What do you think?
Rate this book
Merewif: The Mermaid Witch
When Madge receives a moonstone necklace on her sixteenth birthday, she discovers she is not only a mermaid, but also, a witch.
Problem is, she never knew either existed in the first place.
As if wrapping her head around the fact that she’s a mermaid-witch isn’t enough, it also turns out her parents were royalty to her kind and didn’t die as she’s been told her entire life. Instead, they were murdered by her estranged aunt Viviane, who is now after her.
If Madge is to prove herself fit to lead her kind, she’ll have to hone her newfound Vala and unravel clues from her mother’s tome. But when Madge uncovers the dark power her murderous aunt wields, will she have what it takes to save them all?
Problem is, she never knew either existed in the first place.
As if wrapping her head around the fact that she’s a mermaid-witch isn’t enough, it also turns out her parents were royalty to her kind and didn’t die as she’s been told her entire life. Instead, they were murdered by her estranged aunt Viviane, who is now after her.
If Madge is to prove herself fit to lead her kind, she’ll have to hone her newfound Vala and unravel clues from her mother’s tome. But when Madge uncovers the dark power her murderous aunt wields, will she have what it takes to save them all?
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 13, 2021
12 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 3, 2021
This was such a wonderful book! In one sense, it's an easy to read YA fantasy about a teenage girl who discovers that she is part mermaid, part witch, and just so happens to be the heir to the royal throne. But woven into this story is beautiful, poetic writing, a well-paced plot, and some of the best world building I have ever read. I'll be honest, as a 35 year old male, I'm not usually into reading about mermaids, but her ability to seamlessly weave myth and history into her plot not only kept my attention, but completely intrigued me. Including everything from Greek mythology, to Old Testament allusions, to Queen Elizabeth I, Amanda Adam effortlessly (and believably) connected her fiction world into our own. I will definitely be reading the second book to this wonderful trilogy!
May 26, 2024
Holy moly! I couldn't put this book down! definitely recommend reading this one
July 25, 2021
Just what I wanted. Everything about this book is perfect, from the setting on the northwestern shores to the suspenseful build-up. The story is fun and takes you away. Finally a mermaid story done right! I couldn’t put it down. Was a fast read for me and I’m looking forward to the next part of the story.
November 8, 2021
I cannot even begin to describe how utterly AMAZING this book is! You are such an amazing writer and I CAN NOT wait to see what other incredible peices of art you have to present. Anyone who has not read this MUST look into it. You will not be dissapointed. It does not fail to keep the reader in a trance and constantly wanting to continue reading it. This is one of my favorite books I have read and I have read A LOT of books. I one hundred percent recomend this book to anyone seeking a thrilling and enthralling new book to lose themselves in.
August 31, 2024
I read this for SPFBO. To find out more about the SPFBO contest and to see the participating bloggers/authors and reviews follow the links below
SPFBO has graced me with a few mermaid books over the years and not a one has been like the other. I was pretty thrilled this one landed in my group though, because I do love mermaids. This was also quite a bit different for me, as it leans more into the contemporary fantasy side (or whatever subgenre this is) under a very broad YA-Adult umbrella.
There was so much I enjoyed about this story and I was surprised to find this was Amanda Adam’s debut book when I checked out her GR’s page.
*
The story- check out the summary it says it better, and saves me extra space to gush about the book…
Merewif has a lot going for it, starting with a very likeable lead in Madge and the rest of the cast is just as enjoyable too.
I loved Madge and her Grandpa Ollie.
I loved the friendship between Madge and her bestie Ash- especially their willingness to accept the new girl Selene into their little circle, without any cattiness about her possibly of being the girlfriend of the hot broody Max.
I also liked how unsocial Max was at times; it gave me a chuckle when he’d be in a scene and not say a word.
There were a couple of moments character-wise that didn’t feel as smooth to me- mostly to do with reactions feeling a little extra. One with Selene comes to mind. Most the time Selene was pretty chill and I enjoyed her character but then she has a bit of a meltdown making me question if she was pretending to be chill or if she was going to end up the Queen B after all.
*
Merewif does a decent job of feeding information within the context of the story and plays with stuff we know like Camelot/Greek mythology in creative ways… using it to fill-out the in-world stuff while making it into something new.
I found the story was pretty accessible all-around, even being an older adult. So, say when we do get a little lesson on energy exchange it’s easy to understand for a newbie while not being too much for the been-there-done-that crowd.
Also the cast, though most were younger than my youngest child, never were too teen for me.
I found this to be a fun read that moves along at a nice pace with very little repetition or lessons on things that are so ingrained in society, that we know them without even knowing how we know them- something I appreciated a lot.
There were some typical YA tropes- like the hidden princess who is the only one who can do the thing that needs to be done, but Adam’s holds up all those special-girl tropes and says what we all are thinking… Hey, why are you so special? It kind of pokes fun here and there, lightening up the mood and making me snort a little because she seemed to be reading my mind every time.
*
The magic is of the fast and loose variety and just mostly done instinctively.
*
The atmosphere was freaking fantastic. I can’t say enough about this. It sometimes was creepy- especially with stuff like the haunting call of the sirens or the voices in the air. Sometimes it was just creative- like the sea nymph in the painting. Or it was just cool as heck- like the siren in the Treoliffruma tree.
What I really loved the most though was how Amanda made the scenes with Madge turning into a mermaid just incredibly cool.
The first, almost change, was so spiked with anticipation that I was holding my breath waiting for it to happen (don’t worry I never once forgot to let my breath out).
Later on in the story, after the change- I loved the feeling of awe of Madge’s first swim!
These were things that really made the story stand-out for me because I felt like I was experiencing it with her and I had the best time with this book for this reason.
Merewif is a solidly entertaining story.
4.3
Learn more about the contest here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Phase one is here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
SPFBO has graced me with a few mermaid books over the years and not a one has been like the other. I was pretty thrilled this one landed in my group though, because I do love mermaids. This was also quite a bit different for me, as it leans more into the contemporary fantasy side (or whatever subgenre this is) under a very broad YA-Adult umbrella.
There was so much I enjoyed about this story and I was surprised to find this was Amanda Adam’s debut book when I checked out her GR’s page.
*
The story- check out the summary it says it better, and saves me extra space to gush about the book…
Merewif has a lot going for it, starting with a very likeable lead in Madge and the rest of the cast is just as enjoyable too.
I loved Madge and her Grandpa Ollie.
I loved the friendship between Madge and her bestie Ash- especially their willingness to accept the new girl Selene into their little circle, without any cattiness about her possibly of being the girlfriend of the hot broody Max.
I also liked how unsocial Max was at times; it gave me a chuckle when he’d be in a scene and not say a word.
There were a couple of moments character-wise that didn’t feel as smooth to me- mostly to do with reactions feeling a little extra. One with Selene comes to mind. Most the time Selene was pretty chill and I enjoyed her character but then she has a bit of a meltdown making me question if she was pretending to be chill or if she was going to end up the Queen B after all.
*
Merewif does a decent job of feeding information within the context of the story and plays with stuff we know like Camelot/Greek mythology in creative ways… using it to fill-out the in-world stuff while making it into something new.
I found the story was pretty accessible all-around, even being an older adult. So, say when we do get a little lesson on energy exchange it’s easy to understand for a newbie while not being too much for the been-there-done-that crowd.
Also the cast, though most were younger than my youngest child, never were too teen for me.
I found this to be a fun read that moves along at a nice pace with very little repetition or lessons on things that are so ingrained in society, that we know them without even knowing how we know them- something I appreciated a lot.
There were some typical YA tropes- like the hidden princess who is the only one who can do the thing that needs to be done, but Adam’s holds up all those special-girl tropes and says what we all are thinking… Hey, why are you so special? It kind of pokes fun here and there, lightening up the mood and making me snort a little because she seemed to be reading my mind every time.
*
The magic is of the fast and loose variety and just mostly done instinctively.
*
The atmosphere was freaking fantastic. I can’t say enough about this. It sometimes was creepy- especially with stuff like the haunting call of the sirens or the voices in the air. Sometimes it was just creative- like the sea nymph in the painting. Or it was just cool as heck- like the siren in the Treoliffruma tree.
What I really loved the most though was how Amanda made the scenes with Madge turning into a mermaid just incredibly cool.
The first, almost change, was so spiked with anticipation that I was holding my breath waiting for it to happen (don’t worry I never once forgot to let my breath out).
Later on in the story, after the change- I loved the feeling of awe of Madge’s first swim!
These were things that really made the story stand-out for me because I felt like I was experiencing it with her and I had the best time with this book for this reason.
Merewif is a solidly entertaining story.
4.3
Learn more about the contest here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Phase one is here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
May 24, 2022
I'm at a loss for how to write a decent review of this book because all the stuff I most want to talk about is intensely spoilery. I'm not well-read in YA, but I will say the story started off in ways that met my expectations. A teenager with a murky tragedy in her past, a portentous object for a coming-of-age birthday present. Then the author seems to have grown bored with doing what was expected and started shocking the daylights out of me! The use of mythology was bold and inventive, and there were some really quite scary sequences. Very enjoyable read, definitely recommend. Looking forward to getting into the sequels at some point!
Want to read
October 1, 2024This is not a full review. I read through the beginning of all 300 SPFBOX contest entries. This was a book I wanted to read more of.
On her sixteenth birthday, a girl who lost her parents to an accident is reunited with their closest friends who have something her mother left them to give to her on this day. (Contemporary teen fantasy).
This seems like a competently written, character focused contemporary fantasy. The 3rd person close prose is well balanced between its narration and dialogue.
The dialogue is lively and revealing of character. The setting and circumstances of the story are mundane (for now) and it's taking its time, but at least something is happening.
Ordinary as their conversation may be, these family friends who our MC is reuniting with have been sailing around the world. The circumstances of the gift they bear is also a little unusual, or so we’re told, but that’s the end of the chapter.
There isn’t quite a hook in this opening. Not yet anyway. That will come once our MC actually sees what her parents have left her, I suspect. Ending the 1st chapter before we see the interesting thing (trademark) may not have been the best idea, but!
The prologue to this novel, and the paratext of the cover and title introduce a water longing and the idea of merefolk which the narrative is clearly developing. That is tantalizing.
Establishing the normalcy of our MCs life before it’s broken by what is happening right now, today, feels exactly right for this kind of story.
Something is changing for our MCs life in a big way, tho she little suspects it for now. This is so well written, and its characters are so charming, if I had a teen, I would put this into their hands without hesitation. I’m in.
On her sixteenth birthday, a girl who lost her parents to an accident is reunited with their closest friends who have something her mother left them to give to her on this day. (Contemporary teen fantasy).
This seems like a competently written, character focused contemporary fantasy. The 3rd person close prose is well balanced between its narration and dialogue.
The dialogue is lively and revealing of character. The setting and circumstances of the story are mundane (for now) and it's taking its time, but at least something is happening.
Ordinary as their conversation may be, these family friends who our MC is reuniting with have been sailing around the world. The circumstances of the gift they bear is also a little unusual, or so we’re told, but that’s the end of the chapter.
There isn’t quite a hook in this opening. Not yet anyway. That will come once our MC actually sees what her parents have left her, I suspect. Ending the 1st chapter before we see the interesting thing (trademark) may not have been the best idea, but!
The prologue to this novel, and the paratext of the cover and title introduce a water longing and the idea of merefolk which the narrative is clearly developing. That is tantalizing.
Establishing the normalcy of our MCs life before it’s broken by what is happening right now, today, feels exactly right for this kind of story.
Something is changing for our MCs life in a big way, tho she little suspects it for now. This is so well written, and its characters are so charming, if I had a teen, I would put this into their hands without hesitation. I’m in.
May 7, 2024
3.5⭐️rounded up to 4.
The beginning of this book felt a little rushed and messy, but about halfway through I really began to enjoy it! I loved the connection with (mild spoilers) the Arthurian legends and Medusa. I do think it could have benefited from an editor - some of the grammar errors were distracting. But not enough to ruin the book, and it looking forward to book 2!
The beginning of this book felt a little rushed and messy, but about halfway through I really began to enjoy it! I loved the connection with (mild spoilers) the Arthurian legends and Medusa. I do think it could have benefited from an editor - some of the grammar errors were distracting. But not enough to ruin the book, and it looking forward to book 2!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2025
Reading Merewif let me step into a world of salt air and moonlight. Otherworldly, Amanda Adam’s writing is evocative, pulling me effortlessly into this coastal Pacific Northwest dream she’s created! Every description felt alive, as if the ocean itself were a character. Adam’s descriptive language doesn’t just paint a picture; it casts a spell. I loved feeling apart of it 🧜♀️💙
November 27, 2022
I try not to give 5 stars to everything. But this was such a break from my normal, I'm glad I read it.
Will go over my notes and come back with a full book review.
Will go over my notes and come back with a full book review.
September 11, 2024
Pretty good
I am not one who reads a lot of fantasy, but I enjoyed several of the settings in Merewif, especially the swimming scenes.
I am not one who reads a lot of fantasy, but I enjoyed several of the settings in Merewif, especially the swimming scenes.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews