Fathomless (Fairytale Retellings, #3)

Jul 24, 2012 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya, thank-you-bea-or-ala, pretty-girls-make-graves, continuations-n-retellings, my-biggest-fear

dear jackson pearce,
consistency may well be the last refuge of the unimaginative, but cover-consistency?? we are booknerds. we needs it.

i am not sure what fairy tale this is based on. yes, obviously, the little mermaid,doofus. and that works for half of the narrative, but what about the other half? three sisters with the powers to see the past, know the truth of the present, and see the future? whose parents were a woodsman and a wealthy woman? this seems to have fairy-tale trappings, but i do...more
dear jackson pearce,
consistency may well be the last refuge of the unimaginative, but cover-consistency?? we are booknerds. we needs it.

i am not sure what fairy tale this is based on. yes, obviously, the little mermaid,doofus. and that works for half of the narrative, but what about the other half? three sisters with the powers to see the past, know the truth of the present, and see the future? whose parents were a woodsman and a wealthy woman? this seems to have fairy-tale trappings, but i do not know it. and don't talk to me about the fates, because they don't create the future, etc, they can just see it. and (view spoiler)??? what is this mishmash??

but for all my confusion and cover-disappointment, i really liked this book. mermaids without tails; what will they think of next?

this is a story of lo, a mermaid-like creature who is forgetting her human past living among her "sisters" in the water, and celia, one-third of a triplet unit with the aforementioned powers, her allotment being that she can see people's pasts when she touches them. after the two of them meet while saving a boy from drowning, celia will finally come to appreciate her power, and use it to help lo remember. but lo's got some secrets, and a bit of an agenda. and drowning boy only complicates things.

it is a fairy tale. these will be tests. and dilemmas. and nothing is quite what it seems.

pearce does a really good job blending the fairy-tale elements into a contemporary narrative. the "under the sea" bits are spooky and sorrowful with just enough danger to keep it interesting.

she also writes the sister-relationship very well. i assume. being sisterless myself, i can only comment on how it seems to be accurate, with the closeness and compassion and the infighting and the jealousy and the protectiveness and the insoluble bonds that wrap everything up together.plus, these are triplets, so...very close bonds, there.

the ending is pretty great. that's about all i want to say on that. she does a clever little reversal, just a flash and a flip of a fin in the water, and it is unexpected and very neatly done. had the ending not been as strong as it was, this probably would have been a three, but color me impressed.

jackson pearce - three for three...(less)

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Sep 06, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owns

Fathomless, why you no have no cover yet?
description

UPDATE:
Fathomless, why you no match the purdy covers of Sisters Red and Sweetly? No me gusta.
description

After reading:

What other reader's reviews found shocking, I found merely amusing. Also, I expected this book to wrap up the other two, seeing how they are more interlocked than what meets the eye. Alas, it did not and I hope another book will be written, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case.

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Sep 02, 2012 Corley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5 stars.

I fell in love with this book, and it was literally hard to put down, which is why I finished in one day. Pearce added on to the world created in Sisters Red and Sweetly, but I love the feel of the ocean in this one. Based on The Little Mermaid (which I have read), this was a wonderful retelling; it was dark and mysterious, and I was totally not expecting the ending. Really, the last several chapters were so enthralling and just...wow. Though it was a little weird at times (such as how...more 3.5 stars.

I fell in love with this book, and it was literally hard to put down, which is why I finished in one day. Pearce added on to the world created in Sisters Red and Sweetly, but I love the feel of the ocean in this one. Based on The Little Mermaid (which I have read), this was a wonderful retelling; it was dark and mysterious, and I was totally not expecting the ending. Really, the last several chapters were so enthralling and just...wow. Though it was a little weird at times (such as how the ocean girls become "angels" and just what that means, but, then again, this whole book universe is sort of messed up, what with Fenris and all.)

Lo was such a unique creature; at times I wasn't very fond of her, and then I found something interesting about her, but by the end I liked her better than any other character. Celia, who can see the past, was unfortunately a character I didn't connect with as well, and she paled next to Lo/Naidi; she starts off as seeing herself as nothing more than Anne and Jane's sister, but by the end, I think she is firmly Celia, her own person. I would have liked to see a little more of her growth though, and compared to Lo, I didn't find her quite as interesting, but that's because Lo is this dark, tortured being torn between her new life and her old life as a human. It's funny, because originally, I wanted to read more of Celia's point of view than Lo's, but I ended up liking Lo a lot more. Celia's sisters didn't really make an impact on me either.

Surprisingly, the romance in this book wasn't touched on all that much; it's there, only not the main focus of the book, and part of me was a little disappointed, but a greater part enjoyed this. Jude seemed a little flat to me, no where near as interesting as the previous guys in this series, and I didn't really feel the love between him and Celia. Was it supposed to be that way? For me, the main focus of the story was the friendship between Celia and Lo/Naida, and I really liked this aspect.

I'm not sure if it's just my opinion, but I feel like the writing was a little weaker in this book than Pearce's previous works. The style just didn't flow quite as well I feel like.

On to the cover change. This one is iffy for me; yes, I do like the blue color and the font used, but the necklace doesn't play a part in the story! I wish they would go back to the gothic looking covers, especially now that Cold Spell has been confirmed.

I believe this is my second favorite so far, after Sister's Red.(less)

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May 04, 2012 Infinite Playlist marked it as wishlist · review of another edition

Shelves: connected, better-buy-the-ebook-first, to-be-continued

No beautiful illustrated cover like Sisters Red and Sweetly had? WHAT? NOOO!! PLEASE! I WANT A BEAUTIFUL BLUE/GREEN/TURQUISE MERMAID/WAVES/WATER cover with a secret image T________T Not this boring, standard stuff ;_;

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Jan 20, 2013 Misty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile-ya, folklore-myth-fable-fairy-tall-tale, retelling, series, sci_fi-fantasy, supernatural-paranormal, mermaids, own, dark, read-in-2012, review-copy-accepted

4.75ish.

This was one of my more highly anticipated books of last year (because hello? Fairy tale freak. This is not news to anyone.), and it's sort of shameful that I am just now posting a written review. (Though yes, I did have a mini vlogged one here. But still.) I feel like I've talkedabout this book a lot, but nothing's all official-like until I write about it. So.

This was my favorite Jackson Pearce book to date. I've enjoyed everything I've read by her, but there's always been something a...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Angel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: little-brown, mermaids, ya, wishlist, 2012-release, arc-for-review

Initial thoughts:
2 for 2 with your 2012 books, Jackson Pearce. You are quickly becoming one of my favourite authors AAAAAAAAND I think I would read anything you wrote, including but not limited to a reinterpretation of the phone book.

You can find this review and many more at Mermaid Vision Books!

Release Date:September 4, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Source: ARC received from publisher

Tell Me More:Human beings are funny thin...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Momo the Mome Rath rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mermaids, urban-fantasy, werewolves, read-in-2012, favorites-all-time, retelling, reviewed, pub-2012, 2012-favs

First a little backstory:

Fathomless is the third entry in Jackson Pearce's Fairytale Retellings. What I like about this series, is that it is almost not a series. The stories are not co-dependent on each other -- however, it would be a better experience to read them in order. I actually read them out of order, not knowing that Sweetly was the second in the series. What makes them a unit is that Jackson Pearce has created her own mythology that she weaves into the fairytale. This can be somewhat...more First a little backstory:

Fathomless is the third entry in Jackson Pearce's Fairytale Retellings. What I like about this series, is that it is almost not a series. The stories are not co-dependent on each other -- however, it would be a better experience to read them in order. I actually read them out of order, not knowing that Sweetly was the second in the series. What makes them a unit is that Jackson Pearce has created her own mythology that she weaves into the fairytale. This can be somewhat jarring as most people wouldn't expect werewolves in a Hansel and Gretle retelling (which Sweetly is). This is the reason to read them in order: Sisters Red, the first in the series and a Little Red Riding Hood retelling, introduces the mythos into a fairytale were it fits completely. So that being said, Fathomless is a retelling of The Little Mermaid intertwined with Jackson Pearce's mythos.

Because this is the third in the series, the author wrote the book intending for the reader to know her mythos. Therefore, it is not a spoiler to know that werewolves will be making an appearance. I definitely found it more enjoyable to be reading and go "I wonder how she's going to do this" vs. "lolwut? Werewolves?”

Moving on, Fathomless blows its predecessors out of the water. It focuses on two girls: Celia and Lo. Celia is part of a set of three, a triplet, but doesn’t really fit with her sisters. Lo is a sea girl: a water dwelling monster part of a pack she refers to as her sisters. The book really focuses on these ideas of sisterhood instead of centering on the romance. Not to say there isn’t a romance, because there is (and it’s rather sweet too!).

Fathomless does have alternating POVs, which normally drives me up the wall. However, for the first time ever, I think the story was better because of how Jackson Pearce used this trick. If the story had stuck to one POV, it would seriously be lacking as there was so much going on for each girl. If it was written in third person, there wouldn’t have been the strong sense of empathy that you get from reading what the character is thinking/feeling. Each character thought and felt things differently, which was the pivot point that took Fathomless from a good book (like Sisters Red and Sweetly) to a great book.

Therefore, Fathomless is the best in the series so far and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into Jackson Pearce’s next entry.

Originally posted on my blog Where the Mome Raths Outgrabe (less)

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Sep 26, 2012 Tammie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, urban-fantasy-paranormal

Just as Sisters Red was inspired by the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and Sweetly was inspired by Hansel and Gretel, this one was inspired by The Little Mermaid. I loved Sisters Red and I thought Sweetly was very well done as well, but I just didn't enjoy this third installment as much. I've always been intrigued by Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, but not so much by The Little Mermaid. Maybe that's why I didn't like this one as much.

Once again the story is tied to the others in an in...more Just as Sisters Red was inspired by the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and Sweetly was inspired by Hansel and Gretel, this one was inspired by The Little Mermaid. I loved Sisters Red and I thought Sweetly was very well done as well, but I just didn't enjoy this third installment as much. I've always been intrigued by Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, but not so much by The Little Mermaid. Maybe that's why I didn't like this one as much.

Once again the story is tied to the others in an interesting way. Although I still don't understand how the wolves and the mermaids are connected. How is it supposed to work? I think it should have been explained a lot more. In this one we meet Silas's (Silas from Sisters Red) triplet sisters who were sent away to a boarding school when they were very young. Two of them were hard to like for a while. Also in this book there is a character mentioned in Sweetly that is in this book as well. I won't say who because that would be kind of a spoiler. The most interesting character in the book is Lo. I felt sorry for her but didn't particularly like her until near the end of the book. The love interest in this book was ok, but I didn't feel like we ever really got to know him.

I also have to mention the cover change they did to this series. I hate when publishing companies change covers in the middle of a series. They don't match on my shelf now. I like the original covers way better. These are just boring compared to those. It's a real shame that they didn't stick with the original graphic looking ones. I started thinking about what this one could have looked like if they had stayed with the original ones and came up with an awesome black and blue cover in my head featuring Lo in the water with her hair morphing into the ocean waves, oh well. Yes, I know, I probably think way too much.

I was hoping this book would wrap up the series, but there will be a fourth one based on The Snow Queen. I'm hoping I like it better than this one and it will be the last book in the series, and that we might possibly see some of the characters from the other books again. I would definitely love to see Silas and Rosie again.(less)

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Apr 17, 2013 Morgan Renae marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: next-book-in-series, wishlist, young-adult, retellings, fantasy

I haven't read this yet, but I wanted to say something about the cover change... I'll admit that the new covers look gorgeous as a whole:

But are they as magical, beautiful, or true to the story (not to mention totally poster-worthy), as these?

No.

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Nov 09, 2012 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have enjoyed all of Jackson's fairytale books. Sisters Red is still my favorite but this is a creative and well written story. Interesting thread thing all the books together but still let's them standalone.

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May 30, 2013 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fathomless is about three sisters who have special powers. One can see the future, one can see the present, and one can see the past. Celia, one of our protagonists, is the youngest triplet, and the most hesitant to use her power. She always feels like she’s a step off from the rest of her sisters. They all love each other, but she often feels out of place. The other protagonist, Lo, is a mermaid who lives in the ocean near the beach town in which Celia resides. She, along with her other mermaid...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Pinkie Pie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-read

I don't even want to talk about that cover, okay? I know. I know.

What I don't know is why I waited so long to read a Jackson Pearce book. Seriously. I follow her on Twitter, I love her videos, and the premises of her books sounds exactly like my kind of book. I even own all three of the fairytale books! Finally cracking open Fathomless was extremely rewarding and I am Pearce's newest fan now.

Fathomless is loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. I really loved that Pearce t...more I don't even want to talk about that cover, okay? I know. I know.

What I don't know is why I waited so long to read a Jackson Pearce book. Seriously. I follow her on Twitter, I love her videos, and the premises of her books sounds exactly like my kind of book. I even own all three of the fairytale books! Finally cracking open Fathomless was extremely rewarding and I am Pearce's newest fan now.

Fathomless is loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. I really loved that Pearce took the tale back to its origins: this is not the happy singing mermaids and flounders, or handsome princes rescuing damsels in distress. No. This is girls-turned-sea creature, soul stealing sirens, where walking on land cuts like a knife and your humanity might just be lost forever. Pearce effortlessly twines together the story of Lo, an ocean girl, waiting out the rest of her days at the bottom of the sea until she's old enough to become an angel, with the story of Celia, the youngest in a set of triplets with the power to see your past.

This book was just... there are no words for how beautifully it was written. The language Pearce used really captured the depth of the ocean and how unyielding it is. Instead the colorful frivolity of our familiar Ariel and Sebastian, we're met with cold, unseeing eyes of the old ones, an uncaring ocean, a vastness that is of course, fathomless. Lo was the perfect personification of the sea. She was slowly being beaten down, like a pebble, until all her old memories and surface differences and her old self was gone, and she was completely smooth.
Her soul was gone for good. The boy was dead, the girl left alone on the shore. And for nothing, nothing at all, other than a fairy tale and a few scattered memories of life on land. Let it go. Let it all go.
And she allowed herself to forget.
Then there is Celia. Celia and her sisters Anne and Jane, each have a power: Anne sees your future, Jane can know your now and Celia can see your past. The only reason I docked a star off of Fathomless was because there was no explanation for the powers the three sisters had, and there was hardly any characterization of them. But I really loved Celia. Right from the beginning was can see that there is a line dividing her from her sisters - she wants to be more than just Jane and Anne's sister, she wants to use her power to help someone instead of just tricking them into buying her dinner.

The entire book read like a fairytale, which I guess was the point. There was beautiful imagery of a sunken ship where Lo and her sisters lived, and of course the waves crushing the shore, the storm that steals the girls and rips them up to the surface to turn to angels. And as soon as Celia and Lo meet, there is a mystery. Who brought the girls to sea, and why? Do they really turn to angels? And who was Lo before she was Lo, when she was still a girl who lived on land?

So many things were up in the air, and I was definitely guessing the whole way through. There is a romance, and it does play a pretty big part in the story. But instead of the story being about the romance, the romance was about the story - if that makes any sense at all. Every piece was so interwoven to the others that it's hard to pull out one thread and thoroughly explain it, without the whole thing unraveling.

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce is the perfect fairytale retelling. The writing is gorgeous, with haunting imagery, and the characters are so fresh and inspired. I loved getting to know the real Lo, Celia outside of her sisters, and Jane and Anne outside of Celia's prejudices. Reading this made me an instant Pearce fan. (less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay. So. There were definitely things that I loved about this book, but then there were the glaring holes.

If you don't know anything about this book, Fathomless is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid.

There's Lo, the mermaid. In the beginning, she lures a boy into the ocean to try to steal his soul, but it doesn't work and he drowns.

Then we meet Celia, one in a set of triplets who have the ability to see into the future (Anne), present (Jane), or past (Celia). They're out...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who aren't "purist" about their fairytales.

If you're a fan of the traditional mermaid, don't read this. If you're willing to go along with some extreme creative license, pick it up. (I promise, the creative licensing taken here is nowhere near the level of WTF that Stephenie Meyer took with vampires.) It's very loosely based on The Little Mermaid.

Another good thing can be said for Fathomless: it's not your Disney musical rendition, that's for sure. Pearce not only incorporates the original darkness, she amplifies it, and it's wonderful....more If you're a fan of the traditional mermaid, don't read this. If you're willing to go along with some extreme creative license, pick it up. (I promise, the creative licensing taken here is nowhere near the level of WTF that Stephenie Meyer took with vampires.) It's very loosely based on The Little Mermaid.

Another good thing can be said for Fathomless: it's not your Disney musical rendition, that's for sure. Pearce not only incorporates the original darkness, she amplifies it, and it's wonderful. The...sea-girls'...? feet bleed if they walk on land, and if their feet don't bleed, it's not a sign that they're getting better (i.e., becoming more human): it's a sign that they're becoming more monsterly. I loved that aspect. (view spoiler)

I felt that the relations between the characters was hit and miss. The love triangle between Cecilia, Jude, and Lo was the best part of the novel. Every one of them had their own agenda, and it was what made it so intriguing. The sister aspect was a little lacking, though. Lo's sea sisters were another great addition to the complex weaving of character relations, but Cecilia's sisters felt far more like cardboard cutouts propped up at the appropriate time to move her plot along. The emotional scene between Cecilia and her sister Anne toward the end seemed like it was supposed to flesh the two girls out more, but the dialogue seemed awkward, watery, and it felt tacked-on instead of built up, since we hardly saw anything of the sisters before then (except in the exposure of what Cecilia sees as their shallowness, and the almost vindictiveness of their "we're stronger together" mantra).

My biggest problem was, no surprise, (view spoiler)

Overall, it was a good book, a quick read (even taking into account that you really have to slow down at times if you don't want to be smacked upside the head by the (view spoiler) subplot). It wasn't my cup of tea in a few ways, and it was definitely not Pearce's best (I did quite like Sisters Red; I don't have a problem with (view spoiler) in general) but it was good.(less)

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Jan 20, 2013 calico Rosenberg rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this is the first books ive read in quite some time, chosen primarily because it was the only non-CSI/crime type novel i could seem to locate in my new local and not so extensive library. I read it one sitting (well, lying ) not because it was extraordinary, but interesting enough to at least maintain my attention for the 4/5 hours, which is actually quite a feat as off late.

ill keep it short--my favorite aspects were some very well written passages and fragments, half in terms of being well/pr...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Jill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Imagine you couldn’t decide between pizza, Chinese food, or burritos for dinner. Would you just give in and have some of all three or would you decide to have one on each of three separate occasions? In this young adult paranormal fantasy, it seems as if the author has analogously opted to have everything at once.

There are at least three separate paranormal plots going on in this book and they don't really don’t seem to go together at all. We have a sisterhood of girls who live underwater, we h...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Whatchyareading added it · review of another edition

Shelves: christine, fantasy, series, young-adult

The third book in Jackson Pearce’s Fairytale Retellings series, Fathomless focuses on The Little Mermaid version from the Brothers Grimm more than the Disney version most of us know and love. I like to think of this as the book that brings the series together, since it all comes full circle once you meet the characters.

Warning: There will be some small spoilers for the other two books.

If you’ve ever read the Brothers Grimm tales, you know the endings are rarely happy and things are not all sunsh...more The third book in Jackson Pearce’s Fairytale Retellings series, Fathomless focuses on The Little Mermaid version from the Brothers Grimm more than the Disney version most of us know and love. I like to think of this as the book that brings the series together, since it all comes full circle once you meet the characters.

Warning: There will be some small spoilers for the other two books.

If you’ve ever read the Brothers Grimm tales, you know the endings are rarely happy and things are not all sunshine and flowers during the stories. Jackson takes it one step further, in my opinion, and connects Fathomless to the rest of this series by including the Fenris in a way I didn’t see coming. Also, you meet people who have been mentioned in the first and second books. I had a very big “OOOOHHH” moment when those connections were made since it’s been a while since I’ve read Sisters Red and Sweetly.

Speaking of characters, I feel I should talk about Lo. I never fully got to the point where I liked her. I recognized her necessity to the story and overall plot, but she was a hard person to nail down. She didn’t fully know herself or what she wanted, so I felt like I never really got to know her or what she stood for. The end cleared some things up, but as soon as I finally made up my mind about her, the book was over. Sigh.

Celia and her powers are mentioned and talked about, as are the powers her sisters have, but the origin of them is never revealed. I don’t know why that bugged me, but it did. It wasn’t really speculated on. Even if it was something silly, like, oh, we must have a mutation or something, that would have been nice. Regardless, I liked Celia. I can totally understand where she was coming from and why she did some of the things she did.

As for the book cover change, honestly, I realize this is a thing publishers do and it makes sense to them, for whatever reason, but I really liked the covers for Sisters Red and Sweetly. Like, really REALLY liked them. I wish they had continued in that same theme for Fathomless, but since I don’t work at Little Brown, they have no reason to listen to me. (Clearly this a sign that I need to work in the marketing department for Little Brown.)

If you grew up watching The Little Mermaid, like I did, this book will definitely make you look at Ariel in a completely new light.

Overall, this was an interesting book that tied everything together. I have no idea if Jackson plans to continue with this series, but if she does, there are tons of fairytales she can choose from. However, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite, Jackson, and there’s so many ways you can make that work with the Fenris. Just throwing that out there.

This book was reviewed at WhatchYAreading.net on September 24, 2012.(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: will-make-you-stay-up-all-night

Alright I am really glad to give this review. Jackson it seems that you really matured though writing this.

So the basic premise: You have a group of "sisters" under the ocean right by an amusement park in Georgia where what could be called mermaids/nymphs live. What I found interesting was the lack of mermaid tail. THey all were brought here by an "angel" and when they get old-meaning their skin turns a really dark shade of blue/green-they get to become angles too. Lo doesn't really remember an...more Alright I am really glad to give this review. Jackson it seems that you really matured though writing this.

So the basic premise: You have a group of "sisters" under the ocean right by an amusement park in Georgia where what could be called mermaids/nymphs live. What I found interesting was the lack of mermaid tail. THey all were brought here by an "angel" and when they get old-meaning their skin turns a really dark shade of blue/green-they get to become angles too. Lo doesn't really remember anything about herself except that she remembers she used to be a human and she longs to know more about herself.

Theres this rumor that if you make a human fall in love with you and then drown them, you will steal their soul and become human once again. Lo tries this but of course it doesn't work and the next time a human falls into the water, Lo tries to save his life. Molly, one of the newest nymphs still longs to be human and desperately tries to steal his soul. Lo ends up saving him from his death and brings him to shore.

There she meets Celia, a triplet who has powers. She can see the past just by touching someone and so becoming close to someone other than her sisters scares her as she can see nothing but the darkest mistakes that others have tried to forget, and she takes it as a curse. However, as she helps rescue the boy she meets Lo and thats when she realizes that she can use her powers to help someone who is or may not have been a human.

If you have not already read some of Jacksons other novels, nothing here will be missed. Its a companion novel where she adds in her own twists and creates a world where all her characters are starting to pop up in other books, making me realize that she really has created a complex world.

She really loves themes involving sisterly bonds-especially twins-and friendship. Love also is a recurring theme meant to mature the characters and to figure out about themselves and I find it nice for once that the romance isn't too in your face like in other paranormal romance theses days. It's sweet, doesn't block out the plot, and feels real. In fact, the characters feel so real that I truly cared for them, especially Lo who is struggling to find out who she really is-Naida, the human, or Lo, the ocean girl.

Each character has their own issues to plow through and it isn't forced. Although I was disappointed about the Fenris, I wasn't too disappointed as Jackson added in really good twists that made me start to even take an interest in them. I wonder if they will eventually become a big villain that these books have been putting them up as and if so, I cant wait to see how.

This book is one of the few that really wrenched my heart. I literally felt worried for the charactes and I was rooting for Lo/Naida so much. I was glad that there wasn't a real love triangle but I felt so bad for Lo.

The ending was nice but I felt sorry for Lo still despite how she was happy I guess. One thing I still cant understand though: if she cant walk out of the water how is it she can despite how the land injures her? She lay on her stomach countless times but only her feet bled. I would love to know what that was about and if (view spoiler)

I cant wait for Cold Spell, Jacksons newest novel focusing on the Snow Queen, and I am glad that her novels are improving greatly. And the issue with the cover, I found it pretty, but the necklace wasnt involved. Maybe the company is trying new tactics to try and see if her novels will sell more??? Well I like the older ones, personally.

I will add that her writing style is really plain and i would have loved to have heard more about life under the ocean, such as the colors of the water more. But overall I was very glad to read this and I even stayed up to 1 to read it.
(less)

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Dec 02, 2012 Shelf Talkers Anonymous rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fathomless was a dark and heady re-telling of The Little Mermaid, done typical Jackson Pearce style: two strong and flawed heroines, a romance, and a heart stopping finale.

All of Jackson's fairy tale retellings are set in the same world, but this is the first book where characters from a previous one are referenced (not present). I like that this is a series without having over-lapping characters, even though I am dying to see Scarlett again, but the way Jackson played the overlapping stories in...more Fathomless was a dark and heady re-telling of The Little Mermaid, done typical Jackson Pearce style: two strong and flawed heroines, a romance, and a heart stopping finale.

All of Jackson's fairy tale retellings are set in the same world, but this is the first book where characters from a previous one are referenced (not present). I like that this is a series without having over-lapping characters, even though I am dying to see Scarlett again, but the way Jackson played the overlapping stories in this book was excellently done and really added depth to the story and the world.

In Fathomless we met Lo, an ocean girl who's lost her memories of her past, and waits out the days until she is taken by the currents of the sea to become an angel. The ocean girls tells stories of getting your soul back if you can make a boy love you; but then you have to drown him and take his soul. Lo has tried this and knows that it doesn't work, or at least it doesn't work so quickly--there is no such thing as love at first sight. But Lo is also Naida Kelly, the lost sister of Sophia from Sweetly, and our second heroine, Celia, is the key to Lo's past.

Celia is an intriguing heroine for Jackson because she has psychic power. Jackson's previous heroines have certainly been strong and their lives have been touched by magic, by werewolves, but they have never had magic of their own. Celia however can see into a person's past when she touches them, a power that is part of a set of three because she is part of a set of triplets. Her sisters Jane and Anne can see the present and the future, and the three of them are alone in the world, struggling to grow up and grow into their powers.

Celia and Lo meet on the night of the highest tide of the year. One of Lo's sisters, desperate to be human again, tries to drown a boy. Together Lo and Celia save him, and a complicated triangle begins. Celia and Jude develop a friendship, then romance, and Celia learns for the first time to shut off her power when she is touching someone--or someone is touching her. Celia and Lo form a tentative friendship when they discover that Celia can help Lo remember her past. And Lo and Jude can't help but be drawn to one another: the ocean girl to the boy who could save her, and the boy to the ocean girl who's music sings in his head as constant as the waves.

Like Sisters Red, the narration of Fathomless is split between the two girls, Celia and Lo. But this is complicated by the fact that Lo is actually two girls herself: Lo and Naida. What you end up with is three narrators, all with different desires and motives. Though Lo and Naida share the same body, they are far different girls, slippery and elusive as the ocean. Celia is the solid rock, like Gretchen from Sweetly. Despite her psychic powers, her day-to-day troubles are like any girls: arguments with her sisters, worry over the boy that she likes, and questions about who she is. Lo is not that different from Celia, but their circumstances are vastly separated simply by the water between them. For Lo, it's a matter of life or death. If she stays as Lo, Naida will die, and eventually she will pass away with the waves too. If she becomes Naida again, Lo will die, and so must someone else.

The three girls make for engaging heroines and narrators, their stories told so well you're not sure who you want to win when it comes to the stormy ending. And once again the love interest was one of the best parts of the book. Jude isn't as brooding or mysterious as the previous boys, but he is just as lovable.

The best part of Fathomless is the chance to get to learn more about the Fenris and the mystery of the twin girls. Not every question is answered, by Jackson certainly opens a door into the hidden mysteries of her world. We meet the Fenris once again, and learn that the ocean girls don't actually become "angels" when they die: they return to the land and become Fenris themselves, soulless monsters.

I'm really hoping this isn't the last book Jackson will write in this series; it really feels as though she's just getting started.(less)

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Nov 06, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fathomless, as promised, is a retelling of Little Mermaid in only a way that Jackson Pearce can do it. Her mind is an amazing place where typical fairy tales swirl in a wonderland of their own. Spinning and twirling and falling into a rabbit hole only to emerge in our world. I love how she makes fairy tales relevant in today's world.
This book was written from the view of a few different characters. At first, this made it alittle hard for me to fall deeply into each character, but as you read on...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-by-michelle

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: There were no fins, under sea palaces, nor anything glamorous about life under the sea. Instead, Pearce fills the pages with descriptions of the dark abyss.

Opening Sentence: There are lights at the surface.

The Review:

In the Fairytale Retellings series by Jackson Pearce, Fathomless is a loose take on The Little Mermaid. Pearce’s take on mermaids wasn’t your typical run of the mill. There were no fins, under sea palaces, nor anything glamorous...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lo and Celia are both not normal girls. Lo is a soulless ocean girl with no memory of her previous human life as Naida. She and her ocean sisters wait for the time when the angels will come and take them away. In the meantime, they can try to make human boys love them and drown them to return to get their souls back and return human form, but it has never worked, as far as any of them can remember. Celia and her two sisters are triplets, which is uncommon, but they also have special powers that...more Lo and Celia are both not normal girls. Lo is a soulless ocean girl with no memory of her previous human life as Naida. She and her ocean sisters wait for the time when the angels will come and take them away. In the meantime, they can try to make human boys love them and drown them to return to get their souls back and return human form, but it has never worked, as far as any of them can remember. Celia and her two sisters are triplets, which is uncommon, but they also have special powers that allow them to see into various aspects of people's lives through touch. Celia considers her power to see into the past is basically useless, but finds purpose when she and Lo meet. They work together to save a boy from drowning. Celia, curious about Lo, looks for her later and works to help her remember her human self and how she came to be an ocean girl. They find themselves building relationships with the boy, Jude, and working against each other. Celia wants love, but Lo wants her soul back.

I love fairy tale retellings and Jackson Pearce's have been the best in the genre so far. Fathomless lives up to the rest of her novels and puts a new, dark spin on my favorite fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. The original tale by Hans Christian Andersen has some very dark elements, including the stabbing pain every time the mermaid steps in human form, her option to kill the prince to become a mermaid once again, and the unhappy, weirdly religious ending. Fathomless makes great use of these elements by slightly altering them instead of entirely omitting them like many other retellings. My favorite example of this is the ocean girls waiting to become angels. After they forget who they were and transform into cold ocean beings, an angel comes to free them and makes them into angels. Instead of being something beautiful and redemptive like in the original story, where the mermaid becomes an air spirit to earn her soul after she dies, this transformation is revealed to be something much more nefarious.

The characters and the plot are much more fleshed out than in the original tale. Lo is kind of like two people in one. The Lo personality is a soulless ocean girl, inhuman, cold, and dangerous. The Naida personality tries to hold on to every single human memory discovered with Celia's help. She is desperate to get her life back and return to human form. Celia is my favorite character. She has never really had an identity of her own and lives beneath her sisters' shadows. Lo presents her with a unique opportunity to use her special power to see into people's pasts, which she has always found to be patently useless. Jude became her first friend separate from her sisters and her first date. The romance is organic and sweet and also didn't overpower the story as is typical in YA books. These multidimensional characters really elevate the story and bring it into the modern age.

Fathomless is the best retelling of The Little Mermaid I have ever read. I love that Jackson Pearce chose to embrace the darkness of the original story while adding her own spin to it. I also like how it relates to both Sweetly and Sisters Red. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Cold Spell, a retelling of the Snow Queen.(less)

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Oct 05, 2012 Paranormal Haven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews-by-beth-guest-reviewer

Celia and her two sisters have powers. Celia can see someone’s past just by touching them. Her other two sisters have the gifts of present and future. One day when Celia is walking along the pier a young street musician falls off into the ocean. Celia rushes down to the beach to help. At the same time an ocean girl named Lo has surfaced with her sisters. Lo used to be obsessed with remembering what it was like to be a normal girl who lived outside of the ocean. Molly, the newest of the ocean gir...more Celia and her two sisters have powers. Celia can see someone’s past just by touching them. Her other two sisters have the gifts of present and future. One day when Celia is walking along the pier a young street musician falls off into the ocean. Celia rushes down to the beach to help. At the same time an ocean girl named Lo has surfaced with her sisters. Lo used to be obsessed with remembering what it was like to be a normal girl who lived outside of the ocean. Molly, the newest of the ocean girls still remembers. When they see the young musician fall, Molly is told by one of the older girls that if she makes the boy fall in love with her, that Molly can leave the ocean. Lo knows it isn’t possible and rushes to save the young man before Molly drowns him.

This is a Little Mermaid retelling, not the Disney movie, but the original story. It sticks to a lot of the haunting details. This is also the third book in Pearce’s fairytale retelling series. I didn’t read the other two, and don’t know how, or if the first two are related. I will say that if they are related it does an excellent job of standing on its own. I didn’t feel like I missed anything from the other two books. It’s also a young adult novel. Usually the simplistic notes in young adult novels bother me, but that isn’t the case with Fathomless. The haunting prose of the story captured me on the first page.

The story switches off between Lo and Celia’s POV. Both girls are broken. Lo can’t remember her past as a human, and she also knows if she goes forward as an ocean girl she will turn into something else. She doesn’t want to stop being herself, but most of all, she wants to stop forgetting. Celia lives in the shadow of her sisters. She wants to be herself, and not an extension of her sisters. There is a dark note in both girls.

After the musician, Jude, is saved Celia starts a relationship with each. With Jude she can me just herself, and with Lo her gift is useful. Lo reclaims some of her past with Celia’s powers and starts to unlock the mystery of what happened to her. Like Celia she is haunted by who she was, and who she is now. Both girls serve as an excellent counter point to one another. As the mystery unfolds Celia’s sister Anne makes predicts death, and with a hurricane on the way the story explodes to an exciting conclusion.

Fathomless has a Gothic tone to it. The spin on the fairy tale is authentic, and it adds a modern tone. The writing is simplistic, as is most young adult, but told in a way that both teens and adults will enjoy it. It does have its share of angst. Jude is not the most dependable of men, but makes the right choices when it counts. He pushes both girls to be what they are, which is the message of the story. I would recommend this for those who like the retellings. I look forward to reading more from Pearce.
- Beth(less)

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Sep 16, 2012 Rhiannon Ryder rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Can I tell you how seriously I dig all the outlandish fairy tales cropping up these days. It's not all good, obviously, but when it's good it's really good. The trick seems to be the way they're anchored in the real and tangible, while swirling the fantastical around it. You can't just describe the plot line and impart what the book is about: See there's this girl, she's kind of a mermaid, but without a tail and a case of amnesia? And she saves this boy, but so does this girl, who's part of this...more Can I tell you how seriously I dig all the outlandish fairy tales cropping up these days. It's not all good, obviously, but when it's good it's really good. The trick seems to be the way they're anchored in the real and tangible, while swirling the fantastical around it. You can't just describe the plot line and impart what the book is about: See there's this girl, she's kind of a mermaid, but without a tail and a case of amnesia? And she saves this boy, but so does this girl, who's part of this set of triplets? And the triplets have powers, so this girl sees the mermaid/not mermaids past, as well as the boys, and there's also these kind of werewolves, and they tie in with the sort of mermaids who are potentially wicked evil.
Yah, see, not exactly selling it am I?
It was the same with the Scorpio Races: There are these horses that come out of the ocean once a year, and these people on this island race them. But they're kind of feral, and they like to eat people? The horses, that is. And there's this girl who's going to do the race, except on a normal horse, and they don't want her to because she's a girl.
I'm telling you, the more ridiculous these story lines are to describe, the better they seem to be in the reading. I can't even begin to imagine how these authors pitch them to their agents and or editors though.

Fathomless was many things, it had intriguing characters, a hazy/mythical setting that could almost be someplace real, and a fascinating story that slowly creeps towards these disturbing moments that bubble up into the story, interrupting the otherwise understated narrative. The Lo/Nadia hints of danger were particularly chilling, since you were never sure if she was entirely safe to those around her. Celia's sisters were also unsettling, and her strangely inclusive relationship with them often had me wondering if they was some sort of threat or not, as well.

"Who is it?" Anne asks.
"Her name's Nadia," I say.
"A girl?" Jane asks in disbelief.
"We were friends with the younger sister in Ellison." I argue.
"For all of five minutes," Anne argues. "But forget it- who is she?"
They sound like they think she might be a spy from another set of triplets.

But Pearce also throws in a lot of fun little moments of lightness, funny asides and moments of levity that lightened up this otherwise dark tale. It always surprised me when I found myself suddenly laughing.

"Maybe I'll go today. I don't know," I answer. "I'll need the car" I'm hoping the last point will persuade them to drop it- when we were only eleven, Anne predicted that I would wreck our car Ever since, she and Jane have been wary to let me drive it, even though I'm the only one without a speeding ticket to my name.
What excited me the most though was how Fathomless tied in with Sweetly. For some reason I always thought Sisters Red, Sweetly and Fathomless were unrelated outside of the fact they were fairy tale retellings. When I realized they meshed together in a rather astounding way, I was so excited I immediately ordered a copy of Sisters Red (which I hadn't read yet). I can't wait to dig in and see the first threads of the tale coming together.

A totally engrossing read, with equal measures mystery, thriller, fairy tale otherness and just a smidge of the requisite romance, Fathomless will be sure to please both new readers and fans of Pearce's Sweetly and Sisters Red. So if the end of your holidays, be it back to work or back to school, are decidedly unmagical, make sure to pick up Fathomless and add some whimsy back to your routine.

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Sep 02, 2012 Sue Heraper rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction, fantasy, fairy-tale-retelling

Celia Reynolds has a special talent. She can read the past of anyone she touches. But what good is that if she can’t help others? She is one of a set of triplets with special talents – her sister Anne can see the present, and Jane can see the future of anyone they touch. Anne and Jane like to “practice” their powers on unsuspecting tourists who visit their seaside town. Celia avoids touching others -- until she meets Lo.

Once a human, Lo is now an ocean girl, almost entirely a creature of the se...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jackson Pearce is one of my favorite authors so I was completely excited to be able to read this book early. Now, The Little Mermaid is not my favorite fairy tale but I love how Pearce redid this one.

Celia is a triplet but she is the "odd one out". She doesn't look the same and just feels like an outsider. All of the sisters have "powers". Once can see the future, one the present and Celia the past. Celia doesn't think her power is worth much until she saves Jude and meets Lo.

Jude is a young mus...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Jenny Bookdoll rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Find this review and others on www.bookdoll.blogspot.com

I absolutely love fairy tale retellings so when I received the ARC for Fathomless by Jackson Pearce in the mail, I was very excited to start reading. As one can tell from the cover and title, this book is based on The Little Mermaid. Not the Disney movie, but the darker original story by Hans Christian Anderson. You know, with sea foam, knives and all? Read more about the original here.

Once I started reading, I could not stop since there w...more Find this review and others on www.bookdoll.blogspot.com

I absolutely love fairy tale retellings so when I received the ARC for Fathomless by Jackson Pearce in the mail, I was very excited to start reading. As one can tell from the cover and title, this book is based on The Little Mermaid. Not the Disney movie, but the darker original story by Hans Christian Anderson. You know, with sea foam, knives and all? Read more about the original here.

Once I started reading, I could not stop since there were so many questions I wanted answered. How did Celia and her sisters get their powers? How did Lo get turned into a mermaid? Who are the "angels" that the mermaid sisters keep talking about and what part did they play in Lo's transformation? What was the purpose of her transformation? Even as I got closer to the end, a lot of the questions remained unanswered. A lot of the ones that did get answered brought up newer questions which was quite annoying. I did hear that some of the things referenced in this book were also in the previous books in the series so maybe reading the other ones would have helped. I disliked the switching point of views back and forth between Lo's human self and Lo's mermaid self. It was not very effectively done and was confusing at times. Another thing I disliked in the book, Jude was the most blah YA love interest I have ever encountered. His character was so flat and one dimensional. Broke musician who writes songs about girls and the ocean? *le yawn*

Despite all that, Fathomless is a very engaging story. Being a soulless mermaid has been all Lo can remember and she can finally start to remember her past with the help of Celia. Celia has felt overshadowed by her sisters all her life and now has the chance to prove her own worth by helping Lo. On the other hand, their friendship has a dark side to it. It's the classic "friends fighting over boy story" but this time, one of them wants to steal his soul. It's a very cool and interesting idea. The underwater scenes with Lo and her mermaid sisters were haunting and sad, not what you usually think of when you hear the word "mermaid". I loved how Pearce redefines mermaids in that sense. Another thing I loved was the ending. The ending can make or break a novel; in this case, the ending saved it! Holy cow, it was definitely unexpected. Not exactly a perfect ending, but with enough closure to leave me feeling satisfied.

Overall, I thought the novel had great potential, but I was really conflicted while reading it. The plot is great and the world that the author creates is really fascinating. But there are too many things going on at once and many questions are left unanswered. I'm probably going to check out the first two books in the series to see if that helps. This is still a worthy read and I would definitely recommend it to fans of the previous books in the series and fans of fairy tales and paranormal romance.
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Aug 13, 2012 Teri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jackson Pearce delivers a haunting fresh tale of mermaids and a weaving story of loss and deception from the depth of our souls. With a new image of mermaids to carry readers into world of waves and lost memories, Fathomless will take you into a dark secret riddled with lies and trickery that forces the characters to remember so many things they have lost and hidden from themselves.

Celia, Lo and Nadia narrate different pieces of a larger puzzle on how they came to be the way they are in this w...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Avi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, books-i-own, boring, didn-t-like, mermaids

Fathomless is about two girls, the first is an "ocean girl" named Lo who has lost her memories of her past life as a human who tries to hold on
to as many memories as her human self while fighting the change of forgetting her past completely and becoming another
ocean girl like her "sisters" who were also once human but have ended up like Lo and have forgotten their human past and embraced their new ocean life.
The second girl is Celia. Celia has a special power of being able to see someone's past...more Fathomless is about two girls, the first is an "ocean girl" named Lo who has lost her memories of her past life as a human who tries to hold on
to as many memories as her human self while fighting the change of forgetting her past completely and becoming another
ocean girl like her "sisters" who were also once human but have ended up like Lo and have forgotten their human past and embraced their new ocean life.
The second girl is Celia. Celia has a special power of being able to see someone's past just by touching them. She along with her two sister who also have a power,Jane can see someone's future and read minds, and Anne can see someone's present. They're all parent-less triplets each with a unique power.

One night a boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, he begins to drown but instead of drowning him, Lo decides to save him and bring him to shore. There she meets Celia who was also trying to save the boy. Celia accidentally touches and reads Lo's past and finds out that her name is Naida, Lo's previous human name. From there on Celia comes back to the same spot where she and Lo both saved the boy, to try and figure out who Lo was in her human life, and what she is now.

I received this as an ARC, and I was so excited when I received it in the mail. A few chapters in I got bored, and annoyed. This was like a mismatched re-telling of the Little Mermaid. I felt like the story was all over the place with all the different paranormal characters, especially (view spoiler)
Another thing that bothered me was Lo's/Naida's double personality narrative. It got on my nerves, especially near the end when Naida tells Celia to not trust Lo, but then Lo says to not trust Naida. It was so confusing and I dreaded any chapter with from Lo or Naida's POV.
Despite what other reviewers think about the ending, I think it was flat and boring. It was obvious that (view spoiler)
2 stars just for an interesting plot idea. (less)

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Mar 26, 2012 Carmen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Everything I was hoping for and so much more. This book was definitely written outside of Jackson's usual comfort zone and it was an absolute success.

Jackson describes writing FATHOMLESS like jumping into the ocean and that is exactly what reading it was like (for me at least). The book is dark, haunting, and takes a completely different method of character development from Jackson's previous work.

This was also the first of Jackson's books where I DID NOT correctly call the ending, so I was both...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Book Giveaways: International Four Book Giveaway Including Fathomless by Jackson Pearce	2	43	Dec 24, 2012 10:15am
Book Giveaways: International Four Book Giveaway	3	69	Dec 24, 2012 08:49am
It's good! But you'll probably judge it based on the other two.	4	19	Dec 18, 2012 06:25am
Jackson Pearce	2	18	Dec 09, 2012 10:28am

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Fathomless (Fairytale Retellings #3)

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