one we would have a tower of cannibals and secret experiments and dissections on humans and undines with a side of fucked up cloning and organ/body part harvesting I would've been way more hyped to read these.
Overall as a series, the plot and my own interest in what the absolute hell is going on with these cities has really kept me intrigued by these. The novelty and fun of deep sea merman romance aside, if these books had been pure romance I don't think I could've gotten through them. That's more about me not enjoying romance stories unless they have external stakes and other stuff going on though, not a critique of the writing or anything, because honestly these books are pretty well written.
My final thoughts are I hope the fourth book is BONKERS CRAZY bc Fortis is a weirdo so far and I would like to see him be unhinged and also for everyone to commit a few more war crimes in the name of ousting the evil science people. Also rip to the nonbinary depthstrider that was mentioned once, I know in my heart you were an unnamed side character, but I will always remember you.
Ace as a character falls into a couple tropes I personally dislike (I have to do all the work to support my special and perfect sibling, woe is me), but I did feel like she was enough of a person outside of those to keep me from hating her. I think it helped that when her sister did show up she actually had a personality and had to fight her own battles too, and that they didn't end up fighting about who had it worse and were just happy to see each other. I always appreciate a plus size MC but I think it maybe could've committed harder to that bit bc I was confused for a lot of the book if I was just reading into her descriptions or not. Also as a side bar, the book did not address the fact she was wearing glasses underwater and there's no way she could've seen ANYTHING while they were swimming. Maybe her prescription isn't super high but she still would've mostly been flying blind.
I did really appreciate this book gave us more information about the surface and why humans live underwater now, since I was idly wondering about that for the other books. I also love that these books have turned out to be absolutely balls to the wall unhinged with the lore of the undersea cities. If you told me book one we would have a tower of cannibals and secret experiments and dissections on humans and undines with a side of fucked up cloning and organ/body part harvesting I would've been way more hyped to read these.
Overall as a series, the plot and my own interest in what the absolute hell is going on with these cities has really kept me intrigued by these. The novelty and fun of deep sea merman romance aside, if these books had been pure romance I don't think I could've gotten through them. That's more about me not enjoying romance stories unless they have external stakes and other stuff going on though, not a critique of the writing or anything, because honestly these books are pretty well written.
My final thoughts are I hope the fourth book is BONKERS CRAZY bc Fortis is a weirdo so far and I would like to see him be unhinged and also for everyone to commit a few more war crimes in the name of ousting the evil science people. Also rip to the nonbinary depthstrider that was mentioned once, I know in my heart you were an unnamed side character, but I will always remember you.
November 19, 2024
DNF at 30%
The two main characters have less chemistry than a school gymnasium
The two main characters have less chemistry than a school gymnasium
November 25, 2024
Alright, I read it, and oh boy. This has to be my least favorite of all three, and I had plenty of grips with the other two. To start, everything about the marketing for this seems like a scam to me, so if you are reading this after seeing stuff about it on Emma's IG, beware.
- On IG, Emma proclaimed how she loves how androgynous Ace is. Cool, huh? Well, there's nothing androgynous about Ace whatsoever, unless you freaking count her having short-ish hair?? Or because she works with robots and lives in a prison city so she doesn't really take care of herself at the beginning/smells? Apparently, that makes you androgynous? Or I suppose it was the fact that Ace liked being "genderless" to the people she chatted with? Tf.
- At the beginning, Maketes is shocked to find out Ace is a woman, rather than a man, which he thought. This threw me for a loop. So... you want me to believe they are FRIENDS because they've talked to each other for a while over the droid, but this never came up? Furthermore, did Anya not know that Ace, her "only friend" of SEVEN YEARS was a woman? If she didn't, what the fuck, you cannot tell me that never came up, and if she did, why wouldn't she mention it to anyone?
- Ace was also supposed to be the mid-size inclusive heroine, oooh! Well, all of the art shows her quite literally the same size as the other girls (maybe a tiny bit rounder, but like nowhere near fat) though the book tries to convince you an excruciating amount how SOFT, and ROUND she is and how there's SO MUCH OF HER. It literally felt like getting beaten over the head with it, and I really don't think it was done in a good way. Especially since all of the promotional art and fan art shows her as normal size. Maketes kept talking about how soft she is and how there's so much to her to the point it almost felt like insults.
- Maketes saying she stinks and throwing her in the water literally as soon as they meet. Felt incredibly childish, offensive and just freaking weird.
- Ridiculous instalove strikes once again. Only this time, it was even worse because these two characters didn't have any chemistry. Yeah, the instalove was ridiculous in the other two books as well, but there was some chemistry between the characters. These two almost had negative chemistry, even though they were supposed to be friends before.
- Another bit of marketing that felt like a hoax was the "friends to lovers" and "he falls first, she falls harder". It did not feel like they were friends at all. It did not feel like they ever talked to each other before. There were no callbacks, no inside jokes, nothing. Just the good old tell "we talked for a while". Ace seemed to dislike/be nervous around Maketes most of the time and he was just... weird. I don't know. She also didn't seem to "fall harder" whatsoever, just went through the typical thought process of all the other heroines in these books where she suddenly really needed to fuck this undine and couldn't live without him. Just...no buildup, no character growth, as per usual with Emma Hamm book.
- Maketes was done so dirty. I, like many, loved him in the other books. Here... in his chapters, he just felt weird. Not himself. In some of Ace's chapters he almost came off as stupid, or like she was talking to him like she was stupid, and in his own he just felt like a different character.
- "He saved me more times than I can count." - Maketes literally "saved" her twice.
- They spent like two days together and already were each other's light in the dark, star to my moon and all the shit. I just hate how much better these books would have been if there was any semblance of natural, human, normal relationship buildup instead of the "oh, I just met you, and now you're the most perfect being I've ever encountered and I could never live without you".
- Another marketing lie. "The robot in this book will rip your heart out" Yeah...no. I really did not feel bad for a bunch of metal balls. In fact, I did not care for Tera at all in this book, and I liked the other robots. It didn't even speak, FFS. So when it died (spoiler) I was like... oh no, anyway.
- Honestly, I'm going to say this... this book felt so off. Like Emma didn't write but a less experienced ghostwriter did, or like maybe AI helped? It just felt strange, I can't quite put my finger on it.
- Maketes, the "golden retriever" undine murdering more people than anyone else in these books, including Daios, was weird. Completely out of place. Completely out of character. That was something that would have fit wonderfully into the second book, Daois killing people for Anya, but instead we have MAKETES brutally murdering a ton of people? Yeah... I dunno.
- I did not care about her sister, the entire driving force behind her actions. We were given like one tiny little flashback and that's it. Otherwise I'm supposed to care for this person because she's beautiful (repeated to excruciating detail) and likes plants? You really gotta try harder than that, Emma.
- I liked the parts on the surface. It was sweet and finally something a little different.
- I like Maketes being inexperienced with sex, it was kind of cute how careful they were together.
- I liked the setup for the next book. Althrough I'm sure Fortis, who hates humans, and would never, will of course, as per usual, immediately and madly fall in love with his woman, as it's been with the other books. Can't wait... yay... He's such an intriguing character to me, so I can't weird (sarcasm) for him to be reduced to horny, blubbering fool who would do anything for some random woman he just saw. Sigh.
- On IG, Emma proclaimed how she loves how androgynous Ace is. Cool, huh? Well, there's nothing androgynous about Ace whatsoever, unless you freaking count her having short-ish hair?? Or because she works with robots and lives in a prison city so she doesn't really take care of herself at the beginning/smells? Apparently, that makes you androgynous? Or I suppose it was the fact that Ace liked being "genderless" to the people she chatted with? Tf.
- At the beginning, Maketes is shocked to find out Ace is a woman, rather than a man, which he thought. This threw me for a loop. So... you want me to believe they are FRIENDS because they've talked to each other for a while over the droid, but this never came up? Furthermore, did Anya not know that Ace, her "only friend" of SEVEN YEARS was a woman? If she didn't, what the fuck, you cannot tell me that never came up, and if she did, why wouldn't she mention it to anyone?
- Ace was also supposed to be the mid-size inclusive heroine, oooh! Well, all of the art shows her quite literally the same size as the other girls (maybe a tiny bit rounder, but like nowhere near fat) though the book tries to convince you an excruciating amount how SOFT, and ROUND she is and how there's SO MUCH OF HER. It literally felt like getting beaten over the head with it, and I really don't think it was done in a good way. Especially since all of the promotional art and fan art shows her as normal size. Maketes kept talking about how soft she is and how there's so much to her to the point it almost felt like insults.
- Maketes saying she stinks and throwing her in the water literally as soon as they meet. Felt incredibly childish, offensive and just freaking weird.
- Ridiculous instalove strikes once again. Only this time, it was even worse because these two characters didn't have any chemistry. Yeah, the instalove was ridiculous in the other two books as well, but there was some chemistry between the characters. These two almost had negative chemistry, even though they were supposed to be friends before.
- Another bit of marketing that felt like a hoax was the "friends to lovers" and "he falls first, she falls harder". It did not feel like they were friends at all. It did not feel like they ever talked to each other before. There were no callbacks, no inside jokes, nothing. Just the good old tell "we talked for a while". Ace seemed to dislike/be nervous around Maketes most of the time and he was just... weird. I don't know. She also didn't seem to "fall harder" whatsoever, just went through the typical thought process of all the other heroines in these books where she suddenly really needed to fuck this undine and couldn't live without him. Just...no buildup, no character growth, as per usual with Emma Hamm book.
- Maketes was done so dirty. I, like many, loved him in the other books. Here... in his chapters, he just felt weird. Not himself. In some of Ace's chapters he almost came off as stupid, or like she was talking to him like she was stupid, and in his own he just felt like a different character.
- "He saved me more times than I can count." - Maketes literally "saved" her twice.
- They spent like two days together and already were each other's light in the dark, star to my moon and all the shit. I just hate how much better these books would have been if there was any semblance of natural, human, normal relationship buildup instead of the "oh, I just met you, and now you're the most perfect being I've ever encountered and I could never live without you".
- Another marketing lie. "The robot in this book will rip your heart out" Yeah...no. I really did not feel bad for a bunch of metal balls. In fact, I did not care for Tera at all in this book, and I liked the other robots. It didn't even speak, FFS. So when it died (spoiler) I was like... oh no, anyway.
- Honestly, I'm going to say this... this book felt so off. Like Emma didn't write but a less experienced ghostwriter did, or like maybe AI helped? It just felt strange, I can't quite put my finger on it.
- Maketes, the "golden retriever" undine murdering more people than anyone else in these books, including Daios, was weird. Completely out of place. Completely out of character. That was something that would have fit wonderfully into the second book, Daois killing people for Anya, but instead we have MAKETES brutally murdering a ton of people? Yeah... I dunno.
- I did not care about her sister, the entire driving force behind her actions. We were given like one tiny little flashback and that's it. Otherwise I'm supposed to care for this person because she's beautiful (repeated to excruciating detail) and likes plants? You really gotta try harder than that, Emma.
- I liked the parts on the surface. It was sweet and finally something a little different.
- I like Maketes being inexperienced with sex, it was kind of cute how careful they were together.
- I liked the setup for the next book. Althrough I'm sure Fortis, who hates humans, and would never, will of course, as per usual, immediately and madly fall in love with his woman, as it's been with the other books. Can't wait... yay... He's such an intriguing character to me, so I can't weird (sarcasm) for him to be reduced to horny, blubbering fool who would do anything for some random woman he just saw. Sigh.
November 10, 2024
3.5 stars!
I loveeeee Makates! He was so sweet and playful and kind. I also loved Ace- I just felt like them together as a couple felt forced. They are sooooo different and while I do believe opposites can attract, it didn’t feel organic in this case. I feel like the other couples in the series had better chemistry.
The story itself was fun! Knowing that there’s going to be a fourth book and with how the ending played out, the story will go on. This book kind of felt like a filler, but still had decent plot.
Ultimately I liked the first two books better than this one, but it was still really fun!
I loveeeee Makates! He was so sweet and playful and kind. I also loved Ace- I just felt like them together as a couple felt forced. They are sooooo different and while I do believe opposites can attract, it didn’t feel organic in this case. I feel like the other couples in the series had better chemistry.
The story itself was fun! Knowing that there’s going to be a fourth book and with how the ending played out, the story will go on. This book kind of felt like a filler, but still had decent plot.
Ultimately I liked the first two books better than this one, but it was still really fun!
May 2, 2025
Didn't love this one. Maketes is a sweetie pie but I could care less about Ace, she was very boring lmao. I also didn't like how we didn't really get to read about their relationship build up via messaging so when they met, i didn't care about it. I hope the next book is better, because im really interested in Fortis.
November 9, 2024
The love I have for this series just increases with each book!! The world, the plot, the character development?! Like it’s all so good. It’s one of those monster romance series that does have spice (obvs), but the plot is so engaging and unique you are locked in!!
I fear the next book will be my fav based on the lil Easter eggs left in this one tho 👀
I fear the next book will be my fav based on the lil Easter eggs left in this one tho 👀
February 15, 2025
4 ⭐
I love this series and I can't wait for the next one
Maketes and Ace have a piece of my heart
I love this series and I can't wait for the next one
Maketes and Ace have a piece of my heart
November 8, 2024
Emma Hamm writes fish men with hearts of gold, a protective and provider streak, humor, and of course - two 🍆
I don't know how else to convince you to read this.
I don't know how else to convince you to read this.
November 6, 2024
⭐ 4,25/5
🌶️ 0,25/5
🌶️ 0,25/5
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