The Mermaid's Mirror

Jul 20, 2012 Ashleyn Poston rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: blog, summer-2011-list

What can I say? It's a twisted mermaid tale that slips in a bit of selkie lore. Which was part stunning, but a lot more confusing.

While I can understand Madigan's thought process when she wrote this book, I'm not quite sure I understand why she had to combine two perfectly separate myths into a very geographically-absurd novel. Southern California's coast is an awesome setting. Diamond Bay? OK, I might can understand that. But that's all we get from Madigan--names of places. She doesn't give us...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2013 Andrea at Reading Lark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, fantasy, mermaids, read-in-2012, young-adult

*3.5 Rating
Review Posted on Reading Lark 11/10/12: http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2012/...

The protagonist, Lena, has always been drawn to the water. She feels most comfortable when she is in the ocean. Her greatest desire is to learn to surf, but her father stubbornly refuses to allow her to take lessons. A surfing accident keeps him on the shore and he fears that something terrible will happen to Lena. As the story unfolds, readers will learn that Lena's father fears more than a few wipe-outs....more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 06, 2010 Cass - Words on Paper rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2010, want-paperback

What brought me to read "The Mermaid's Mirror" by L. K. Madigan was the magical-looking cover. It seemed middle-grade, and even now it sits in my mind between middle-grade and YA, as the novel would be relatable to both parties. Anyway, the beginning was very quiet for me, very slow. I did not want to give up, as I had faith that it would pick up, and it did. After Lena, the protagonist, begins surfing, the action and "magic" began to arise, and it was by then that I knew that I was in for somet...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 31, 2010 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, signed-books

I loved Madigan's first novel Flash Burnout. So, I had expectations going into this novel. I won't go as far as saying that I was disappointed.... because I wasn't really, but this novel is definitely different than her first novel, but not necessarily in a bad way.

I don't want to be be spoilery.... but the novel does have a little mermaid action going on. The first half of the book could be considered contemporary fiction... it's Lena's basic day to day interaction with her family and friends,...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 06, 2013 Tarana rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book last summer and while it wasn't a book I could not put down I did read it during all my free time because of how good it was. The beginning showed the main character (forget her name) living this perfect life. I was almost so enthralled in the perfectness of her life that I didn't want it to end. Obviously, it did. The book completely changed tones in the middle from a story about a perfect girl with a perfect life to a girl who had found out a ton about herself and her family....more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Alice rated it 3 of 5 stars

L.K. Madigan's mix of selkie lore and mermaid theory (no not the one from How I Met Your Mother) brought together The Mermaid's Mirror . Lena is a 16 year old, carefree and young, newly in love- or kind of, but certainly not prepared for the changes that come with turning 16; the sleepwalking on the beach, the thing she keeps looking for but can't find, and the mysterious 'mermaid' off the coast of Magics. Lena will stop at nothing to find out who she is, but most of all, what she is.

Lena is...more

like · see review

Aug 07, 2012 Carrie rated it 2 of 5 stars

If you like surfing and mermaid mythology, then this book is an adventure not to be missed. As I read this book, I liked the characters, the California environment, the mystery, the suspense, the tutorial on surfing, and supernatural aspect of this novel. The writer's language was descriptive and poetic up to a point. Then when the main character's fate changes and she makes a choice that changes her life, it's what happens after this event, that the book looses its momentum. The poetic language...more

like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-teen-young-adult, fiction

A contemporary paranormal YA story about Lena, a 16-year-old girl on the coast just south of San Francisco, who longs to surf but whose father won't let her for some mysterious reason. We know he had a surfing accident a long time ago...but was that all? Of course not :-) The first half of the book focuses on Lena's life on land; the second half on her life underwater with her mer-family after she discovers her family's true secret. The interactions between Lena and her land friends and land fam...more

like · see review

Mar 14, 2012 Kjrstin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen

Summary:
Lena has always drawn to the sea abnormally so, even for living in a northern California surfing community. However she has been forbidden by her father, a former surfer himself who suffered a terrible accident in the water years ago, from learning. Yet Lena is an excellent swimmer, and still dreams of one days surfing.
After turning 16, Lena begins to suspect she may be seeing a mermaid out in the waves. After her first Seeing Lena’s fascination with the sea and mermaid becomes an obse...more

like · see review

Mar 01, 2012 Aeslis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, mythology, young-adult

It's a good thing that the author indicated at the end that she took liberties with the geography/climate/etc. I live in the area that this book was written in, and I kept getting confused by various references. I've been to Pigeon Point Lighthouse, for example, and there's nothing between it and Santa Cruz but thin strips of farmland that are squeezed between the ocean and the mountains. The book makes it sound as if there are many surfers in the area, but... there aren't.

That being said, this...more

like · see review

Feb 02, 2012 Leann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lena is a fifteen year old girl who loves the ocean and loves being outside. Her father, a once famous surfer, does not want to teach her how to surf and forbids her from learning from others. Lena lives with her father, stepmother and little brother who all love her dearly. Lena is however sad because her mother died when she was just three. Lena starts to sleepwalk down to the beach and begins to see reflections in the water of a face. After she turns sixteen, she decides that even though her...more

like · see review

Jan 06, 2012 Shweta rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fantasy

" Move aside Faeries , here come the Mermaids!

If I had to describe this book in one word I would say AMAZING!

Combining fantasy and contemporary doesn't always give the right result but here I would say the author was right on the target. Lena who yearns for sea and has been forbidden to surf by her dad ,can't help but long for it.She mysteriously finds herself on the beach in the middle of the night and this seems to happen quite often with her.

Also finding a mermaid while gazing at the sea from...more " Move aside Faeries , here come the Mermaids!

If I had to describe this book in one word I would say AMAZING!

Combining fantasy and contemporary doesn't always give the right result but here I would say the author was right on the target. Lena who yearns for sea and has been forbidden to surf by her dad ,can't help but long for it.She mysteriously finds herself on the beach in the middle of the night and this seems to happen quite often with her.

Also finding a mermaid while gazing at the sea from the beach doesn't make it easy for Lena, atleast not when she feels a deep connection with this creature of the sea. That longing takes a serious turn when Lena decides to get surfing lessons from her boyfriend Kai's elder sister Ani , without informing her parents. Though a natural at surfing, Lena might just not be ready to understand the consequence of her actions and all that ensues.

Without giving out the essential plot I can tell you that there are mermaids !Ok, I know it's clear in the synopsis and the title that they are bound to be there.For someone who grew up watching Disney Channel's Little Mermaid, I loved the mer-world created by the author. The interesting rituals of the mer people ,their songs provided a much needed break from the whole faerie- vampire business. Which though I love to read had become like common knowledge for me as a regular reader of this genre.This was a very pleasant change!

Lena was at times a confusing protagonist. I had a hard time deciding if I really agreed with her choices. She gets to make quite a few difficult choices and at her age which I thought it was quite a lot to ask of her but now that I have pondered over it ,I truly believe she did the right thing. For a change, in a YA novel , Lena parents are on the scene and not used just as props to appear in a few situations.That thing I loved. Also the family dynamics were amazing. Then there is surfing! Author made the experience sound so much fun, that for once I regretted never having learnt how to surf.There's some romance in it too but I think the author chose which plot to concentrate more on and I agreed with the choice she made.

This is a perfect book if you are a fan of YA fantasy and with a real good dose of contemporary thrown in. It's all so well balanced that you will be hungry for more at the end of the book. I hope there is a sequel to this. Because there is one character about whom I would love to read more :)

Also doesn't it have a lovely cover !
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 20, 2011 Gemma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Eh... there were elements of this book I liked and also elements I disliked.

Like, Kai. I really liked him. A funny, dancing, singing, musical-loving, well-dressed guy who isn't gay? Yes, please.

And the writing... after a while, I enjoyed it. Even though the pacing was slow, it read like a fun beach read, and it was entertaining, fun, made you sort of feel like you were at the ocean, even if it was somewhat juvenile.

I guess the part I mostly didn't like was... the actual mermaid stuff. That was...more Eh... there were elements of this book I liked and also elements I disliked.

Like, Kai. I really liked him. A funny, dancing, singing, musical-loving, well-dressed guy who isn't gay? Yes, please.

And the writing... after a while, I enjoyed it. Even though the pacing was slow, it read like a fun beach read, and it was entertaining, fun, made you sort of feel like you were at the ocean, even if it was somewhat juvenile.

I guess the part I mostly didn't like was... the actual mermaid stuff. That was where it got weird.

It's like: there's part one. And Lena goes to school and talks with Kai and they make out and she has a party and learns to surf and blah blah blah. Pretty much average-type high school life stuff. Okay, whatever.

But then we transition into the mermaid part of the book and... I feel like things got choppy. The quality sunk lower, and the story just sort of... plummeted.

(view spoiler)

So, overall... I liked the first half, but not the second. (less)

like · see review

Jul 19, 2011 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-5-stars

Plot: 3.5 Stars
The first half of this novel came off very comtemporary, as compared to paranormal. Except for two paragraphs at the end of two chapters, there was no mention of mermaids until past the halfway mark. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn't what I expected. I'm a paranormal lover, so I want the creatures to be hiding in every corner. But this novel was very restrained. Even after the idea of the mermaid was brought up, it was another fifty pages or so until Lena actually...more Plot: 3.5 Stars
The first half of this novel came off very comtemporary, as compared to paranormal. Except for two paragraphs at the end of two chapters, there was no mention of mermaids until past the halfway mark. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn't what I expected. I'm a paranormal lover, so I want the creatures to be hiding in every corner. But this novel was very restrained. Even after the idea of the mermaid was brought up, it was another fifty pages or so until Lena actually sees and talks to one. But once we meet the merpeople, the lore behind them is very interesting. My favorite part of the story is how the author wove surfing into the story. It was every interesting to read about, and none of the descriptions were confusing to someone who does not surf.

Pace: 3 Stars
The pace of this novel was very strong in the beginning. The first two thirds of the novel flew by, even with the lack of paranormal. When the idea of mermaids finally came up, the pace slowed down a bit. It seemed like Lena dwelled on the topic quite a bit, with little action going on around her. Then she pace slowed even further once she entered the ocean to meet more merpeople. Many of the underwater scenes didn't seem to further the plot much. Lena also seemed like a totally different person while she was underwater, and it was a bit weird. A bit of the problems in these later scenes is explained near the end, but there were still some unnecessary scenes underwater.

Characters: 4 Stars
All of the characters in this novel were developed very thoroughly. Lena was a very complex teenager, but not in the normal adolescent ways. She came across very mature at times, while still acting like a kid. The love she felt for her parents and her brother really shined through. Her little brother was a very cute character, and I'm glad he played such a large role. Siblings, especially younger ones, are not that common in paranormal young adult novels. Her best friends were great characters. The author was able to bring them into Lena's life without them getting in the way of the story. They actually helped bring the story together through surfing.

Cover: 3 Stars
Although the cover really resonates with the main character Lena, and her love for the ocean, it's a bit washed out. The ocean in the background seems a bit too quiet and dull. A breaking wave or a brighter blue would really draw the eye to an important element to the story. Although it is cloudy and rainy during parts of the novel, I think this cover could've used a ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds. It would fit the mood of the story a bit more. But I loved that the cover model is facing away from the reader, and towards the ocean. Even without seeing the cover model's face, I can feel her longing for the sea.

Overall: 3.5 Stars

Disclosure: I bought this novel for my own reading pleasure. (less)

like · see review

Jun 29, 2011 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars

First off, let me say I did like this book. I didn't love or even dislike it, it was really only okay for me. I didn't feel Lena was strong enough of a character. Through the book I was questioning every decision she made, not fully understand her reasons behind them. It was almost as if the only reason she made them was because the author needed her to do "this" to get "there". Now I know this is how most books come to be, start off with an idea and work the characters to fit the situations. Ho...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 16, 2011 Kate McMurry rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: preteens and young teens

Shelves: magic, mermaids, ya-fantasy, ya-paranormal, young-adult-fantasy, young-adult-paranormal

A fun paranormal adventure for preteens and young teenagers

Lena lives in a coastal town south of San Francisco. She has always loved the ocean, the smell of the salty air, the feel of the cold water, and especially the waves. But her father refuses to let her fulfill her fondest wish, to learn to surf. She secretly has her friends teach her to surf, but in the process, she discovers something far more fascinating than surfing. She catches sight of a beautiful mermaid, and her life will never be...more A fun paranormal adventure for preteens and young teenagers

Lena lives in a coastal town south of San Francisco. She has always loved the ocean, the smell of the salty air, the feel of the cold water, and especially the waves. But her father refuses to let her fulfill her fondest wish, to learn to surf. She secretly has her friends teach her to surf, but in the process, she discovers something far more fascinating than surfing. She catches sight of a beautiful mermaid, and her life will never be the same.

This is a lovely book with an interesting heroine, a fascinating magical premise, and a strong contrast between Lena's life on land and her life in a mermaid world. I read in an interview with the author that she originally intended this to be a middle-grade novel. Some traces of that aim at a younger audience remain in the book, for example the characters eat and drink soup and other liquid foods down under the ocean. This is the kind of quirky touch that is most often found in books for young children. However, other than that, this G-rated book can be enjoyed by teens of all ages. Girls will especially enjoy that there is a significant romance subplot. There are also fascinating relationships between Lena and her mother and grandparents in the undersea world of the mer-people.

The author of this book (whose real name is Lisa Wolfson) died of cancer on February 23, 2011. She announced on her website in January, 2011 that she had pancreatic cancer and that she had made peace with her impending death. The Mermaid's Mirror was her second book for young adults. Her first book, Flash Burnout, won the William C. Morris Award, a national honor given by the American Library Association to the best book for young adults by a first-time author. It was also a finalist for the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature. If this author had been granted more time among us, I am positive she would have had a very successful career writing for young people.

May she rest in peace.
(less)

like · see review

Jun 09, 2011 Jocelyn L. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-irp-books

I read “The Mermaid’s Mirror” by L.K. Madigan, which is about a girl named Lena Whittaker. Lena is a teenager who, at first, appears to be living a normal life. She really loves the ocean and wants to surf, but her dad won’t let her because of some surfing accident that he had when he was younger. So she sneaks out and has Annie, her boyfriend’s sister, teach her how to surf. She finds that she’s a natural, and is drawn to the water. But during her time on the beach, she discovers a mysterious...more I read “The Mermaid’s Mirror” by L.K. Madigan, which is about a girl named Lena Whittaker. Lena is a teenager who, at first, appears to be living a normal life. She really loves the ocean and wants to surf, but her dad won’t let her because of some surfing accident that he had when he was younger. So she sneaks out and has Annie, her boyfriend’s sister, teach her how to surf. She finds that she’s a natural, and is drawn to the water. But during her time on the beach, she discovers a mysterious figure in the water. At first, she thinks its a seal or something, but she see’s that it’s actually a woman. She also finds herself sleepwalking to the beach and having weird fainting spells. Lena doesn’t know what’s happening and starts to think she’s going crazy. One day she decides to go surf at Magic’s, a really dangerous area that only experienced surfers go. She gets caught in an undertow and, while almost drowning, is saved by the mysterious person in the water. When she recovers, she finds a golden key in her hand. This key turns out to unlock a new world for her when she uses it to open a hidden chest in her house. This chest contains items from her birth mother, who she thought died when she was a little kid. However, she discovers that her mother is actually a mermaid. The chest contains a magic mirror which, her dad tells her, will show Lena her mother. When the mirror shows her mother by the beach, Lena sprints over there. She jumps in the water and goes on a journey with her mother, leaving her dad alone on the beach. She learns of a new community under water, where she meets her mother’s side of the family and her true love, Nix. Living with the mer-people makes her slowly forget her family and friends on land. However, when she looks into her magic mirror and remembers, she now has a choice to make. Does she stay underwater with her newly-found mother and true love or does she go back to her family on land who misses her so much? As “a child of sea and land” (298) how can she choose one over the other?
This book was a fairly enjoyable book. At times it seemed to kind of drag, as I’m sure my summary did, but there was a big buildup in the book from her being a normal teenager to discovering she’s part mermaid. Without that buildup, the rest of the book wouldn’t make sense. It wouldn’t be very believable if she just went to the beach one day and was like, “Oh look, the mother who I thought was dead is actually a mermaid! I think I’ll just swim away with her right now.” However, I think that there were some parts of it that could have been left out. For example, her best friend Pem starts dating college-age guy, but it really has no impact on the rest of the book, and doesn’t add anything to the story in my opinion. Even though parts of the book could be a little boring, the plot itself was interesting. I think that the author did a good job of making Lena seem believable. As a teenage girl myself, it would have been really annoying if the main character wasn’t believable.
I would probably rate this book a 3.5 out of 5. It was interesting for the most part, although some parts were a little slow. The characters were believable and it was an interesting plot. I also appreciate that the author obviously paid attention to details. For example, the merfolk in the book couldn’t speak English and communicated with Lena through thought. Most authors probably wouldn’t have even thought about that. However, since the most of the merfolk have never had contact with people on land, it would not make sense for them to be able to speak English. The fact that the L. K. Madigan pays attention to details like this made the book seem more realistic, because she portrays the mermaids in a logical way even though they are creatures of fantasy.(less)

like · see review

May 20, 2011 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *This review contains spoilers*
Frankly, I was underwhelmed. I don't mean to be overly critical because I think that Madigan is a first time author and I give kudos to her for publishing because it takes a lot of hard work to do so. However, I had major issues with this book. As a writer I think Madigan is fine, in fact I see a lot of potential as she's really good at descriptive writing. But. I really really think she needs to work on her character development. Pretty much all the characters in...more *This review contains spoilers*
Frankly, I was underwhelmed. I don't mean to be overly critical because I think that Madigan is a first time author and I give kudos to her for publishing because it takes a lot of hard work to do so. However, I had major issues with this book. As a writer I think Madigan is fine, in fact I see a lot of potential as she's really good at descriptive writing. But. I really really think she needs to work on her character development. Pretty much all the characters in the book were lifeless to me. The only one who wasn't was a side character called Max (and perhaps his brother Henry too) who had some sort of expression, albeit it was for comic relief but it was something. Kai (the 'land' boyfriend) was boooring. And I realize Madigan probably did this to make the love interest under the sea seem more plausible, but Nix (the 'water' boyfriend)is also boring. He's just some random guy with sparkley eyes who somehow manages to give Lena the tinglies. We learn next to nothing about his character (beside the fact that he's...nice?) or his back-story and this is also the case with pretty much every character, I think. There's this massive, and I mean MASSIVE, triangle between Lena's dad, Lena's mom, and Lena's mom's best friend who ends up marrying Lena's dad 7 years after Lena's mom disappears...(following me?)...and it's only given a cursory glance in the plot--maybe some anguished eyes thrown in, but no confrontation, and we don't find out how Lena's mom ever found her pelt/cloak (I personally think it was Lena's step-mom, but this wasn't even hinted at). Life under the sea, while well written, was uninspiring. The fact that the cloak makes you forget meant that there was no emotional conflict for Lena under the sea (or hardly any). There are these big question marks that keep floating around (pardon the pun) and Lena seems content to make out with her boyfriend and...do nothing it seems.
The seal-goddess idea was really intriguing but it goes nowhere--a potentially grueling ordeal awaits Lena in her attempt to get a tail but instead of that she does a 180 and decides she must go to the surface and drop everything: her mother, her friends and the boyfriend she was about to make vows with because she remembers her father and step-mom and step-brother and this is more important. I'm not dissing Lena's choice but I'm left wondering why. The decision making was so abrupt and she didn't even say goodbye to Nix....I'm just...dissatisfied I guess. I felt like a new driver driving a standard and was stalling the car every block. You feel like you're going somewhere then...ooomph...stop.
However, all this said, I'll likely pick up another one of Madigan's books because she's got interesting ideas and a nice writing style. But, please, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! (less)

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 25, 2011 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recap:
Lena has always felt the powerful pull that the ocean has on her heart, and longs to join her best friends as they surf the breaking waves. But Lena has also always honored the wishes of her father, who almost died in a surfing accident before she was born, and has forbidden her from ever trying the sport.

But when Lena sees a mermaid at Magic's, the most dangerous surfing cove on the coast, she knows that she can't stay out of the water any longer. She will do whatever it takes to see the...more Recap:
Lena has always felt the powerful pull that the ocean has on her heart, and longs to join her best friends as they surf the breaking waves. But Lena has also always honored the wishes of her father, who almost died in a surfing accident before she was born, and has forbidden her from ever trying the sport.

But when Lena sees a mermaid at Magic's, the most dangerous surfing cove on the coast, she knows that she can't stay out of the water any longer. She will do whatever it takes to see the mermaid again, even if it means risking her own life.

Review:
Let me start out by saying, I am a HUGE fan of LK Madigan's Flash Burnout. It is intense, realistic, unpredictable, and often laugh-out-loud funny. I won a copy of The Mermaid's Mirror, and was so excited to experience more LK Madigan magic. I quickly realized... these two books are SO DIFFERENT from each other. It's almost difficult to believe that they were written by the same author. Now that's not to say that I didn't enjoy The Mermaid's Mirror. I did! I just usually expect for an author's books to have threads of similarity between them, but Ms. Madigan is definitely not afraid to do her own thing. I like that.

The Mermaid's Mirror is a full-on fantasy, where mermaids are real and can even live among us on land. I won't reveal the identity of Lena's mermaid, but once you're a few chapters in, you will likely be able to quickly figure it out for yourself. The world that was created for the mer-people to inhabit is different than anything I had originally imagined. Like Lena, I had more or less pictured scenes from Disney's The Little Mermaid. Yet Madigan's world makes much more sense: the mer-people must always be ready to move if danger creeps in, so their "home" is transitory, and can be re-created almost anywhere.

Clearly, a huge amount of thought went into creating the culture and traditions of the mer-people. I was fascinated to learn that Madigan has actually been writing this book since childhood! When she was only 8-years-old she wrote a 78 page story titled "Mermaid's Fun." This particular version of the story has been in the works for over 9 years, long before Flash Burnout, even though that novel was published first.

I would be remiss not to touch on a few of the other key characters in this novel. Lena's relationships with her two best friends, Pem and Kai (who recently became her boyfriend), are written so incredibly realistically. In particular, I appreciated the scenes where Lena wrestled with how she was supposed to act toward Kai: She knew what he wanted, but she just wasn't ready to be a swoony, lovey, one-track-minded girlfriend. Hooray! There's more to life than having a boyfriend! And even though there is a little more swoony-loveyness later on... Lena's priorities always came back to family, rather than falling in love.

From the inclusion of her childhood stories, to the inspiration given by her own sister's love of surfing, it's clear that The Mermaid's Mirror was really written from the heart. This book is a fantasy unlike any I've read before, and left me wondering... "Could mermaids really exist?"(less)

like · see review

Apr 01, 2011 Whatchyareading added it

Shelves: caitlin, fantasy, young-adult

When I started reading this book I honestly had no idea what it was about. I’d read the flap and it struck me as a little…odd…a girl finds a mirror that belongs to a mermaid and she likes to surf?

But I like mermaids, so I thought, “why not?”

Lena lives in a small(ish) town just outside of San Fransisco. A coastal town known for its surfing. But Lena’s dad had a bad accident while surfing a number of years ago and hasn’t stepped foot in the water since. And he has always refused Lena when she aske...more When I started reading this book I honestly had no idea what it was about. I’d read the flap and it struck me as a little…odd…a girl finds a mirror that belongs to a mermaid and she likes to surf?

But I like mermaids, so I thought, “why not?”

Lena lives in a small(ish) town just outside of San Fransisco. A coastal town known for its surfing. But Lena’s dad had a bad accident while surfing a number of years ago and hasn’t stepped foot in the water since. And he has always refused Lena when she asked for surfing lessons.

This is another book that, while it doesn’t physically separate itself into two parts, it does have two distinct….acts? Or something like that. The first act introduces you to Lena, her friends and family and surfing. She obviously loves her family, especially her little brother. She loves the woman she calls mom even though she isn’t Lena’s biological mother, and she wants nothing more than for her Dad to be the one to teach her to surf.

Just previous to the books opening Lena started dating Kai, a boy she’d been friends with for a long time. And you can tell she likes the new relationship but isn’t really committed to it. In fact a lot of her life feels that way. She’s there, and it’s fine but there isn’t anything she’s really passionate about, nothing that captures her attention.

Except surfing.

And, unbeknown to Lena , while she sits on the beach and looks at the water longingly, someone is looking back at her with the same longing.

Throughout the book, there’s this fantastic metaphor. Lena is constantly searching for something. We see her unpack the books and binders in her backpack after school just to find….something. She doesn’t know what it is. But she needs to find it. This is echoed in her life. On the surface, everything is there, but she’s always looking for something more.

And then the second act of the book, where she finds what she’s been looking for. Lena lives with a different sort of family, she meets a different boyfriends and has different friends and it is here that she finds her passion. This boy is so much more than Kai, makes Lena feel more than Kai ever did. Her family is beautiful and important and mesmerizing.

I really loved the juxtaposition in this book. I love that it takes Lena discovering a whole new life for her to really understand all that she had in her first one. And I love that she then has to make a choice. And no matter which life she chooses there is going to be loss and abandonment.

The one thing I didn’t really get about this book was the name. Sure, there was a mirror but it had very little to do with the plot and by the time you get to the mirror…well, it just didn’t seem worth it. Not that I have the super-awesome-wonderful title it should’ve been called. I like the title, I just don’t think it had much to do with the book.

Reviewed on WhatchYAreading on October 7, 2010.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 17, 2011 Dannielle R rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Mermaid’s Mirror was wonderful, heartfelt, enticing and interesting. I was afraid it would be a little stupid and too common. I didn’t want this to be like, “ugh, could you get any more predictable?!” And at moments it felt like it was. But for the majority of the novel it really wasn’t. From very early on, I figured out who the mermaid was, but then again, I feel that it was very obvious. Just like how I knew how Lena really felt about Kai. And the inkling I had about her father and his acc...more The Mermaid’s Mirror was wonderful, heartfelt, enticing and interesting. I was afraid it would be a little stupid and too common. I didn’t want this to be like, “ugh, could you get any more predictable?!” And at moments it felt like it was. But for the majority of the novel it really wasn’t. From very early on, I figured out who the mermaid was, but then again, I feel that it was very obvious. Just like how I knew how Lena really felt about Kai. And the inkling I had about her father and his accident.

But the only thing that really bothered me, and I mean really irked me, was the “chat-speak” exchanged between Lena, Pem, and Kai whenever they chatted or texted. I’m a teenager and I can assure you, we do not all type like that. And for Pem to, with a mom who’s a English teacher? Ugh, I dunno. It’s a stupid thing to be bothered by, but there you go.

Now, for the things I loved!

The Characters: They all felt developed, even the minor ones. Everyone had a depth and personality to them that was unique and realistic. That's always a plus for me. Whenever they feel real, their pain and happiness feel real to me.

Madigan's Prose and wonderful mermaids: It's true. Her writing and style is wonderful. Or it was to me, during my lack of sleep and restless nature. I might have felt differently if I was feeling different. But this is my opinion of now. She blends the world of land and sea together pretty much flawlessly. I liked the idea of the cloak and the magic attached and the explanations surrounding it. The mermaid’s and mermen are described fantastically as was their world. I loved all the information given and all the back stories.

The Ending: Mixed emotions on my part. I felt somewhat satisfied, but I also felt as if it was a bit hasty. It ended in a way that a sequel is possible, which is great because I feel like Lena’s story is definitely not finished. A lot was left to be desired, to say the least.

One last thing: I hate that I don’t live within just 2 or 3 hours of the beach. Reading this really made me crave the feeling of the sand beneath my feet, the salt in the air and the water around me. Argh.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 06, 2011 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, now. I am finding this one difficult to rate fairly.

16-year-old Lena lives by the sea and longs to learn to surf. But her dad, formerly an excellent surfer, refuses to even discuss it. Meantime, Lena finds herself more and more drawn to dangerous Magic Crescent Cove, and the glimpses she has had there of a strange, dark-haired woman swimming among the seals. Family secrets are beginning to bubble up, and Lena is in more trouble than she knows. Her call to the sea may be the call of blood -...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 12, 2011 Novel Novice rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are lots of reasons to love L.K. Madigan’s new novel, The Mermaid’s Mirror. But for me, there are three things in particular that stand out:

1. The Characters

From page one, I fell in love with Lena, Kai, Pem, Cole and all the rest. They all feel so real, like people I might have gone to high school with myself. People I might be friends with. And okay, I confess, Kai is so adorable I got a little crush on him, myself. The characters are complex and multi-faceted. They have depth, and I want...more There are lots of reasons to love L.K. Madigan’s new novel, The Mermaid’s Mirror. But for me, there are three things in particular that stand out:

1. The Characters

From page one, I fell in love with Lena, Kai, Pem, Cole and all the rest. They all feel so real, like people I might have gone to high school with myself. People I might be friends with. And okay, I confess, Kai is so adorable I got a little crush on him, myself. The characters are complex and multi-faceted. They have depth, and I wanted to get to know each one of them better; it’s part of what kept me turning the pages. I enjoyed spending time with them — and I would spend more with them in a heartbeat. (Hint, hint, Lisa … sequel!!)

2. The Setting

Mermaid’s Mirror takes place in a fictional town on the Northern California coast near San Francisco. Having grown up in the Bay Area, this is an area I’m familiar with — and Madigan’s descriptions really bring this locale to life. I could feel the cold, salty air … the grainy sand beneath my toes … the biting chill of the ocean water … the wind that blows in off the sea. In my mind, Madigan’s descriptions conjured up cities I visited frequently growing up: Monterey, Santa Cruz, Carmel, Point Lobos, Pacifica. The setting comes alive and makes you feel like you’re part of the story in a very all-encompassing way.

3. The Mermaids

True story: my favorite Disney princess movie has and likely always will be “The Little Mermaid.” The kindest compliment I was ever paid came from a four-year-old, who once told me I had “Ariel hair.” And I’m still a sucker every time “Splash” comes on TV. Yes, it’s true. I love mermaids. So it was a personal delight to see mermaids tied into a truly wonderful Young Adult book — especially one written as well as this one is (Madigan is ridiculously talented; I love her prose!)

The real magic for me in Mermaid’s Mirror is the contrast between the two worlds: the human world and the mermaid world, and the way they come together at the very end. There’s a very wonderful transition as Lena starts to discover this other realm — filled with secrets, magical objects, and family truths. And then there is a jarring leap headfirst into the mermaid world. The contrast is stark and shocking, until you realize it’s deliberate. The two worlds are shockingly different, and the vast changes that happen to Lena and in the narrative are due to these differences.

And then, in Madigan’s own clever way, the two worlds come back together again. There’s a unity and a harmony by the conclusion that is utterly satisfying.

The Mermaid’s Mirror is not your traditional YA book. But Madigan magically weaves together elements of fantasy and coming-of-age to create something wholly unique. I’ve loved both of Madigan’s novels (this, and Flash Burnout) and I can’t wait to see what she brings us next! (less)

like · see review

Dec 16, 2010 Meaghan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, e-books

I really enjoyed the author's writing in this novel. The book can be divided into two parts: life with her father on the land and life with her mother in the sea. Lena has spent her life with her father, step-mother and younger brother living in a beautiful home near the ocean. While most of her friends love surfing, she has been reluctant to try because her father had some sort of accident. As it turns out the "accident" was not a surfing accident at all but a run-in with Lena's mother's family...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 24, 2010 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Nov 11, 2010 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs-reviewed, reviewed-on-the-blog

There is something magical about the cover of The Mermaid's Mirror, alone, is there not? It was the first thing that caught my
eye when I was given the opportunity to review this book. It really reeled me in (lol, I won't go there.)

L.K. Madigan brought to me a world that I quite didn't expect even with the cover being a very accurate indication of this book's true worth. Madigan didn't stop at bringing me a world I already knew, she brought me one more, one which is believably decorating the ocea...more

like · see review

Nov 02, 2010 Crizia rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I decided to read this book, I thought it would be the typical: boy meets mergirl, boy and mergirl fall in love, boy has to make a choice, voila! The End! But I was-thankfully- wrong, there is so much more to this story than meets the eye.

In truth, this story revolves around a half mermaid-half human girl named Selene who feels a magical pull to the ocean when she begins to near her sixteenth birthday. After constantly trying to learn the truth about her birth mother from her dad, she take...more

like · see review

Oct 25, 2010 Esther Shaindel rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Reviewed on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com
This is a case where you can judge a book by its cover - it matches the cool, misty atmosphere of the whole book!

Lena is a normal girl living in her beach-side town - except that her father won't let her learn how to surf. And then she starts sleepwalking and finding herself on the beach, and she keeps reaching for something that isn't there. And then, on one of her solitary works along the beach, she sees a mermaid far off in the...more Reviewed on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com
This is a case where you can judge a book by its cover - it matches the cool, misty atmosphere of the whole book!

Lena is a normal girl living in her beach-side town - except that her father won't let her learn how to surf. And then she starts sleepwalking and finding herself on the beach, and she keeps reaching for something that isn't there. And then, on one of her solitary works along the beach, she sees a mermaid far off in the sea. Determined to see her again, Lena takes surfing lessons from her boyfriend's sister and goes surfing alone on the waves where she saw the mermaid - the most dangerous beach. There, the mermaid gives her a key, for which Lena sets about finding a lock. She finds out startling information about her supposed-dead mother, information that her father had kept from her all these years, and she goes to meet her mermaid mother when she calls for her. She joins her under the sea in the mer-village, but eventually has to make the choice between her land family and her sea family.

As I said, I love the atmosphere in the book. Fitting for a sea-side - and in-sea - setting, the feeling of mist in the air followed me throughout the story, adding to the mystical quality of the events. The tone is just so great. Especially the parts about Lena losing her memories - it happens so gradually, interwoven with the other events, that it feels real and natural.

And the characters in The Mermaid's Mirror are so real! Early on, I noticed that Kai has a distinctive voice and I could tell when he was speaking (or texting) without reading the dialogue tags. Although his is the most obvious, every character's personality is unique and fully developed, and I was able to feel along with them (or dislike them, in Max's case) the whole time.

The one complaint I have about this book is about the resolution of the problem. It seems to me that the main problem of the story, the one which everything else built up to and which seems to be the theme of the story, is solved very quickly without much explanation. It's a hard choice she has to make - stay with the mother she's been missing for so long or return to her father, stepmother, and little brother who are grieving so terribly - and I felt we should have seen her thought process more clearly.

Still, this is a book I think I'll return to, because even though I find it lacking in that way, I love the style and characters of the story!

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for review!(less)

like · see review

Oct 18, 2010 Zoë Marriott rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. THE BLURB:

Lena, almost 16 and living in a northern California surfing community, has been forbidden by her father, a former surfer who suffered a terrible accident in the water years ago, from learning her peers’ favorite sport. She is an excellent swimmer, though, and while spending time at the local beach, she begins to think she might be seeing a mermaid out in the waves. Being a practical girl, this of course strikes her as unlikely, but a host of subtle clues that include the discovery of...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 16, 2010 Katie (It's Time to Read) Leversuch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review Does Contain Spoilers!

Synopsis:

Lena has lived her whole life near the beach—walking for miles up and down the shore and breathing the salty air, swimming in the cold water, and wa...more Lena has lived her whole life near the beach—walking for miles up and down the shore and breathing the salty air, swimming in the cold water, and watching the surfers rule the waves—the problem is, she’s spent her whole life just watching.

As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Lena vows she will no longe...more

like · see review

title link	preview: The Mermaid's Mirror
avg rating	preview: The Mermaid's Mirror Goodreads rating: 3.60 (1877 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7664345-the-mermaid-s-mirror?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348266832l/7664345.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7664345-the-mermaid-s-mirror?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan[/url]

The Mermaid's Mirror

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (10)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About L.K. Madigan

Books by L.K. Madigan

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Mermaid's Mirror