There’s a time to play along, and there’s a time to put everything on the line.
Merletta has survived her second year test, but its revelations have once again upended everything she thought she knew. With so much at stake, it’s hard to remember why she once cared so much about passing the program. It’s time to show her true colors and face whatever comes…but yet again, she’s failed to predict the Center’s next move. And the consequences are disastrous for more than just her.
Heath, meanwhile, is taking no such stand. His magic is growing stronger by the day, but revealing it would only be a barrier to peace. Not to mention Reka still refuses to explain his sudden antagonism toward Merletta. When Merletta is forced to flee the triple kingdoms—straight into Heath’s arms—it’s easy to tell himself he has everything he’s ever wanted.
But the longer Heath willfully ignores the barriers between them, the higher the stakes become. Because dragons aren’t as easy to deceive as humans. And the outcome of Heath and Merletta’s unplanned connection will mean catastrophe on a scale they never could have imagined.
Deborah Grace White was more or less born reading. She grew up on a wide range of books, from classic literature to light-hearted romps. Her love of fantasy was inevitable from the time her father read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy to her and her siblings when she was four years old.
The love of reading has traveled with her unchanged across multiple continents, and carried her from her own childhood all the way to having children of her own.
But if reading is like looking through a window into a magical and beautiful world, beginning to write her own stories was like discovering she could open that window and climb right out into fantasyland.
Now she gets to live that childhood dream amidst the fun and chaos of life with her husband and their four kids.
Two kingdoms are on a collision course in this Romeo and Juliet story. In an ongoing battle centered on truth vs. lies and good intentions vs. evil ones, personal and community rights become threatened. At first the threats seem to be merely verbal, until violence makes it clear that survival is at stake for both Heath’s and Merletta’s communities.
“Be careful.” Repeated good advice!
True to today’s story-telling patterns, a teenaged mermaid carries the burden of saving her kingdom while mermen hold the power, the knowledge and the strength to either oppose or empower her.
Enter the dragons and their dragonfriends who are embroiled in their own crisis in the world of humans. As Heath develops his farsight with his dragon partner, Reka, he cannot stop watching his beloved Merletta, the courageous underdog of the mermaid world, longing for them to be together.
The author has knit together a rich story of cultures, beliefs, friendships and trauma in the midst of a growing romance.
Things are getting INTENSE in this one!! 😱 The second half of the book had me gripped and I couldn’t stop reading. My favorite in the series so far! Heath and Merletta are fighting against all odds not only for their doomed love, but for the safety of their people and families. Everything seems to be going wrong and the stakes keep getting raised again and again. Ahh this book was so good!! 🤩 Starting the last one IMMEDIATELY!
Still loved what was happening in the Triple Kingdoms. Merletta as always was a great character to follow and I couldn't help but cheer for her.
Similarly, Heath's worsening situation made me wondering how that was ever going to turn out well and I was invested in that.
While I liked a lot of things about this book we've now built on the whole boring together time. I will say that for at least part of this Heath and Merletta were together in Heath's kingdom having experiences together. Which meant less "catch each other up on things the reader doesn't want to hear recapped."
By the end of the book I had a few more things I was having issues with.
#1 The romance. I was never super involved in the romance but since I was basically ignoring the time the two were together I could forget about it. Now it's become a bigger plot point and it can't be ignored. This feels like a relationship built on more like "you're different from your people and I'm different from mine. Only you truly understand me."
Heath in a lot of ways chooses to isolate himself from other humans so yeah, he doesn't have other people that he's close to. Merletta is more like, oh you're the first person I met who doesn't know my kingdom's story to be able to judge me right away as "poor person from such and such place".
It didn't feel like a great building block to start with but since the relationship only seemed to grow from that by being a "it's kind of fun to have a special secret person no one else knows about to talk to" it never got any stronger.
#2 Heath. While I enjoyed reading about what was going on around Heath, I've come to realize I don't really like Heath himself. For starters he's very selfish. He treats Reka horribly. Reka clearly has a special relationship with Heath but from the moment Heath finds Merletta he sidelines Reka.
For the entirety of the 4 books Heath and Reka's conversations almost always involve talking about Merletta. Heath no longer asks what Reka wants to do or spends time with Reka. He uses Reka as transportation. He calls Reka when he wants to visit Merletta. But spends no time with the dragon himself. Reka even says at one point that "we used to go on adventures to other places before" and Heath doesn't have an epiphany that maybe Reka misses that.
Reka is a long time friend that obviously has some reservations about Merletta. Reservations that last years. And Heath doesn't really push to discover them or stop and think to value Reka's opinion. Honestly I just ended up mad by the end of the series that Reka was such a good friend in comparison to Heath.
Heath also completely checks out with all of his other relationships and responsibilities any time Merletta is on his mind. Which is most of the time.
There are some SERIOUS things in his kingdom with the whole conflict between magic and non magic users. He has a unique position to try and help. Yet he will flake at random times and doesn't seem to care that much. He gets accused at one point of not really having a dog in the fight because his magic is weak/non-existent and it's kind of true. Heath is mentally at least not thinking about his kingdom or its future.
He hides his magic from EVERYONE. His parents, siblings, cousins, and only reluctantly shares any aspect of it with Reka and his grandmother. He keeps himself safe and isolates himself.
He creates a situation that's very "me vs them" but also of being alone. He wants to be in Merletta's life and that's it so he fails to actually try and have a strong relationship with anyone else. Most of his issues are of his own making because he is deceptive and self-isolating.
At the end him bringing Merletta to the celebration was just like woooow, have you not been paying any attention to anything but your own desires? No, no he hasn't.
While the events in Heath's world are interesting, he is not.
Mainly at this point it's Merletta that kept me going. Because she does have agency outside of Heath. While he's a lovestruck I have no life outside of pining for you person, Merletta is out living her life. She's actively working to better her life and help her kingdom. She's making friends, opening up to people, and determined not to take the easy road.
In fact, the two of them are complete opposites. And not an opposites attract kind of way. More like a we value different things and one of us is independent while the other is a clinger kind of different.
Merletta was amazing. She faced every challenge head on. She kept secrets sometimes but the reasons made sense and she shared a lot of things with her friends. She refused to walk away from a kingdom that'd been so hard on her. She was living her life.
So far the whole series has been really good, any time the story starts to lag, something happens and you get reeled back in.
My only complaint is that Heath seemed so naive to think it was a good idea to bring Merletta to the Winter Solstice. Between how suspicious the King has been to his family, accusing Heath of treason, AND the dragons being there, I just feel like Heath should have known better. Sometimes Heath’s character seems to act more like 16 instead of 20.
I will definitely be reading the 4th book in October. I am anxious to find out who has the king’s ear ( I am guessing the mystery guy Heath met as a kid), I hope we find out how the mermaids came to be, and the dragons come to their senses.
Three down, one to go. Mercy, but this is a tangled mess I can't wait to see resolved! This book had a couple of huge stand-up-and-cheer moments, but it also had a stretch of impending disaster that was painful in part because I knew the blow-up was coming but I also really wanted the MCs' willful blindness to be right. *writhes in agony, reaching for the next book*
I received this Audiobook for free. My opinions are my own.
Real Rating: 2.5* / I really struggled with this book and came close to giving up on it. But I am invested enough to want to see how it turns out.
The King & Perce are being nearly intolerable. If the King doesn't turn out to be mind controlled (and nothing suggests that he is), then I may claim my "it's just fiction" rights by shouting at the author to just kill him off already. If you were already ready to give up because of these two, then you may not make it through this one.
And everyone's refusal to just communicate is extremely frustrating. This has turned into a chain of bad things (from small social mis-steps to massacre threatening impulsivity) that didn't have to happened if everyone would just tell people everything they know. And very very little of it has any justification at all.
Note: I also think this would have been better as a trilogy rather than drawing it out into four.
Narration: Had nothing to do with why I struggled so much with this book.
Is it good? Despite falling into traditional new author traps such as pacing issues, White's thrilling storyline, unique characters, and phenomenal world building make this series astounding. It far surpasses typical YA stories. It is just as enjoyable for teens as adults.
Is it appropriate for your children? There is no swearing, and despite boasting a sweet romance, the 'Vazula' series only (mildly) sexual content are chaste kisses and a few references to the hero's shock at the mermaid's 'shells' and the difference in winter human attire to summer mermaid attire. There is some violence. The heroine trains as a guard and has a few real fights. This is appropriate for the adventure genre and no more detailed than the next tale. The tension is possibly the most mature thing in this series. It increases as the series progresses, and there is at least one assassin attempt in each novel, though these are usually off page or non violent. The last book culminates in a battle. 10-12+.
Summary: Year three at the mermaid academy and things are NOT going well for lovely fish girl. Apparently, her teachers/leaders really don’t like the rebel-rousing she has been doing, and this leads her to flee to the arms of her hot human love interest (always the right decision!).
Things aren’t always easier as a fish girl on land (especially since we still have all sorts of royal family drama), but it’s fun to see the two worlds interact more directly and continue to build the relationship (and all the drama that goes with it!).
Pros: While I have no problem with a slow-burn romance, it was nice to have the characters together for a longer length of time in this book—not to mention all the hilarious fish-out-of-water moments (their soldier body-guard is a hoot!).
Other than that, I don’t know if I really have much to say that I haven’t said elsewhere, but I really like how the plot/characters/magic continues to develop.
Cons: Fish girl makes a rather silly choice here that I am still struggling to understand, but it definitely increases the tension!
Conclusion: There is no conclusion! Everyone is in peril, and we just have to keep reading!
I enjoyed this series, but sometimes felt it was taking a long time to move to the next event. The chapters are titled by the character whose point of view that chapter is written in, which works, but there were frequent times I sighed when I realized I was going to have to hear about a plot point again, but from another character's point of view. The ending seem to keep happening, with exciting events climaxing, then starting up again.
Still, the story was intriguing enough that I read all four books in quick succession. It was a fun read and I would recommend it. I think the author had great character development, with characters changing and growing in ways that made a lot of sense. Her writing style moved smoothly. My only real complaint was it needed some scene editing.
Dnf Honestly it was stretched out too long and I got bored. There wasn't enough secrets to keep me reading for answers, and I wanted to read other books so I never finished this. Other than that, it was done really well. The characters were done well, but I found the main character a little annoying. I've just gotten a little bored of this same world after abt 14 other books. Heath was great. I loved Reka, obviously. Great for if you just want a story abt someone's life, but if you're looking for action- this probably isn't the greatest one to pick up.
Damn. This series be wildin. I think this book was a bit more messy than the others because of the fact that it’s the third book in the series of four, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Although there was nothing all too new in this one, I was still very much invested in the story. I’m only giving it three stars because some of the plot points seemed to be rather confusing (e.g. Merletta going to Wyvern Island for what now?) But I liked the political side of things unfolding and Heath navigating his new-found powers and trying his best to work with two sides that seem to be determined to destroy each other. I’m eagerly on the hunt for the fourth book now…
I love Deborah Grace White’s stand alone fairytale series best. But, wow, she knows how to weave a tale! There are so many threads woven into this story: things I don’t understand yet. My daughter was smart enough to wait and start this series when all of the books were out. Each one does end in a cliff hanger, making you desperately want more. I love Cliff and Merleta. I can’t wait to see what they discover and do together in the last book!
After two book of build up, things really start to change as loyalties are tested, worlds collide, and an information revolution of sorts begins. It is definitely helpful to have read the first two books before reading it. A Kingdom Threatened takes full advantage of the build up to this point while expanding the adventures and relationships as it reaches a climax that leads to an epic finale in the fourth book. This is a fun addition to the series.
At this point I feel like this series should have been one book less, cause the first 2/3 of this book felt like a repetition of the previous book with a only a few new pieces of information or plotpoints here and there. It all moved so slowly.
Then finally something happened that saved this book for me and I enjoyed the last part of it a lot more, but the first half was just too eh to rate it higher.
I still have my hopes up for the final book to be a bang
I rated this 5 stars. I enjoyed this one. Merletta finds out more about herself and begins to understand her role. Heath is trying to navigate the growing hostility toward magic users. I struggle with Heath's brother and wish he has a little less brawn and more brain. It was lovely to see how this played out and watch out the dragons are coming.
Contains: kisses and some violence. The saga of Merletta and Heath continues with political intrigues on both sides. I look forward to the final book to find out what is going to happen with these two.
I enjoy the series, but I feel like the author is drawing it out a little. I find myself frustrated that Heath seems oblivious to a possible enemy to his kingdom while it is perfectly obvious to me.
I started this book last night and could not put it down! (It's now 7:30 a.m.) I am very thankful I started reading this series after it was finished... I am about to download and read the conclusion. I expect nothing but the best. 😊
Probably the strongest book in this series so far! If you're looking for an alternative to Harry Potter, I recommend considering The Vazula Chronicles by Deborah Grace White, as there are some similarities in plot structure, even though it's more YA romance-y than HP, and about mermaids.
As stakes keep growing higher and higher, Heath and Merletta keep having to learn what it means to face the truth and if it’s work fighting for it. This installation really shows the struggle of choice and desire for good while still wanting to fit and survive. Yet through it the love story grows and more things come to light. Can’t wait for the final installment!
I really loved reading this wonderful book! I loved the characters and the plot! I had a hard time putting this wonderful book down! I will be reading the next book in this wonderful series!
I love this author, but I feel like parts of this particular book in the series were dragging. I'm hoping the next and final book moves a little faster.