Serenade: A Mermaid Tale

by Mari Bianca

The mermaid met the Witches eyes - they had turned from a deep shade of amethyst to bloodthirsty scarlet. She couldn't look away from them. Fighting the urge to do just that, she asked, 'Payment?' The Witch's smile broadened. 'Now now, young one. Nothing in this world is free. You want a chance at your immortal soul? At true love? You must first give something in return.' Mermaid princess Sirenia has waited her whole life for one special day to come. Her 17th birthday. On this most eagerly anticipated occasion, mermaids of age are allowed to satisfy their curiosity of Humanland for the first time. When each rises to the surface, they always return gratified by their journey, but ultimately agree it is better to be home under the sea. Not Sirenia. When she rises to the surface on the day she comes of age, the youngest daughter of the Sea King realises what she's been missing her whole life. And she's not ready to let it go. So she goes to see the one creature in the seven seas that might be able to help her - but it will cost her everything she has. Her family. Her home. Even her voice. A tale of magic, sacrifice and true love, Serenade is a twist in the classic tale based on Hans Christian Andersen's celebrated fairy tale The Little Mermaid.

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales

252 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2014

About the author

I just love to read.
I also love to write... mostly about mermaids and witches, ghosts and demons. The stuff of beauty and creepiness, myths and social issues.

I studies English and journalism after school. I am busy completing my honours in psychology.

Catch up with me at @MariBiancaBooks

Reviews

[Jane Forester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serenade is a fairy tale retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, and is set the year before the famous storyteller first wrote his tale. The story follows mermaid princess Sirenia, who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere, and has a curiosity of the human world that is unbecoming of a mermaid in the time. This curiosity leads her to break the rules, and spend a lot of her time pining after turning 17 – which is the age all the young mermaids and mermen can rise to the surface for the first time and look upon “humanland”. Just as the classic tale denotes, the little mermaid rises for her birthday and saves a human prince from drowning, only to fall madly in love with him. So she goes to see one of the darkest creatures that dwells under the sea and exchanges her beautiful voice for legs so she can seek her prince out in the above-world - not so easy when you can't even tell him your name.

I enjoyed this story for its originality in retelling the classic tale. It didn’t follow the Disney take on things at all (though I definitely adored that movie!) but rather stayed with the original, much darker version. It was at times sinister and twisty, yet maintained the enchanting characteristics from the original. Perhaps my favourite thing about this title SPOILER ALERT was the appearance of Hans Christian Andersen as a character in the story – a visitor to the kingdom whose experience inspires him to write his Little Mermaid. That was a very cool twist on the part of the author.

As far as writing style goes, it’s clear through the text that this is an author who is making her entry into the market and is sometimes a bit naive and underdeveloped. The book is targeted to young readers and is listed as a children’s book (which certainly fits the subject matter), but the style of writing is more for young adult readers. That said, this is a great debut on the whole, and I’ll definitely be looking out for more of her stuff.

[Gian · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE REACTION 10.09.14

I'm not going to lie. I have been waiting for a mermaid fantasy book for so long. I mean there's a lot out there but I have a good feeling about this one. I can't wait to for this book to be release since I'm a big fan of the little mermaid. So I can't wait to get a copy!

Cheers!

[Lucy Hallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for children and early teens who like mermaids.

[Mary Chin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved The Little Mermaid, you would totally love this book. As it was stated, this book was a retelling of The Little Mermaid, and it really is. I have to say, the book is quite similar to the fairytale, but what I really loved was how the story actually progressed. You will see the main character, Sirenia, grow throughout the whole book, from being a selfish (okay, not really) brat, to doing whatever it takes to save her people. This story has two sides to it, I believe. On one hand, it showed that true love will overcome any pain and every sacrifice is worth it. This can be seen from the fact that Sirenia actually gave up her tail, because she wanted to have legs, which will also make her feel like she's walking on razor blades every single time. On the other hand, it also shows that there were times when you do have to get back to your family, no matter what.

This book was not categorised as Young Adult, which I have no idea as to why, but I feel that it should. I would recommend it to young teenagers. who are on the verge of growing up. Because I believe that everyone can learn what Sirenia learns to, and can relate to her. Honestly, Sirenia's thoughts are similar to those of a teenage girl, curious as to what lays on the other side of the world. She reminds me of me actually, those times when I could not wait to grow up fast enough because I wanted to travel the world HAHA.

But really, this book is a fun read. It will make you laugh, cry and sometimes your eyes will widen in fear of what was going to happen next. And those feelings are exhilarating HAHA.

[Niveah Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty story
Downloaded the free ebook on Amazon so I wasn't expecting too much. Then I read it in a weekend. This book uses the original story by Hans Anderson almost exactly, but adds new dimensions and actually *spoiler alert* has Hans Anderson as a main character. That was the best!

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book was generous enough to send me a copy however because of a strenuous school schedule, I was unable to finish it until now. This was a fun book and it reminded me quite a bit of the Disney movie. It was a fun twist that I quite enjoyed :)

[Angelina Loud · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the close version of Hans story. Loved the original author was actually interpreted into the story. It was a classic flip on the classic fairy tale. I always wanted to believe somehow the sea witch and the king were related. Although Serenia spends her time above water to get the prince to fall in love with her, but when it happens shes forced to stay under water and help her sisters rule, after the sea witch kills their father. its sad really. Nothing was ever mentioned again about Mr Cole and what became of him or the visiting king and his daughter. I felt there were some loose ends that need tying up.

[Yvonne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I waste of time

If u have not seen "the little mermaid". U will love this book. I read the first 5 chapters and realized this was Disney with different names. I then skipped to the last chapter and indeed it is as I thought. If u have not seen the movie then I think u will love this book.

[Ember Nox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and unique

There were many elements of other fairytales in just one book. Not your typical fairytale but still a happier ending that the original. Very well written.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retelling of The Little Mermaid.