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Ingo

(Ingo #1)

Helen Dunmore

3.94 · Rating details · 8,970 ratings · 722 reviews

I wish I was away in Ingo, Far across the sea, Sailing over the deepest waters, Where love nor care can trouble me...

Sapphire's father mysteriously vanishes into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her family has always lived. She misses him terribly, and she longs to hear his spellbinding tales about the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. Perhaps that is ...more

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Paperback, 320 pages

Published May 2nd 2006 by Harper Collins Children's Books (first published August 11th 2005)

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3.94 ·

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· 8,970 ratings · 722 reviews

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Nov 30, 2008 Elizabeth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mermaids-and-sea-creatures, children, magic, series

Ingo is a delightful story full of beautiful and serene imagery as well as magic. It’s a children’s book, yes, but it captured my attention and I’m very glad to have come across it.

It’s about an eleven-year-old girl and her older brother who lose their father one day when he takes out his boat and disappears. The children are the only two people in town (with the exception of Granny Carne) who believe that he is still alive. They discover an underwater world called Ingo, where they meet Faro an ...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Sesana rated it it was ok

Shelves: folklore, fantasy, middle-grade

I love mermaids, but I'm having some trouble finding a really good mermaid book. This one was especially disappointing since a friend and fellow mermaid fan recommended it to me. Sadly, it just didn't work, although it's really not a bad book.

I'll do the good first. The basic plotline itself was interesting, and could have been really engaging. The short version: Sapphire and Conor's father disappears. (The book is written in Saph's POV) They are convinced that he's still alive, just vanished. E I love mermaids, but I'm having some trouble finding a really good mermaid book. This one was especially disappointing since a friend and fellow mermaid fan recommended it to me. Sadly, it just didn't work, although it's really not a bad book.

I'll do the good first. The basic plotline itself was interesting, and could have been really engaging. The short version: Sapphire and Conor's father disappears. (The book is written in Saph's POV) They are convinced that he's still alive, just vanished. Eventually, they both meet Mer people (Elvira and Faro) who introduce them to life under the sea. There's quite a bit to work with there, and it's really a very good idea. The writing itself is, for the most part, quite good. It's very natural, and there's a floating, dreamlike quality to much of the narration that really suits the subject.

But there were a few roadblocks for me. First of all, Faro is very preachy when showing Sapphire around underwater. He's actually kind of unbearable. I think I'd hesitate to read any of the other books in the series just because of him. Sapphire herself is a very difficult character to get behind. She's so spacey that, in a single, brief conversation with her mother, she daydreams to the point that her mother has to yell to get her attention two or three times. There's dreamy, and then there's on another planet. I can deal with the former, and not so much with the latter.

But maybe the biggest thing that bothered me was how Saph and Conor dealt with their father's disappearance. To me, there was no emotional truth to their reactions, or at least to Saph's. She has, for reasons that are never fully made clear, totally bought into the idea that her father isn't dead, he just left them without a trace. I never felt like she genuinely struggled with doubt that he was still alive, or felt true grief for his absence, or even anger at him for leaving them. There's just not enough depth to her.

In the end, it simply didn't resonate with me. I doubt I'll be reading the rest of the series, because I don't think I care enough about the characters to bother. ...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Lindsay Tramble rated it it was amazing

I've never read a book that painted a picture as well as Ingo did. I read it several years ago, but Cornwall, England has stuck in my mind ever since. The story centers on the life of twelve-year old Sapphire and her older brother, Conor, and how they find an underwater world in their town's cove. The book was part of a four-story series, but it was definitely the strongest novel of the bunch. I'd reccomend it to anyone who knows how to read.

Sapphire and Conor live in a small beachside house, a ...more

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Oct 31, 2010 Olivia rated it it was amazing

First of all just look at this cover! Is this not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen!?
Ingo was a brilliant novel, being the first mermaid fictional novel I have actually ever read! (I know I know.) It was a really refreshing read after much darker novels that seem to sworm the YA department these days. The charecters that Helen Dunmore has created are totally believable, and are bursting with personality.

Written in first person was also a nice touch, as we really got to delve deeper int ...more

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Jul 21, 2008 Aerin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: the Little Mermaid (the faery tale, not the Disney movie), the Tale of Emily WIndsnap

Shelves: middle-grade, 2008

SUMMARY
When Sapphire's father disappears, most people say he's been drowned, although the more vicious of the townspeople say he ran off with another woman. But neither Sapphy or her brother Conor believe either story. Raised on the coast of Cornwall, they have an intimate connection to the sea and her mysteries. Neither of them realizes quite how intimate. When Sapphire feels an irresistible call to the ocean, she must choose where her loyalties lie - to her Air family and the brother whom she ...more

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Apr 15, 2008 Jen rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: pre-teens who don't usually like fantasy

Shelves: ya-fiction

This book didn't feel like fantasy: it felt more like your typical girl-dealing-with-loss-of-a-parent story, only with a mermaid or two thrown in. I realized that the loss-of-parent thing is very relevant today, what with divorce rates being what they are, but the formula gets irritatingly predictable. Here it is in a nutshell: 1)parent dies or leaves 2) remaining parent starts dating someone new 3) child hates the "replacement" parent 4) over time, child starts to accept both the loss of the fi ...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Sariah the Authoress rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This revolutionizes the entire idea of mermaids. Not fishy, scaked creatures, but sleek, half-seal hybrids. No, they do not comb thair hair while sitting on the rocks in the sun all day. Judging from Faro alone, they are a majestic people.And this has more depth than any mermaid story I have ever read. The idea that going into Ingo can hurt, that it can call you and suck you up in it forever, that it can make you part of itself...that is so much more mature than any other mermaid book I have rea This revolutionizes the entire idea of mermaids. Not fishy, scaked creatures, but sleek, half-seal hybrids. No, they do not comb thair hair while sitting on the rocks in the sun all day. Judging from Faro alone, they are a majestic people.And this has more depth than any mermaid story I have ever read. The idea that going into Ingo can hurt, that it can call you and suck you up in it forever, that it can make you part of itself...that is so much more mature than any other mermaid book I have read. The imagery is beautiful, told like a poet. Some people complain how it "drags," but even the "slow" parts (i.e. conversation with Granny Carne) are filled with mystery and keep you reading. The action at the end is amazing: emotional decisions, blah blah blah, but not told like an overdose of philosophy because it's from Sapphy's point of view; these emotions don't interfere with the real action, just give the whole thing more depth; you're tearing through the pages, hardly reading the words you see, because Roger is such a likable guy and you're wondering IF HE'LL SURVIVE, and the odds aren't lookin' too good; it's always nice to see how our heroine reacts under pressure (heroically, as is expected) because that's the moment of truth, learning WHO our main character IS--and Helen Dunmore did that part really well. Now. This next element is a big issue for a lot of people, and it is...
characters.
Some people say Sapphy is shallow, self-absorbed, and annoying. I say she's realistcally flawed and spunky. Are you looking for a perfect character? Most good books don't have a single one. Others say Saph is dreamy to the point of no tolerance. But what do you expect? She has, after all, been swimming with mermaids every afternoon for a while. Others say Conor is annoying (along with Sapphy, in many cases). He's a typically laid-back, sweet and kind brother who loves his sister so much, he's angry beyond belief his sister keeps on hanging out with people of Ingo rather than those of Air. No one says anything about Roger because he's too nice and all. No one says anything about Granny Carne because, well, she's awesome. Everyone likes the wise, tough, erratic old woman, and that's what Granny Carne is--enough said. People say Faro is even more than just plain annoying, and that's because he is. But you need him to argue with in your mind. Characters you secretly argue with? The author has done a masterful job if s/he has created characters you argue with. (Interactive book!) Oh, yeah: you also need him to help save Roger. That too. And the dad? You can't touch him. He's just an amazing character, almost more so than Sapphy herself. ...more

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May 10, 2012 Barbara Gordon rated it it was ok

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

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Dec 21, 2009 Kogiopsis rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed

This book... the best way to describe it, I think, is that despite predating A Monster Calls, it wants to be AMC - a lyrical, mythical, semi-allegorical exploration of death and coping mechanisms. The problem is that Ingo also wants to be an adventure book about exciting fun times under the ocean, and you really can't have those themes co-exist in one novel.

It starts out as a story about Sapphire's strained family, culminating in her dad going for a late night jaunt in his boat and never returni This book... the best way to describe it, I think, is that despite predating A Monster Calls, it wants to be AMC - a lyrical, mythical, semi-allegorical exploration of death and coping mechanisms. The problem is that Ingo also wants to be an adventure book about exciting fun times under the ocean, and you really can't have those themes co-exist in one novel.

It starts out as a story about Sapphire's strained family, culminating in her dad going for a late night jaunt in his boat and never returning. Her mother concludes relatively quickly that he's dead or otherwise gone for good; Sapphire and her brother Conner hold onto the belief that he's alive and will return to them. There's a bit of exploration of grief, but it feels like a pulled punch: the writing is too flat, skimming over events and staying bluntly descriptive so the emotion of this traumatic time ends up muffled. I know the writer's maxim is 'show, don't tell', but as a reader I've always felt that it stops one exhortation short: don't just tell me or show me, sometimes, but make me feel it. Ingo gets pretty well to 'show' - I can tell the siblings are grieving - but never moves on to 'feel'.

The supernatural plot line, too, doesn't really work. Blah blah wonder of the ocean, blah blah Faro spouts some canned dialogue about hating humans, blah blah nothing has any depth to it. Ocean ecology is my jam! It shouldn't be this easy to lose me! But alas, lose me Ingo did. Also: perhaps this is clarified in sequels, but in this book Dunmore seems to vacillate a lot between casting Ingo as a dangerous fae kingdom and a comfortable magical wonderland. There's a bit of unreliable narrator going on here - not subtle stuff, really - but the ending of the book seems to come down on both sides simultaneously, so it's not just that.

Initially, I read this book because I have an ancient galley of the third on my shelf from a conference years back... but now I'm thinking I'll never make it that far in the series. This was an easy enough read, but my TR list is long enough that even cutting the fluff helps. ...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Claire - The Coffeeholic Bookworm rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ingo follows the life and secrets revolving around a girl named Sapphire and her love for the sea. Her father had gone missing, supposedly taken by the ocean. A year after his disappearance, her mother began dating a new man, which dismayed Sapphire and her brother.

Her dad was mysteriously named after a local man who was believed to have drowned years ago and was captured by mermaids. The townfolks believed this same fate befell her dad. Against their mother's orders, she and her brother Connor Ingo follows the life and secrets revolving around a girl named Sapphire and her love for the sea. Her father had gone missing, supposedly taken by the ocean. A year after his disappearance, her mother began dating a new man, which dismayed Sapphire and her brother.

Her dad was mysteriously named after a local man who was believed to have drowned years ago and was captured by mermaids. The townfolks believed this same fate befell her dad. Against their mother's orders, she and her brother Connor spent most of their time swimming in the deep blue. Until Connor also went missing for a certain period of time and eventually, the two of them got pulled by the water and discovered a world beyond the beach.

A place called Ingo, powerful and mysterious.

There, they met a couple of mermaids and they realized that the time spent underwater differed from their time above the earth. Sapphire and Connor also discovered their own earthly powers that saved them during crisis.

Mermaids are next to dragons when it came to my favorite mythological characters. While Disney's Arielle remained the best mermaid I’ve ever met, I think Ingo’s mermaids are somewhat okay, if not intimidating. The story may not be the best underwater story ever but it is cute nonetheless; clean enough for kids. The thing that irked me, however, was Sapphire's evil thoughts - and that involved a murder plot against her soon-to-be stepfather. Granted that this stepfather was anything but charismatic, still, it bothered me to think that this young girl would talk to the sea creatures and ask them to make him "gone".

Part one of a trilogy. I’m not that excited to read the rest of the series because of the uncanny vibes I felt while reading Ingo, but I guess I’ll give it a try. I still wonder about Sapphire’s mom’s fear of the ocean and how their father would return to the land, that is if he still had intentions to return. Also, there's witchcraft involved in the story, which, in my opinion, made this fantasy series more exciting. ...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Stina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

I discovered this series by pure luck. I found the second book on one of the tables in the YA section of chapters. It was all colourful and shiny so I picked it up (wow...I'm such a bird). I Bought the book that day not realizing it was the second book. So I went back and got the first one, which was rather difficult because as it turns out-the series is suppose to be in the 9-12 section. ANyways...This book is by a british woman (Just another piece of proof that they are the best writers) and i ...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Kaleigh Hvizdos rated it did not like it

I hated this book. As soon as I was finished reading it, I sent it to my library's used book store.
The main characters were frustrating right down to Saphire's name, and by the time the merpeople were finally revealed, it was too little too late for my taste. I also think this falls victim to series cliches of not exposing enough of the "mysteries" to keep me satisfied with the intent of saving it for later books. It definitely
spins its wheels" to where not enough happens. I skimmed through the ...more

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Mar 02, 2008 Holly rated it did not like it

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

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May 17, 2008 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, childrensliterature, books-in-a-series, adventure, alternative-worlds

“Ingo’s a place that has many names, ” says Granny Carne. “You can call it Mer, Mare, or Meor…Earth and Ingo don’t mix, even though we live side by side. Earth and Ingo aren’t always friends…”

Despite Granny Carne’s words, in Helen Dunmore’s fantastic fantasy Earth and Ingo do mix–with consequences. Ingo is set partially above ground in modern day Cornwall and partially below the surface of the water in Ingo.

Ingo features Sapphire Trewhella (also known as Saph or Sapphy). Sapphy takes after her f “Ingo’s a place that has many names, ” says Granny Carne. “You can call it Mer, Mare, or Meor…Earth and Ingo don’t mix, even though we live side by side. Earth and Ingo aren’t always friends…”

Despite Granny Carne’s words, in Helen Dunmore’s fantastic fantasy Earth and Ingo do mix–with consequences. Ingo is set partially above ground in modern day Cornwall and partially below the surface of the water in Ingo.

Ingo features Sapphire Trewhella (also known as Saph or Sapphy). Sapphy takes after her father, Matthew Trewhella, in that she has always been drawn to the sea. She recalls, “Dad used to say that the sea doesn’t hate you and it doesn’t love you. It’s up to you to learn its ways and keep yourself safe.”

It’s “Dad used to say” because her father has disappeared. His boat, the Peggy Gordon, was found without him in it, and he is presumed drowned. Sapphy, however, suspects her father’s disappearance has something to do with Ingo. She recalls her father singing, “I wish I was away in Ingo; Far across the briny sea, Sailing over deepest waters; Where love nor care never trouble me…”

Her father’s disappearance certainly troubles her and causes trouble for her family. Her mother is forced to work all the time at her waitressing job and, consequently, her older brother Conor and Sapphy spend much time by themselves.

When one day Sapphy cannot find Conor, she fears that he has disappeared just like her father. She heads out to the cove to look for him, and she finds him talking to Elvira the mermaid. This leads to her encounter with Faro the merman who takes her on a journey under the sea. On this journey, she lets go of Earth completely and becomes a part of Ingo.

Sapphy and Conor are welcomed into Ingo because they each have a little Mer in them (long story that goes into family lore about the disappearance of a previous Matthew Trewhella), but Sapphy seems to have even a little more than her brother. Her draw to the sea becomes increasingly strong after she’s been a part of it. Not-too-subtle warning signals such as a new found taste for salting her water and consuming anchovies begin to alarm Conor while her mother appears largely ignorant of all goings on. With Conor’s help, Sapphy struggles to resist the pull of Ingo.

Yet, despite her resistance, Sapphy continues to find Ingo and Faro seductive. When she’s in Ingo, nothing else seems to matter–not time, not Conor, not Earth, not humanity in general. When she’s not in Ingo but back on Earth, she finds so many troubles weighing her down–she feels in her bones that her father is still alive but he’s made no attempt to contact her, her mother has given up on her father coming back and is becoming romantically involved with a diver named Roger (a diver who’s getting increasingly close to encroaching upon Ingo), and her mother is dead set against her getting a dog (when Sapphy already has the perfect one picked out!).

Ingo takes on the struggle between two worlds, between two types of people, between two ways of life. The struggle between Ingo and Earth has its parallel struggle within Sapphy’s family where the impetuousness of Sapphy and her father frequently clashes with the practical nature of Conor and her mother. This struggle comes to the fore in the latter part of Ingo when Roger decides he wants to dive in areas where, unbeknownst to him, he is not welcomed.

Dunmore’s characters are flawed yet still developing and changing just as the world is flawed yet still developing and changing (the latter we have the privilege to participate in changing). Ingo is top-notch fantasy while also speaking to family dynamics, individual choices, willpower, self-discovery, and imagination.

Ingo–with its tagline “In a world without air all you breathe is adventure”–will likely be popular with middle grade fantasy fans of both genders. Ingo is Book One in a planned tetralogy–Ingo, The Tide Knot, The Deep, and The Crossing of Ingo (the final two are more difficult to attain from within the US since HarperCollins just published the US edition of The Tide Knot in January 2008). For more on the series immediately, visit Helen Dunmore’s site or Harper Collin’s Ingo site (including a video book trailer). The pull of Ingo is strong, who can resist? ...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Reading Vacation rated it really liked it · review of another edition

REVIEW

I love reading mermaid books. There are not very many of them, so I cherish the few that I can get my hands (and eyes) on. Ingo is no exception.

Ingo is the name of the magical underwater world where the mermaids (and mermen) live. You don’t see much of it in the book, but the descriptions that are in there, are amazing. I am betting there is more detail about this amazing world in the next book.

This book is told from Sapphire’s point of view. She is spunky and loyal to her brother, Conor. ...more

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Oct 10, 2015 Simone rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended-by-friends, read-in-english, uk-ireland

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to my friends, despite the mermaids, and dolphins not to forget - who were awesome. The story just doesn't really make sense and then there are the many typos - which frustrated me a lot haha. However, I did add the other books from this series to my to-read list. Just in case I run out of books to read. It is just a nice book to read in one go. But nothing more.

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Jul 06, 2017 Monica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: children

I read this as a kid over and over. Such a delightful series!

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Sep 05, 2014 Pinto rated it really liked it

It was a great book. Although the end was a bit sad. Other than that, the character had many great adventures.

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Sep 08, 2015 Abigail rated it it was amazing

Sapphire's dad dissapeared there. Her brother is gone for hours because of it. And now the sea is pulling her too; to the world of Ingo.

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May 29, 2019 Natalie rated it did not like it

Ladies and Gentlemen, I almost lost the will to live.

Now, I understand that this book is aimed at children/teens, so I naturally assumed there was going to be a small amount of childishness to it. Surprisingly, there isnt. The imagery is beautiful and some of the character backgrounds and situations are more along the adult scale than expected. These things are not what caused an issue with me.

What made me want to chuck it all in was the storyline and events that just dragged and dragged and dra ...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Danya rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, rock-my-tbr-2017, flights-of-fantasy-2017, read-but-not-owned

3.5 stars. I feel like this book started out strong, and then kind of petered out later on. I liked Sapphy's voice for the most part (although sometimes her thought processes and decisions irritated me – probably more a reflection of her young age than anything else), and I thought the way that she was losing herself to Ingo was unsettling and kind of creepy. Ingo itself was mysterious and a little unnerving, and the main character we meet from Ingo, Faro, was an interesting mix of helper and... ...more

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Feb 24, 2018 Selvianty Selvianty rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sold, middle-grade, not-my-cup-of-tea

It was more than an OK book. It was good though not enough to hook me. It felt like T. S. White style of writing with the young Arthur book 'Sword in the Stone'. Young Arthur a.k.a. Wart learn magic or wisdom by turning himself to various of animals and talking with them, observing their way of life, with Merlin's help of course. In this book, though not turning anyone into animals, the idea is similar. Sapphire and Conor learnt how to be Mer people, they learnt how to talk with animals and lear ...more

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Feb 09, 2018 Lena rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-mg, ultimately-forgettable

This book was pretty short, but it took me like 4 months to read it. Once in a while, I'd pick it up and read a chapter, but I wasn't compelled to keep reading or pick it up again. It's too bad, because I love mermaids, but this was just soooo sloooow. I did eventually finish it, but I don't think I'll be going on to the rest of the series.

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Feb 05, 2018 Emily Cramer rated it it was amazing

It was so good . They are humans and they can speak mer. They have powers. they have to be careful with sharks and seals. her father disappear and they couldn't find the body so they had a pirate funeral.This book had 328 page.

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Aug 27, 2017 Avery rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, i-own

this book is exactly what i needed, i was growing really tired of reading contemporary books and this was the best with different worlds and powers and magic and the ocean mAN

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Jul 09, 2017 Stefanny Natalia rated it it was amazing

this book is AMAZINGGGGG
Now I should read the rest of the series...

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May 29, 2019 Jordyn Toomey rated it really liked it

This is a book I read back in middle school, I remember that It was a really good read.

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Oct 30, 2011 Hayley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: children, fairy-tale, favorites

Pretty much perfect. This is the right way to tell a mermaid tale. I have basically nothing to complain about, which, if you have read any of my other reviews, is a rarity.

Ingo if full of likable and realistically flawed characters. Sapphy is a plucky, smart young girl with a temper. Her close relationship with her older brother, Conor, is sweet, as is her devotion to her missing father. The strained relationship with her mother is very well done and realistic without being totally hostile-- the Pretty much perfect. This is the right way to tell a mermaid tale. I have basically nothing to complain about, which, if you have read any of my other reviews, is a rarity.

Ingo if full of likable and realistically flawed characters. Sapphy is a plucky, smart young girl with a temper. Her close relationship with her older brother, Conor, is sweet, as is her devotion to her missing father. The strained relationship with her mother is very well done and realistic without being totally hostile-- they still have their touching moments too.

The Mer characters are also interesting. They are definitely not human. I credit Helen Dunmore's impressive writing style with the atmosphere of simultaneous longing and danger when it came to the world of Ingo (a sort of alternate dimension of the sea). As a reader, I could feel the power Ingo had over Sapphy, both parts exhilarating and dangerously all-consuming.

Longing is a good word to summarize the overall feeling of the novel. The longing that Sappy, Conor, and their father feel for Ingo. The longing that Sapphy feels towards finding her supposedly dead father. The longing that Sapphy feels for her life remaining the same as it was before her father went missing.

The plot was somewhat simple, but extremely well executed and satisfying. One small adventure of Sapphy and Conor's was wrapped up neatly, with enough loose ends and unanswered questioned to lead into a sequel.

The only very minor complaint I had was that I wish Sapphy and Conor's ages had been established earlier on in the novel (the reader finds out that Conor is thirteen--making Sapphy about eleven-- more than half-way through the book). While there was certainly enough information provided by the character's behavior to place an approximate age, the clarity would have been helpful earlier on, as I had placed the siblings as slightly older (by a year or two).

However, that is my only complaint. And it is so minor I really had to search for it. Overall, I liked the characters, the plot, the writing style, and the world created in the novel. I am really looking forward to the other books in the series. ...more

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Jan 25, 2013 April Izzard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childhood-favourites

I highly recommend this book, for younger children. I have written a review which doesn't give away any details about the book that would ruin it. Instead I celebrate it; for being such a special book to me.

Read on for more.

I remember reading this when I was much younger, about 11 or 12 years old. It has been a memorable book that I won't ever forget. The fantasy that surrounds being a mermaid, something I (and i am sure many other young children) have always wished I could, was described impec ...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Jayde Meng rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Ingo is a great book that I have just recently finished. The story begins with the midsummer festival. Sapphy's father is then lost at sea. However, Sapphy and her brother Conor feel as if their father is still alive. A year passes, and it is summer vacation. Sapphy and her brother spend every day at their cove. Conor starts to go missing- away for large periods of time. One day Sapphy goes find him, and is surprised to know that Conor feels as if he's only been gone for a short time. When Conor ...more

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Helen Dunmore

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I was born in December 1952, in Yorkshire, the second of four children. My father was the eldest of twelve, and this extended family has no doubt had a strong influence on my life, as have my own children. In a large family you hear a great many stories. You also come to understand very early that stories hold quite different meanings for different listeners, and can be recast from many viewpoints I was born in December 1952, in Yorkshire, the second of four children. My father was the eldest of twelve, and this extended family has no doubt had a strong influence on my life, as have my own children. In a large family you hear a great many stories. You also come to understand very early that stories hold quite different meanings for different listeners, and can be recast from many viewpoints.

Poetry was very important to me from childhood. I began by listening to and learning by heart all kinds of rhymes and hymns and ballads, and then went on to make up my own poems, using the forms I’d heard. Writing these down came a little later.

I studied English at the University of York, and after graduation taught English as a foreign language in Finland.

At around this time I began to write the poems which formed my first poetry collection, The Apple Fall, and to publish these in magazines. I also completed two novels; fortunately neither survives, and it was more than ten years before I wrote another novel.

During this time I published several collections of poems, and wrote some of the short stories which were later collected in Love of Fat Men. I began to travel a great deal within the UK and around the world, for poetry tours and writing residences. This experience of working in many different countries and cultures has been very important to my work. I reviewed poetry for Stand and Poetry Review and later for The Observer, and subsequently reviewed fiction for The Observer, The Times and The Guardian. My critical work includes introductions to the poems of Emily Brontë, the short stories of D H Lawrence and F Scott Fitzgerald, a study of Virginia Woolf’s relationships with women and Introductions to the Folio Society's edition of Anna Karenina and to the new Penguin Classics edition of Tolstoy's My Confession.

During the 1980s and early 1990s I taught poetry and creative writing, tutored residential writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and took part in the Poetry Society's Writer in Schools scheme, as well as giving readings and workshops in schools, hospitals, prisons and every other kind of place where a poem could conceivably be welcome. I also taught at the University of Glamorgan, the University of Bristol's Continuing Education Department and for the Open College of the Arts.

In the late 1980s I began to publish short stories, and these were the beginning of a breakthrough into fiction. What I had learned of prose technique through the short story gave me the impetus to start writing novels. My first novel for children was Going to Egypt, published in 1992, and my first novel for adults was Zennor in Darkness, published in 1993, which won the McKitterick Prize. This was also my first researched novel, set in the First World War and dealing with the period when D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda lived in Zennor in Cornwall, and came under suspicion as German spies.

My third novel, A Spell of Winter, won the inaugural Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996, and since then I have published a number of novels, short story collections and books for children. Full details of all these books are available on this website. The last of The Ingo Quartet, The Crossing of Ingo, was published in paperback in Spring 2009.

My seventh novel, The Siege (2001) was shortlisted both for the Whitbread Novel Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. This was another researched novel, which grew from a lifelong love of Russian history, culture and literature. It is is set in Leningrad during the first year of the siege of the city by German forces, which lasted for 880 days from the fall of Mga on 30th August 1941. The Siege has been translated into Russian by Tatyana Averchina, and extracts have been broadcast on radio in St Petersburg. House of Orphans was published in 2006, and in 2008 Counting the Stars. Its central characters are the Roman poet Catullus, who lived during the last years of the Republic, ...more