Speechless

Unfortunate Souls #1

by Madeline Freeman

She longs to be part of his world. He desires to be anywhere else.

In a world where uncommon powers are feared by ordinary people, seventeen-year-old Aria must hide who she is or risk being shipped off to a detention facility for people with abilities—for aberrations like her.

Enrique Martinez is tired of having every moment of his life live-streamed to eager viewers. When he learns the cameras will go dark for forty-eight hours, he vows to break the rules and have the adventure of a lifetime—if even for only a day.

When Aria’s ability to breathe underwater is discovered, her life collides with Enrique’s, entangling their fates. Swept up in a global deception, Aria must choose between her safety and her desires, between her family and the life she’s always wanted.


From USA Today-bestselling author Madeline Freeman comes a futuristic spin on The Little Mermaid, full of adventure, romance, and out-of-this-world excitement. Fans of Marissa Meyer will love this pulse-pounding retelling!

If you love twisted fairytale retellings, fast-paced action, and forbidden romance, buy now to start thrilling new series today!

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Science Fiction, Ebooks, Mermaids, Paranormal

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2018

Reviews

[S.A. Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable retelling
The Little mermaid was by itself an enjoyable fairy tale.
In Speechless, the author had managed to bring it out excellently well, making Aria as an aberration who can breathe underwater. Aria’s dream is to go to the colony on Mars and that starts her adventure in the story.
Aria has been etched very well and the essence of her character especially her determination comes out very well in the story.
I enjoyed the retelling with the novel elements brought in to suit the futuristic story.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on iBooks today (7/4/2020)! 🎁

[Elsbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story leaves me speechless...
But, since there are readers out there who would like to know more about it, I'll try to tell you a little bit more...
I wanted to read this story, because I love fairy tale retellings. And, yes, this is a wonderful 'little mermaid'-retelling. Actually it is way better than the original. And very, very different! It is a dystopian, sci-fi, adventure story. With a Hungergames-feeling, but without the killing.
The story and its characters pulled me right in! The story, not the water.
In short: I loved it! I can't wait to read more!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divergent meets The Little Mermaid but 10000% better than Divergent.

Aria is an aberration who can breathe underwater. With special abilities comes special circumstances, and Aria is about to have the adventure of a lifetime. . . just not one she was expecting. Danger, conspiracies, and uncertainties are all around the corner.

So first off, that cover is so beautiful. It's what caught my attention when I was scrolling through Kindle Unlimited (covers are sellers). The story? Just as great.

The story gives us some juicy details on the aberrations and the colony on Mars but of course not too much info. There is a lot left uncovered. I have so many questions. The biggest one being why?

Despite similarities to other dystopian-like books, this one is unique. I like the retelling aspect a lot.

[Keith Bornmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good story

I really enjoyed reading this. However, it seemed a little short. The main character is interesting and genuine. Following her through the story was fun. The story was fairly clean, no sexual content and few if any profanities. The romance was low key. I would recommend this for anyone

[Cherokee - Books With A Chance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took long enough

This book sounded amazing, and I was able to download it for free... win win. But it took so long for it to get interesting, over 50% of the way through honestly. And I'm left with so many questions. Its dystopian, with with Unsure small touch of romance. The ebook that I had also had some errors, causing me to have to slow down and reread a few spots. Unsure if I'll continue the series as I thought this was a standalone novel, but I do enjoy retellings. We will see.

[Lori Guerrieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly enjoyable read

This book was hard to put down. Enjoyed all the twists. I liked the characters and story so much, I bought the next book in the series and pre-ordered the third.

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love the little mermaid and scifi then you will love this authors take on it. This has things that I love and it is a great read for everyone.

[Mimia The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I tell you I really like fairytale retellings? I think I already did but there’s no reason to not tell you again. Because, hey, I really really like fairytale retellings.
And, apparently, I even like futuristic fairytale retellings that have mysterious powers, stupid societies, an underwater LA, a stream of the people living on Mars, secrets and people with magical powers (definitely not the best way to put it. They’re called aberrations in this world so you get an idea how they’re treated).
If this doesn’t make want to read this book I don’t know what could. I was hooked from the beginning.
The only thing I didn’t like as much was the end because there wasn’t much resolution and just the lead to the next book in the series (which I really want to read but I can’t buy books right now).
I’ll be stalking this author to see what other thinks she comes up with.

[Xena Elektra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very unique retelling of the Little Mermaid. I don't normally like LM retellings but authors have been stepping it up lately! I've read quite a few in the past year or two that are really, really good.

This one is special because it's a post-apocalyptic story where the LM(Aria) is a mutant(aberration) and just like with x-men universe it's safer to just stay quiet about your powers. Mutants aren't required to register yet or outright illegal or anything, but they're treated with suspicion and are more likely to vanish or have regular people act out against them than the average person.

Aria's power allows her to breathe underwater and together with her adopted brother, Alonzo, they search for treasure in the sunken city of LA to sell.

Aria desperately wants to leave her world for Mars since she believes it'd be safer(which really doesn't make any sense because it's colonized by people from Earth and they're just as likely to be anti-mutant as the people ON Earth not to mention it'd be harder to hide her gift with a smaller community and constant monitoring of colonists actions). Part of it's because she's gobsmacked over Enrique(the prince figure she's never met but is of course madly in crush with).

She goes through the recruitment process for the next Mars colony and things quickly spiral out of control and she finds that the government is hiding some pretty major secrets. She's coerced into becoming part of this larger drama and we get to see a lot of the traditional LM elements like losing her voice, pain while walking, and rescuing the prince. Instead of a sea witch there's two different women who I'd classify as villains and of course some faceless government organizations that have hidden agendas.

The only things I didn't really like is that Aria really wasn't that mad at Dalton? Delton? or the security guard guy Creed? Reed? Sorry, the two guys who are operating the other end of the mission. Considering that they're basically her handlers and one of the played her pretty bad I'd think she'd be somewhat upset with them. Yet she's pretty chill about the whole thing and seems like she's more interested in seeing them as partners/friends than anything. The whole connection between her and them made zero sense from how a normal person would react.

The other thing was that when Aria meets Enrique he's of course everything she ever imagined blah blah. How boring. The guy she's been pining after over a television reality show happens to be the one person she saves, and meets again to spend time with, and oh look he's actually everything she wanted and he's so great blah blah. It would've been more interesting if her vision of her perfect crush would've been shattered and he'd been evil or something. It's just a bit eyeroll worthy that the guy she and every other girl has been daydreaming about is exactly what she pictured. (but oh it's so silly and everything that the OTHER girls are pining after him but somehow her interest is toooootaaalllyyy different).

Other than those two things this is a very enjoyable read with a whole new take on the LM that ends with you wanting more. (and more there is)

[K. Weikel · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprising

I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. It was a pleasant surprise and kept me enthralled the whole time. People forget about the original Little Mermaid story, and. I love the references to it!

Putting the Little Mermaid in a futuristic setting is something I never thought I needed, but here we are. Plus, I love that it’s a clean/non-mature story! I feel like it’s getting harder and harder to find ones like that.

I loved reading this, and can’t wait for more.

[Kitlina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very refreshing to read. I loved Aria, her loyalty and fiery determination. Although this was a short story it had all the elements of a really great book. Unfortunately there wasn't much Enrique time but I don't know why I see something more with Reed there in the future. He's more real for me.

[Jamie Lee Zonneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautifull little mermaid retelling. I loved the story and the characters.
Can't wait for the next book in this series
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lara (Atlas Of Stories) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dystopian little mermaid retelling.

Rating: 4/5

Speechless tells us a story about a world that changed drastically. A typical dystopian world, but with a twist. Some people who have special abilities are called aberrations. Aria is one of them, as she can breathe underwater. The new world she is living in with her family is not safe for her. Aberrations are being hunted and put inside a holding facility. Then there is a live stream that is very popular. The stream shows a group of people who are living on Mars. Aria loves to watch Enrique who is a boy of her age, who is living on Mars.

Enrique wants more. More adventure. Living on Mars inside a dome is not really what he wants anymore.

Aria also wants more, she wants to explore Earth or even Mars with her brother. When she gets the chance to participate in a series of tests to be one of the people to go to Mars, she doesn't hesitate for long. But there is more going on with the testing facility, and the place on Mars.

And so their adventure begins. Aria does remind me of the little mermaid with some small similarities, like her breathing underwater, losing her voice for a short while, or having issues with walking un land for a while. Also her treasure-hunting underwater for 'useless stuff' such as globes of Mars. Meanwhile, Enrique has a similar wish to explore, but his characteristics are still a bit of a vague mystery for me. We don't get to know many people who are living on Mars, so who they are, what they are like is not something that comes up.

Overall I liked the idea of combining a dystopian setting with aberrations. Aria is not the only one who has a special skill and soon she discovers that there is more than just diving for treasures, working at the family's restaurant, and gazing at the stream of Mars. Her adventure, her dangerous mission is the right kind of adventure I was hoping for. And I wish to see more of this in the next books in the series.

I recommend this book for people who are into dystopian fantasy, and also fairy tale retellings, like Marissa Meyer The Lunar Chronicles series (Cinder).

[Katheyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Speechless” is the first installment on Madeline Freeman’s “Unfortunately Souls”, an urban fantasy paranormal series that offers a brand-new version of H.C. Anderson’s unforgettable “The Little Mermaid”. Set in a futuristic world Speechless focuses on Aria, who is considered an abomination due to her ability to breath under water, a fact that she keeps hidden from everyone. Those person as known as “aberrations”, targeted by the government and forced to register. Aria is hiding in plain sight, working as waitress in a restaurant in L.A. Enrique Martinez seems the opposite of Aria, he lives her life on the open, streaming 24/7 for his fans. In fact, Enrique’s life is taxing and depleting, thus he is excited to learn that all cameras as schedule to go dark for two days, and already planning to make the most of his gifted anonymity. As Enrique and Aria collide, their lives become interwoven into a governmental plot to control all “aberrations” and populate a Mars colony in the process.

Madeline Freeman has created an interesting coherent futuristic world, with distinct characteristics for both L.A. and the Mars colony. This is the start to what it already promises to be a fascinating series, that will surely appeal to Hunger Games and Divergent fans.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Old La, Aria is an extraordinary girl in the sense that she has gills making her able to stay underwater for long periods. It used to be Los Angeles before an earthquake hit the city submerging it in the water. 🏙

Sometimes she goes scavenging with her adopted brother Alonzo Gonzales among the ruins of Los Angeles.

Her father works as a head cook in a restaurant called Under the Sea. Aria also works as a waitress at the restaurant with four of her sisters 👯‍♀️

Aria is considered an aberration because she has gills. She and her family have done their best to hide this from people. To this end, her father has warned her to steer clear of the water until the tourist season is over. This is to risk not getting caught.

Citizens who use their aberrant abilities to commit crimes are sent to Aberration detention facility.

Then there’s a show called the Colonists where people from earth are sent to Mars to live while their lives are being broadcast on earth. In addition, there are people employed to monitor every camera feed to keep tabs on what every person in the Colony is doing at all times.

When Aria learns there another selection process underway, shehopes to be selected to experience life on Mars.

[LM Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew that this was a retelling of the Little Mermaid, but I didn't expect to find scenes that were able to make me envision the beloved animated movie.

Aria = Ariel
Enrique = Eric
Trent = Triton
A plethora of music-themed sisters.
A sidekick.
Scavenging through old ruins.
Dad discovering and getting angry - right down to the "I'm old enough" argument and running off.
Boy going overboard and taking him back to shore.
Boy not really able to remember her, but trying to piece it together.
A lost voice.

That being said..... I thought that the author did a good job of merging the familiar with a whole new world. (Wait.... wrong movie!) The change of the Earth as we know it. The terraforming and colonization of Mars. The stream of said colony. The mission needed to get information.

It drew me in and kept me there - even if I did do some "love at first sight" eye rolling. Although that too was interesting and ended up not being what I expected.

The ending was great and left me wondering what happened next.

[Cj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Bookbub, for free.
I had an idea as to what this book was about.

It was written well, and I wanted to like it more. I just didn't. I felt like the ending left a lot to be desired (there were, just too many questions at the end). Also, I thought that the whole tale of moving the spaceship (around the volcano & back again) was just tedious and unnecessary. I felt like all of that, could have been edited out.

The description of Aria's leg pain... that was accurate and highly cringe worthy. I would know, because I live with those leg pains. Each excruciating step, that could be felt from the ankles, knees, hips, and spine... I was there. I did appreciate the Spanish (version) exchange for character names.

Descriptions was well written. Romance seemed minimum. And family dynamics left a lot to be desired. I would not recommend this book. It just feels like something is missing.

[Merle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on my e-reader and was really intrigued by a "retelling of the little mermaid plus sci fi" (so like, Marissa Meyer vibes). Overall, it was an okay read. However, had I known it was part of a series, I would not have pushed through...

The parallels to TLM are: the protagonists have A and E initials, Aria has a lot of sisters that all have music-themed names, she can breathe underwater, she goes to a different world even though her dad tells her no, looses her voice and saves the guy from drowing. That's kinda it.
And I feel like it could have been a good baseline, but the sci fi aspect fell really flat for me, I couldn't understand or grasp it, and there were so many questions left unanswered. The pacing is also really slow and it took over half of the book for something to happen - because I thought it was a standalone, I kept going because I thought the answers would be coming soon... but they didn't and I am not invested enough to continue the series.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow start to a series. A somewhat interesting take on the Little Mermaid. Aria is a 17 year old girl who wants more from her life than working in the family restaurant. When she hears about a selection center choosing candidates for the next colony on Mars, she immediately wants to go. Despite her father's fears that it might be a scam to find and register aberrations. There are a few twists and of course nothing is as Aria expects it to be.

This was not a long book, but it felt incredibly long. It took a long time to get anywhere. 50% in and nothing had really happened. And the twists were cool, but not completely unexpected.

The characters are all fine, some are especially annoying, some I just want to slap. Alonzo sounds cute. Aria is a bit whiny. Aria's sisters and roommates are exhausting.

I'm curious to see what happens in book #2, so I may check it out.

[Maci D · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I really enjoyed this one in the beginning especially. The whole concept of a future where parts of California are underwater due to an earthquake and we have established a colony on Mars that can be live-streamed 24/7 was awesome. This gave me loose Divergent vibes at first. A bit of an old school vibe which I loved. But then I felt like the plot slowed down and I'm not sure what the book's main focus was? There also wasn't much chemistry with our love interest. But I'll probably read book two because I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected and I really enjoyed our main character Aria!
PS : No mermaids in this one. But our MC has gills.

[C.J. Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Aria is a restless girl. She's young and works in the restaurant with her family. Her mother dies, so it's her father, sisters and adopted brother. Earth is not the same one we live in and they have an established colony on Mars. They have been watching the colonists lives for the last four years. Aria is an abberation. She has hills and can breath under water. People are calling for her kind to be locked up. But she and Alonzo, her brother, five under water to find things they can cell. Her hope is to one day travel to Mars.

She signed up for testing, and has made it so far. But things aren't as they seem.. People are not who they claim to be. Read about Aria and the job she must do to save A!onzo. It's the thing movies are made of.

Read on my friends

[Carol Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about a girl with gills and thus the ability to swim underwater like a fish. There’s a great twist about halfway through, and the pacing/tension kept up quite nicely throughout. It was interesting to read a retelling of The Little Mermaid that was unique on its own (not copycat at all) yet with nods to the original tale with the “mermaid” being mute and the pain in Aria’s legs while walking. I loved that the setting was sci-fi, and so the details were (lightly) sci-fi-themed. I did notice a handful of typos, the first ones being errors like forth instead of fourth, passed instead of past. The novel ended with a dilemma that obviously opened into the next book of the series.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would put this YA book in the futuristic-scifi-fantasy genre. The premise is interesting and as I continued reading I could definitely put this in the context of today's political context. The heroine, Aria has a special ability, one that puts her in the category of those with special abilities. And because those with special abilities are feared by ordinary people she must hide who she is or risk being shipped off to an aberration detention facility.

As I began reading I was sure this book would be a definite labor to finish, but instead, I was drawn into Aria's the danger that Aria faces when flees danger that hits too close to home and her family. The end is a cliffhanger and I might just have to read the next book in the series!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a strange novel, but compelling at the same time. It's like the author read that tip, "What could be the worse thing that could happen for your character? Do that." This means that there seems to be a continuing cycle of events, but the climax is not so defined. Nonetheless, I wanted to keep reading, especially in the later chapters.

I think this novel suffers from starting too early - I think it starts when Aria decides to enrol to go to Mars, and the chapters preceeding this slow the book down.

While I don't think I will continue this series, I will be looking at what other texts Freeman has written and consider reading those.

[Trudi Jorda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aria has a special talent caused by an odd genetic malfunction-- she is able to swim under water without oxygen tanks as she has gills that appear when she is in water. Her father and her sister both have this genetic abnormality. The government wants to register all people that have unusual genetics. The government also pretended to send a colony to Mars and has constant feeds running with this colony but the truth is they are on an island on Earth! All a bunch of lies! Aria wants to join the colony unknowing that it is just more lies and gets trapped into helping the government to continue the lies. Very twisted tale but an interesting story. Problem is-- It is to be continued!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts were a tiny bit predictable, but for the most part, I was kept guessing the whole way. I found the beginning a tad hard to follow, however, once I got the flow of it, it made sense. Love the fact that Declan also turned out to be an aborition like Aria. Love the fact that she was there to save Enrique, and the fact that his step mum knew they were still on Earth? Mind blown! The settings were great. It was a well written story. However, I was left trying to figure out what a sol was. (There's another abbreviation I couldn't figure out either. I just can't remember it. I searched through the book, but there was no explanation). All those points aside, however, it was a great book.

[Sarena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Speechless had a strong premise and was a creative retelling of The Little Mermaid, but there were some aspects of the plot that I didn't enjoy. It's a dystopian novel with hints of sci-fi, but the "romance" was so forced and unnecessary, and Aria really needs to learn how to not screw up everything by not listening to people. Not to say that women should be obedient servants, and yes I know she's just a teenager, but there are moments where you should stop and think, "Hmm, should I really not follow this person's orders?"

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and creative retelling of The Little Mermaid. Just in time for the 2023 movie release (kinda)
I actually get the dystopian feel! I loved that part of it. If only the writing were better.. To be fair, this was a 2018 release so. Yea. Cute characters (the ones that were lucky enough to be given a description along with their name) and I'd probably pick up the second book one day but not anytime soon :)
Also, got some whiplash trying to keep up with where the story was going. Kept me on the edge of my seat in a way though!

[MTeresa LTI · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok. At some point there's a plot twist that, in my case, instead of pushing me to read it, had me lose interest.
I decided to finish after a couple of months and at the end it gets more interesting again. Such a pity that there's so little romanticism.
Also, sometimes I get the impression that the author skips sentences, which doesn't help follow the story...
I don't think I'll read the next books