Mermaid Moon

by Susann Cokal

An award-winning author tells of a mermaid who leaves the sea in search of her landish mother in a captivating tale spun with beautiful prose, lush descriptions, empathy, and keen wit.

Blood calls to blood; charm calls to charm.
It is the way of the world.
Come close and tell us your dreams.

Sanna is a mermaid — but she is only half seavish. The night of her birth, a sea-witch cast a spell that made Sanna’s people, including her landish mother, forget how and where she was born. Now Sanna is sixteen and an outsider in the seavish matriarchy, and she is determined to find her mother and learn who she is. She apprentices herself to the witch to learn the magic of making and unmaking, and with a new pair of legs and a quest to complete for her teacher, she follows a clue that leads her ashore on the Thirty-Seven Dark Islands. There, as her fellow mermaids wait in the sea, Sanna stumbles into a wall of white roses thirsty for blood, a hardscrabble people hungry for miracles, and a baroness who will do anything to live forever.

From the author of the Michael L. Printz Honor Book The Kingdom of Little Wounds comes a gorgeously told tale of belonging, sacrifice, fear, hope, and mortality.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mermaids, Retellings, Young Adult Fantasy, Fiction, Magic

496 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

Susann Cokal is the author of two books for young adults and two for regular adults. Mermaid Moon just came out and is recommended for ages 14 and up. Her previous novel, The Kingdom of Little Wounds, won several national awards, including a Michael L. Printz Honor from the American Library Association.

Reviews

[aphrodite · Rating 2 out of 5]

all looks, no personality. just like every mediocre man I’ve ever found attractive.

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com

Mermaid Moon is a similar story to that of The Little Mermaid, though more sinister. However, the difference within the plot is that Sanna, the mermaid, gets her legs to try to find her mother who was a human and had a spell put on her on the night of the birth of her daughter so that she would forget about her.

The book opens with Sanna’s birth and then we move forward to the day Sanna is old enough and has learned enough to walk the land to go in search of her family on the Thirty-Seven Dark Islands. She believes she will know her mother by smell, even if her mother won’t know her.

Along her journey, Sanna meets Baroness Thyrla who is willing to go to great lengths to find immortality, especially as she seems to think that Sanna is a saint and comes up with a cunning plan to marry her off to her son and kill their children and use their bones to keep her youth.

The plot is filled with danger, darkness, fantasy, magic, good, and evil. The writing style is beautiful, but for me, the storyline felt overly long and dragged in places. There were times when I put the book down not wanting to continue or sure if I would return. Sanna also was a bit of a let down. She spent so long fighting to train to get her legs but then bows down and lets others walk all over her. The two parts of her personality just didn’t seem to fit together.

If you love fantasy novels and want something different and you love mermaids too then this could be the book for you. For me, I lost my way more than once and that led me to not enjoy it as much as I possibly could have.

[Monica (crazy_4_books) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Homebody Bookclub April's pick.
Unfortunately, I did not like this one. I'm not the target reader for this book, it's a plot line borderline middle grade. It was too long, skimmed a lot because at least I wanted to finish it for the live show.

[Anubha (BooksFullOfLife, LifeFullOfBooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I went in with high expectations and to say I was disappointed, would be an understatement.

Basic story about a mermaid borne out of merman and a human girl. As she grows, she wants to go look for her mother (on land)

While she is on her way with the help of this sea witch, she meets the baroness who is a land witch. The baroness promises to help her but in reality, she has other plans for her.

Good premise, but wayyyyy tooooo boring. Nothing of interest happened. I stopped caring for all the characters. It was way too bland and over stretched for a boring plot.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, all of my knowledge of mermaids is a sweet Disney Princess and the terrifying monsters from Harry Potter’s Tri-Wizard Tournament. So it was a pleasure to read Mermaid Moon, which was considerably darker than Ariel’s tail (pun intended), but still less murderous than JK Rowling’s creations.

Well...

The writing here is beautiful. Cokal is a gifted story teller and weaves a story of traditional Catholicism and mermaid lore together seamlessly. I also love the plot line: Sanna, born of a seavish father and a landish mother, journeys to find said mother after a forgetting spell was placed on everyone after she was born. No one remembers who the mom is. And mom doesn’t remember bearing a child.

The villain Sanna encounters, Baroness Thyrla, is one of the most memorable in recent books. The lengths she goes to attain eternal life is as creative as it is macarbre. She stands out as one of the best parts of the book.

There are also lovely and natural LGBT themes integrated here.

So what brings my rating down—

Though the writing was beautiful, it was at times too much. This book was long. And it wasn’t length that added anything compelling. There was description upon description (I guess some people really need to know how inter species sex happens) that left me skimming, but didn’t really allow me to connect in any meaningful emotional way, and multiple points of view (too many) at times were unnecessary and took me out of the story.

And while it claims to be a feminist story, the “boys are dumb and violent” line got a bit heavy handed (and the women here were far deadlier than any male violence on the page) and other than the mermaid tribe being matrilineal, they weren’t strong, good women. Except for Sanna (and Kett), the women were awful and didn’t stand out as “yes! This is why girls should be in charge.”

Overall, I’m glad to have read this, and really liked the unique take on the mermaid story, but it wouldn’t be something I would come back to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for giving me this ARC to review.

[Mathilde Paulsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The E-Arc Mermaid Moon was kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has not altered my opinion of the book.

This book was sadly not for me. I have read several books about mermaids and sirens, and for the most part just the fact that they are about these specific mythical creatures helps me like them, but Mermaid Moon was simply too boring for me. In the beginning I was intrigued by the quest the main characters is embarking on, but boy was I disappointed when I realized it led nowhere. I mean, why even make everything the mc does revovle around this quest and then she doesn't even properly start it?? She never goes to look for her mother and by the end of the book it is just resolved by a stroke of pure luck?? Nah fam, that ain't what I want. This book had more or less no plot, no drive, nothing that made me want to keep reading. I also struggled a bit with the writing style, I was unable to connect with any of the characters and the switches between first and third person povs made it even worse. I did enjoy some of the lore and the magic, but it was not enough for me personally.

(This book took me two months to read, when I usually finish books within a week, soooo)

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars doesn't seem like a lot, but I can't justify four so let's go with 3.5

I liked this. It's beautifully written and feels like an old fairytale. But the "alternating"(?) chapters is an odd format and took a while to adjust to. It felt like an extraordinarily long book for not much to happen.

The plot felt like it got lost in the prose. I didn't see where anything was going until we got there which was somewhat frustrating. I had really no desire to pick up the book again after I finished it other than it was the only physical book I had with me at work...

Review sounds harsh, but it was very well written and I liked Sanna's character. I think I would have liked Thyrla a lot more if she got a proper motivation but I feel like she was criminally underdeveloped. She could have been so much better but there was very little time devoted to her background or motivation.

I also think there are way too many metaphors since I have no idea if Thyrla was a dragon, was there a dragon at all, or what did the whole dragon business mean????

[Femke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books don’t really have a big action packed plot but you read more for the beautiful writing and this book is one of those. The story was gorgeously written in a very poetic way. It reminded me of a mix between Erin Morgenstern’s writing and Chocolate by Joanne Harris; That magical realism fairytale feeling.
A requirement for a little mermaid inspired book always seems to be that there should be included a feminist critique on society, which I usually find a bit forced but this time I wasn’t bothered too much by it 😂
I loved the story and especially the writing so much. It was unique like a studio Ghibli movie and one of the best mermaid books I have read so far 🧜🏻‍♀️

[RumBelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF Approx 30%

I love fairy tales, both original and retellings, and I adore mermaid stories, so, I had really high hopes for this, however was left sorely disappointed.

I really had no idea what the point of this book was supposed to be, it was very rambling and incoherent, and, at least to me, made no logical sense. It was supposed to be a story about a mermaid named Sanna who goes on a quest for her mother, after she was taken from her at birth and raised by, what I can only call a Sea Witch. This seems relatively straightforward, but the author just meandered, and never really went anywhere.

Added to that, the heavy elements of Catholicism which, in my view just did not fit. Everytime I would read a passage about the religion or the rituals (which went on for chapters and really bogged down the pace) I just kept thinking this doesn't work. I have absolutely no problem with any religion being depicted when it makes sense with the story and adds to the plot. This just felt like trying to mix oil and water, or magic and religion and it didn't work.

Also, this book is labeled as YA, but I would put it at the very high end age wise. A lot of the descriptions are very detailed and can be gory and graphic.

I just could not get into this book at all.

[Nay Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a copy from the publisher.

This was such an interesting read. I'm going with a 3.75 star rating because I felt a bit confused while reading. I will update my thoughts later on.

-----------------------------

Full Review 9/13/20

Okay so this was definitely a confusing and interesting read for me. This was not your usual pretty mermaids, but your gritty ones. I enjoyed Sanna because she was a powerful witch and mermaid, but didn't exploit her magic. She was a bit naive when on land though. Baroness Thyrla was so infuriating. A witch indeed. All that she did pissed me off, including when it came to her son Peder. She was twisted to the core all because of greed. Peder was absolutely obnoxious. He pissed me off every time he was on the page. Ola was a such a sweet lady. The mermaids were all such curious beings.

Overall, it was an interesting read, the ending was pretty good as well.

[Maci Dierking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible. I bought this book based on its beautiful cover and blue sprayed edges and the fact that it contained the word "mermaid". It did not disappoint. Written like a true fairytale. It was deliciously magical, witty, and utterly charming. Despite its large size I finished this extremely fast and was very sad to see it end. My new favorite standalone Mermaid book and one of my favorites for the year!

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Some Spoilers Ahead*

Mermaid Moon is a very loose retelling of The Little Mermaid mixed with subtle elements from other fairy tales. It is about a young mermaid named Sanna, who is half landish and half seavish. To find her landish mother who she has been cursed to forget, Sanna becomes the apprentice of a magical witch who teaches her how to transform her tail into legs, thus allowing her to journey across both worlds.

The first half of this book was rather odd. In Chapter One, we're thrown into the book with practically no exposition at all, save the brief prologue that explains Sanna's birth and how a spell was cast so her people and her mother would forget about said event. We know that Sanna is on a quest to find her mother, but we're not sure how or why she plans to do that. Later in the story, background information is indeed provided that clears up any confusion, but it comes in the unfortunate form of info dumps. We're given tediously long descriptions of who Sanna is, her past, and how she will journey across the land to find her mother. I feel like the first half of the story was way longer than necessary, and if compressed, could have eliminated a hundred pages or so of the book. By all means, I'm glad that the author wasn't vague or dull in her set-up of the plot, but it did, unfortunately, come with the cost of my boredom.

What was vague, however, was this book's world-building. Some aspects of it, at least. The main events of the story take place in the Thirty Seven Islands, a place that, to my knowledge, does not exist in the real world. But references are made to several European countries, such as France, Scotland, and even Ancient Rome. This leads me to believe that the book is set in some part of Europe, perhaps. Though the setting is based off of historical geography, there are many fantastical elements to the world, including the existence of mer-folk, which are known as the seavish. I was a bit confused when it came to the relationship between the landish and the seavish... It is established that the two peoples have some sort of trading system, but we're given no further information explaining how that actually works. Since the landish and seavish trade with one another, you'd assume that they have a good relationship. But in the book, the mermaids discuss their fears of being caught and assaulted by landish men, which makes me wonder if their relationship is so great after all. I was just rather confused, and would have liked it if the author had cleared this aspect of the world up as the story was told.

The plot definitely picked up in the second half of the book. As the events unfold, we get closer and closer to the very exciting climax. Susann Cokal's writing style is utterly bewitching, and it kept me invested in the story as it continued to progress. My only complaint is that I felt like the plot tended to stray from Sanna's main goal to find her mother. Since that was set up to be the main focus of the plot, I was confused when that was hardly mentioned in the bulk of the book. Not only that, but at the end of the story when Sanna does find her mother, it seems rushed and lacking build-up.

Speaking of Sanna, though, I enjoyed her character a lot. She was smart and independent, and her character arc did not depend on being in a romantic relationship. She doesn't really stand out amongst other female protagonists in YA, making her a somewhat forgettable character, but I appreciated her strength, determination, and kindness.

Taking everything into consideration, I'm glad I read Mermaid Moon, though there are definitely some things about it that knocked off a few stars from my rating. Susann Cokal's writing is remarkably beautiful, and I hope to read more of her work in the future!

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lush dark fairy tale mystery of two worlds. Well-meaning but still murderous merfolk and a sea witch, island fisher folk and an evil ruler.

In this retelling, the little mermaid has a merfolk father and a human mother who love each other but (ala Romeo & Juliet) must keep their love a secret. Until their love bears fruit… at which time a spell is cast that causes all knowledge of Sanna’s human mom to disappear from merfolk memory. The infant daughter is given to her sea father. Yet there remains the knowledge of her parents’ enduring love for each other and that Mom still exists … somewhere.

In the matriarchal merfolk society, the lack of a mother is not just a serious personal loss, it is a serious handicap in society. Sanna's need for her mother drives the story but first she has to find her. To that end, Sanna becomes the sea witch’s apprentice and attains some serious magic of her own.

The true adventure begins ashore at the Thirty-Seven Dark Islands. In the tradition of old fairy tales, there is the quest, trials to endure, and trickery to overcome. There is innocence & love, miracles & magic, cruelty, treachery, violence & murder. Like a half-remembered dream, like the the best of fairy tales, it makes absolutely no sense, yet in its entirety, makes complete sense.

It would be a disservice to attempt to analyze Cokal’s writing. Simply give in and experience it as one would float gently on the waves past the breakers... unconcerned while drifting farther and farther from shore… until you are completely immersed (yet somehow not drowned?) in the liquid logic of her written world. A delicious book which I will probably reread.

A book that I recommend to readers of the fantasy genre though it may not appeal to the reader of simplistic, linear, standard, PopLit fairy tale novels. Mermaid Moon is decidedly not simple, linear or in any way standard for which I give it applause and a standing ovation. - PB

SFF, Fantasy, FairyTale, Little Mermaid Retold, Merfolk, Islanders, Courage, Fortitude, Adventure, Search, Quest, Lost Mother, Magic, Trials, Treachery, Trickery, Victory, Surreal, R-V, Early Reviewer, Advance Reading Copy, ARC, 2020, USA Lit

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has the most beautiful writing. It is so full of beautiful imagery and fairy-tale wonder. I loved the images that conjured in my mind from the description of the sea, the tails and hair of the merfolk, the way the merfolk glides through the sea, the roses, the bones. It was all so lovely.

I also loved how the merfolk lived in a matriarchy, which is contradictory to many fairy tales. In the merfolk flok, the women made the decisions. They would not chase after the males for attention. (Well, one character did, but that wasn’t typical.) When Sanna goes to land, she is frustrated with how the baron tries to “take care” of her, because she knows she can take care of herself. It made for such an interesting contrast between the land people and the merfolk. And, I love who saves who at the end.

This book was also very pro-LGBT. It was never a question whether it was ok for a mermaid to marry the same sex or not. In fact, there was an equal amount of same-sex relationships and different-sex relationships. I really appreciated how normalized it was in this book.

There are only two reasons why I give this book 4/5 stars and not a perfect score is because I feel like this is really long for teens. I even felt like it was long for me, so I wonder how long it would take teens to finish. This may be a better book to recommend for the summer when teens have more free time.

The second reason is because the ending left me hanging. I just felt like the whole premise of the book was to find her mother, and the end left me feeling slightly disappointed.

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult book to rate.

Mermaid Moon is the newest book by Susann Cokal, her second YA book after The Kingdom of Little Wounds, which I haven't read yet. I read this one, fresh off her debut adult Mirabilis. I have to admit there a similarities between the two; I'll explain along the way.

The book is about a medieval Scandinavian mermaid named Sanna who is actually only half merfolk. Her father Bjarl is a merman while her mother, who she learns is named Lisbet, was human. The ancient mermaid witch Skaeljent (I think that was her name) casted a spell of forgetting so that everybody involved at the birth, including Skaeljent hereslf who delivered Sanna, forgot who the mother was. Sanna longs to know who her mother is so she requests Skaeljent to teach her magic and then give her legs to go ashore to find her mother, all in exchange to bring something important back to Skaeljent. When she arrives at the village of Dark Moon Harbor, Sanna slips and falls into some thorny roses and cuts herself. Her blood turns the white roses red and everyone thinks she either a new saint or a witch. The Baroness Thyrla is determined to find out who or what she is and marry her to her son Peder. Peder wants her to love him. And Tomas, Peder's servant, wants a miracle from her.

As you can see, there are already similarities to Mirabilis and that's not a bad thing. Write what you know. As I said in my my review of the previous book, Cokal knows a lot about medieval religion and folklore and how the two casually syncretized. But still, it just seemed so oddly familiar.

Anyway, as I said this book was difficult for me to rate. For one, Cokal's writing is beautiful, as it was before. It got frustrating sometimes because the narration would just overstate things a lot, and there was this insistence of using unecssary additional descriptions in parentheses. That being said, Sanna's POV and the the third person narration were distinct.

Where book really trips a lot is the story. The story at first is a simple Little Mermaid re-imagining. However, things happen with little meaning or at ad nauseam. Sanna's POV repeats almost every other page about how unattracted she is to Peder. She is basically forced to marry him, although two other (surprisingly, male) characters tell her she has a choice not to; and he's a massive douchebag I get that. But does she have to constantly mention how unattracted she is so many times? Then there's they typical YA trope of "I'm not ugly or pretty".

Ugh. Please, just write a protaganist who is either ugly or pretty and they embrace it. Please!

For a long time, nothing really significant happens. There is a side story about the village priest trying to determine the "miracles" Sanna caused around the village such as a statue of the Virgin Mary changing her arm positions to hold something. While certainly an interesting reflection on the theology of everything that's happening, it really adds nothing else. The story occassionally switches back to Sanna's flok of fellow merfolk who comment and wonder on Sanna's quest. Nothing much happens there except for Skaeljent being mean, one of the mermaids talking about how beautiful she is, and descriptions of gender and sexuality among the merfolk.

By the way, mermaids have no labial flaps. Mermen's penises just hang out there.

The romance really didn't make sense either. Sanna has feelings for Tomas because he was nice to her I guess. No real development. Tomas had feelings for Sanna because she was...I don't know on that one. Then Sanna believes Peder has changed a little before he dies. Then she brings him back to life after fighting with Skaeljent.

Sanna then discovers who her mother is--it's character whom I knew it was her from the beginning but the reveal was just so quick and sudden.

Anyway, it's time for dinner. Nice book, not great could've been better. Not really memorable, but still nice.

[Stephie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am an avid reader of mermaid stories. The Little Mermaid was my absolute favorite Disney movie as a child. I played out that VHS so much my parents had to buy a new one. That means that when I see a book about mermaids I am going to want to read it.

With all that said this was not my favorite. Mostly because I am not sure what was going on. The story lagged a lot and then you mix that with some confusing aspects and you get a disappointed Stephanie. I am just not really sure what happened. Sanna, our half mermaid half human, sets off with a goal of find her mother who is from the land. However, this was not a quest to find her mom like I had hoped. It ended up being a cluster of randomness and then all hell breaks loose.

At the end she finds her mother in a blink to just tie up the quest. It just felt really out of the blue with no satisfying finish. I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it was an actual adventure to find her mom.

Thank you to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am SO disappointed but I guess it serves me right since this one was a complete cover buy. Unfortunately, the gorgeousness of the book (including UNDER the cover) is not matched by the content. I had expected a melancholy fairytale since after all this is supposed to be a sort of retelling of the Little Mermaid. And the premise itself sounded promising too. A young mermaid comes on land to find her long lost human mother, but unexpected happenings surrounding our main protagonist inspires some pretty strong feelings in a humble and religious community. Sadly the story is told in a way which makes me wonder for whom it was intended. Most of the book reads like the most boring and basic teenage romance (including instalove and a love triangle), but then there are really unnecessary descriptions of interspecies mating techniques. The structure of the story is very sloppy. I feel the 2 stars are more than generous.

[E-Lynn Kok · Rating 5 out of 5]

A never told before perspective of "The Little Mermaid" in which a Marreminde who doesn't quite fit in with her flok sheds off her seavish legs in favour of landish ones to find her birthmother - the woman who blessed her with such power in her Marreminde song. Cokal rewrites the fairytale with the narrative of showcasing the underrated power of female mermaids that was shadowed by the men as the hero and washed down in centuries of history. She births them a new life that displays the true power of these magical creatures and how women are the real heroines in fairytales. The writing of this book is phenomenal, it weaves a story together with silver-lined scales of the moon so delicate and enchanting that you want to take your time to savour every word, every chapter and every song. This book is dark, if you think it will be all rainbows and sunshine, you are wrong. It is a twisted retelling that will have you cheering for more haunting ways the author lure you in.

Anyone who loves mermaids, magic and mystic will enjoy this tale. Why? Here's why:
Sanna: Our protagonist, the Marreminde. The crazily powerful monster that has the heart of an angel and the look of a saint. I find that with each chapter, I grow to love her empathy that brings her silly little troubles. Despite her naive innocent looks as how most mermaids are portrayed, she is one badass spirit that has unique magic in her in which allows her to outshine the other mermaids. I am absolutely in love with her.
Sjaeldent: In every clan of the merflok, there is an ancient witch that serves as their advisor. Sjaeldent is so old that no one remembers how old she is including the witch herself. The only proof of her ancient age is her appearance that can be described metaphorically as a disfigured battered ship that sunk a very long time ago such so the sea creatures and plants made a home of it. Despite her cold harsh exterior, she has a gentle heart when it comes to Sanna after she took her under her tail as an apprentice to learn magic.
Thyrla: The Baroness of the Thirty-Seven Dark Islands. She has lived lifetimes by feeding on magic and life itself drawn from her very own relatives and stillborn children. She thrives in her castle, enjoying luxuries with the money she accumulated for centuries by preying on innocent people that has magic and wealth. Despite all her evil doings, I feel sorry for the way her story ended. Such an impactful character that possesses a hold on the tides should somehow have a grander ending. Though, maybe since she lives in grandeur, the lack of it is what the author intended.
Peder: Son of Thyrla and only heir. A charming landish privileged boy that could pass as a Prince save for the brains of one. I am overjoyed to say that even though he has a high rank, at the end of the day he is merely a side character that only added to the shine of Sanna. In many stories, the Prince/ Male Character tends to have an equal share of the spotlight. Peder however, he is needed yes, that's all. He does not take away too much attention from Sanna. Rather, his character gives the space for Sanna to perform.
Tomas: A paid companion to Peder titleless boy from the village who has nothing to offer except his heart. A boy who loves his family fiercely, so gentle and sweet in the harsh hard-edged Dark Moon Harbor.

The love I have for this book is a jar the size of an ocean. I am so glad that I took nearly THREE WEEKS to finish the book, not because the book was too long ( it is the perfect length in my opinion ), rather due to I was busy working ( arggggh, real life hits hard!! ). In the three weeks, I slowly savoured this gourmet meal of a book, my heart is full.

Mermaid Moon is a carefully constructed castle that sits on a rocky cliff nourished by the elements. Thank you so much to @definitely.books for sending me a copy, I can never thank you enough for the enchanting book. I hope reading my review will convince you to pick up the book, if not, the cover is surely a #CoverBuy for its art.

[April Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

*ARC received from Netgalley in return for an honest review*
Video Review: https://youtu.be/CAdziB9f7Yw

This story spins The Little Mermaid on its head and it also adds in a few other fairy tale elements, that I really liked. The writing style is absolutely phenomenal. It feels very much like a modern fairy tale and of a traditional Grimm fairy tale. But it has a lot of modern themes and ideas woven throughout.

This story very much does not shy away from dealing with sexuality, race, and gender inequality.

Throughout Sanna's journey learning about the landish people, she starts to come to some realizations. She has a lot of preconceived notions. Especially at the very beginning that irked me a little bit. That is one thing I have to say about this book. A lot of the time I felt like this book was very much portraying men as beast. They were people who could not control themselves. they were the villains of the story. They were someone who could not be trusted by any means. This is a very female power heavy story at times. While I love the fact that it is women supporting women in some instances, it came at the cost of belittling men a lot of the time. Especially with how the Seavish people viewed their male counterparts. A lot of the time you could definitely tell that they assumed that they were more superior to the landish people and that was just comfortable and not very fun to read. So there were some of those moments that I wasn't enjoying the read.

Then it got to a point in the story where things really started to pick up and you had this flux of magic come in. You got this head to head battle from multiple different fronts, that really captured me and started to pull the story along. So I did enjoy points of this book. There were just points that I felt the book was trying to oversell and idea and it took away from the story itself.

If you do like darker mermaid stories, if you like Little Mermaid retellings that have a darker twist to it, I think you will enjoy this read. But if you want something light and fluffy and something that doesn't get as grotesque as this book does, you probably won't like this one.

[gwendalyn _books_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

“The roses are pouring forth a deeper scent, one that plunges to the bottom of the belly. It is the best scent, and the red is the most beautiful color, any of these poor people have known in their lives. And the cause of it all–that stranger, the pale-haired, blue-robed girl–now lies in the rose vine’s embrace, with thorns in her skin, her own blood glittering richer than Baroness Thyrla’s jewels. Richer even than the red of the roses. The people break out both laughing and weeping. When at last they can speak, they cry, “Miracle!’ 

MERMAID MOON by Susann Cokal delivers a lovely immersive retelling, matriarchal mermaid mythology. Where women are bonded couples, While men are largely unnecessary. The tale follows Sanna, a half-landish mermaid who leaves her flok to seek her human mother. Being advised by the ancient, riddle-tongued sea witch Sjældent. Sanna seeks out a castle ruled by ageless and unkind Baroness Thyrla.
Thyrla, is dark and deadly witch who has amassed great power by doing unspeakable crimes of stealing powers and youth....even from
This engaging book is with its richly detailed prose, is complex and provocative. This ya fantasy, fiction tale unfolds with darkish undertones, is a stunning atmospheric read. As the plot takes some notable twists, Sanna, finds herself betrothed and no where closer to finding the treasure that Sjældent requires as payment.
A suspenseful, vivid, richly detailed, with interesting and compelling characters and vibrant world building.

[Mary Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A labyrinthine and fascinating tale, Mermaid Moon emerges from the tides in a reworking of the Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen); but it is so much more. It strides on land proudly if tentatively at times; rich in political and social traditions that expose the dichotomy of patriarchy-matriarchy, it weaves a mesmerising fairytale that leads us also into the conflict of heart and mind. Sanna is a wondrous heroine; one that will make a home in your imagination for years to come. The heart-wrenching search for her mother and for her true self fills the reader with hope and passion, while she navigates a dangerous patriarchal world about which she knows and understands nothing. But she is clever; she learns. With descriptions that defy the senses and characterisation that is deep and well-exposed, the story brings layer upon layer of truth, lies, manipulation and magic from the pages of legend and plants it in a world that becomes real to the reader. Full of texture, personality, conflict and emotion, this book wraps the reader in its' spell, making it impossible to put down. The intricate world-building is superb and the storytelling, exquisite. As the tension and the danger builds, we are taken by the things unsaid, the truths we do not yet know and long for resolution, but beg for the story not to end. (And I have to add, the book itself; as a physical object is truly beautiful.) Complex, glorious, magical; an ebb and flow of destiny and desire. It is stunning.

[Asiana Circus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mermaid Moon is a quick and fun read perfect for those who enjoy fairy tale re-tellings, especially with a dark twist.

You'll meet most of your favorite characters from the Little Mermaid tale including a terrifying but entertaining sea witch.

The story is about Sanna who has a merfolk father and a human mother and while Sanna is a love child she has to deal with serious backlash because of her half-human self.

She gets into serious adventures and troubles after she decides to find her mother in the human world.

It's a well written engaging tale that fairy tale lovers will surely enjoy.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Vikki VanSickle]

Deliciously written, lush historical fantasy about Sanna, a marreminder (or mermaid) who leaves the sea and her flok to find out more her human mother. Dark Moon Bay is a hardscrabble, harsh community run by a baroness (actually a witch in disguise) and Sanna inadvertently causes a scene that makes the people think she is a saint, and the baroness realize she is dangerous and therefore decides to marry her off to her son. Cokal plays with myth, religion, paganism, and fairytales to create a rich and transporting tale. This is not a light, beautiful tale but is more layered and complex.

[Leslie Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC!!

FANTASTIC! A wonderful twist on a classic sea creature... Kept me guessing and rooting for Sanna! Absolutely adored this, and I really must get my hands on the gorgeous physical copy.

[Marcella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just exactly my type of book, mesmerizing!

“Blood calls to blood; charm calls to charm.
It is the way of the world.
Come close and tell us your dreams."

[Brooke Baker]

DNF at 50%

[Jesse Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out feeling like an elevated, whimsical, literary take on the Little Mermaid and towards the middle it gets lost in its own one-dimensional, bleak tone. The heroine of this tale falls into a trope of being the "casual observer" that I see a lot in the literary fiction world. No personality of her own - simply observing and accepting what's going on around her with barely any sense of self-preservation or purpose.

Sanna is literally a fish out of water - a mermaid who magically grew legs in order to find her estranged mother. She is captured by a devil of a woman - a baroness who is also secretly a powerful witch who uses the bones of her family members to keep herself youthful. The baroness plans to wed her to her son in order to make an army of hybrid mermaid children that she can murder and absorb youth from.

Yeah.

Sanna realizes pretty quickly what's happening here and still barely does anything about it. For a majority of the book, she is just casually present and not much else. She doesn't fight against a marriage to a man she doesn't like. She realizes the witch's plot against her and walks back into a prison cell instead of trying to escape just to see what would happen. She conveys nothing in terms of personality except the repeated objective of finding her mother, which isn't really a personality trait and she doesn't really do a great job at.

There is not much light against the dark in this tale. The villain is a far more fleshed out individual in terms of characterization - and she is a depressing SOB. She has a room full of her own children's bones - she plots and fantasizes about murdering children to keep herself young. As a mother, that kind of imagery, set up against a lukewarm protagonist and a bleak, tragic tale of imprisonment, is enough to convince me this was not the book for me.

Thank you to netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Eduardo Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly complex and enjoyable, doubly so because of how utterly improbable it was that I would ever hear of it, let alone read it: I feel fortunate and am thankful to my friend A. for placing it in my hands.

It's a bit long, but large print so it goes by quickly. A few slightly irksome side plots, made up for by the quality of the writing and the story. And then, three-quarters of the way through, whoa. Let's just say, I didn't see that coming, then that or that or that. There are some dark twists and uncomfortable resolutions. What I loved is that this is not a morally ambiguous book - it's a morally clear one taking place in a less-clear world. Young (and some less-young) adults would do well to read Cokal's portrayals of vanity and greed; the consequences of falling for shallow charismatic "leaders" or of acting in haste; and some lovely takes on kindness and strength.

In one of those curious quirks of fate, I finished the book on the same day I listened to the Invisibilia Trust Fail episode. The timing was eerily appropiate: trust (social and interpersonal) fascinates me, its breakdown terrifies me. I can't say much more without spoilers but should you get the chance to read this book -- and I do recommend that you do so! -- you may want to give that podcast a listen beforehand.

[Cassie Swindon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't seen blue edged pages in a very long time. It fits well with the ocean theme. The cover image feels a bit older fashioned but when I looked, the copyright is 2020.

The prologue is headed with a quote: "The moon lowers herself to draw the tide." And then the short chapters skip back and forth between Sanna's point of view in first person present tense narrative and the other chapters switch to third person (omniscient)?

The prologue sets the scene of a human 18 year old giving birth to a merman's child on the shoreline, unsure if her baby will be human or a merfolk.

When the story starts, I believe Sanna is their child, now somewhat grown, who was raised under the sea and hopes to get her land legs and find her mother.

Some sort of magic gave her legs but I'm not sure how yet. And she turns white roses red by accident.

After a few chapters, I kept feeling quite removed when I left Sanna's point of view, so I didn't finish this novel since it seemed forced for me to try.

[kaz auditore · Rating 3 out of 5]

its beautifully written with all the descriptions was good usually im not a fan but here we are. love how it’s casually pro lgbt+ and the mermaids living in matriarchy. it was interesting to see sana frustrated that a man tries to take care of her when she knows she can do it herself. but also i was kinda underwhelmed for the end it was a bit disappointing methinks