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End of Ever After #3
Beautiful To Me: A Little Mermaid Retelling
Princess Sienna is the most beautiful, the most charming, the most beloved of King Trident's daughters in the enchanted underwater kingdom. Not much is denied her, and all of Merdom favors her.
Then a few days after her fifteenth birthday, Sienna does the unthinkable. She makes a bargain with the sea witch to trade her tongue and tail for a pair of legs and a chance to live a human life. Stung by her betrayal, Merdom turns its back on her.
Having grown up in Sienna's shadow at court, Ariel is used to being unnoticed. So when the sea witch specifically asks her to go after Sienna and convince her to return home, Ariel is under no illusions; she is expendable. Still, out of obligation to her king and kingdom, she goes, thinking to slip in and out unnoticed as always.
The moment she sets foot on land, however, everything changes.
Beautiful To Me is the third in a five part companion series that rewrites the classic tales of happily ever after.
Then a few days after her fifteenth birthday, Sienna does the unthinkable. She makes a bargain with the sea witch to trade her tongue and tail for a pair of legs and a chance to live a human life. Stung by her betrayal, Merdom turns its back on her.
Having grown up in Sienna's shadow at court, Ariel is used to being unnoticed. So when the sea witch specifically asks her to go after Sienna and convince her to return home, Ariel is under no illusions; she is expendable. Still, out of obligation to her king and kingdom, she goes, thinking to slip in and out unnoticed as always.
The moment she sets foot on land, however, everything changes.
Beautiful To Me is the third in a five part companion series that rewrites the classic tales of happily ever after.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 26, 2019
About the author
E.L. Tenenbaum
16 books66 followersE.L. Tenenbaum is an author, writer, wordsmither-er, and versificator. When not distracted building new worlds or puttering around her Substack, she enjoys presenting about writing, and has been a visiting author at schools around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 30, 2019
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The Buzz
I really love MERMAIDS... alas it isn't easy to find books about them that aren't... bad. Like poorly written, contrived and not based on actual human interaction. So if a premise with mermaids sounds good I'm all for giving it a chance!
And look at the gorgeous, indie author, Beautiful to Me cover!! For having no mermaid in sight and not being a simple typography design I'm really impressed. I like that the cover also matches the other books in the series. That is always an extra bonus. The best thing about this series though is they STANDALONE! Yup, you can start anywhere and fall in love and go back. You aren't spoiled on anything.
The Premise
This is a Little Mermaid retelling that takes the story from several totally different perspectives than the original story. And these differences really made Beautiful to Me... well, quite a beautiful to me read!
-Instead of there being one mermaid who gets her legs... we have two! One is quite foolish and the other is meant to rescue her.
-Ariel, our rescuer mermaid, isn't exactly friends with this spoiled, foolish princess mermaid.
-Ariel is plump and body conscious. She's looked down on for not fitting beauty standards and not being outstanding. '
-And Ariel really loves her home in the ocean. She has no desire to follow Sienna even for a prince!!
“My eyes stung from her kind words, and I fidgeted, not quite sure how to respond to such genuine praise of my work, not quite sure what to with such well-meaning words, how to hold them, how to take them with me.”
I really came to like Ariel once we got into the events in Beautiful to Me. Ariel is quite sensible but also very curious and wanting to learn and experience new things. She's a reader too (who doesn't love and relate to that?!) While she was friends with the sea life back home Ariel makes her first human friendships with the royal siblings. And both friendships are so adorable!
The sister is just the kind of girl Ariel needs in her life. She sets Ariel on the road to being a productive version of herself. (And I loved the princess and the frog mini-retelling right in the middle too.)
And Arlando, the brother is the OPPOSITE of your stereotypical prince!! He also is a bookworm and loves debate and whit, totally not caught up in appearance so much as internal beauty. He wants someone who mirrors his curiosity and love of learning. I loved how we saw him and Ariel draw closer to one another in such a natural yet romantic way.
I did enjoy Sienna's role in the story even though it wasn't as expansive as I assumed it would be. And the Little Mermaid end played out in a satisfying way. If Beautiful to Me is what the End of Ever After series is like then I need to check out the other stories too!
My Experience
At first I was wondering if I'd regret giving Beautiful to Me a read. There was a LOT of telling. Like the entire underwater kingdom was one big explanation. And there was a lot to cover. Telling isn't my favorite form of communication. I'd rather experience what Ariel's life was like and get a sense of the world myself. However, we're also getting the lowdown on Sienna, our foolish princess mermaid. There isn't really a good way to distill her foolishness into a good showing scene. It needs explanation and contrast. Ariel's "telling" POV gave us that...
Once the setup was done at 32% I was into Beautiful to Me! I really liked the way this Little Mermaid retelling was forming up. The subtle changes made to the original story, the little twists were quite enjoyable. By 50% I was totally captured. By this point you get a really strong sense of who Ariel is and I totally fell for her. I soooooo wanted her to be happy.
Sienna's POV about the prince and humanity was such a fascinating contrast to Ariel and her love of Merdom. Ariel isn't preoccupied with human invention and actually quite loves her home, but comes to see what is wonderful about land too. I wish we could have gotten Sienna's POV in mini-alternating chapters. Not getting her thoughts (except maybe very fleeting ones) but to see what she is doing and how she was spending her time. She had to have a plan or idea of how to win over the prince and I wanted to see that in action and how her perspective influenced her actions. This would have made the end pop even more and made the reader think about what's important in life.
Beautiful To Me is a really great mermaid read that take an unusual heroine and makes her blossom on land. Both as a person, as a friend and in romance! If you're in the mood for a fairy tale retelling then Beautiful To Me is truly a Little Mermaid retelling worth reading.
⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity
⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐ Writing Style
⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot & Pacing
⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ World Building
A- Cover & Title grade
Thanks to the indie author for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.
______________________
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May 6, 2019"We were not allowed to interact with humans. We were different. We could only be the death of each other."
~BEAUTIFUL TO ME
I am always so excited to learn about a new mermaid book in the world, especially when it's a retelling of one of my favorite tales, The Little Mermaid. I love how right off the bat, we find out that no version of the story up until now has ever gotten it right: Not the Hans Christian Andersen tale, not the Disney movie, etc. Parts are true, but many are not. For example, there are two mermaids at the heart of the tale, not one. And one of the mermaids is named Ariel -- and it is she who is now writing down her story to get the truth out there before she turns 300 and returns to the sea after living a full life.
Ariel never wanted to live on land. She enjoyed being a mermaid, and there is no place lovelier than her home. The Sea King's youngest, most beautiful daughter Sienna, however, is obsessed with all things human. Everyone thinks she'll grow up and outgrow it, especially once she is able to see land with her own eyes on her fifteenth birthday. Instead, Sienna lays eyes on a land prince and becomes instantly infatuated. She makes a deal with a sea witch named Tatiana, who cuts out her tongue and gives her legs that are constantly in pain. Sienna has one year to make the prince love her truly. After a short period of time, it becomes clear that Sienna has yet to endear herself to her prince. Worried that the Sea King will declare war on the human world, Tatiana makes a deal with Sienna's shadow, Ariel.
Ariel was raised by parents who live as nobles in the sea king's court. As such, she has been privileged to grow up alongside the princesses. Sienna was her age, and was too snobby to see the girl always at her side. When Ariel hears about how Sienna's sisters encourage her to sing her prince into the sea so they can be together forever, she breaks the surface before her fifteenth birthday and saves the prince from drowning, bringing him safely to shore. She still has no plans to live as a human, but Tatiana saw her play saviour and uses it to get her to agree to be human in order to convince Sienna to give up her folly and return to sea. In return, Ariel may keep her tongue, and her legs will not know the daily pain that Sienna's do. Ariel agrees reluctantly, eager to return home to the sea, never imagining the curveball destiny is about to throw her -- and Sienna.
The writing style in BEAUTIFUL TO ME is reminiscent of TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson (which is FANTASTIC; check out my review!). It is a tale being retold, one with a narrator who recounts her past. It isn't a first-person "in the moment" read, like so much of current YA. This style takes a little longer to read, but adds in the ability to reflect back and enhance Sienna's story. Sienna has no voice and isn't capable of telling her tale -- and probably doesn't want to. Ariel, however, doesn't want her princess to be forgotten and wants to introduce her to the world. This wouldn't be possible if the book was first-person or had chapters alternating between the two mermaids. Sienna remains a mystery even now because Ariel is not omniscient and oftentimes must guess at what Sienna might have felt or thought. We never know what Sienna actually thinks, and this is how the story works best!
The fact that there are two central female characters that take focus reminded me of MERMAID by Carolyn Turgeon (Need more Little Mermaid retellings? You need this one, too, so check out my review!), though they are vastly different from one another and not really similar at all. I love that there are TWO mermaids at the heart of this story, not a mermaid and a convent princess like in the original Andersen tale. There is still heartbreak and loss, but also joy. I like how both of these retellings manipulated the original so completely while still keeping some aspects the same. I think it's refreshing to have a central protagonist who is NOT obsessed with the human world and longs to return home, despite the fact that she was barely noticed as a mermaid. Her life as a human is so much more vibrant and full, yet the sea continues to call to her. I really enjoyed this approach!
I also liked that Ariel had a lot of her own issues that she had to come in terms with over the years. As a mermaid, she was considered overweight --and hid beneath a shirt she created. She was a loner, a shadow. Despite growing up alongside Sienna, Sienna barely recognized her in human form. Despite still being heavier on land, she isn't condemned and is loved for her mind and wit and talents --and told she is perfect just as she is. I like that weight wasn't the focus or considered a hindrance --and that Ariel wasn't forced to change her appearance.
If you love retellings of The Little Mermaid, BEAUTIFUL TO ME adds enough new elements and twists to keep you intrigued. It is also the third book in author E.L. Tenenbaum's End of Ever After series. I didn't read the first two, which are retellings of Cinderella and Rumplestiltskin, and you don't need to in order to enjoy this, though both make a quick cameo at the very end of the book. There's also a preview at the end for Tenenbaum's retelling of Beauty and the Beast, another of my favorite tales!
~BEAUTIFUL TO ME
I am always so excited to learn about a new mermaid book in the world, especially when it's a retelling of one of my favorite tales, The Little Mermaid. I love how right off the bat, we find out that no version of the story up until now has ever gotten it right: Not the Hans Christian Andersen tale, not the Disney movie, etc. Parts are true, but many are not. For example, there are two mermaids at the heart of the tale, not one. And one of the mermaids is named Ariel -- and it is she who is now writing down her story to get the truth out there before she turns 300 and returns to the sea after living a full life.
Ariel never wanted to live on land. She enjoyed being a mermaid, and there is no place lovelier than her home. The Sea King's youngest, most beautiful daughter Sienna, however, is obsessed with all things human. Everyone thinks she'll grow up and outgrow it, especially once she is able to see land with her own eyes on her fifteenth birthday. Instead, Sienna lays eyes on a land prince and becomes instantly infatuated. She makes a deal with a sea witch named Tatiana, who cuts out her tongue and gives her legs that are constantly in pain. Sienna has one year to make the prince love her truly. After a short period of time, it becomes clear that Sienna has yet to endear herself to her prince. Worried that the Sea King will declare war on the human world, Tatiana makes a deal with Sienna's shadow, Ariel.
Ariel was raised by parents who live as nobles in the sea king's court. As such, she has been privileged to grow up alongside the princesses. Sienna was her age, and was too snobby to see the girl always at her side. When Ariel hears about how Sienna's sisters encourage her to sing her prince into the sea so they can be together forever, she breaks the surface before her fifteenth birthday and saves the prince from drowning, bringing him safely to shore. She still has no plans to live as a human, but Tatiana saw her play saviour and uses it to get her to agree to be human in order to convince Sienna to give up her folly and return to sea. In return, Ariel may keep her tongue, and her legs will not know the daily pain that Sienna's do. Ariel agrees reluctantly, eager to return home to the sea, never imagining the curveball destiny is about to throw her -- and Sienna.
The writing style in BEAUTIFUL TO ME is reminiscent of TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson (which is FANTASTIC; check out my review!). It is a tale being retold, one with a narrator who recounts her past. It isn't a first-person "in the moment" read, like so much of current YA. This style takes a little longer to read, but adds in the ability to reflect back and enhance Sienna's story. Sienna has no voice and isn't capable of telling her tale -- and probably doesn't want to. Ariel, however, doesn't want her princess to be forgotten and wants to introduce her to the world. This wouldn't be possible if the book was first-person or had chapters alternating between the two mermaids. Sienna remains a mystery even now because Ariel is not omniscient and oftentimes must guess at what Sienna might have felt or thought. We never know what Sienna actually thinks, and this is how the story works best!
The fact that there are two central female characters that take focus reminded me of MERMAID by Carolyn Turgeon (Need more Little Mermaid retellings? You need this one, too, so check out my review!), though they are vastly different from one another and not really similar at all. I love that there are TWO mermaids at the heart of this story, not a mermaid and a convent princess like in the original Andersen tale. There is still heartbreak and loss, but also joy. I like how both of these retellings manipulated the original so completely while still keeping some aspects the same. I think it's refreshing to have a central protagonist who is NOT obsessed with the human world and longs to return home, despite the fact that she was barely noticed as a mermaid. Her life as a human is so much more vibrant and full, yet the sea continues to call to her. I really enjoyed this approach!
I also liked that Ariel had a lot of her own issues that she had to come in terms with over the years. As a mermaid, she was considered overweight --and hid beneath a shirt she created. She was a loner, a shadow. Despite growing up alongside Sienna, Sienna barely recognized her in human form. Despite still being heavier on land, she isn't condemned and is loved for her mind and wit and talents --and told she is perfect just as she is. I like that weight wasn't the focus or considered a hindrance --and that Ariel wasn't forced to change her appearance.
If you love retellings of The Little Mermaid, BEAUTIFUL TO ME adds enough new elements and twists to keep you intrigued. It is also the third book in author E.L. Tenenbaum's End of Ever After series. I didn't read the first two, which are retellings of Cinderella and Rumplestiltskin, and you don't need to in order to enjoy this, though both make a quick cameo at the very end of the book. There's also a preview at the end for Tenenbaum's retelling of Beauty and the Beast, another of my favorite tales!
October 2, 2023
Beautiful to Me is the third book in the End of Ever After series, although they can be read in any order. For me, this was the saddest book so far, although once again, excellently written. You find out about the Little Mermaid, through the eyes of one of them. That's right, there were two, but you really need to read this for yourself to get any more information!
I loved how E.L. Tenenbaum was able to change this story into something more enriched with emotion, simpler and yet more complex. The descriptions of both land and sea are breathtaking and will fill you with longing.
Excellently written, with a smooth and flowing pace, this book held my attention from beginning to end. I went through every emotion as I read it, and yet I was still surprised at how the story unfolded. I loved/hated the ending, simply because I can't imagine going through what 'she' goes through.
Absolutely stunning, and highly recommended by me. I now want to return and read the other two again. Simply superb.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 28, 2019
I loved how E.L. Tenenbaum was able to change this story into something more enriched with emotion, simpler and yet more complex. The descriptions of both land and sea are breathtaking and will fill you with longing.
Excellently written, with a smooth and flowing pace, this book held my attention from beginning to end. I went through every emotion as I read it, and yet I was still surprised at how the story unfolded. I loved/hated the ending, simply because I can't imagine going through what 'she' goes through.
Absolutely stunning, and highly recommended by me. I now want to return and read the other two again. Simply superb.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 28, 2019
December 15, 2019
This was a really cute read. Like, I've been searching for quite a while for a good little mermaid retelling and this book gave me just that. I loved the fact that the MC wasn't your typical super-skinny-extremely-beautiful-yet-she-doesn't-see-it kind of girl, but instead had a not-so-typical body for a mermaid; it's a really nice change and a different take on the usual mermaid story. I, for one, never really took into account how many mermaid stories I've read where the MC is always thin, always stick thin so this book was a really nice change for that. A kind of pet peeve though was how it repeated constantly this issue she had with her body and, I get it like I personally am not stick thin and share the same body type with her, but I think it kinda repetitive and found myself skipping over some of this narration.
Also, NARRATION. I kinda wanted more action instead of reading through HUUUGE paragraphs to tell the story. I felt like 70% of the book was spent reading through descriptions (where some where super cool), the character comparing herself constantly to the other mermaid AND hearing her thoughts about everything happening around her and little anecdotes of the sea. I don't want to say that it was dreadful but it wasn't exactly the most engaging part of the book for me.
All in all, I liked this take on the story of the little mermaid. I thought it was fresh, I thought it was different, I thought it was very good the parts where action took place. I feel like we could've gotten to know Ariel better through all those paragraphs of her narrating, I finished the book like 15 minutes ago and I had to search my mind to remember her name...she's a bit forgettable.
The ending was good...not outstanding but good. Like I said, it gave me what I wanted and i'm fine with it.
Also, NARRATION. I kinda wanted more action instead of reading through HUUUGE paragraphs to tell the story. I felt like 70% of the book was spent reading through descriptions (where some where super cool), the character comparing herself constantly to the other mermaid AND hearing her thoughts about everything happening around her and little anecdotes of the sea. I don't want to say that it was dreadful but it wasn't exactly the most engaging part of the book for me.
All in all, I liked this take on the story of the little mermaid. I thought it was fresh, I thought it was different, I thought it was very good the parts where action took place. I feel like we could've gotten to know Ariel better through all those paragraphs of her narrating, I finished the book like 15 minutes ago and I had to search my mind to remember her name...she's a bit forgettable.
The ending was good...not outstanding but good. Like I said, it gave me what I wanted and i'm fine with it.
June 14, 2019
Thanks to the long stretched ending and especially for the spoilers for the other books I gave this book a mediocre 3 stars. It ruined it... really.
I wanted to read the other books before this one as well but now I already know too much..
I wanted to read the other books before this one as well but now I already know too much..
August 17, 2019
love a good fairytale retelling and this little mermaid one is very good! Told with a twist of 2 mermaids instead of 1 this clean and fun read had a great storyline and fab characters. If you like retellings then this is definitely for you!
March 19, 2019
Beautiful to Me is the third book in the End of Ever After series. Though it is a series you can read it in any order as the books are about specific individuals. The book tells us a story of two mermaids-one who wants to fall in love with the prince and stay in the human world and another who just wants to retrieve her friend and return to her home in the sea.
I found this re-telling truly fantastic! E.L Tenenbaum changed the original story and has made it into a complex, emotionally evocative book that still holds on to the simple truths of life. It is excellently written and the description throughout this story is impeccable -I could see everything so clearly from the land to the sea.
If books had actual voices then this ones cadence would be a gentle pull. Everything formed perfectly and was delivered spectacularly. The ending of this book delivers extra feels to the reader and is simple perfection.
It’s a story that requires to be told in a steady pace so you can appreciate the details and it definitely delivers. This book had my attention from the get go and I couldn’t put it down.I highly recommend this book and it makes me even more intrigued to read the other books.
I found this re-telling truly fantastic! E.L Tenenbaum changed the original story and has made it into a complex, emotionally evocative book that still holds on to the simple truths of life. It is excellently written and the description throughout this story is impeccable -I could see everything so clearly from the land to the sea.
If books had actual voices then this ones cadence would be a gentle pull. Everything formed perfectly and was delivered spectacularly. The ending of this book delivers extra feels to the reader and is simple perfection.
It’s a story that requires to be told in a steady pace so you can appreciate the details and it definitely delivers. This book had my attention from the get go and I couldn’t put it down.I highly recommend this book and it makes me even more intrigued to read the other books.
March 20, 2019
I absolutely love a good fairy tale retelling. What if who we thought was the true Little Mermaid in the stories, was really not. This is a great retelling with a lot of heart and characters you will love. It is as magical as mermaids.
March 3, 2020
Why 3 stars? Setting and imagery were wonderful (+1) and the ocean was felt. Starting and ending of character development was perfect for the premise, twisting the Hans Christian Anderson version and Disney together well (+1). Much of the writing was beautiful and held important themes for all women and especially young girls to hear (+1) [yes, this is chaste enough for young girls].
Why not 4 or 5 stars? Although lovely, the repetition started to annoy me of certain almost identical statements throughout the book. After saying a moral, lesson, or critical theme two or three times, it should be left to the reader to derive. We can figure it out ourselves at that point and I found myself thinking several times, /would you please get on with it? I read that, I understand, move along now/ Waiting for the story to be over is never a good sign, no matter how many windswept waves and magical songs there are (-1).
Also, the middle portion of character development during A’s time at the castle before Sienna—- would really have been more convincing in my opinion if A had nudged, dragged, or otherwise showcased Sienna more than the one dance number. If the goal was to get prince’s attention, she could have taught her —-friend to communicate in other ways and helped them forge a bond instead of wasting time trying to get her to —-. Self image issues aside, there has to be an unconscious (or is it subconscious?) desire to finally be the one noticed, despite explicit statements to the contrary. We former wallflowers all have our passive-aggressive ways, don’t kid yourself (-0.5).
Lastly, I disagreed that this should have been told from the future like a memory. Sometimes that works, but I didn’t need the /and ever since then/ portions liberally sprinkled throughout the already slowly meandering tale. Leave me in some suspense. It’s a retelling of a classic, and the most suspenseful element is your twist on what happened and what happens next from moment to moment. Going back and forth and giving me pieces of what should have been the epilogue just spoiled the fun a bit. As an example of how this backfired, on page 42-43 the author made a poor choice in not having one character actually be there for another character’s pivotal decision. We learn about a whole sequence of dialogue and actions as imaginative hearsay. I almost stopped reading; having the event told with “probably”, “surely” and “undoubtedly” was a big red flag that came perilously close to ruining the author-reader trust relationship (-0.5).
Recap:
+1 setting and imagery
+1 Beautiful writing and meaningful themes
+1 some strong character development and premise
Remaining 2 potential stars:
1 not given for redundancy
0.5 not given for middle character development
0.5 not given for inefficient choice or use of perspective, strong disagreement with author’s craft in one instance
Why not 4 or 5 stars? Although lovely, the repetition started to annoy me of certain almost identical statements throughout the book. After saying a moral, lesson, or critical theme two or three times, it should be left to the reader to derive. We can figure it out ourselves at that point and I found myself thinking several times, /would you please get on with it? I read that, I understand, move along now/ Waiting for the story to be over is never a good sign, no matter how many windswept waves and magical songs there are (-1).
Also, the middle portion of character development during A’s time at the castle before Sienna—- would really have been more convincing in my opinion if A had nudged, dragged, or otherwise showcased Sienna more than the one dance number. If the goal was to get prince’s attention, she could have taught her —-friend to communicate in other ways and helped them forge a bond instead of wasting time trying to get her to —-. Self image issues aside, there has to be an unconscious (or is it subconscious?) desire to finally be the one noticed, despite explicit statements to the contrary. We former wallflowers all have our passive-aggressive ways, don’t kid yourself (-0.5).
Lastly, I disagreed that this should have been told from the future like a memory. Sometimes that works, but I didn’t need the /and ever since then/ portions liberally sprinkled throughout the already slowly meandering tale. Leave me in some suspense. It’s a retelling of a classic, and the most suspenseful element is your twist on what happened and what happens next from moment to moment. Going back and forth and giving me pieces of what should have been the epilogue just spoiled the fun a bit. As an example of how this backfired, on page 42-43 the author made a poor choice in not having one character actually be there for another character’s pivotal decision. We learn about a whole sequence of dialogue and actions as imaginative hearsay. I almost stopped reading; having the event told with “probably”, “surely” and “undoubtedly” was a big red flag that came perilously close to ruining the author-reader trust relationship (-0.5).
Recap:
+1 setting and imagery
+1 Beautiful writing and meaningful themes
+1 some strong character development and premise
Remaining 2 potential stars:
1 not given for redundancy
0.5 not given for middle character development
0.5 not given for inefficient choice or use of perspective, strong disagreement with author’s craft in one instance
October 4, 2021
So excited for the next installment in my faery tale retelling series, this one for fans of The Little Mermaid and Hans Christian Andersen! BEAUTIFUL TO ME also features a guest appearance by The Frog King!
Books in this series are companion novels so they can be read in any order!
Listen to a Behind-the-scenes of the book on my podcast, Oh My Word!:
https://www.eltenenbaum.com/bonus-epi...
Hear an interview with the reader of the audiobook, Cherish Vuyovich:
https://www.eltenenbaum.com/bonus-epi...
Books in this series are companion novels so they can be read in any order!
Listen to a Behind-the-scenes of the book on my podcast, Oh My Word!:
https://www.eltenenbaum.com/bonus-epi...
Hear an interview with the reader of the audiobook, Cherish Vuyovich:
https://www.eltenenbaum.com/bonus-epi...
August 28, 2024
WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD:
The extra star is really for the fact it was simply based on The Little Mermaid fairy tale and still managed to still keep a little bit of a fairy tale-esque feeling to it, but overall I am still probably being pretty generous and actually found this book really annoying and cringey.
It annoyed me the way the prince (who we're meant to love) treated Sienna, just ignoring and snubbing her and openly favouring Ariel over her, despite the fact she clearly likes him and could have at least made some effort with her platonic ally even if he didn't return those romantic feelings, just like the prince from the original story does, and just because Sienna 'ignored' Ariel when they were mermaids we're supposed to be okay with this, as if she deserves all this just because she wasn't 100% likeable?! I found it ridiculous as well the way Ariel was sent to try and help/save Sienna, though she only has a few brief interactions with her, with most her time on land just focusing on her and this stupid prince, with Sienna just being simply brushed aside, when it would have made more sense to have focused more on her when she was on land and ideally her relationship with the prince and Ariel. Instead we hardly ever get to see Sienna on land, with Ariel and the prince's relationship just dominating most the book, which was unnecessary, and the way the prince kept approaching Ariel every damn time everywhere she went just came across as really needy and pretty stalkery and was just really annoying, as it literally kept going in circles with the prince approaching Ariel and showing how he's clearly falling in love with her, rather than letting any development of their relationship happen naturally, and he was just too damn needy and obsessive over Ariel. It always just seemed to be him bothering her all the time as well in a very clingy and needy manner, rather than the attraction being mutual, with him forcing himself onto her. Their whole relationship was really annoying and forced as well, the way they had to constantly be emphasised as being all affectionate and intimate with each other was really forced, like you shouldn't have to do that to demonstrate a couple as being in love, and it was just really annoying and cringe.
If I'm honest, for a book that's supposed to have feminist elements to it, this ended up being pretty much the opposite the way it has a guy just dismissing one girl for another, as if her feelings don't matter, as well as the guy constantly bothering and following the girl he actually is in love with rather than depicting a mutual attraction and bonding. Like seriously?! Things were very repetitive like I've mentioned, with the writing, and I feel like there were so many opportunities that were missed that could have made this book better and bumped my rating up a good bit.
The extra star is really for the fact it was simply based on The Little Mermaid fairy tale and still managed to still keep a little bit of a fairy tale-esque feeling to it, but overall I am still probably being pretty generous and actually found this book really annoying and cringey.
It annoyed me the way the prince (who we're meant to love) treated Sienna, just ignoring and snubbing her and openly favouring Ariel over her, despite the fact she clearly likes him and could have at least made some effort with her platonic ally even if he didn't return those romantic feelings, just like the prince from the original story does, and just because Sienna 'ignored' Ariel when they were mermaids we're supposed to be okay with this, as if she deserves all this just because she wasn't 100% likeable?! I found it ridiculous as well the way Ariel was sent to try and help/save Sienna, though she only has a few brief interactions with her, with most her time on land just focusing on her and this stupid prince, with Sienna just being simply brushed aside, when it would have made more sense to have focused more on her when she was on land and ideally her relationship with the prince and Ariel. Instead we hardly ever get to see Sienna on land, with Ariel and the prince's relationship just dominating most the book, which was unnecessary, and the way the prince kept approaching Ariel every damn time everywhere she went just came across as really needy and pretty stalkery and was just really annoying, as it literally kept going in circles with the prince approaching Ariel and showing how he's clearly falling in love with her, rather than letting any development of their relationship happen naturally, and he was just too damn needy and obsessive over Ariel. It always just seemed to be him bothering her all the time as well in a very clingy and needy manner, rather than the attraction being mutual, with him forcing himself onto her. Their whole relationship was really annoying and forced as well, the way they had to constantly be emphasised as being all affectionate and intimate with each other was really forced, like you shouldn't have to do that to demonstrate a couple as being in love, and it was just really annoying and cringe.
If I'm honest, for a book that's supposed to have feminist elements to it, this ended up being pretty much the opposite the way it has a guy just dismissing one girl for another, as if her feelings don't matter, as well as the guy constantly bothering and following the girl he actually is in love with rather than depicting a mutual attraction and bonding. Like seriously?! Things were very repetitive like I've mentioned, with the writing, and I feel like there were so many opportunities that were missed that could have made this book better and bumped my rating up a good bit.
January 9, 2021
First of all, can we all appreciate how beautiful the cover of this book is? It's absolutely stunning!
This story is, as the title says, a retelling of the little mermaid. It's not much more than that, the setting is pretty much the same as the original story. The main difference is: Sienna is the one with the beautiful red hair and blue eyes in this story, and the mermaid who lost her tongue and gained a pair of legs. However, this story follows Ariel, who was sent after Sienna to get her back to the underwater life. It seems an easy task to get Sienna back to the big waters in the span of a year, but human life has other plans for Ariel.
The writing style used in this book was absolutely marvelous. I could vividly picture the lovely palace in my head, as well as the royal garden and the Merdom underwater where this story started. I'm also amazed how this author has managed to make such a well known story into this wonderful fairy-tale, with it's own little twists and turns but without straying too far from the original. The story is romantic, magical and tragic all at the same time. Absolutely 100% enjoyed this book, I'm surely going to read the other ones in this series!
This story is, as the title says, a retelling of the little mermaid. It's not much more than that, the setting is pretty much the same as the original story. The main difference is: Sienna is the one with the beautiful red hair and blue eyes in this story, and the mermaid who lost her tongue and gained a pair of legs. However, this story follows Ariel, who was sent after Sienna to get her back to the underwater life. It seems an easy task to get Sienna back to the big waters in the span of a year, but human life has other plans for Ariel.
The writing style used in this book was absolutely marvelous. I could vividly picture the lovely palace in my head, as well as the royal garden and the Merdom underwater where this story started. I'm also amazed how this author has managed to make such a well known story into this wonderful fairy-tale, with it's own little twists and turns but without straying too far from the original. The story is romantic, magical and tragic all at the same time. Absolutely 100% enjoyed this book, I'm surely going to read the other ones in this series!
February 14, 2023
This was the first book that made me find the author and the retelling series, and then I decided to read them in order and finally got caught up to this book. I believe there are two other books after this but I want to break away from fairy tale retellings for a bit. This book is very different from the other two. First off there are two mermaids that somehow get confused and in future retellings get warped into one person. The mermaid who lived and stayed human - Ariel, is now setting the story straight close to 300 years after the events. We know that Ella and the other monarchs of the time is long dead, and Ariel has outlived even some of her great great grandchildren. Its a very melancholy tale overall and there's no overcoming the odds to feel great victory stuff happening with this book, but its definitely worth the read. There are a great many differences from the original and Disney versions of the story that keep the tale new and fresh yet doesn't take anything away from either tale, and I think a lot of readers will ultimately like this book.
August 1, 2022
Too Disney and lacking logic
I was surprisingly disappointed by this book, after how much I enjoyed the first two volumes in this series. Neither of those books had anything to do with Disney, so I was astonished to find that this story was very much tied to the Disney version.
But the really frustrating thing about this book was how little sense everything made. If there was actually a threat of the sea king attacking the land, why didn't he do so? If going into the sea was the way Ariel could turn back into a mermaid, how did she go swimming and remain human? This book was full of constant contradictions, some of them only minor, but all of them annoying.
Aside from all that, the book was well written. But I can't give this book a higher rating when it irritated me so much.
I was surprisingly disappointed by this book, after how much I enjoyed the first two volumes in this series. Neither of those books had anything to do with Disney, so I was astonished to find that this story was very much tied to the Disney version.
But the really frustrating thing about this book was how little sense everything made. If there was actually a threat of the sea king attacking the land, why didn't he do so? If going into the sea was the way Ariel could turn back into a mermaid, how did she go swimming and remain human? This book was full of constant contradictions, some of them only minor, but all of them annoying.
Aside from all that, the book was well written. But I can't give this book a higher rating when it irritated me so much.
February 16, 2023
This book is so terribly written, as well as having toxic ideas and beliefs. It's aimed towards teens and the constant monolog from the main character about how she's not like other girls because she's overweight is just gross, it shouldn't impact the story that much. The point of its inclusion was meant to be for the prince to fall in love for who she truly is but this just projects the idea that no one could ever love someone who is overweight for their looks.
May 19, 2019
Wonderful
A and enticing take on the take of the little mermaid. It was enchanting; the characters well fleshed and the storyline not what I would have expected. Ariel has body issues which many can relate to as well as an accepting heart.
A and enticing take on the take of the little mermaid. It was enchanting; the characters well fleshed and the storyline not what I would have expected. Ariel has body issues which many can relate to as well as an accepting heart.
October 2, 2019
I really liked how this book demonstrated the changes that a story can go through over time, details can be confused and even names can be swapped. I also really enjoyed finding out how this book got its name.
April 16, 2020
Good book but was pretty slow moving in parts! I enjoyed the backstory of what we know as The Little Mermaid! I will read the others in this series
April 17, 2022
Crying.
That's it.
That's the review.
That's it.
That's the review.
September 11, 2023
I liked that this was different in a retelling of the Little Mermaid. The fact that the the main character was heavy set and not the usual thin figure really captured my attention. The world building was well put together. Ariel wasn’t a mermaid princess, but was the daughter of a lord. Her being self conscious about herself and slowly realizing her own strength as the story went on made her more relatable than the original.
March 14, 2026
DNF at 52%
I don't think this book was for me.
To be honest, I didn't understand Sienna's obsession with living on land at all because the reasoning didn't make sense to me. I was super annoyed by her behavior.
Ariel was an okay MC but the book was never really interesting to me. Too bad because I actually liked the premise.
I don't think this book was for me.
To be honest, I didn't understand Sienna's obsession with living on land at all because the reasoning didn't make sense to me. I was super annoyed by her behavior.
Ariel was an okay MC but the book was never really interesting to me. Too bad because I actually liked the premise.
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