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Year of the Mer duology #1
Year of the Mer
A dark and explosive epic fantasy of betrayal, revolution and dark magic pacts, as the Little Mermaid’s granddaughter marches to war, perfect for fans of H. M. Long and Samantha Shannon.
The fairy tale mermaid Arielle might have gotten her happily-ever-after, but her granddaughter Yemi is having a much harder time. Her father, the king of Ixia, was assassinated years ago, her mother is slowly dying of a poisoned wound, and she faces whispers and slights from her own people. Yemi has been raised as the shield of the kingdom and is soon to inherit the throne, but she cannot shake her fury at how Ixia has treated her family after all they’ve sacrificed. Only her patient mother and steadfast personal bodyguard (and fiancée), Nova, help Yemi rein in that fury... most of the time.
When the kingdom’s discontented rumblings reach a fever pitch, a coup erupts and Yemi’s throne is usurped, stripping her of her family and forcing her into exile. Now, only one being has the power to help her: Ursla.
The fairy tale mermaid Arielle might have gotten her happily-ever-after, but her granddaughter Yemi is having a much harder time. Her father, the king of Ixia, was assassinated years ago, her mother is slowly dying of a poisoned wound, and she faces whispers and slights from her own people. Yemi has been raised as the shield of the kingdom and is soon to inherit the throne, but she cannot shake her fury at how Ixia has treated her family after all they’ve sacrificed. Only her patient mother and steadfast personal bodyguard (and fiancée), Nova, help Yemi rein in that fury... most of the time.
When the kingdom’s discontented rumblings reach a fever pitch, a coup erupts and Yemi’s throne is usurped, stripping her of her family and forcing her into exile. Now, only one being has the power to help her: Ursla.
496 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 2026
About the author
L.D. Lewis
8 books218 followersL. D. Lewis (she/her) is an editor, publisher, and Shirley Jackson award-nominated writer of speculative fiction. She serves as a founding creator and Project Manager for the World Fantasy and Hugo Award-winning FIYAH Literary Magazine. She also serves as the founding Director of (Hugo-nominated) FIYAHCON, Researcher for the (also award-winning) LeVar Burton Reads podcast, and pays the bills as the Director of Programs and Operations for Lambda Literary. She once chaired a Nebula Conference and Tech Directed a Nebula Award Ceremony (but hasn’t quite won a Nebula), and she runs the Ignyte Awards alongside Suzan Palumbo. She is the author of A Ruin of Shadows (Dancing Star Press, 2018) and her published short fiction and poetry includes numerous appearances in online publications, as well as Scholastic and Neon Hemlock anthologies, and Jordan Peele’s Out There Screaming. She lives in Georgia on perpetual deadline, with her partner, two cats, a coffee habit, and an impressive LEGO build collection. Visit ldlewiswrites.com to learn more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
June 18, 2026
Is the dark and bloody The Little Mermaid reimagining in the room with us? Because this book surely wasn't all that. Instead it's a very boring fantasy novel with underdeveloped worldbuilding that includes the known mermaid story somewhere in the background and half a century in the past. If you wouldn't know what this book is based on, you certainly wouldn't notice it while reading either. I don't hate the general idea, though. What happens after the happily ever after? Why would people be thrilled to suddenly have a weird fish person as queen? Especially since the royal marriage was supposed to ensure the relationship between neighboring countries. I can imagine perfectly well that this could be the basis of a decade-long conflict. It's not a bad choice to tell this story from the perspective of Arielle's granddaughter Yemi, princess of Ixia. The bad choice was to make this book so unexciting. It's mostly about politics; the lore is constantly dumped onto the reader and then there was so little actual mermaid stuff in here. Isn't the book called Year of the Mer? Why did it feel like 30 Minutes of the Mer then? The first actual mermaid / underwater plot isn't starting until the 60% mark and while I actually liked the sea witch, it was just too little, too late. I also never understood what all this talk about her not being a god or actually being a god was supposed to be. The author tried to blend the fairytale with some original mythology, but she wasn't successful with that in my opinion. She clearly cares about the story and her characters, but couldn't really transport her own emotions to the reader. I feel like the sea witch should have been the protagonist as she was the only character worth exploring. It was actually a big problem for me that I wasn't rooting for any of the characters. Yemi hates being a princess and she surely doesn't want to be queen, but when her throne and her privilege is actually in danger, it's unacceptable to her. And her great plan is to ask the Mer for help? Girl, you have never interacted before although you are related, why would they care now? We also get the POV of Nova, Yemi's guard and girlfriend, but I don't know why I had to read from her perspective at all. It might be important to have her view in the second book, but here it added absolutely nothing in my opinion. Which brings me to another point that's pissing me off. It takes so long for things to actually get going and then it ends with a cliffhanger? This could easily have been one medium length book instead of two. The setup for the second book isn't even half bad in my opinion, but I definitely won't be reading it. I really don't care.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
April 12, 2026
I will never shut up about this book
Did Not Finish
March 16, 2026DNF @ 52%
I usually love anything dark fantasy, but I wasn't really feeling this. Usually when I DNF, I'm either mad at the novel or bored out of my mind. But I felt absolutely nothing here.
The more I read, the less excited I became about the way that the plot unfolded. The premise grabbed me until the intro started out with a heavy lore infodump. Add in the spoiled brat of a main character and my interest tanked pretty quickly.
The writing style wasn't my favorite either. Is it technically purple prose? It's full of unnecessary modifiers which really hindered the pacing and turned the whole thing into such a slog to read. The inciting incident happened at like 30% in. By that point, I stopped caring.
It was like the author used a lit fic writing style to write genre fiction. If it was a different fantasy story altogether, this might've worked out. But this was your average revenge story with a boring and immature FMC, so there was a tonal mismatch that took me out.
At least I tried, I guess. (But at what cost?)
Thank you to S&S/Saga Press and NetGalley for this arc.
I usually love anything dark fantasy, but I wasn't really feeling this. Usually when I DNF, I'm either mad at the novel or bored out of my mind. But I felt absolutely nothing here.
The more I read, the less excited I became about the way that the plot unfolded. The premise grabbed me until the intro started out with a heavy lore infodump. Add in the spoiled brat of a main character and my interest tanked pretty quickly.
The writing style wasn't my favorite either. Is it technically purple prose? It's full of unnecessary modifiers which really hindered the pacing and turned the whole thing into such a slog to read. The inciting incident happened at like 30% in. By that point, I stopped caring.
It was like the author used a lit fic writing style to write genre fiction. If it was a different fantasy story altogether, this might've worked out. But this was your average revenge story with a boring and immature FMC, so there was a tonal mismatch that took me out.
At least I tried, I guess. (But at what cost?)
Thank you to S&S/Saga Press and NetGalley for this arc.
Read
January 7, 2026
Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026:
I once read a horror story by L. D. Lewis that frightened me so much that I put the book down for a full year before picking it up again. This is a violent, dark sapphic extension of The Little Mermaid tale that will for sure keep you reading up past your bedtime. We know how Arielle got her fairytale ending, but Yemi, her granddaughter, is living a much different life. Yemi’s father, the king, was assassinated and her mother is dying. A coup forces Yemi into exile and the only place she can think of turning to is to Ursla, the sea-witch. Yemi wants vengeance and so, too, does Ursla. Will Yemi be tempted by her own rage and Ursla’s power? —Patricia Elzie-Tuttle
I once read a horror story by L. D. Lewis that frightened me so much that I put the book down for a full year before picking it up again. This is a violent, dark sapphic extension of The Little Mermaid tale that will for sure keep you reading up past your bedtime. We know how Arielle got her fairytale ending, but Yemi, her granddaughter, is living a much different life. Yemi’s father, the king, was assassinated and her mother is dying. A coup forces Yemi into exile and the only place she can think of turning to is to Ursla, the sea-witch. Yemi wants vengeance and so, too, does Ursla. Will Yemi be tempted by her own rage and Ursla’s power? —Patricia Elzie-Tuttle
May 13, 2026
12 May '26
Disclaimer: This is a review of an uncorrected Advanced Reader Copy.
There will be colourful language in this review, so if that offends your sensibilities ... 🤸➜█
Yes, how indeed, book? When you tout yourself exactly as a reimagining of The Little Mermaid? You had, like, one job?
⓵ This is not a reimagining of The Little Mermaid and it's misleading to claim otherwise. It leads people to assume that Ariel (or, as YotM calls her, Arielle) and her original myth plays a far more substantive role in the story. This is not the case. As the FMC acknowledges herself in the above quote 66% into the story, we never learned how "Arielle" met her prince or fell in love with him, or how she made her deal with "Ursla" and how/if it went sideways, or indeed any part of her tale that justifies the RE in reimagining. If anything, this is a mere re-mention, as we didn't hear much about her at all.
A more honest marketing ploy would've been to simply state this as an imagining of events two generations after Ariel's supposed happily-ever-after with her prince.
But all right, it's my bad for not paying close attention to that blurb, which did focus entirely on Yemi and her kingdom and made no substantial mention of "Arielle" other than to name-drop her the same way you'd name-drop your famous half-cousin to cut through a line at the club 🙄
I was still happy to give Year of the Mer and Yemi's own story a chance, removed from the original bait of her far more familiar and interesting relatives. But that is exactly the problem:
⓶ Year of the Mer stopped becoming interesting as soon as Yemi's backstory ended and her own adventures began. Which is to say ... mid-chapter 2? Yemi and her personal guard/lover Nova return to their city and it's an uphill slog from there on out.
The thing is, I can handle slog. Heck, I can love it, just ask Edmond Dantès. But it needs to be necessary slog. A good writer can even still make it interesting. But for the love of our gods—Abrahamic, Dharmic, Sinic and all—I don't understand the decision-making that went behind this book! Did this ever go through a developmental editor? So many things could (should) have been cut out, starting from:
☒ All the unnecessary scenes. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to shove all that pablum from as early as the second chapter??? To this day I do not understand the relevance of Nova's little excursion into the administrative annex. Yes, I know it was to introduce us to a pandemonium of tertiary characters who (1) we'll never see again until the last 80% of the story, (2) play no significant role in the plot until said last 80% of the story (even then, it was hardly what I'd call "significant"—I mean come now, was it really necessary for us to read through all those fucking radio host announcements?), and (3) we'd have all forgotten about by then, anyway!
You know you can introduce characters far more organically and staggeredly than this, right? There were so many scenes like this. So many. I cannot for the life of me recall any more in specific detail, as THAT is how irrelevant they were. The only reason I remembered this one scene at all is because it was the first most egregious case I came across in the book. Year of the Mer is some 120,000 words long. 40% of it is bloat that could've been cut out and tightened, half being scenes such as this one, and the other half is of course
☒ All the tedious dialogue. Friends and fishes, the "banter" in this book just goes on and on and on ... and on ᵃⁿᵈ ᵒⁿ
and I am just done with it. Every scene break inevitably comes with two pages of meaningless drivel between whichever characters happen to be on stage. No. Scratch that. I'm being far too generous. Even the action and "faster"-paced scenes come with pages of unnecessary drivel.
It gets so long and filled with all these unusual turns of phrases and colloquialisms that often the dialogue chain becomes confusing and we no longer have any idea what any of them are even talking about! And all of this is exacerbated by the fact that they all sound the fucking same!!
Everyone speaks in the same smart-ass, jabbing humour ...
(attempted) witty and dry ...
oddly metaphorical ...
type of way and the only differentiation is where they sit in that spectrum of smart-arsery.
EVERYONE! From our protagonists to Ursla our main antagonist! Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and that being ... the religious priest, lmfao. Of course the priest speaks in a priestly way. So demure, much stoic.
And when the FMC's not being a smart-ass, she suddenly switches into moments of fourth-wall self-awareness that only reads as jarring and meta:
? ? ? ? ? ಠ_ಠ like, get a grip babe and just roll me some dice.
Sadly, this insufferable voice transcends even beyond dialogue.
⓷ The prose itself was stringed together by a bizarre confusion of words that often meandered and fails to consider where one phrase ends and another begins:
What is beside the altar? The vent, the stone hearth? Or is it a carving of a nautilus next to an altar?
No, seriously, someone tell me what on god's decaying earth this is supposed to mean:
Even when the sentences made sense, they could've still been made better. But for some reason, the prose simply insists on loading itself with ten thousand ideas, all cramped together into one long string of words, as though separating them into two or three different clauses is a totally foreign concept:
Every scene, description, action beat—even the shortest of them—are loaded like this.
Count that. Count it!
Small, ornate, hanging, serpent, round, gold, leather ... a line AS SHORT AS THIS is already becoming lost in itself! What am I focusing on right now? What part of that whole thing is the important bit? Everything is written like this and as a result, there is no focus on anything, and I'm not just talking about the inconsequential description of things.
☒ The syntax of the prose is bad enough, but its individual choice of words was not any better. Year of the Mer takes place in a world with the rise of automobiles, radio, hand cannons ... which preps us for something of the 19th century, but with very definitively 20th century terms and lingo that hard-launched me right out of Ariel's watery world and right into the brick wall that is modern USA.
OPSEC? Like, as coined during the Vietnam war?? Debrief, A WWII coinage???
Intergenerational trauma?? A psychological concept only ever given cause to study after something as massive and world-altering as THE HOLOCAUST???
This is why the "etymology" function in google definitions was actually really handy as a base level of research, and its AI replacement only accelerates our downward spiral towards......whatever this prose is.
You know how IRL we've begun to recognise behavioural red flags that should make us more wary of someone's potentially hidden, unsavoury personality traits?
Well, using deadpanned as a dialogue tag is my red flag in books. It tells you exactly how the author treats their prose and the level of thought and dignity given to it.
⓸ The plot and characters were too weak to make up for any of its shortcomings. Some people called this political 😭 Oh how our bars have sunk into the ocean floor. The thing with politics is that it needs to be clever and calculating. Intrigue needs to be subtle and intricate.
This book was as clever and subtle as someone asking you "Will you be wiling to step down from your throne" and then chapters later be taken by surprise when said person ... stages a coup to dethrone you 😭
As calculating and intricate as a witch-god telling you they are unable to take their throne back by force, it has to be freely given to them by someone of royal blood ... and then be surprised when later it turns out everything has always been orchestrated by said witch-god 😭😭😭
Was I supposed to consider this FMC or the twist "political" or shrewd in any way?
No, I won't be reading the second book. I don't care enough to find out how things end.
Disclaimer: This is a review of an uncorrected Advanced Reader Copy.
There will be colourful language in this review, so if that offends your sensibilities ... 🤸➜█
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
In all her stories about the grandeur of Abyssa, of divine life among the world's most exquisite creatures, how was it that she'd escaped details of her own family?
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
Yes, how indeed, book? When you tout yourself exactly as a reimagining of The Little Mermaid? You had, like, one job?
⓵ This is not a reimagining of The Little Mermaid and it's misleading to claim otherwise. It leads people to assume that Ariel (or, as YotM calls her, Arielle) and her original myth plays a far more substantive role in the story. This is not the case. As the FMC acknowledges herself in the above quote 66% into the story, we never learned how "Arielle" met her prince or fell in love with him, or how she made her deal with "Ursla" and how/if it went sideways, or indeed any part of her tale that justifies the RE in reimagining. If anything, this is a mere re-mention, as we didn't hear much about her at all.
A more honest marketing ploy would've been to simply state this as an imagining of events two generations after Ariel's supposed happily-ever-after with her prince.
But all right, it's my bad for not paying close attention to that blurb, which did focus entirely on Yemi and her kingdom and made no substantial mention of "Arielle" other than to name-drop her the same way you'd name-drop your famous half-cousin to cut through a line at the club 🙄
I was still happy to give Year of the Mer and Yemi's own story a chance, removed from the original bait of her far more familiar and interesting relatives. But that is exactly the problem:
⓶ Year of the Mer stopped becoming interesting as soon as Yemi's backstory ended and her own adventures began. Which is to say ... mid-chapter 2? Yemi and her personal guard/lover Nova return to their city and it's an uphill slog from there on out.
The thing is, I can handle slog. Heck, I can love it, just ask Edmond Dantès. But it needs to be necessary slog. A good writer can even still make it interesting. But for the love of our gods—Abrahamic, Dharmic, Sinic and all—I don't understand the decision-making that went behind this book! Did this ever go through a developmental editor? So many things could (should) have been cut out, starting from:
☒ All the unnecessary scenes. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to shove all that pablum from as early as the second chapter??? To this day I do not understand the relevance of Nova's little excursion into the administrative annex. Yes, I know it was to introduce us to a pandemonium of tertiary characters who (1) we'll never see again until the last 80% of the story, (2) play no significant role in the plot until said last 80% of the story (even then, it was hardly what I'd call "significant"—I mean come now, was it really necessary for us to read through all those fucking radio host announcements?), and (3) we'd have all forgotten about by then, anyway!
You know you can introduce characters far more organically and staggeredly than this, right? There were so many scenes like this. So many. I cannot for the life of me recall any more in specific detail, as THAT is how irrelevant they were. The only reason I remembered this one scene at all is because it was the first most egregious case I came across in the book. Year of the Mer is some 120,000 words long. 40% of it is bloat that could've been cut out and tightened, half being scenes such as this one, and the other half is of course
☒ All the tedious dialogue. Friends and fishes, the "banter" in this book just goes on and on and on ... and on ᵃⁿᵈ ᵒⁿ
and I am just done with it. Every scene break inevitably comes with two pages of meaningless drivel between whichever characters happen to be on stage. No. Scratch that. I'm being far too generous. Even the action and "faster"-paced scenes come with pages of unnecessary drivel.
It gets so long and filled with all these unusual turns of phrases and colloquialisms that often the dialogue chain becomes confusing and we no longer have any idea what any of them are even talking about! And all of this is exacerbated by the fact that they all sound the fucking same!!
Everyone speaks in the same smart-ass, jabbing humour ...
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
“That’s my cue,” Yemi sighed, tossing her staff to Cutter and grabbing her jacket from the low wall (...)
“Your cue was thirty minutes ago when I daresay a bath should have been started,” said Cutter.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
(attempted) witty and dry ...
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
“Moss, do you mind if we walk from here? We’re like a rock in a river. At this rate, I’ll never find a sandwich, much less have time to eat it.”
“Oh, I see, you want Cutter to kill us all,” said Nova.
“Who’s Cutter killing? Shit, not me,” Moss chuckled. “I’ve still got a bag of tricks that young man wouldn’t know nothing about.”
“Oh, relax, precious, no one’s killing anyone unless I order it,” Yemi told Nova.
“Yeah, you say that, but…” Nova muttered.
“Go on ahead, I’ll find you. Be safe about it, though,” Moss said.
“Thank you.” Yemi sighed relief and reached her hand over his shoulder. He kissed her ring and gave her fingers a little shake.
“Anytime, My Light.” He winked.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
oddly metaphorical ...
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
"The most direct route is a twenty-mile stretch of Obéid and people who regularly use your name and terms like flesh leather in the same sentence."
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
type of way and the only differentiation is where they sit in that spectrum of smart-arsery.
EVERYONE! From our protagonists to Ursla our main antagonist! Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and that being ... the religious priest, lmfao. Of course the priest speaks in a priestly way. So demure, much stoic.
And when the FMC's not being a smart-ass, she suddenly switches into moments of fourth-wall self-awareness that only reads as jarring and meta:
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
“(...) We don’t need to do this shit that is clearly going to get you killed.”
“Do you want the version of me you’ll end up with if I don’t do this?” Yemi asked. The question felt like a confession. “Scared, angry, miserable, closed off the way I have been? I want to be better for you, but I can’t let this go. It won’t come loose; do you understand? I can finally confront my past here, find the weapon powerful enough to get rid of my enemies, and go home and be rid of all of it. That’s what’s on the other side of this for me.”
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
? ? ? ? ? ಠ_ಠ like, get a grip babe and just roll me some dice.
Sadly, this insufferable voice transcends even beyond dialogue.
⓷ The prose itself was stringed together by a bizarre confusion of words that often meandered and fails to consider where one phrase ends and another begins:
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
The vent over a stone hearth had been carved to echo the chambers of a nautilus beside an altar bordered by dried herbs and the rinds of fruit.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
What is beside the altar? The vent, the stone hearth? Or is it a carving of a nautilus next to an altar?
No, seriously, someone tell me what on god's decaying earth this is supposed to mean:
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
The damage was slowed by an intervention of magic, though there were few witches in Ixia now. The pride with which the nation had once credited its evolution to its gods and their magic had been turned to fear when Arielle conceived.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
Even when the sentences made sense, they could've still been made better. But for some reason, the prose simply insists on loading itself with ten thousand ideas, all cramped together into one long string of words, as though separating them into two or three different clauses is a totally foreign concept:
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
Somewhere between signing off on monument commissions for the umpteenth fallen soldier and moderating a heated debate on appropriations for an expanded armory versus the treatment and cleanup of shell-shocked birds wreaking havoc on some formerly pristine balconies, Yemi’s posture began to crumble.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
Every scene, description, action beat—even the shortest of them—are loaded like this.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
“There are no useless things,” Selah replied. She rummaged through a small ornate chest at the far end of the room next to a hanging serpent’s skeleton and returned with a round gold pendant on a length of leather cord.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
Count that. Count it!
Small, ornate, hanging, serpent, round, gold, leather ... a line AS SHORT AS THIS is already becoming lost in itself! What am I focusing on right now? What part of that whole thing is the important bit? Everything is written like this and as a result, there is no focus on anything, and I'm not just talking about the inconsequential description of things.
☒ The syntax of the prose is bad enough, but its individual choice of words was not any better. Year of the Mer takes place in a world with the rise of automobiles, radio, hand cannons ... which preps us for something of the 19th century, but with very definitively 20th century terms and lingo that hard-launched me right out of Ariel's watery world and right into the brick wall that is modern USA.
OPSEC? Like, as coined during the Vietnam war?? Debrief, A WWII coinage???
Intergenerational trauma?? A psychological concept only ever given cause to study after something as massive and world-altering as THE HOLOCAUST???
This is why the "etymology" function in google definitions was actually really handy as a base level of research, and its AI replacement only accelerates our downward spiral towards......whatever this prose is.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
“You laugh, but Sumire is picking up on your language. Chef caught her screaming fucks in the garden after a beesting,” Kuro deadpanned.
⊹ ࣪﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
You know how IRL we've begun to recognise behavioural red flags that should make us more wary of someone's potentially hidden, unsavoury personality traits?
Well, using deadpanned as a dialogue tag is my red flag in books. It tells you exactly how the author treats their prose and the level of thought and dignity given to it.
⓸ The plot and characters were too weak to make up for any of its shortcomings. Some people called this political 😭 Oh how our bars have sunk into the ocean floor. The thing with politics is that it needs to be clever and calculating. Intrigue needs to be subtle and intricate.
This book was as clever and subtle as someone asking you "Will you be wiling to step down from your throne" and then chapters later be taken by surprise when said person ... stages a coup to dethrone you 😭
As calculating and intricate as a witch-god telling you they are unable to take their throne back by force, it has to be freely given to them by someone of royal blood ... and then be surprised when later it turns out everything has always been orchestrated by said witch-god 😭😭😭
Was I supposed to consider this FMC or the twist "political" or shrewd in any way?
No, I won't be reading the second book. I don't care enough to find out how things end.
April 4, 2026
Yeah, this was horribly disappointing and I am also BEGGING publishers to stop presenting first installments in a series as if they are stand-alones oh my god.
When I read the blurb I thought «huh, that sounds interesting.» And to be completely fair, it actually was kinda interesting. There’s a lot of interesting ideas and plot points in here, which only makes it more disappointing that the book they are a part of is so bad.
I think the worst aspect of the story was the pacing, which was absolutely horrendous. And by that I don’t mean ‘it was slow-paced and I prefer medium-paced books’, I mean it took until about 55%, i.e. 220 pages, for the plot to catch up to the blurb. The entire first half of this book was telling me a story I already knew from the blurb. Of course the way it is told in the book itself is more elaborate as it builds up the world, the characters and their dynamics, but that on its own cannot make up for how unengaging the plot is rendered by the simple fact that I already know it.
However, merely changing the blurb won’t solve all the pacing issues. Because during the first 100-120 pages, basically noting happens. It’s all world-building and introducing characters and relationships, while I’m waiting for the plot I read about in the blurb to finally get going. And it does all that set-up in a way that just left me so ambivalent towards everything and everyone I just learned about. From reading others’ reviews I can see that a lot of people dnfed during this part of the book and I honestly cannot blame them because I was struggling not to do the same.
And I really hate that this didn’t work for me, because it has so many interesting ideas, some of which are actually executed in a kinda good way, but that doesn’t save them from being weighed down by the rest of the book.
For example, one aspect I found really interesting was the main character Yemi. Because she is not a very likeable person. She was born a princess and then raised on the belief that she was going to inherit the throne one day, and that she was entitled to do so. So when she is ousted from power, she seeks to reclaim the throne by any means necessary. She never even really considers that there may be another option, because after all it is her gods-given right to rule over Ixia, what the people might want doesn’t matter to her. And her fiancée, who’s also her personal guard, tries to tell her that she’s being unreasonable, but Yemi is already so far past the point of no return that she interprets Nova’s concern as a malicious attempt to undermine her.
So we have an entitled queen protagonist who has gone slightly unhinged in her quest to regain her power and kill the ones who deposed her. And honestly, I kinda get it, because the people who ousted her didn’t do so ‘for the good of the people’ and are also actually assholes kinda. But then again Yemi isn’t trying to regain power ‘for the good of the people’, but for herself. And that could’ve been a really interesting story, but unfortunately it is mostly confined to the last ~50 pages (i.e. ~15%) of the book.
The thing is, I don’t think this author is bad at writing, and I really wanna give her another shot. But her next book’ll probably be the sequel to this, and no matter how good it may be, I don’t know if it can remedy the bitter taste Year of the Mer left behind in my brain.
Tropes and such:
- sapphic knight/bodyguard x princess/queen romance
- majority black characters
- cursed family history
- somewhat unhinged queen
- fantasy racism (against merpeople)
----
Thank you to Saga Press for the ARC
When I read the blurb I thought «huh, that sounds interesting.» And to be completely fair, it actually was kinda interesting. There’s a lot of interesting ideas and plot points in here, which only makes it more disappointing that the book they are a part of is so bad.
I think the worst aspect of the story was the pacing, which was absolutely horrendous. And by that I don’t mean ‘it was slow-paced and I prefer medium-paced books’, I mean it took until about 55%, i.e. 220 pages, for the plot to catch up to the blurb. The entire first half of this book was telling me a story I already knew from the blurb. Of course the way it is told in the book itself is more elaborate as it builds up the world, the characters and their dynamics, but that on its own cannot make up for how unengaging the plot is rendered by the simple fact that I already know it.
However, merely changing the blurb won’t solve all the pacing issues. Because during the first 100-120 pages, basically noting happens. It’s all world-building and introducing characters and relationships, while I’m waiting for the plot I read about in the blurb to finally get going. And it does all that set-up in a way that just left me so ambivalent towards everything and everyone I just learned about. From reading others’ reviews I can see that a lot of people dnfed during this part of the book and I honestly cannot blame them because I was struggling not to do the same.
And I really hate that this didn’t work for me, because it has so many interesting ideas, some of which are actually executed in a kinda good way, but that doesn’t save them from being weighed down by the rest of the book.
For example, one aspect I found really interesting was the main character Yemi. Because she is not a very likeable person. She was born a princess and then raised on the belief that she was going to inherit the throne one day, and that she was entitled to do so. So when she is ousted from power, she seeks to reclaim the throne by any means necessary. She never even really considers that there may be another option, because after all it is her gods-given right to rule over Ixia, what the people might want doesn’t matter to her. And her fiancée, who’s also her personal guard, tries to tell her that she’s being unreasonable, but Yemi is already so far past the point of no return that she interprets Nova’s concern as a malicious attempt to undermine her.
So we have an entitled queen protagonist who has gone slightly unhinged in her quest to regain her power and kill the ones who deposed her. And honestly, I kinda get it, because the people who ousted her didn’t do so ‘for the good of the people’ and are also actually assholes kinda. But then again Yemi isn’t trying to regain power ‘for the good of the people’, but for herself. And that could’ve been a really interesting story, but unfortunately it is mostly confined to the last ~50 pages (i.e. ~15%) of the book.
The thing is, I don’t think this author is bad at writing, and I really wanna give her another shot. But her next book’ll probably be the sequel to this, and no matter how good it may be, I don’t know if it can remedy the bitter taste Year of the Mer left behind in my brain.
Tropes and such:
- sapphic knight/bodyguard x princess/queen romance
- majority black characters
- cursed family history
- somewhat unhinged queen
- fantasy racism (against merpeople)
----
Thank you to Saga Press for the ARC
Read
March 4, 2026DNF at 60 pages
April 9, 2026
An excellent well told epic fantasy that uses the tale of The Little Mermaid to tell a decidedly adult world of coups, war and magical bargains with high prices. Fascinating characters and an epic tale I can’t wait to read more about - strongly recommended.
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
January 29, 2026
This was a very slow start for me, and some of the writing and phrasing felt awkward, which made it a struggle to get through. Unfortunately, the opening didn’t read as meaningful world or character-building so much as an information dump, paired with extended dialogue that didn’t seem to move the story forward. I was hoping for richer lore, more history of the wars, deeper insight into the courts and political structure, but instead was given a largely unlikable main character and a lot of unnecessary fluff.
Around the 35% mark, the pacing begins to improve, though I didn’t find myself truly engaged until about 60%, when the storyline noticeably shifts. Because of this structural change, I think the story may have been stronger if the duology were edited and condensed into a single standalone novel. After reading other reviews, it’s clear I wasn’t alone in struggling with the pacing—many readers point to the same 35% mark—which suggests the opening could have benefited from tighter editing and reduced filler.
That said, I do think this book will find the right audience. Readers who are especially drawn to Disney-inspired lore, queer romances, and are willing to commit to book one as setup for book two may enjoy this story more than I did.
Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for this ARC edition in exchange for an honest review.
Around the 35% mark, the pacing begins to improve, though I didn’t find myself truly engaged until about 60%, when the storyline noticeably shifts. Because of this structural change, I think the story may have been stronger if the duology were edited and condensed into a single standalone novel. After reading other reviews, it’s clear I wasn’t alone in struggling with the pacing—many readers point to the same 35% mark—which suggests the opening could have benefited from tighter editing and reduced filler.
That said, I do think this book will find the right audience. Readers who are especially drawn to Disney-inspired lore, queer romances, and are willing to commit to book one as setup for book two may enjoy this story more than I did.
Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for this ARC edition in exchange for an honest review.
March 18, 2026
A stunning cover and an overall cool premise (dark, sapphic Little Mermaid reimagining??) that suffers from an extremely unlikable FMC and slow pacing. Unlike most reviews, I actually enjoyed the first 30%. I wanted more from it, sure, but I was intrigued enough. But then it lost me… there are cars and trains and photographers but then also palaces and queens and magic… and not nearly enough Mer. The book never figured out what it was going to be and left me feeling super disconnected by the end.
Thank you Saga Press for the physical ARC!
Thank you Saga Press for the physical ARC!
August 31, 2025
Intricate, compelling, and exhilarating, YEAR OF THE MER is everything I want and more in a sapphic continuation of The Little Mermaid. Lewis crafts a maelstrom of familial love, ancestral hurt, and alluring magic in a world where instead of happily ever after, true love's kiss sparked political conflict for generations to come.
Did Not Finish
June 7, 2026when I first read the synopsis of this book, I was so excited to pick this up. unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I dnfed at page 68.
the number of characters introduced from the beginning was crazy. I usually love it when there are a lot of characters, but this was confusing to differentiate who was who. I also didn't really care about the fmcs yemi and nova. their banter didn't really do much for me.
the writing style was also a big issue for me. it was told in a way that bored me out of my mind. the pacing also felt too slow for me. at that point, I wanted SOMETHING exciting to happen to get me going, but nothing did.
the plot itself was also way too boring. we followed yemi's and nova's perspectives, and both of them did absolutely nothing for me. both of their chapters were quite dull to me, and I just decided that this book overall just wasn't for me.
safe to say I won't be reading the next book. I am sad cos I really wanted to love this 😭
the number of characters introduced from the beginning was crazy. I usually love it when there are a lot of characters, but this was confusing to differentiate who was who. I also didn't really care about the fmcs yemi and nova. their banter didn't really do much for me.
the writing style was also a big issue for me. it was told in a way that bored me out of my mind. the pacing also felt too slow for me. at that point, I wanted SOMETHING exciting to happen to get me going, but nothing did.
the plot itself was also way too boring. we followed yemi's and nova's perspectives, and both of them did absolutely nothing for me. both of their chapters were quite dull to me, and I just decided that this book overall just wasn't for me.
safe to say I won't be reading the next book. I am sad cos I really wanted to love this 😭
December 5, 2025
Through "Year of the Mer," L. D. Lewis has crafted an engaging story that is both a dark re-imagining and a sequel to a well-loved fairy tale. This is not the story of The Little Mermaid that many of us grew up on, but a story of how the selfish choices of one Mer girl ended up causing strife and political unrest across multiple nations—both on land and in the sea—for many years to come.
Not only do we get to see how Arielle's descendants are living as a result of her decision to leave the sea to live as a human, but we also get a lot more insight into the character of the sea witch, Ursla, herself. Lewis has clearly put a lot of thought into this tale and has created a fascinating lore for the world itself as well as managing to give Ursla a proper backstory—something that I was especially interested in.
I found the pacing to be absolutely perfect here and I'm impressed at just how much story was packed into just 400 pages. Things do start off a little slow as we're introduced to the general setting, characters, and conflicts, but once the action kicks in, it really kicks in. I was personally happy to have had the slower start to really get myself oriented with the story and get some real insight into the character's personalities as well. (Also, this is only the first book of a planned duology, so we have plenty of time to see more action with book two!) The characters themselves were properly fleshed-out as well and each one really stood out as a unique person in the story. We really get to see their beliefs and ideals come through in the choices they make, as well how their interpersonal relationships occasionally make choosing the "right" path a bit of a struggle.
Overall, "Year of the Mer" was a riveting story packed with anger, trauma, revenge, and love—both familial and romantic. I'll probably be thinking about this one for a while still as I eagerly await the second book, because that ending especially has left me wanting more!
[Thank you to Saga Press for providing me with an advance review copy via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.]
Not only do we get to see how Arielle's descendants are living as a result of her decision to leave the sea to live as a human, but we also get a lot more insight into the character of the sea witch, Ursla, herself. Lewis has clearly put a lot of thought into this tale and has created a fascinating lore for the world itself as well as managing to give Ursla a proper backstory—something that I was especially interested in.
I found the pacing to be absolutely perfect here and I'm impressed at just how much story was packed into just 400 pages. Things do start off a little slow as we're introduced to the general setting, characters, and conflicts, but once the action kicks in, it really kicks in. I was personally happy to have had the slower start to really get myself oriented with the story and get some real insight into the character's personalities as well. (Also, this is only the first book of a planned duology, so we have plenty of time to see more action with book two!) The characters themselves were properly fleshed-out as well and each one really stood out as a unique person in the story. We really get to see their beliefs and ideals come through in the choices they make, as well how their interpersonal relationships occasionally make choosing the "right" path a bit of a struggle.
Overall, "Year of the Mer" was a riveting story packed with anger, trauma, revenge, and love—both familial and romantic. I'll probably be thinking about this one for a while still as I eagerly await the second book, because that ending especially has left me wanting more!
[Thank you to Saga Press for providing me with an advance review copy via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.]
June 17, 2026
3.75
Who knew Arielle's descendants would go through so much in the decades after the Little Mermaid?
Granddaughter Yemi= prime example.
Pretty adult and pretty violent...the book did eventually ensnare me.
Mostly through the world that this book occupies...Yemi makes some questionable choices and proves to be a central character you can't entirely trust.
Who knew Arielle's descendants would go through so much in the decades after the Little Mermaid?
Granddaughter Yemi= prime example.
Pretty adult and pretty violent...the book did eventually ensnare me.
Mostly through the world that this book occupies...Yemi makes some questionable choices and proves to be a central character you can't entirely trust.
April 26, 2026
The pacing of this book makes so much more sense when you realize it’s going to be part of a duology or series.
QUEER BLACK MERMAIDS with complicated feelings and time spent in the water! Yessss!!
QUEER BLACK MERMAIDS with complicated feelings and time spent in the water! Yessss!!
April 7, 2026
This book made a lot of baffling choices, the worst being the characterization of its protagonist. Yemi is extremely unlikable: petulant, entitled, selfish, volatile, irrational, and incompetent. It was so hard to get through 400 pages of Yemi trying to reinstate herself on the throne when I believed that literally every other character in the book would have made a better monarch than her. Like girl, you’re literally running around slaughtering civilians. Read the room.
Other mystifying aspects of the world building include the usage of modern technology (e.g., cameras, radios, typewriters, cars, and guns) for no discernible reason or visible impact on society, as well as the choice to have the protagonist start the book already in a relationship with her guard. As such, the romance contributes zero dramatic tension, and in fact I wish that Nova would dump Yemi and go forth to live a better life. I think this book would have benefited from more iteration at the concept stage; as such, the prose is fine, but it can’t overcome the flaws of the world-building and plot structure.
I received an ARC of this book at Emerald City Comic Con. My thanks to the publishers.
Other mystifying aspects of the world building include the usage of modern technology (e.g., cameras, radios, typewriters, cars, and guns) for no discernible reason or visible impact on society, as well as the choice to have the protagonist start the book already in a relationship with her guard. As such, the romance contributes zero dramatic tension, and in fact I wish that Nova would dump Yemi and go forth to live a better life. I think this book would have benefited from more iteration at the concept stage; as such, the prose is fine, but it can’t overcome the flaws of the world-building and plot structure.
I received an ARC of this book at Emerald City Comic Con. My thanks to the publishers.
April 7, 2026
This was such a stunning, immersive read. A Little Mermaid retelling/continuation with its own sharp, original edge that made the story feel entirely fresh.
The pacing of the story was excellent; I feel like it gave enough space at the beginning to fully sink into the world and understand the nuances of the characters, their motivations, and the tensions shaping everything around them. Once everything was established, we got the dial turned all the way up. Nothing felt drawn out or rushed, and every moment carried weight.
There’s this constant push and pull throughout the story between power, fear, love, and identity that I really loved. This story really explores how the “right” path isn’t always obvious. I especially liked how the story’s romance was handled. While it wasn’t the central focus, it’s deeply felt. That tension between unconditional love and doing what’s best for yourself was portrayed so beautifully and painfully real. Sometimes survival, responsibility, and self-preservation demand choices that conflict with that love.
Overall, this was powerful, emotional, and thought-provoking. It’s a story about transformation, sacrifice, and what it really means to choose yourself, even when it hurts.
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC!
Favorite Quotes:
“She posessed a certain juiciness, in the way of berries, but the threat of her being poisonous just barely outweighed the intrigue of her taste.”
“From the seas we came. And to the seas we return.”
“[She] kissed her, if for no other reason than she needed more of her warmth. And sure as the moon was high, she finally felt something that wasn’t anger.”
“[I]f they want to fear me, I will be a thing to be feared.”
“These people, they can’t be ruled by love or adoration. They don’t want it. They need fear. And I intend to be terrifying.”
The pacing of the story was excellent; I feel like it gave enough space at the beginning to fully sink into the world and understand the nuances of the characters, their motivations, and the tensions shaping everything around them. Once everything was established, we got the dial turned all the way up. Nothing felt drawn out or rushed, and every moment carried weight.
There’s this constant push and pull throughout the story between power, fear, love, and identity that I really loved. This story really explores how the “right” path isn’t always obvious. I especially liked how the story’s romance was handled. While it wasn’t the central focus, it’s deeply felt. That tension between unconditional love and doing what’s best for yourself was portrayed so beautifully and painfully real. Sometimes survival, responsibility, and self-preservation demand choices that conflict with that love.
Overall, this was powerful, emotional, and thought-provoking. It’s a story about transformation, sacrifice, and what it really means to choose yourself, even when it hurts.
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC!
Favorite Quotes:
“She posessed a certain juiciness, in the way of berries, but the threat of her being poisonous just barely outweighed the intrigue of her taste.”
“From the seas we came. And to the seas we return.”
“[She] kissed her, if for no other reason than she needed more of her warmth. And sure as the moon was high, she finally felt something that wasn’t anger.”
“[I]f they want to fear me, I will be a thing to be feared.”
“These people, they can’t be ruled by love or adoration. They don’t want it. They need fear. And I intend to be terrifying.”
May 11, 2026
I went into Year of the Mer expecting a clever modern fantasy with sharp social commentary and a fresh take on mermaid mythology. Unfortunately, what I got instead was a confusing, emotionally flat novel that never figured out what it wanted to be. The concept sounds interesting on paper — essentially a modern reimagining of the Little Mermaid myth mixed with strong “Ursula the sea witch” energy — but the execution completely fell apart for me.
The biggest problem was the writing itself. Everything felt lifeless. Characters spoke in stiff dialogue that rarely sounded natural, and emotional moments that should have carried weight just landed with a thud. I never felt immersed in the world because the prose kept me at arm’s length. Instead of drawing me into the story, the writing constantly reminded me that I was reading something constructed. There was very little atmosphere, very little tension, and almost no emotional depth to anchor the reader.
The plot was another major issue. To be honest, much of it made little sense. The story tries to juggle mythology, social commentary, modern-day drama, and fantasy horror elements all at once, but none of those aspects come together coherently. Events happen because the plot needs them to happen rather than because they naturally evolve from the characters’ decisions. There were several moments where I stopped and reread passages because I genuinely thought I had missed something, only to realize the narrative itself was just poorly connected.
At its core, the novel follows a modern interpretation of merfolk mythology, centering on characters tied to the sea and supernatural power struggles. The book clearly wants to present a darker, more mature take on familiar fairy tale themes. There are echoes of Ariel and Ursula throughout the story, especially in the way power, transformation, temptation, and identity are handled. But for me, transplanting that kind of “evil sea witch” archetype into a contemporary setting simply did not work.
Part of what makes Ursula compelling in traditional fairy tales or animated fantasy is the heightened theatricality of those worlds. In a modern setting, the same type of character comes across more awkward than intimidating. The novel never successfully balances realism with fantasy. Instead, it ends up feeling unintentionally ridiculous at times. Scenes that were probably meant to feel eerie or powerful often came across as melodramatic.
The characters also suffered from weak development. I struggled to connect with any of them because they rarely felt like real people. Most of them seemed defined by a single personality trait or narrative role rather than genuine complexity. The protagonist spends much of the book reacting to events instead of actively driving the story, which made it hard to stay invested in her journey. Meanwhile, several supporting characters appear important initially but are never given enough depth or purpose to matter by the end.
The antagonist — clearly inspired by the Ursula-style manipulative sea witch archetype — was especially disappointing. Villains like that need charisma, menace, or at least a memorable presence. Instead, this character felt oddly flat despite all the dramatic buildup around her. The book repeatedly tells the reader how dangerous and influential she is, but I never actually felt that danger on the page.
Another issue was pacing. The story drags in some places and rushes through others. Important reveals arrive with little buildup, while scenes that add almost nothing to the plot go on far too long. By the halfway point, I found myself losing patience because the narrative still felt unfocused. Rather than building momentum, the book kept circling the same emotional beats and themes without developing them in meaningful ways.
What frustrated me most is that there was potential here. I can see the outline of a much better novel hidden underneath everything. A darker mermaid story exploring power, transformation, and identity in a modern world could absolutely work with the right tone and stronger characterization. But this book never figured out how to make those elements believable or emotionally engaging.
In the end, Year of the Mer felt like a great premise trapped inside a hollow execution. Between the lifeless prose, confusing plot structure, underdeveloped characters, and the awkward attempt to modernize a larger-than-life sea witch concept, the novel just never came together for me. I kept waiting for the story to click into place, but it never did. Instead of being darkly magical or thought-provoking, it mostly felt tedious and disconnected. By the final pages, I was more relieved to finish it than affected by anything that happened.
The biggest problem was the writing itself. Everything felt lifeless. Characters spoke in stiff dialogue that rarely sounded natural, and emotional moments that should have carried weight just landed with a thud. I never felt immersed in the world because the prose kept me at arm’s length. Instead of drawing me into the story, the writing constantly reminded me that I was reading something constructed. There was very little atmosphere, very little tension, and almost no emotional depth to anchor the reader.
The plot was another major issue. To be honest, much of it made little sense. The story tries to juggle mythology, social commentary, modern-day drama, and fantasy horror elements all at once, but none of those aspects come together coherently. Events happen because the plot needs them to happen rather than because they naturally evolve from the characters’ decisions. There were several moments where I stopped and reread passages because I genuinely thought I had missed something, only to realize the narrative itself was just poorly connected.
At its core, the novel follows a modern interpretation of merfolk mythology, centering on characters tied to the sea and supernatural power struggles. The book clearly wants to present a darker, more mature take on familiar fairy tale themes. There are echoes of Ariel and Ursula throughout the story, especially in the way power, transformation, temptation, and identity are handled. But for me, transplanting that kind of “evil sea witch” archetype into a contemporary setting simply did not work.
Part of what makes Ursula compelling in traditional fairy tales or animated fantasy is the heightened theatricality of those worlds. In a modern setting, the same type of character comes across more awkward than intimidating. The novel never successfully balances realism with fantasy. Instead, it ends up feeling unintentionally ridiculous at times. Scenes that were probably meant to feel eerie or powerful often came across as melodramatic.
The characters also suffered from weak development. I struggled to connect with any of them because they rarely felt like real people. Most of them seemed defined by a single personality trait or narrative role rather than genuine complexity. The protagonist spends much of the book reacting to events instead of actively driving the story, which made it hard to stay invested in her journey. Meanwhile, several supporting characters appear important initially but are never given enough depth or purpose to matter by the end.
The antagonist — clearly inspired by the Ursula-style manipulative sea witch archetype — was especially disappointing. Villains like that need charisma, menace, or at least a memorable presence. Instead, this character felt oddly flat despite all the dramatic buildup around her. The book repeatedly tells the reader how dangerous and influential she is, but I never actually felt that danger on the page.
Another issue was pacing. The story drags in some places and rushes through others. Important reveals arrive with little buildup, while scenes that add almost nothing to the plot go on far too long. By the halfway point, I found myself losing patience because the narrative still felt unfocused. Rather than building momentum, the book kept circling the same emotional beats and themes without developing them in meaningful ways.
What frustrated me most is that there was potential here. I can see the outline of a much better novel hidden underneath everything. A darker mermaid story exploring power, transformation, and identity in a modern world could absolutely work with the right tone and stronger characterization. But this book never figured out how to make those elements believable or emotionally engaging.
In the end, Year of the Mer felt like a great premise trapped inside a hollow execution. Between the lifeless prose, confusing plot structure, underdeveloped characters, and the awkward attempt to modernize a larger-than-life sea witch concept, the novel just never came together for me. I kept waiting for the story to click into place, but it never did. Instead of being darkly magical or thought-provoking, it mostly felt tedious and disconnected. By the final pages, I was more relieved to finish it than affected by anything that happened.
June 8, 2026
I was entertained and I will read the second one when it comes out but omfg Yemi (MFC) pisses me off sm everything is literally her fault. I thought she would get better towards the end but she just got even worse.
May 31, 2026
I really enjoyed this book, but I will say it’s definitely a slow pace at the beginning, and a lot of the earlier scenes could have been reimagined to give the necessary context without slowing down the pace of the book, it didn’t bother me but if you’re expecting an action packed epic fantasy, you’re probably gonna be disappointed
Did Not Finish
March 23, 2026DNF - 20%
Th premise of this book was what enticed me to request it from Saga Press as an ARC. It was a Little Mermaid retelling, sounds great right? The story actually focuses on "Arielle's" granddaughter, Yemi, who is one of the most insufferable, bratty, obnoxious characters, I have ever read. There was no appeal to her at all. Even Nova, her fiancee and bodyguard, was super horny all the time.
The world building was interesting until a point. It seemed steeped with magic and folklore in the beginning, but then Yemi steps on shore and into a...car? There was excessive infodumping but not in the parts where it was needed. There was a whole scene of Yemi trying to get a beer at a bar which felt like it was just added in to get to one plotline and it really wasn't super necessary.
Overall, I gave this book a shot, but there was nothing really likable about the characters or the story for me to want to continue.
Thank you to Saga Press for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review
Th premise of this book was what enticed me to request it from Saga Press as an ARC. It was a Little Mermaid retelling, sounds great right? The story actually focuses on "Arielle's" granddaughter, Yemi, who is one of the most insufferable, bratty, obnoxious characters, I have ever read. There was no appeal to her at all. Even Nova, her fiancee and bodyguard, was super horny all the time.
The world building was interesting until a point. It seemed steeped with magic and folklore in the beginning, but then Yemi steps on shore and into a...car? There was excessive infodumping but not in the parts where it was needed. There was a whole scene of Yemi trying to get a beer at a bar which felt like it was just added in to get to one plotline and it really wasn't super necessary.
Overall, I gave this book a shot, but there was nothing really likable about the characters or the story for me to want to continue.
Thank you to Saga Press for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review
June 17, 2026
Before I even start this review, I want to say this: some of the themes in this book simply cannot be fully understood unless you've lived certain experiences yourself. As a Black reader, there were layers to this story that hit me in a way that I know won't resonate the same for everyone, and that's okay. But when discussing this book, I think it's important to recognize that not every story is created to be consumed through a universal lens. This is a Black author's work, and some of its emotional depth comes from lived experiences that can't always be explained... they have to be felt.
So respectfully, if some things didn't land for you, I encourage you to sit with why before dismissing what this story is trying to say. Argue with your mama, not me. 🖤🧜🏾♀️
Now... onto the review.
Year of the Mer was such a refreshing and unique reading experience. Rather than giving us another The Little Mermaid retelling, L.D. Lewis asks a much bigger question: What happens after happily ever after?
And honestly? That's what made this book so special.
This isn't a whimsical underwater adventure. It's a dark, political fantasy that explores legacy, grief, identity, anger, and what happens when generations are forced to carry the weight of choices they never made themselves.
Yemaya was such a compelling character because she wasn't always easy to root for, and I mean that as a compliment. She was angry, frustrated, flawed, and carrying so much responsibility on her shoulders. Her journey felt messy, complicated, and deeply human... well mostly😁
I also loved that this story wasn't afraid to ask difficult questions. How much of our anger is justified? What do we inherit from the generations before us? At what point does seeking justice start to resemble vengeance?
This book is layered in a way that I know I'll be thinking about long after finishing it. It's one of those stories where the themes almost become more important than the plot itself.
If you love political fantasy, morally gray characters, stories about legacy and belonging, and fantasy that isn't afraid to challenge you emotionally, I absolutely recommend picking this one up.
Also, can we normalize more stories asking, "What did happily ever after actually cost everyone else?" Because that concept alone was brilliant.
L.D. Lewis created something thoughtful, emotional, and incredibly memorable, and I'm so glad I picked this one up. 🖤✨
So respectfully, if some things didn't land for you, I encourage you to sit with why before dismissing what this story is trying to say. Argue with your mama, not me. 🖤🧜🏾♀️
Now... onto the review.
Year of the Mer was such a refreshing and unique reading experience. Rather than giving us another The Little Mermaid retelling, L.D. Lewis asks a much bigger question: What happens after happily ever after?
And honestly? That's what made this book so special.
This isn't a whimsical underwater adventure. It's a dark, political fantasy that explores legacy, grief, identity, anger, and what happens when generations are forced to carry the weight of choices they never made themselves.
Yemaya was such a compelling character because she wasn't always easy to root for, and I mean that as a compliment. She was angry, frustrated, flawed, and carrying so much responsibility on her shoulders. Her journey felt messy, complicated, and deeply human... well mostly😁
I also loved that this story wasn't afraid to ask difficult questions. How much of our anger is justified? What do we inherit from the generations before us? At what point does seeking justice start to resemble vengeance?
This book is layered in a way that I know I'll be thinking about long after finishing it. It's one of those stories where the themes almost become more important than the plot itself.
If you love political fantasy, morally gray characters, stories about legacy and belonging, and fantasy that isn't afraid to challenge you emotionally, I absolutely recommend picking this one up.
Also, can we normalize more stories asking, "What did happily ever after actually cost everyone else?" Because that concept alone was brilliant.
L.D. Lewis created something thoughtful, emotional, and incredibly memorable, and I'm so glad I picked this one up. 🖤✨
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
BOOK REVIEW: Pub Email, Year of the Mer
“Being a fairy tale princess does not guarantee a peaceful throne.”
🗓 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: April 7, 2026
📚 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Year of the Mer (Year of the Mer Duology #1)
👑 𝗔𝘂t𝗁𝗼𝗿: L. D. Lewis
✨ 𝗤𝘂𝗂𝗰𝗄 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗒 & 🍵 𝗧𝗲𝗮 𝗧𝗁𝗼𝘂𝗀𝗁𝘁𝘀
Yemi is the granddaughter of a fairy tale mermaid who thought she’d gotten her happy ever after. But Yemi’s life is far from smooth. Her father, the king of Ixia, was assassinated, her mother carries a poisoned wound, and Yemi has spent her life holding together a kingdom that barely appreciates her efforts. Raised as both shield and heir with Nova, her loyal bodyguard and fiancé, at her side, Yemi’s simmering anger and political tensions finally erupt into a coup that forces her into exile. As she faces betrayal and loss, ancient magic and dangerous pacts may be the only ways to fight for her throne and the people she loves.
This was a rich and layered fantasy with a lot on its narrative plate. The mix of personal anger, family legacy, political upheaval, and deep magic gives the story weight and drive. At times the worldbuilding felt dense, especially early on while establishing all the stakes, which slowed the pacing for me a bit, but once the action and conflicts picked up I found myself drawn into Yemi’s journey. The characters are complex and the stakes feel genuinely high, even if some plot threads took longer to click into place. Overall it’s an immersive start to the duology with a blend of classic fantasy and mythical legacy energy.
🫶 Thank you to @titanbooks for this gifted copy!
🌊 Fantasy with mythical legacy
⚔️ Political upheaval and exile
💔 Family and betrayal
🧙 Ancient magic and consequences
👑 Complex heir drama
✨ Rich worldbuilding
“Being a fairy tale princess does not guarantee a peaceful throne.”
🗓 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: April 7, 2026
📚 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Year of the Mer (Year of the Mer Duology #1)
👑 𝗔𝘂t𝗁𝗼𝗿: L. D. Lewis
✨ 𝗤𝘂𝗂𝗰𝗄 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗒 & 🍵 𝗧𝗲𝗮 𝗧𝗁𝗼𝘂𝗀𝗁𝘁𝘀
Yemi is the granddaughter of a fairy tale mermaid who thought she’d gotten her happy ever after. But Yemi’s life is far from smooth. Her father, the king of Ixia, was assassinated, her mother carries a poisoned wound, and Yemi has spent her life holding together a kingdom that barely appreciates her efforts. Raised as both shield and heir with Nova, her loyal bodyguard and fiancé, at her side, Yemi’s simmering anger and political tensions finally erupt into a coup that forces her into exile. As she faces betrayal and loss, ancient magic and dangerous pacts may be the only ways to fight for her throne and the people she loves.
This was a rich and layered fantasy with a lot on its narrative plate. The mix of personal anger, family legacy, political upheaval, and deep magic gives the story weight and drive. At times the worldbuilding felt dense, especially early on while establishing all the stakes, which slowed the pacing for me a bit, but once the action and conflicts picked up I found myself drawn into Yemi’s journey. The characters are complex and the stakes feel genuinely high, even if some plot threads took longer to click into place. Overall it’s an immersive start to the duology with a blend of classic fantasy and mythical legacy energy.
🫶 Thank you to @titanbooks for this gifted copy!
🌊 Fantasy with mythical legacy
⚔️ Political upheaval and exile
💔 Family and betrayal
🧙 Ancient magic and consequences
👑 Complex heir drama
✨ Rich worldbuilding
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
2026-releases
May 9, 2026DNF @ 19%
i made it through three chapters before giving up.
these chapters consist mostly of clunky, overdone infodumping prefaced by even more infodumping. this constant stream of information is the opposite of immersive; it constantly pulled me out of what little happened in the first ~75 pages. it feels like about 90% filler, which is annoying in the first book of what is apparently a duology—this couldn’t have been condensed into a standalone?
the language is jarringly modern for a fantasy setting (even one with cars), and the setting itself is still awfully ambiguous at the point i stopped. it’s apparently a fantasy land with some recent technological developments, but the vibe is unclear. is it steampunk? just-fantasy-enough-to-justify-the-mermaids? idk 🤷🏼♀️
our main character, yemi, is not very likable, which can be interesting if done right. i didn’t make it far enough into the book to determine if her entitled, deliberately provocative behavior was an intentional choice in the storytelling or if she was just accidentally annoying.
ultimately i wouldn’t recommend this one. i like the concept (what if the little mermaid’s choices caused literal generations of troubles for her descendants and everyone else too?) but what i read was so bogged down that i lost interest entirely. please bear in mind that i read an ARC so some changes may have been made before publication!
i received an ARC from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
i made it through three chapters before giving up.
these chapters consist mostly of clunky, overdone infodumping prefaced by even more infodumping. this constant stream of information is the opposite of immersive; it constantly pulled me out of what little happened in the first ~75 pages. it feels like about 90% filler, which is annoying in the first book of what is apparently a duology—this couldn’t have been condensed into a standalone?
the language is jarringly modern for a fantasy setting (even one with cars), and the setting itself is still awfully ambiguous at the point i stopped. it’s apparently a fantasy land with some recent technological developments, but the vibe is unclear. is it steampunk? just-fantasy-enough-to-justify-the-mermaids? idk 🤷🏼♀️
our main character, yemi, is not very likable, which can be interesting if done right. i didn’t make it far enough into the book to determine if her entitled, deliberately provocative behavior was an intentional choice in the storytelling or if she was just accidentally annoying.
ultimately i wouldn’t recommend this one. i like the concept (what if the little mermaid’s choices caused literal generations of troubles for her descendants and everyone else too?) but what i read was so bogged down that i lost interest entirely. please bear in mind that i read an ARC so some changes may have been made before publication!
i received an ARC from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 15, 2026
Year of the Mer, picks up years after the end of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, focusing on Yemi, the granddaughter of Ariel/Arielle. There are occasional playful nods to the movie, but this is a much darker world.
And that dissonance really worked for me. I love how Lewis reimagined the marriage of Arielle to the prince as the inciting factor for years of war and unrest in their kingdom. And as someone who is half-mer, Yemi is viewed with suspicion and experiences all the loneliness, frustration, and anger of being “othered.”
The plot moves at a slow but steady pace, allowing for significant character development. We see some of Yemi’s impulsive nature and desire for revenge. Her actions, along with a foreboding flashback, succeed in creating a palpable suspense.
While Arielle is only included in the memories of her descendants, Ursula/Ursla is the primary antagonist. Lewis gives her a backstory as a self-made god with a long history. Just like her grandmother, in desperation, Arielle turns to her for help.
My favorite character, however, is Nova, Arielle’s beloved. Reading a story where the relationship is already firmly established from the start was refreshing. I don’t dislike romantic fantasy, but it starts to feel a bit formulaic.
Nova’s POV is even more intriguing because she serves as Arielle’s personal guard. The two are nearly always together, and have been since childhood. So as significant shifts happen in Arielle’s life, we see how their relationship and Nova’s public and private roles are impacted.
YEAR OF THE MER is the first volume of a duology. The cliffhanger ending has me guessing about where the story will go next, so I’m excited for book two.
And that dissonance really worked for me. I love how Lewis reimagined the marriage of Arielle to the prince as the inciting factor for years of war and unrest in their kingdom. And as someone who is half-mer, Yemi is viewed with suspicion and experiences all the loneliness, frustration, and anger of being “othered.”
The plot moves at a slow but steady pace, allowing for significant character development. We see some of Yemi’s impulsive nature and desire for revenge. Her actions, along with a foreboding flashback, succeed in creating a palpable suspense.
While Arielle is only included in the memories of her descendants, Ursula/Ursla is the primary antagonist. Lewis gives her a backstory as a self-made god with a long history. Just like her grandmother, in desperation, Arielle turns to her for help.
My favorite character, however, is Nova, Arielle’s beloved. Reading a story where the relationship is already firmly established from the start was refreshing. I don’t dislike romantic fantasy, but it starts to feel a bit formulaic.
Nova’s POV is even more intriguing because she serves as Arielle’s personal guard. The two are nearly always together, and have been since childhood. So as significant shifts happen in Arielle’s life, we see how their relationship and Nova’s public and private roles are impacted.
YEAR OF THE MER is the first volume of a duology. The cliffhanger ending has me guessing about where the story will go next, so I’m excited for book two.
Read
May 20, 2026This was interesting, but I struggled to stay engaged.
Our main character was unique. She was unlikeable, arrogant, and aggressive, but honestly I loved that about her. She was a mess and I enjoyed her aggression!
The lore was interesting, but I found it confusing and not presented in a way that created an accurate understanding of the political dynamics.
I think pacing was way off. If I’m into a storyline I’m usually hooked, but I simply did not look forward to reading and it made me so sad!
I’m definitely wanting to see the sequel synopsis to know if I might want to continue.
Idk where to rate this as my interest in the story and actual experience with the story are so at odds.
Our main character was unique. She was unlikeable, arrogant, and aggressive, but honestly I loved that about her. She was a mess and I enjoyed her aggression!
The lore was interesting, but I found it confusing and not presented in a way that created an accurate understanding of the political dynamics.
I think pacing was way off. If I’m into a storyline I’m usually hooked, but I simply did not look forward to reading and it made me so sad!
I’m definitely wanting to see the sequel synopsis to know if I might want to continue.
Idk where to rate this as my interest in the story and actual experience with the story are so at odds.
March 2, 2026
I was stoked to read this story. I love retellings, and couldn’t wait to see how this author gave The Little Mermaid a fresh, new spin. But unfortunately, it just didn’t work.
First off, the story dragged for the first 1/3. You meet Yemi, and her guard/fianceé, Nova, and get an introduction to the kingdom. While that in itself isn’t bad, the way the story is told, and flows, makes it hard to keep interested.
30%-ish into the novel shows the first signs of conflict, and the storyline becomes more Interesting. You want to see how Yemi will handle what has happened to her and her kingdom. And then it slows down again. It is also hard to care about Yemi as a character because she’s completely unlikable. The author gives her no real redeeming qualities, and she’s just awful those around her-especially Nova.
This story truly ramped up after Yemi finds out the truth about her grandmother, Arielle, and chooses to seek ultimate revenge. It’s like a train wreck waiting to happen, and even though you want to look away, or hope than Yemi will have a breakthrough and redemption arc, you’re left greatly disappointed. I know that the author was going for feminist rage, and rising above the ashes, but this story, and FMC, fail to deliver on that mark.
This retelling had a lot of promise, and could have been a killer story. But it was far from that.
Thank you NetGalley, and Saga Press, for my arc. My opinion is my own.
First off, the story dragged for the first 1/3. You meet Yemi, and her guard/fianceé, Nova, and get an introduction to the kingdom. While that in itself isn’t bad, the way the story is told, and flows, makes it hard to keep interested.
30%-ish into the novel shows the first signs of conflict, and the storyline becomes more Interesting. You want to see how Yemi will handle what has happened to her and her kingdom. And then it slows down again. It is also hard to care about Yemi as a character because she’s completely unlikable. The author gives her no real redeeming qualities, and she’s just awful those around her-especially Nova.
This story truly ramped up after Yemi finds out the truth about her grandmother, Arielle, and chooses to seek ultimate revenge. It’s like a train wreck waiting to happen, and even though you want to look away, or hope than Yemi will have a breakthrough and redemption arc, you’re left greatly disappointed. I know that the author was going for feminist rage, and rising above the ashes, but this story, and FMC, fail to deliver on that mark.
This retelling had a lot of promise, and could have been a killer story. But it was far from that.
Thank you NetGalley, and Saga Press, for my arc. My opinion is my own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2026
A sequel of sorts to The Little Mermaid, this started out slow and really sped up in pace, keeping with the progression of the main character, Yemi (granddaughter to Arielle), herself. A story of belonging, fellowship, leadership, mythology, war, madness, and much else. 4 star for the storyline/progression itself but 5 given the characters and social commentary. Thought it was to be a standalone fantasy novel but learnt there's a book 2, definitely looking forward to it.
May 21, 2026
Review to come. I will definitely be reading the sequel to this dark fantasy novel debut from L.D. Lewis, but I'll admit for being one of my most anticipated reads of the year, it didn't land with me as well as I was hoping. This retelling/reimagining of The Little Mermaid has a lot of dark imagery and portrayal, flawed characters and a tale that promises to be grand, but I found it lacking in character development and the pacing hampered by overwriting. We'll talk about it. My tentative rating is 2.5-3 stars.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I originally liked the idea behind this book. I agree that Ariel (Arielle) coming on land and marrying the future King could have unforseen ramifications on the political landscape. However, the author's contempt for the source material was off putting to say the least. They seem to dislike both the original Hans Christian Andersen and the Disney version of the Little Mermaid. This made the tone unenjoyable for me, since I do enjoy both of those and the original Ariel is likeable. There are lots of weird digs at the original characters and the new characters are extraordinarily rash and hard to root for.
Additionally, the plotting is weirdly paced. I could've started the book at the last 60% and enjoyed it. There's a lot of info dumping early on when I didn't care about the story yet.
The idea is creative and the intent seems interesting, but the execution wasn't there for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
Additionally, the plotting is weirdly paced. I could've started the book at the last 60% and enjoyed it. There's a lot of info dumping early on when I didn't care about the story yet.
The idea is creative and the intent seems interesting, but the execution wasn't there for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
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