Review of Mermother: An Account of What Happened in the Sea by Elizabeth Jane Wolfe

Mermother: An Account of What Happened in the Sea by Elizabeth Jane Wolfe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story in Mermother was intriguing to me from the start. Mostly because the author specified in her request for reviewers that it was a mermaid story. I was given a free copy in exchange for a review.

You are dropped into a first-person account, starting with the main character waking up in a tidepool by the sea, having fallen off a boat in the night. You don't know why, and you don't know how.

The main character stays in the tidepool, too exhausted to leave, and before long, she meets a beautiful woman who decides to be her friend. She's not sure what to make of this lovely, and vain, stranger. But she keeps coming back, teaching a rather confused Briony how to survive in the sea.

What at first seemed a fun, if slightly unstable, relationship changes quickly as Briony discovers her own inner strength. Her new friend, Sylvie, has her secrets, and Briony sets out to discover them all.

Along the way, Sylvie reveals the real reason she helped Briony.

And Briony, who has become too dependent on the sea, can't leave it. But she's now too independent to simply submit to Sylvie, and fights back in her own way. Ultimately, she gives Sylvie what she desires, but she uses her newfound strength and confidence to do it on her own terms.

This is a novel that I believe could easily have stretched out much longer, and had more detail and character development. On the whole, it seemed rushed. There are also a few small typos, and occasionally the dialogue seems rather stilted.

However, I enjoyed it very much and look forward to reading it again. The story itself is interesting, and I personally feel that parts of it are quite unique. The reader is drawn in by the mysteries surrounding Briony, some of which are revealed throughout the book, and the different facets of mer life are very well thought out. It's an interesting twist to the mermaid legends, and, for it's length, is an entertaining story.

View all my reviews