Endless Blue Beneath

Daughters of Atlantea #1

by Shannon K. English

In this hauntingly romantic, queer fantasy debut from Shannon K. English, a young mermaid is forced to choose between her old life above the waves and her new life below them.

On land, Eppie will never be anything more than the outcast girl who kissed the grocer’s daughter. But beneath the water’s surface lies a future and a society she could never imagine. Stolen from the shore, she is transformed. Eppie is stronger, swifter—and hungrier. Human flesh smells like heaven on earth, and Eppie is ravenous.

Despite the horror of her new appetites, Eppie learns to love this strange second life. The mermaid colony is mesmerizing, and Eppie’s new sisters are fiercely loyal. When she meets Marie, a stunningly beautiful mermaid with a past as shadowed as her raven-black scales, Eppie finds she no longer needs to resist her deepest desires.

But dark sails are on the horizon. The mermaid hunters are coming, and Eppie must decide whether to protect her new, monstrous family or leave it all behind for a chance to live above the waves once again.

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, Queer, LGBT, Adult, Mermaids, Romance

464 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2026

About the author

Shannon K. English grew up in the bleak and beautiful landscapes of northern England. She is inspired by mythology, fantasy of every kind, and powerful narratives about characters struggling with terrible choices. As an asexual and panromantic author, she tries to tell the representative sci-fi and fantasy stories she loves to read. Her favourite writers include Ursula K. Le Guin, Shannon Hale and Jack London.

Reviews

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Endless Blue Beneath by Sharon K English
Dark fantasy, sapphic Romantasy.
Eppie lives in a world where music is life and success. With the family scrapping by, Eppie is closest to her younger brother who can turn any words into song. When she kisses a school girl, she’s plunged into a version of hate and scorn. If only she could take it back …One afternoon, she sees a girl facedown in the shallow waters of the ocean. Trying to help, she is instead faced with a monster. Eppie is kidnapped, and turned into a mermaid herself with sharp teeth, claws, a tail and a hunger for the blood of men. A monster.
Eppie is taught to love her new mother and sisters but she misses her family. She’s a monster to them now and time is different. She is different.
Eppie becomes close to one sister in particular but won’t cross the line again. She doesn’t want to be ostracized again in her new life.
Danger awaits. Her lifespan could be thousands of years. Or she could be caught and killed by the hunters.

Sad and brokenhearted, Eppie can’t fully embrace her new life with her longing to see her brother again. She is literally a monster. She loves her new sisters but her transformation was difficult and she can’t forget that. She’s told it’s a better and more accepting place but Eppie just isn’t confident of that.

I admired her refusal to eat anything but fish, eels and not man. To not become the predator. But she’s so afraid to ask for more. Understandable since there is no mention of anything more than mother and sisters. But she yearns and that’s sad.
It’s brutal and bloody.
It is a romance. Eppie and Marie have a future.
But be warned, this is more horror than fairytale. Mermaids are predators.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

[Aila Krisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was gorgeous, enchanting, but also so, so, so very painful. I’ve previously read another book by this author and I gotta say she is incredible at evoking very intense emotions in me. Because I loved this, but I also got so riled up by what was happening in the book, all the injustices the protagonist had to endure, that I had to put down the book a couple of times and do some calm breathing. It was so exquisitely painful to read sometimes. It was also so enchantingly atmospheric and wove such emotionally complex relationships between its main characters, I can’t wait to return to this world in the second book. I love these tragic sapphic mermaids.
———
Many Thanks to Orbit Books for this ARC!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s not enough sapphic romantasy and not enough books about mermaids, so obviously I couldn’t resist the siren song of this book.

My favorite thing about Endless Blue Beneath, silly as it may sound, is that this book is not afraid of being about MERMAIDS. Rare as they are in adult fantasy to begin with, I’ve found that most books take one of two approaches: they’re either overly scientific, or they’re magical realism. Both have their place. But sometimes you just want a proper mermaid book, you know?

This book delivers that. It revels in oceanic life, with tons of gorgeous, descriptive imagery. It’s also surprisingly dark; this definitely veered into full-on horror territory in a couple places, particularly the beginning. I loved the sinister, gruesome elements, as well as several really well-executed emotional gut-punches (hello, doomed siblings trope.) Those elements kept the book from ever feeling twee, maintaining a balanced and adult tone.

I hate to admit it, since the sapphic romance was a huge part of the appeal for me, but the romance was by far the weakest link here. It’s… fine. It’s very insta-lovey and lacking in both depth and tension. I did end up enjoying the conclusion, but I think that the author prioritized a particular dramatic reveal over opportunities for meaningful character development for Marie, to the book’s detriment.

This was also just a bit too long. It could have shaved a significant chunk out of the middle, which becomes aimless and meandering for a while before finding its footing again with an explosive final act.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Maeghan 🦋 semi-hiatus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to review this arc!

The set up for this world was absolutely well done and it succeeded in giving the cold & dark tone it wanted to give.

Unfortunately, even if I’m in a really good reading space right now - this story didn’t quite pull me in. I don’t know what the plot was… it was very character driven but it felt as if it was written to just be about the characters and nothing else.

The beginning with her human family was very rushed but you could feel she was depressed and just doing what she had to do to help her family. She was rejected by the community because she kissed a girl, and we could definitely feel that the fmc had a feeling of not belonging.
She fought against what was shown in the first 10% for a good long while though… which made her seem inconsistent & flaky.
The manipulation used by the mermaids ‘mother’ also definitely hindered the establishment of the character’s personality.

The execution leaned heavily on repetition & telling rather than showing. I requested this for the romance but ended up being disappointed as it was extremely toxic.

I think this will definitely find its audience though!

[Penny]

Sapphic mermaids! GIMME

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up thinking I was getting a mermaid fantasy. Instead, I got emotionally dragged to the bottom of the ocean and left there to think about my life choices.

Shannon K. English’s Endless Blue Beneath caught me completely off guard. Published by Orbit Books, thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“In every dream, I drown.”

I have read plenty of books with mermaids. None of them looked like this.

Eppie is already struggling before the story even begins. Years after being rejected for kissing another girl, she’s still carrying the weight of being treated like an outsider. Then one ordinary day turns into a nightmare when she’s pulled beneath the waves and transformed into something she never wanted to become.

What worked best for me was Eppie herself. She isn’t brave all the time. She isn’t always sure what the right choice is. Half the time she feels torn between the family she lost and the strange new one she’s been forced into. That push and pull follows her through the entire book, and honestly, it made me want to keep reading even when the story slowed down.

And yes, let’s talk about the mermaids.

These are not Disney mermaids.

These are the kind of mermaids your grandmother would have warned you about.

They’re unsettling, complicated, sometimes cruel, and more than a little horrifying. There were moments where I physically cringed, and I mean that as a compliment. The body horror caught me by surprise, and the underwater world felt beautiful and disturbing at the same time.

I also ended up caring a lot about Eppie’s relationships. Her connection with her brother Theo hit me especially hard. Some of the scenes involving her human family stayed with me long after I finished reading. The romance with Marie is quieter and slower than I expected, built more on longing and shared understanding than dramatic declarations.

This isn’t a fast-paced fantasy. It’s very character focused, and there were sections that felt a little repetitive for me. But the atmosphere was so strong that I didn’t mind spending extra time in the world.

More than anything, this felt like a story about belonging. About trying to find a place where you can be yourself without apology.

If you enjoy darker fantasy, sapphic romance, found family, creepy folklore, and mermaids that actually feel dangerous, this is worth picking up.

Have you ever read a book where the setting felt so real you could almost step inside it?

[alyssa✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO UNDERRATED!! this is what i love in a sapphic mermaid fantasy book omgggg

the lore, the body horror, the way i felt so deeply for our characters!! absolutely devoured this

the one thing is that the romance went a littleeeee too fast for my liking BUT i can’t wait for book 2

[Gergana]

DNF:20%
I feel depressed...

1. Eppie, the protagonist, is a human who has a miserable, lonely life. When she was a child she kissed another girl while role-playing, her whole village found out and now everyone refuses to associate with her. Jesus... Oh yeah, her father is sick or something and verbally abusive on top.

2. Eppie is dragged under the water by a mermaid. She wakes up in the company of the most useless old woman who is absolutely horrible at explaining stuff... Then is left alone for days... on the verge of starving and dying from thirst, her kidnapper and other mermaids reappear to mock her, torment her, and manhandle her. They drag her this time to their "mother," who forcefully "transforms" her into a mermaid. A painful process that also partly brainwashes her (she becomes part of the "Hive" and can hear the other mermaids' thoughts).

3. Turns out the book synopsis reveals pretty much the whole plot since the mermaid hunters arrive around the 90%. Therefore, I feel no need to read it. I felt horrible for Eppie the whole time.

[ColleenIsBooked · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows Eppie, a girl who has been snatched from the beach by what she later learns is a mermaid. Despite her protests, the mother of this group of mermaids changes Eppie into one of them while also putting a bond in place. Although she misses her human family. Eppie does begin finding her place in the colony. However, disaster is behind every corner, and the fate of the colony is at stake.
This book does start off slow and a bit repetitive as we are in Eppie's head and she does like to ruminate. Although it was slow to start, I did really enjoy the descriptions of mermaid life and where they live, how Eppie was transformed. The author does not hold back on the more gruesome aspects, which I actually appreciated. This didn't feel like a typical mermaid transformation story. We are given a lot of history on the mermaids, while also not shying away from the darker aspects of the lore. Once we got past the halfway mark, the feeling of dread started to hover in the background. Something is not right and it is not what you would expect. I think this book would be great for people who like a siren or mermaid story with a lot of lore but want to also experience some darker themes.

*Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own. Also thanks to Ariel for the buddy read!*

[Montana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️
I ate this UP. Could not stop reading. The writing flowed so well and it was no work at all to get lost in the pages and visualize everything. The underwater setting was a vibe and the plot was engaging. Slow(ish) burn sapphic romance. Characters with depth. Not a perfect 5 star because I feel there is room for more emotional impact (this is only a book 1 in a series) and because forgiveness came a little too easy (IYKYK 😅). Overall, great story!

[Siavahda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those times when a great deal of strange marketing decisions have been made by the publisher, giving a fairly misleading impression of the book. In this case, Endless Blue Beneath is a much darker story than it sounds like; English has written an impressively complex, pretty screwed-up arc for her protagonist Eppie, one that really digs into how Eppie has been kidnapped, and transformed into something not-human against her will. It's painful and traumatic and awful, pretty body-horror at points; she's treated like something between a toy and a slave and livestock, forcibly shapeshifted, and then to cap it all, she's mind-controlled into being happy about all of it.

UM.

Not at all the story I was expecting from the official description!

The worldbuilding is great: mermaid colonies are led by and revolve around whale-sized giant mermaids who are the mothers to most members of the colony. This is hands-down my favourite detail of this book! Mermaids don't have hair or breasts; instead of hair they have tendrils similar to a sea anemone's. They can communicate telepathically with members of their own colony, and speak aloud in a language made up of clicks and whistles like dolphins. And we eventually get long-lost Atlantis, too, which I was not expecting but did not at all disapprove of. There's conflict surrounding 'land-born' mermaids like Eppie, ones who started out human, especially since the transformation doesn't 'take' with everyone, and those who are left in-between occupy a pretty miserable niche in their colonies.

Bonus: mermaids REALLY love eating humans, human men specifically. At one heartbreaking point, Eppie comes very close to eating her little brother.

My problem was not with any of that: I just really struggled with the prose. Endless Blue Beneath is written in first-person present-tense, which almost never works for me and didn't here. There wasn't as much description as I wanted (which seems an extra shame because Eppie visits multiple biomes that I really wanted tons of lavish detail about) though in fairness we get lots of physical description of the mermaids, which was delightful (and I adore the author's design of her mermaids). And I thought things felt rushed, like everything was constantly moving too fast - though I think some readers are going to appreciate that there is always something happening; for example, we meet our first mermaid in chapter two, so it really doesn't take long for the story to get going.

None of the characters felt very fleshed-out to me, including Eppie. I don't know if it would have helped if we'd seen her as a human for longer, because I think the real issue was that she simply didn't have a lot of personality - she’s a lesbian and ostracised for it, and that’s...basically it. No hobbies, no passions, no friends, nothing to really define her. Her baby brother has more of a personality and he's barely on-page. The rest of the cast is the same: they're each defined by one trait, maybe two. This mermaid is the 'mean' one, this one badly wants kids of her own, etc. By the time I was 30% into the book, I still didn't care about any of the characters - I thought Eppie's situation was horrific and wanted it resolved because of that, but not because I didn't want bad things happening to her specifically, you know?

I skipped to read the last few chapters and...don't feel that I missed out. Some of it is objectively very cool, but between the prose and the personality-less characters, I don't regret skipping the majority of the book.

I do think Endless Blue Beneath could appeal to a lot of vampire fans, because Eppie's transformation, and adjustment afterwards, very much echoes a lot of darker vampire stories. The scene where Eppie smells/tastes human blood for the first time being a prime example!

But yeah. This could have been awesome, and I think a lot of readers will love it (the other early reviews I've seen have been glowing). But it didn't work for me, alas.

[Linda (The Arizona Bookstagrammer) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In the summer haze of childhood’s end, we wished magic was real. Now…I hate it.”
Thank you Orbit Books @orbitbooks_us Netgalley @netgalley and Shannon K. English @skengli for this free book! PUBLISHES JUNE 9, 2026
“Endless Blue Beneath” (Daughters of Atlantea #1) by Shannon K. English. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Fantasy, in the time of stagecoaches and 4-masted ships. NOTE: LGBTQIA+ inclusive.

On land, Eppie Wester (24) is the outcast girl who kissed Lucy Craig 10 years ago. Kidnapped from the shore by dark-skinned, red-scaled mermaid Myre, Eppie is transformed into an underwater monster. She’s stronger, swifter, and hungrier-human flesh smells like heaven. Despite the pain and horror, Eppie loves her new sisters (her mermaid colony mother told her she does). But mermaid hunters full of Biblical wrath are hunting them with cannons. Will Eppie protect her new, monstrous family, or turn on them?

Author English’s book is a dark, gay-cannibalistic-mermaid, horror story. She creates an emotionally charged atmosphere full of rivalries, found family, and identity. English’s evocative writing style supports her amazing world-building: (“…the delicate traceries of spun-sugar coral…”) (“Little hands in her open wounds, little teeth in her flesh…”) It can get a bit confusing when someone is dreaming, but keep reading and it will become clear. It’s a distinctly horrific take on mermaids, a dark and stormy romance tale, and it’s 5 stars from me 📚👩🏼‍🦳#netgalley

[Jnix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book! 🫶🏻 🧜‍♀️

The writing in this book is gorgeous. Really dream-like and engaging; I loved picturing the varied biomes Eppie travelled to, from the dark of the deep, deep sea to the warm waters of the tropics. The concept behind the mermaid families and the lore of their matriarchs was SO compelling. The author isn’t afraid of tragedy and so many characters are complex and shades of grey.

I had difficulty with the pacing of the story — I would have liked a bit more time spent with Eppie as a human, and more time spent on each time Eppie’s loyalties shifted. There were a handful of times where her motivations/loyalties flip flopped two or three times in one or two scenes, and the confusion and struggle to figure out what’s “right” or “true” felt forced. There were many threads at work throughout the book — control, freedom, love, truth, change, grief, religion — and the story could have benefitted from trimming that number down to focus on only a few main themes. Having so many at once muddied them all.

3.5 stars! I genuinely enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

[Ariel (ariel_reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent first installment of a duology, and I'm interested to see where this goes. I loved the deep dive (ha) into the mermaid history and lore, and how that impacts the characters' decisions. The different mermaids around the world's regions was also a cool touch. We follow Eppie, who is turned into a mermaid against her will and has to reckon with the fact her life is changed forever. There's a lot of build up and world building, but overall this was an intriguing and immersive read.

A huge thank you to Orbit for the gifted copy in exchange for my thoughts and to Colleen for buddy reading this with me!

[Courtney Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

more like 2.5 //

this was really not marketed correctly in my opinion. based on the tags i was expecting a lesbian romantasy with mermaids but it really was not that romantic at all and most of the book is actually quite dark. eppie is kidnapped and forced to undergo the transformation against her will and then has to constantly combat compulsion/brain washing to remember her reality throughout the book and i just don’t think the love interest between her and the other mermaid was that touching

that said i still thought the plot was interesting and the writing was really well done it just wasn’t what i was anticipating at all

[Kaitie Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

🧜‍♀️ Monstrous Mermaids
🌊 Queer Identity
🧜‍♀️ Finding Your Place
🌊 Coming of Age
🧜‍♀️ Horror / Fantasy

Ooh, this one is interesting, because while I loved many elements of this story: I wanted to feel more invested in the story itself. This book is marketed as an Adult Fantasy; however, the prominent coming-of-age and grappling-with-identity themes make it feel like a YA story.

•

Eppie is an outcast, a queer girl in a world that doesn't accept her for it. She spends her days caring for her father and little brother in their cottage home—that is until she is captured, taken out to sea and transformed into a mermaid. As she grapples with her new form of existence, she is haunted by memories of her past, the feeling that she still doesn't fit in and an aversion to her new desire for human flesh.

•

This story is beautifully written. The descriptions of the underwater settings are immersive and atmospheric. I love monstrous mermaids, and some of the horror elements in this (like accidental near-human consumption) worked for me. I loved the function of the mermaid colonies. There is so much great scene-setting and the author has created a rich fantasy world.

Unfortunately, this story was just a little too slow-moving for me to fully *immerse* myself. Eppie as a character is frustrating, because she has these strong moral values but flip-flops on those principles. The romantic element felt underdeveloped to me, and a little forced. The story is very romance-lite. The narrative shifts from Eppie longing for home to Eppie wanting to save the mermaid colonies from harm—and we spend so much time on the former that it impacts the authenticity of the latter. While the worldbuilding and story are gorgeous, I found myself growing bored with the actual character interactions.

People who love a coming-of-age story and want a darker fantasy mermaid spin will probably enjoy this book. It is a magical read, unfortunately, I didn't feel as invested in the story as I'd hoped.

Thank you to Orbit Books for the ARC of this book. All thoughts and feedback contained within this review are my own.

[Dreamcaitcher_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man, this book was not what I was expecting ! I went into it for the sapphic mermaids and ended up in a dark horror antasy full of manipulation and quite toxic relationships. I loved this book and want Eppie to have the nicest life she possibly can because how can someone endure so much over the course of 400 pages. I am very excited but so so scared of book 2. Man, this is going to be a long wait.

[Amy Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I liked it but it was a bit slow at first and lowkey I was not invested in the romance other than the fact that they were lesbian mermaids

[Diana]

Dnfed at 60%
I wasn't feeling it, not the story or the characters. Appreciated the darker take on mermaids, but the book and I didn't click

[Bookish Selkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endless Blue Beneath is a beautiful and mesmerizing read. The story unfurled like a siren song, until suddenly you find yourself pulled into the most immersive world. The world-building is incredible. I was so impressed with the details of the different colonies, the dynamics between the sisters, and the complex relationship between mothers/daughters. It’s a haunting love story to the ocean that holds more mysteries than we are even aware of. Readers who seek mermaids who lean more monstrous than Ariel, sapphic romance, and underwater mysteries will devour Endless Blue Beneath. I absolutely can’t wait to read the sequel after that ending!

Thank you to Shannon English, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Tai · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

Endless Blue Beneath is a very horror-forward fantasy where chosen women are stolen and turned into mermaids, having to completely sever ties with their human families under the guise that this place is better for them. Oh, and did I mention they also eat the humans that they can’t convert?

Eppie lives a mundane life in a poor, small town with her family of gifted musicians when she is kidnapped, forcibly turned into a mermaid, and effectively drugged into serving and living alongside a colony of mermaids. This story had lush, illustrative world building of these deep sea Colonias, was full of morally gray characters, a deep inner turmoil over family and belonging, and a toxic sapphic relationship you’re not sure if you should be rooting for.

The first few chapters were slow and torturous to our main character, but I thoroughly enjoyed the quests Eppie goes on in the sea. Discovering why the different Mothers eggs are dying, her struggle with not being able to communicate with her human brother, and finding Marie, the only other mermaid who’s not comfortable eating humans. Many of the relationships in this story are more “forced family” than found family but I did appreciate how Eppie’s kinship with Ossind and Nemri went beyond her bindings to Mother. They truly cared for one another. Marie was a complicated character and I found her mystery intriguing but I thought her morals by the end of the story were a little contradictory.

Overall this was a very interesting story with a lot of compelling complications and stunning underwater world building but I wasn’t super satisfied with the ending as I felt it didn’t truly solve the main issues of the story. I also had a hard time sympathizing with the mermaids the majority of the time due to Eppie’s mindset throughout the beginning of the book. An intriguing book to end off mermay and a huge thanks to Orbit and Hachette for sending me this finished copy of Endless Blue Beneath!

[Cameron King · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting and enjoyed parts of it. I thought the descriptions of mermaids as an escape from bigotry and pain of humanity was beautiful. Eppie was an interesting character in a world that had no truly good beings. I felt the love story was interesting but extremely toxic and don’t really understand why they ended up together. I also found the pacing hard since we had long descriptions of each colony and long areas of little plot, but then moments of very interesting, climatic scenes that I enjoyed
Overall a solid 3.5 stars

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

now me personally, I’m not forgiving her that easily because wtf. i’m a little bit interested in reading the next book

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who will pick up just about any novel featuring mermaids, sirens, or underwater mythology, Endless Blue Beneath by Shannon K. English seemed like it was written specifically for me. I love stories that blend folklore with mystery and romance, and I was so excited to dive into this world. The premise is undeniably intriguing, and the oceanic setting has all the ingredients for an immersive fantasy. Unfortunately, despite the beautiful concept, this one just didn't work for me.

The novel follows a young woman whose life becomes intertwined with an ancient underwater world inhabited by mysterious sea beings. As secrets surrounding the ocean begin to unravel, she finds herself caught between the human world she knows and the alluring, dangerous realm beneath the waves. Along the way, she uncovers hidden truths about herself, forms complicated relationships, and becomes entangled in conflicts that stretch back generations.

The strongest aspect of Endless Blue Beneath is undoubtedly its world-building. Shannon K. English creates an imaginative mythology that feels fresh while still drawing on familiar mermaid and siren lore. The underwater civilization, its customs, and the magical elements all sparked my imagination. I genuinely wanted to learn more about this world, and there were moments when I could see just how incredible the story could have been.

The characters themselves are likable enough, though I never felt particularly attached to them. The protagonist is curious and determined, making her easy to root for on paper, but I struggled to connect with her emotionally. Much of her journey felt internal, and because the pacing is so slow, it seemed like her development stalled for long stretches. The supporting cast offers hints of interesting personalities, particularly the enigmatic sea dwellers, but few of them receive enough depth to leave a lasting impression. I kept waiting for relationships to evolve or for emotional stakes to rise, but everything remained surprisingly subdued.

My biggest issue with the novel was its pacing. Simply put, it felt like very little actually happened. Chapters passed with long conversations, internal reflections, and descriptions of the world without much forward momentum. While atmospheric fantasy can absolutely thrive on slower storytelling, I still need to feel like the plot is progressing. Here, I often found myself wondering when the story was finally going to begin.

Because of that, I spent much of the book feeling bored instead of captivated. There are moments that hint at larger conflicts and exciting revelations, but they arrive so gradually that they never generated the sense of urgency or wonder I was hoping for. Every time I thought the story was about to pick up, it settled back into another stretch of exposition or introspection.

That's honestly what makes this book such a frustrating read for me. The foundation is solid. The concept is genuinely cool, the mythology is interesting, and the underwater setting has so much potential. I kept reading because I wanted the story to deliver on everything it promised. I could easily imagine another version of this novel with tighter pacing and more dynamic plotting becoming one of my favorite mermaid fantasies.

Sadly, that wasn't the experience I had. Instead of being swept away into an unforgettable underwater adventure, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. It's not a poorly written book—the prose is pleasant, and the author's imagination shines through—but the narrative simply moves too slowly for my taste.

Readers who enjoy highly atmospheric fantasy with a deliberate pace may find more to appreciate here than I did. If you're looking for a story where the setting takes center stage and don't mind waiting for the plot to unfold, Endless Blue Beneath may be worth exploring. For me, though, it never quite came together. I wanted to love this book because I adore mermaid and siren stories, but in the end, I walked away feeling that the incredible world deserved a more compelling story to match it.

[the vegetarian]

dnf 40% in :(

i’ll admit i was drawn to this because of the beautiful cover, and the premise of sapphic mermaids sounded amazing. but the execution was a little rough around the edges and a bit misaligned with the marketing/blurb of the book. the writing was juvenile and there were some grammatical errors that distracted form the reading experience. i thought this book was going to be much more romance-forward, maybe even a little spicy, but i got nearly 200 pages in and the development of the love interest/romance hadn’t even started yet. the first half of the book was mainly focused on eppie’s backstory, her mermaid transformation, and her integration into mermaid society. the writing was just not immersive and these “mermaid colonies” were not really well-explained or developed despite all the attention being shifted to this facet of the story. there was also some body horror, but as an avid horror reader, it didn’t really feel disturbing or visceral. there was a lot of telling rather than showing. the potential is there, but the author does need to hone their craft a bit more and step into a voice that feels both unique and immersive. the fantasy genre is SATURATED with amazing writing, stories, and magic systems, so i really was just expecting a bit more of this book.

[Bree Kaitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF’ed at 67%. My review will only reflect on what I’ve read.

Thank you to Orbit and the author for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a disappointment. Typically, I come to love all Orbit books, but this one didn’t hit for me.

Initially, I was super into the concept. The fact that a human woman gets dragged out from her home to live the rest of her life as a mermaid sounds super interesting! However, I felt like the story really lulled and I struggled to make it through to where I DNF’ed. As nicely as I can put this, I didn’t have a desire to find out what happened since I lost interest in the character.

Also, this book has a sapphic relationship, and I quite honestly didn’t feel a connection between the two love interests. Maybe they developed a connection after the point I’ve read, but I wasn’t rooting for them to be together since I felt not chemistry between them.

If you’re super into mermaids and how a human adapts to being a mermaid, I would recommend this book. It just didn’t work for me.

[sydney | books + cats || thebookishcatmom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Orbit for this eARC!

The premise was really interesting but I had a hard time connecting fully with the story. It felt like a lot and also not enough at the same time and I occasionally found myself confused by time jumps or what felt like them.

I'm not sure if this was the author's intent, but I definitely saw parallels between recognizing queerness in ones self and how that can translate into kids making fun of a person, being seen as a 'monster' or just differently and how it can be hard for family to understand an accept. A lot of those themes were intertwined with the mermaid aspects of the novel and I thought that was super thought-provoking and a great way to showcase discovering one's self in a different way.

I don't think I will continue this series, but it was a fairly decent read.

[rebeccareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delivering a fresh take on mermaids is no small feat! Shannon K. English’s ambitious, monstrous interpretation feels brand new. It doesn’t start that way - we’ve got a classic lonely, lost outsider who thinks she’s saving a girl from the seas but is instead dragged into their depths by a horrifying monster. From there, though, things get weird, in a great way. With plant magic, cannibalism, tons of body horror, a cool take on the lost city of Atlantis, several fun ship-breaking scenes, mommy issues galore, and plenty of good old-fashioned lesbian drama, there is a lot going on in The Endless Blue Beneath. And I loved pretty much all of it - the mermaids’ origin story is fascinating and fresh, the body horror is top-notch, and the action scenes had me on the edge of my seat. I’m looking forward to book 2!

[Izzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might work for some readers, but it didn’t work for me. The writing felt very repetitive and lacked subtlety, and the plot dragged. It had a lot of elements that I would normally like—sapphic relationships and body horror, for example—but they weren’t executed well. I never found myself actually caring about the characters OR story, and I thought about DNFing a lot. 😬

[Kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shannon K. English thank you for this incredible novel, you reawakened a deep-seated childhood love for mermaids and the ocean and awe-inspiring world building that has not been awakened in so long 🥲 anybody who used to play mermaids as a little girl, struggled with homophobia growing up, or just has a love for sisterhood and beautiful, scary sea creatures absolutely needs to read this book 😭💔