Sea Swept

Sisters Ever After #6

by Leah Cypess

The final book in the Sisters Ever After series of fairy tale retellings from the point of view of the siblings in the background, this is the captivating of story Daria and her older sister, Meria, who has left their life under the sea for a human prince. But when Meria needs Daria’s help, she must travel to the human world to save her older sister.

Daria grew up in Serema, an underwater city where merfolk and humans livetogether in peace. She’s not interested in life out of the water, unlike her oldersister, Meria, who has fallen in love with a human prince.

Still, when Daria gets a distress message from Meria, she’s willing totrade her mermaid tail for legs if it means getting her sister back below thesurface as fast as possible. Except Meria has vanished, and none of thehumans will tell Daria where she is.

In the strange world above the sea, Daria will soon discover that shecan’t trust anyone—and that whatever happened to her sister might happen toher next.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Retellings, Childrens, Mermaids, Adventure

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 29, 2025

About the author

I wrote my first story in first grade. The narrator was an ice-cream cone in the process of being eaten. In fourth grade, I wrote my first book, about a girl who gets shipwrecked on a desert island with her faithful and heroic dog (a rip-off of both The Black Stallion and all the Lassie movies, very impressive).

After selling my first story (Temple of Stone) while in high school, I gave in to my mother’s importuning to be practical and majored in biology at Brooklyn College. I then went to Columbia Law School and practiced law for almost two years at a large law firm in New York City. I kept writing and submitting in my spare time, and finally, a mere 15 years after my first short story acceptance, I sold my first novel to Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins).

I live in Silver Spring, Maryland (right outside of Washington, D.C.) with my husband and four children.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daria is a young mer girl whose sister gave up her tail to follow and marry a prince with whom she had fallen in love (sound familiar?). But when Meribel sends a message, “Help me.” Daria knows that she must use the potion given her by the creature of the deep, Arabella, to find her sister. She has terrible trouble navigating with her new legs, but gets help from a seemingly nice boy who offers to lead her to the castle of Prince Roderig. She soon discovers that the prince is going to marry awful Princess Vinezia (instead of Meribel), whose father wants to disrupt the peace and destroy the mer people. Thus begins the quest for Daria to find her sister and discern who to trust and who are her enemies. She faces many challenges, and puts her life own in grave danger, but loyalty to her sister and her people prevent her from giving up. The author imbues the main characters with emotional complexity and keeps the plot exciting to the end. Mermaid and fantasy lovers will enjoy this page turner.

Recommended for ages 8-12 by the SEPA Book Reviewers

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in the Sisters Ever After series. Sad to see this series conclude but have enjoyed seeing fairy tales told from a different sibling's perspective each time. This time Daria is the main character and she chooses to become human to help her sister - Readers know the sister as the Little Mermaid. Daria asks for help from a palace servant, Jano, so she can get to the castle and talk with the Prince. She discovers that her sister is missing and the story line builds from there. We see a sea creature determined to cause trouble; an evil Princess who wants to destroy the Mer, and betrayal from those who seemed to be friends. The plot builds until the final showdown. Daria does save the humans and mer and rids the kingdom of the emperor and his daughter. Peace settles over both kingdoms to finish the tale.

[R2 Ireland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really great, surprisingly unpredictable mystery book. Here are my thoughts.

Characters
Daria: A little TOO jump-to-conclusiony, but still a great character. I LOVE her name.

Jano: I knew something was up with this guy. Don't like him at all.

Rodgerig: For having such a stuck up name, he's a surprisingly good character.

Meribel: I don't know much about her.

Arabella: SAY WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Story
It was a great story about sisterly love and discovery. I liked the Easter eggs.

Conclusion
This book left me wanting to read more after I got about half way through. It was better than the Beauty and the Beast book, but not quite as good as The Piper's Promise. Still really great.

[Sally Basmajian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun middle-grade reading experience! I can imagine being a young girl, totally swept up in the adventure, as our intrepid heroine risks it all to save her sister and their world. I like the ambiguous nature of the "deepfolk" and the uncertainty I feel about Arabella's role, as the plot twists and turns. The author makes me wonder about what is about to happen, which keeps me up past my bedtime, wanting to read more.

Most of all, I like the crisp, competent writing. Well done, Leah Cypress.

[Kristin Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing - Couldn't Put It Down

As always, Leah Cypess weaves a wonderful story. This one is a subtle yet thought provoking word picture of working through fear of "different" people we don't know or understand.

I have absolutely loved this whole series and am sad that this is the final book. I look forward to what might be next for this brilliant storyteller.

[Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually the first book of this series I read, and it stands on its own just fine. I thought the world was really cool and I read it in under twenty-four hours. It was fun and the kind of story that reminds me why I like middle grade books. Also, isn’t the cover gorgeous?

Definitely recommend it!

[MANSI SHARMA · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice experience 👍

[Hadara Valenzuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Camille Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my 4 year old. It kept her attention for a little bit but would’ve been better if she was a little older 🤣

[A Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'm growing out of these types of books.

[Kinlee Lytle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay...