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The Oyster Thief
“It took her a journey across the ocean to learn what she knew of love and fear and hate, but the essence of it came to her in an instant, as she succumbed to the churning black depths of the deep sea.”
Coralline is a shy mermaid in the Atlantic Ocean whose idyllic life is ruined by an oil spill that gravely sickens her little brother. Desperate to save him, she embarks on a quest to find a legendary elixir.
She encounters a human man, Izar, who's left his life on land behind to find a cure for his dying father. He doesn’t tell her that his family runs Ocean Dominion, an enemy corporation whose ships plunder her waters daily.
Fate pushes the two of them together, even though their worlds are at odds. Accompanied by a colorful troupe of animals, Coralline and Izar travel through coral reefs and seabed cities, trailed by murderous adversaries and warring ships. Their secrets threaten to tear them apart, while a growing attraction adds to the danger. Ultimately, each of them faces an impossible choice. Should Coralline remain with the world she knows, including her fiancé, or should she relinquish everything for a stranger who might betray her? And Izar holds a secret of his own—one that might cause him to lose Coralline forever.
Magnificent and moving, set against a breathtaking ocean landscape, The Oyster Thief is an enthralling fantasy destined to become a classic.
Coralline is a shy mermaid in the Atlantic Ocean whose idyllic life is ruined by an oil spill that gravely sickens her little brother. Desperate to save him, she embarks on a quest to find a legendary elixir.
She encounters a human man, Izar, who's left his life on land behind to find a cure for his dying father. He doesn’t tell her that his family runs Ocean Dominion, an enemy corporation whose ships plunder her waters daily.
Fate pushes the two of them together, even though their worlds are at odds. Accompanied by a colorful troupe of animals, Coralline and Izar travel through coral reefs and seabed cities, trailed by murderous adversaries and warring ships. Their secrets threaten to tear them apart, while a growing attraction adds to the danger. Ultimately, each of them faces an impossible choice. Should Coralline remain with the world she knows, including her fiancé, or should she relinquish everything for a stranger who might betray her? And Izar holds a secret of his own—one that might cause him to lose Coralline forever.
Magnificent and moving, set against a breathtaking ocean landscape, The Oyster Thief is an enthralling fantasy destined to become a classic.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2018
129 people are currently reading
4132 people want to read
About the author
Sonia Faruqi
3 books141 followersHello! I am the author of THE OYSTER THIEF, an underwater fantasy novel with themes of ocean conservation. The book features a bright, beautiful world of merpeople. I am also the author of critically acclaimed PROJECT ANIMAL FARM, a work of global investigative journalism about the world's food system. I live in Toronto and maintain a website and monthly newsletter at www.soniafaruqi.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
November 20, 2025
Galley provided by publisher
CWs: sexual assault
I had - if not high, then at least some - hopes for this book. The synopsis sounded intriguing, and I thought there was some good potential for enemies to lovers. A bit like To Kill a Kingdom, maybe. And the cover was lovely, so there was that too.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out - to say the least.
To start off with, the writing was fairly poor. I know that's something completely subjective and everything, but on the first page, there was mention of "Algae Appreciation Day" and "Horrid Humans Day", and it felt kind of... childish? For lack of a better word. So that kind of put me off the writing from the start. It wasn't flat out awful - I have read a lot worse - but it felt kind of clunky, especially when it came to the speech. You know how you can find some writing styles easier to read than others, like they read more naturally? This one is one of those that doesn't read particularly easily. So I struggled a bit with that.
Also concerning the writing, the author had a tendency to skip fairly rapidly between Izar and Coralline's point of view. Now, I get the value of minor cliffhangers, sure, but when there's one every few pages, but you just know you only need to read another couple of paragraphs before you find out what happens next? They don't really work. And, they kind of stopped me from getting properly into either Coralline's or Izar's story. I would be just about getting used to one, and then it'd change.
If the writing was what made me less keen on the book, the worldbuilding is what made me rate it 1 star instead of two. Firstly, the mermaid world is a direct mirror of a human world. Down to the misogyny and rape culture. Because why would you extend your imagination to come up with something new when you can just do that! There's a whole government system, there are police, detectives, houses, tables, corsets - none of this is a particularly interesting world. What are the chances, if you have two different species, with minimal contact, that they would develop into matching societies? Pretty fricking low, you'd have to guess. And yet. In this book, we're supposed to believe that merpeople hide away from humans but still have a mirroring society. But what is worse about this, is that we can't even escape tired old tropes like a sexual assault scene and some lovely misogyny in this merpeople society. Starting with the misogyny, what we get is this conversation between Coralline and her fiance:
On top of this, Coralline is expected by her mother, and society, to just marry well, learn how to cook, provide babies. Sound familiar? (Along similar lines as this, when Izar gets turned into a merman, one of the first things he comments on is that... it's emasculating not to have hair on his chest? Because yes. Yes, that is What Makes You A Man. Please, spare me.)
Then we get to the rape culture. Let me set the scene. Coralline and Izar have just been to visit someone to help them on their quest, but he is killed while they're there, and Coralline seen clutching the dagger. So, they find the furthest away hotel they can, which is kind of a seedy place. And while they're getting rooms, Izar overhears these two mermen talking about how they would "like a piece of" Coralline, such that they ask for the room next door to where she'll be staying. Now, he doesn't tell Coralline this. Oh no. He rationalises it as he's using her to get what he wants, he doesn't really care about her. So, the next morning, the brothers break into Coralline's room and try to rape and kill her. And Izar has to save her. Because what is a fantasy story without an attempted rape scene so the hero can save the girl, huh? A lot goddamn better than this, I'm telling you. And that's the point where I just got angry and hateread the rest of the book.
In addition to all this mess, there was a particular idea that got propounded a few times that I really hated. It was centered around two characters (including the one who ends up murdered). Basically, his wife is dying, so he goes and finds the magical elixir to save her life. And apparently, according to Coralline, this means she's indebted for life to him. Because she ends up falling out of love with him, and leaving him for another man, and Coralline calls this selfish. It feels a lot like the author's pushing the idea that she doesn't have a right to decide she doesn't love him. Which is just stupid.
A few final points. First off, there's so much girl hating going on. There's not one single intimate and kind female relationship. Coralline has no friends besides her shark, her mother is absolutely horrible, Rosette is supposedly competing for Coralline's fiance's attention so is also terrible and spends her time spreading malicious rumours about Coralline, her fiance's mother hates her and her mother, her mother hates the apothecary, the list goes on. And it's so tedious. What is the point in writing this into your book? Personally, it's a guaranteed way to lose me as a reader.
Lastly, to top off the misogyny, a woman gets fridged in the last part. Because we didn't have enough of it yet.
So yeah. This book? Not worth it.
CWs: sexual assault
I had - if not high, then at least some - hopes for this book. The synopsis sounded intriguing, and I thought there was some good potential for enemies to lovers. A bit like To Kill a Kingdom, maybe. And the cover was lovely, so there was that too.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out - to say the least.
To start off with, the writing was fairly poor. I know that's something completely subjective and everything, but on the first page, there was mention of "Algae Appreciation Day" and "Horrid Humans Day", and it felt kind of... childish? For lack of a better word. So that kind of put me off the writing from the start. It wasn't flat out awful - I have read a lot worse - but it felt kind of clunky, especially when it came to the speech. You know how you can find some writing styles easier to read than others, like they read more naturally? This one is one of those that doesn't read particularly easily. So I struggled a bit with that.
Also concerning the writing, the author had a tendency to skip fairly rapidly between Izar and Coralline's point of view. Now, I get the value of minor cliffhangers, sure, but when there's one every few pages, but you just know you only need to read another couple of paragraphs before you find out what happens next? They don't really work. And, they kind of stopped me from getting properly into either Coralline's or Izar's story. I would be just about getting used to one, and then it'd change.
If the writing was what made me less keen on the book, the worldbuilding is what made me rate it 1 star instead of two. Firstly, the mermaid world is a direct mirror of a human world. Down to the misogyny and rape culture. Because why would you extend your imagination to come up with something new when you can just do that! There's a whole government system, there are police, detectives, houses, tables, corsets - none of this is a particularly interesting world. What are the chances, if you have two different species, with minimal contact, that they would develop into matching societies? Pretty fricking low, you'd have to guess. And yet. In this book, we're supposed to believe that merpeople hide away from humans but still have a mirroring society. But what is worse about this, is that we can't even escape tired old tropes like a sexual assault scene and some lovely misogyny in this merpeople society. Starting with the misogyny, what we get is this conversation between Coralline and her fiance:
"You've never left Urchin Grove before. You're delicate - like the algae after which you were named-" "I'm not delicate." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in an offensive way. What I mean is that you're fragile, feminine. You don't know how to wield a dagger-"
On top of this, Coralline is expected by her mother, and society, to just marry well, learn how to cook, provide babies. Sound familiar? (Along similar lines as this, when Izar gets turned into a merman, one of the first things he comments on is that... it's emasculating not to have hair on his chest? Because yes. Yes, that is What Makes You A Man. Please, spare me.)
Then we get to the rape culture. Let me set the scene. Coralline and Izar have just been to visit someone to help them on their quest, but he is killed while they're there, and Coralline seen clutching the dagger. So, they find the furthest away hotel they can, which is kind of a seedy place. And while they're getting rooms, Izar overhears these two mermen talking about how they would "like a piece of" Coralline, such that they ask for the room next door to where she'll be staying. Now, he doesn't tell Coralline this. Oh no. He rationalises it as he's using her to get what he wants, he doesn't really care about her. So, the next morning, the brothers break into Coralline's room and try to rape and kill her. And Izar has to save her. Because what is a fantasy story without an attempted rape scene so the hero can save the girl, huh? A lot goddamn better than this, I'm telling you. And that's the point where I just got angry and hateread the rest of the book.
In addition to all this mess, there was a particular idea that got propounded a few times that I really hated. It was centered around two characters (including the one who ends up murdered). Basically, his wife is dying, so he goes and finds the magical elixir to save her life. And apparently, according to Coralline, this means she's indebted for life to him. Because she ends up falling out of love with him, and leaving him for another man, and Coralline calls this selfish. It feels a lot like the author's pushing the idea that she doesn't have a right to decide she doesn't love him. Which is just stupid.
A few final points. First off, there's so much girl hating going on. There's not one single intimate and kind female relationship. Coralline has no friends besides her shark, her mother is absolutely horrible, Rosette is supposedly competing for Coralline's fiance's attention so is also terrible and spends her time spreading malicious rumours about Coralline, her fiance's mother hates her and her mother, her mother hates the apothecary, the list goes on. And it's so tedious. What is the point in writing this into your book? Personally, it's a guaranteed way to lose me as a reader.
Lastly, to top off the misogyny, a woman gets fridged in the last part. Because we didn't have enough of it yet.
So yeah. This book? Not worth it.
October 31, 2018
Check out this review and others on my blog: https://thriftybibliophile.com
The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi is a whimsical story of mermaids, love, and cruelty. When Izar, a man who loathes mermaids, turns into a merman himself, he finds love and understanding in Coralline, a mermaid who’s on a quest to save her brother.
I thought this book was just okay. On one hand, the story concept was really neat and intriguing. On the other hand, parts of the book meandered, and the pace was on the slower side. The book had rich world building and beautiful language throughout, but all of the unique terms and language tended to bog down the plot. The world-specific terms caused me to slow down significantly, which jolted my normal reading cadence.
Despite some of my misgivings, I did like the story itself. I’m a sucker for mermaids, so I was excited to dive into this book (pun intended!) The relationship of Izar and Coralline was fun to follow, and I appreciated the imperfections in Izar’s character.
Izar’s backstory was an interesting one. I would have never guessed his parentage–I was expecting something different! Izar didn’t seem as surprised or shocked by the revelation as I was. I wish this had been explored a bit further.
I also thought the concept of muses was great. A muse in the book is an “animal best friend.” Coralline had a whale shark as a muse, which was a cool addition. Other muses included a snail and a seahorse. If I had a muse (and if muses weren’t restricted to water), I would have a cat as a muse!
The ending wrapped the book up nicely. It was somewhat predictable, but I love a good happy ending.
The characters in the book were nicely done. Coralline and Izar’s characters were nicely developed, and Rhodomela was a convincing bitter hag. I think the characters were really the highlight of the book.
If you enjoy books featuring mermaids, I recommend checking out The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi.
Thank you to the publisher, Pegasus Books, for providing the final version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi is a whimsical story of mermaids, love, and cruelty. When Izar, a man who loathes mermaids, turns into a merman himself, he finds love and understanding in Coralline, a mermaid who’s on a quest to save her brother.
I thought this book was just okay. On one hand, the story concept was really neat and intriguing. On the other hand, parts of the book meandered, and the pace was on the slower side. The book had rich world building and beautiful language throughout, but all of the unique terms and language tended to bog down the plot. The world-specific terms caused me to slow down significantly, which jolted my normal reading cadence.
Despite some of my misgivings, I did like the story itself. I’m a sucker for mermaids, so I was excited to dive into this book (pun intended!) The relationship of Izar and Coralline was fun to follow, and I appreciated the imperfections in Izar’s character.
Izar’s backstory was an interesting one. I would have never guessed his parentage–I was expecting something different! Izar didn’t seem as surprised or shocked by the revelation as I was. I wish this had been explored a bit further.
I also thought the concept of muses was great. A muse in the book is an “animal best friend.” Coralline had a whale shark as a muse, which was a cool addition. Other muses included a snail and a seahorse. If I had a muse (and if muses weren’t restricted to water), I would have a cat as a muse!
The ending wrapped the book up nicely. It was somewhat predictable, but I love a good happy ending.
The characters in the book were nicely done. Coralline and Izar’s characters were nicely developed, and Rhodomela was a convincing bitter hag. I think the characters were really the highlight of the book.
If you enjoy books featuring mermaids, I recommend checking out The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi.
Thank you to the publisher, Pegasus Books, for providing the final version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 20, 2022
This has some very negative reviews but I have to say I don't fully agree on the star rating. Thankfully we all like different things and not everyone rates the same 😊 it's not a perfect mermaid story but I was invested in it and found it more intruiging than most mermaid stories I've read. I had it in my !ind that I don't enjoy mermaids very much but clearly I need to pick up more
Read
January 14, 2020DNF at 15%
anti-library
December 17, 2018This could either be really good or really bad but I'm intrigued either way 👀
April 8, 2019
Thank you to @pegasus_books for sending me a copy of the Oyster Thief for review!
This was a fun book to read! I love mermaids, as Ariel is definitely my favourite mermaid, so I was really excited by the premise of this book.
There are two main characters that we get to follow: Corraline and Izar. Corraline is a young mermaid who seems to have it all. She has the perfect job working in an apothecary in town, and is about to marry the man of her dreams, but then an oil spill threatens her community and she sets of on an adventure to find an elixir to save her brothers life. Izar, on the other hand is a human who works for an oil company, so the complete opposite of Corraline. But through twists and turns he is thrust into Corralines life and the two end up going on the adventure together!
-
I really liked the characters of Corraline and Izar. Both experienced tremendous growth throughout the book, and that growth happened at a consistent pace that left me feeling connected to their stories. -
One thing that I really liked about this book was the animal friends that the mermaids had! Corraline has a giant whale shark as her animal friend, and he is super cute and wants to go on adventures with Corraline. It definitely helped to connect the reader to the story! There was a bit of instant love that was predictable, but overall the story flowed nicely and it was a fun YA fantasy read with mermaids!
This was a fun book to read! I love mermaids, as Ariel is definitely my favourite mermaid, so I was really excited by the premise of this book.
There are two main characters that we get to follow: Corraline and Izar. Corraline is a young mermaid who seems to have it all. She has the perfect job working in an apothecary in town, and is about to marry the man of her dreams, but then an oil spill threatens her community and she sets of on an adventure to find an elixir to save her brothers life. Izar, on the other hand is a human who works for an oil company, so the complete opposite of Corraline. But through twists and turns he is thrust into Corralines life and the two end up going on the adventure together!
-
I really liked the characters of Corraline and Izar. Both experienced tremendous growth throughout the book, and that growth happened at a consistent pace that left me feeling connected to their stories. -
One thing that I really liked about this book was the animal friends that the mermaids had! Corraline has a giant whale shark as her animal friend, and he is super cute and wants to go on adventures with Corraline. It definitely helped to connect the reader to the story! There was a bit of instant love that was predictable, but overall the story flowed nicely and it was a fun YA fantasy read with mermaids!
November 23, 2018
I’m always up for a mermaid story and this was a good one! It really makes you feel as if you’re in a whole new world, one that is magical yet also a celebration of our natural oceans. The writing was beautiful and helped me to feel immersed in this place. Loved the characters and was happy with how everything panned out. The only reason that I gave it 4 rather than 5 stars is that it felt a bit slow to me - “quest” type stories are just not my favourite.
June 26, 2019
Sonia Faruqi writes her debut novel as a mash-up of mermaid fantasy and oceanic conservation information. Unfortunately, it’s more mashed than up. I abandoned it after 100 pages.
The parallel story lines of a human and a mermaid are a trope that goes back to old-school fairy tales. Hans Christian Andersen, I’m looking at you. But the bottom line of a story like this can only result in a woman subsuming her fundamental identity in order to catch that man. I started out reading with reservations.
Faruqi introduces Coralline (catch the play on coral there?), a young and naïve mermaid. She’s trying to find her way, studying to work at the local apothecary, and snagging the village’s most eligible bachelor. But, man, does that bachelor belittle her. As do her parents. And Coralline and the author just go along with this disturbing trend.
On the surface, we also have a young human named Izar. He’s been adopted into the family that owns Ocean Domination, a transparently-named company with goal of depleting everything good about the ocean. Izar knows merpeople killed his parents, but he knows nothing else. And he’s a brilliant scientist, who in his early 20s is attempting to develop a previously impossible tool to further damage the ocean and fill his family’s coffers.
The story line I could intuit from the first 100 pages is the standard two people who should be fighting against each other end up falling in love. Izar is also searching for the true story of his birth family, and I had inklings of that final reveal pretty early on. The bad guys have names that awkwardly foreshadow their behavior. And it’s all so very uninteresting.
My conclusions
I wish I could tell you the ending, because there’s plenty of potential here. I just can’t stomach the writing style that would get me to the end of the story. Faruqi hasn’t polished any of the potential in this story until it gleams. It just cries out for copious further editing.
This sounds small, but the author uses names for places, people, and things that range from idiotic (Menziesii—how do you even say that?) to pedantic (Izar has an Invention Chamber). It happens over and over. I was rolling my eyes and wishing for a guy in this world named Chris or Steve. Anything besides Deneb, Zaurak Alphard, Saiph, or Violacea. This felt like a creative device where the reader pays a price.
Her descriptions come from heavy thesaurus use. For example, she says “perturbed sleep,” which just made me scratch my head. To me, being perturbed is an emotion that requires engagement, something that generally isn’t present in sleep. Or maybe I’m picking nits. On the other hand, Faruqi gives us this one which shoehorns so many oceanic terms into it that my brain boggled.
“Much of it was planted with paddle-grass, the stalks shorter than those of other grasses, the leaves bright green. Scarlet bushes of berry wart cress and crimson stalks of siphoned feather grew in bright columns, interspersed with the dreamy, silvery bands of peacock’s tail.”
This is not an isolated example. Sentences like this show her love of the ocean, but they’re overwhelming in such quantity. And it stopped the flow of the narrative for me. I too love the idea of teaching people about the ocean, but I’d never finish the book if I googled every term. Oh heck, I didn’t finish the book either way. I’d be more inclined to persist if Faruqi narrowed her focus to just a few concepts, instead of trying to teach every little thing on each page.
It’s hard to abandon a book. I feel badly because the author clearly cares about her subject. But this one didn’t have characters or story line that grabbed me.
Plus, I’ll confess to reading some reviews from people who did persist. Apparently, Faruqi includes some story elements I know I’d find objectionable. For example, the mild misogyny of some male characters devolves into full-blown assault. Not going there.
I have to recommend a hard pass on this book.
Acknowledgements
I received a free copy of this finished novel from the author in exchange for this honest review.
The parallel story lines of a human and a mermaid are a trope that goes back to old-school fairy tales. Hans Christian Andersen, I’m looking at you. But the bottom line of a story like this can only result in a woman subsuming her fundamental identity in order to catch that man. I started out reading with reservations.
Faruqi introduces Coralline (catch the play on coral there?), a young and naïve mermaid. She’s trying to find her way, studying to work at the local apothecary, and snagging the village’s most eligible bachelor. But, man, does that bachelor belittle her. As do her parents. And Coralline and the author just go along with this disturbing trend.
On the surface, we also have a young human named Izar. He’s been adopted into the family that owns Ocean Domination, a transparently-named company with goal of depleting everything good about the ocean. Izar knows merpeople killed his parents, but he knows nothing else. And he’s a brilliant scientist, who in his early 20s is attempting to develop a previously impossible tool to further damage the ocean and fill his family’s coffers.
The story line I could intuit from the first 100 pages is the standard two people who should be fighting against each other end up falling in love. Izar is also searching for the true story of his birth family, and I had inklings of that final reveal pretty early on. The bad guys have names that awkwardly foreshadow their behavior. And it’s all so very uninteresting.
My conclusions
I wish I could tell you the ending, because there’s plenty of potential here. I just can’t stomach the writing style that would get me to the end of the story. Faruqi hasn’t polished any of the potential in this story until it gleams. It just cries out for copious further editing.
This sounds small, but the author uses names for places, people, and things that range from idiotic (Menziesii—how do you even say that?) to pedantic (Izar has an Invention Chamber). It happens over and over. I was rolling my eyes and wishing for a guy in this world named Chris or Steve. Anything besides Deneb, Zaurak Alphard, Saiph, or Violacea. This felt like a creative device where the reader pays a price.
Her descriptions come from heavy thesaurus use. For example, she says “perturbed sleep,” which just made me scratch my head. To me, being perturbed is an emotion that requires engagement, something that generally isn’t present in sleep. Or maybe I’m picking nits. On the other hand, Faruqi gives us this one which shoehorns so many oceanic terms into it that my brain boggled.
“Much of it was planted with paddle-grass, the stalks shorter than those of other grasses, the leaves bright green. Scarlet bushes of berry wart cress and crimson stalks of siphoned feather grew in bright columns, interspersed with the dreamy, silvery bands of peacock’s tail.”
This is not an isolated example. Sentences like this show her love of the ocean, but they’re overwhelming in such quantity. And it stopped the flow of the narrative for me. I too love the idea of teaching people about the ocean, but I’d never finish the book if I googled every term. Oh heck, I didn’t finish the book either way. I’d be more inclined to persist if Faruqi narrowed her focus to just a few concepts, instead of trying to teach every little thing on each page.
It’s hard to abandon a book. I feel badly because the author clearly cares about her subject. But this one didn’t have characters or story line that grabbed me.
Plus, I’ll confess to reading some reviews from people who did persist. Apparently, Faruqi includes some story elements I know I’d find objectionable. For example, the mild misogyny of some male characters devolves into full-blown assault. Not going there.
I have to recommend a hard pass on this book.
Acknowledgements
I received a free copy of this finished novel from the author in exchange for this honest review.
July 3, 2019
The Oyster Thief (4.5)
TW: Sexual Assault
Story Basics
This is the story of two very different people. One of them is a man living in a city on land, and the other is a mermaid living beneath the sea in a small village. Each for their own reasons, the two go searching for a mysterious elixir together. Lies, love and a bit of magic are involved. There are also muses. Which I will explain later, and probably my favorite part of the book.
Favorite Character
Alright, so this is a three way tie for my favorite character. Pavonis the whale shark is just so snarky and sometimes a little mean, but he cares about Coralline so much. He wants so badly to go out and see the world but he would never do it without her. He’s really just a gentle giant who’d do anything for his best friend. Then there’s Altair, the seahorse and genuinely the the moral center of this group. He’s shy and scared, but he’s not willing to let Coralline go off without him either. He joins her quest even those he’s pregnant at the time!! Seriously he was so sweet. Finally there’s Nacre. Rather Narcissistic, her favorite hobbies are snooping and snoozing. She doesn’t exactly join this willingly, but she’s the one who fell asleep and got accidentally put into the satchel so... Always offering her opinions and butting into Coralline’s life, she can be a bit much sometimes, but sure proves herself to be a loyal friend numerous times.
Muses (My Favorite Part by far)
So after my favorite characters were a bunch of animals, anyone reading this is probably a little confused. Well all three of this animals are muses. In this world, the merpeople have animal friends they call muses. They’re basically animals that can speak. And every one of them is just so completely unique. Coralline’s muse is the enormous whale shark Pavonis. Altair the seahorse is the muse of her father, Trochid, and Nacre is the muse of her mother, Abalone. I just love the idea of befriending a sea creature and just how close the bond between them is. Also, it’s completely BS that mermaids don’t have large muses. Pavonis and Coralline are perfect.
The Little Mermaid Reminders
Throughout this book I felt like there were little moments or parts of the world that I couldn’t keep from associating with The Little Mermaid. First of all, the muses. While the animal friends of this book are very different from the movie, she’s still a mermaid with animal friends to help her out. Altair in particular was giving me some Sebastian vibes. There’s also a young merboy whose incredibly excited to go up and see the world above. Of course there’s also a romance between a mermaid and a man from the land. All of these little things here and there and I loved them all.
TW: Sexual Assault
Story Basics
This is the story of two very different people. One of them is a man living in a city on land, and the other is a mermaid living beneath the sea in a small village. Each for their own reasons, the two go searching for a mysterious elixir together. Lies, love and a bit of magic are involved. There are also muses. Which I will explain later, and probably my favorite part of the book.
Favorite Character
Alright, so this is a three way tie for my favorite character. Pavonis the whale shark is just so snarky and sometimes a little mean, but he cares about Coralline so much. He wants so badly to go out and see the world but he would never do it without her. He’s really just a gentle giant who’d do anything for his best friend. Then there’s Altair, the seahorse and genuinely the the moral center of this group. He’s shy and scared, but he’s not willing to let Coralline go off without him either. He joins her quest even those he’s pregnant at the time!! Seriously he was so sweet. Finally there’s Nacre. Rather Narcissistic, her favorite hobbies are snooping and snoozing. She doesn’t exactly join this willingly, but she’s the one who fell asleep and got accidentally put into the satchel so... Always offering her opinions and butting into Coralline’s life, she can be a bit much sometimes, but sure proves herself to be a loyal friend numerous times.
Muses (My Favorite Part by far)
So after my favorite characters were a bunch of animals, anyone reading this is probably a little confused. Well all three of this animals are muses. In this world, the merpeople have animal friends they call muses. They’re basically animals that can speak. And every one of them is just so completely unique. Coralline’s muse is the enormous whale shark Pavonis. Altair the seahorse is the muse of her father, Trochid, and Nacre is the muse of her mother, Abalone. I just love the idea of befriending a sea creature and just how close the bond between them is. Also, it’s completely BS that mermaids don’t have large muses. Pavonis and Coralline are perfect.
The Little Mermaid Reminders
Throughout this book I felt like there were little moments or parts of the world that I couldn’t keep from associating with The Little Mermaid. First of all, the muses. While the animal friends of this book are very different from the movie, she’s still a mermaid with animal friends to help her out. Altair in particular was giving me some Sebastian vibes. There’s also a young merboy whose incredibly excited to go up and see the world above. Of course there’s also a romance between a mermaid and a man from the land. All of these little things here and there and I loved them all.
October 1, 2018
MY RATING: 3/5 STARS
I received an arc from Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for a honest review and to be part of the blog tour.
I adored stories about mermaids so when I was contacted by the publisher I had to take part in it. I never read any of Sonia's books before but the synopsis of this one sounded too good to pass up. And not to mention the stunning cover! It's deep blue with hints of gold.
The Oyster Thief follows the story Coralline who lives a somewhat normal life. She goes to work at what would be described as an underwater hospital with focuses on mermans as a nurse and returns home to be an older sister to her younger brother and a daughter to a materialistic mother and a smart father. Coralline is also newly engaged to the ocean's most eligible mermaid. It's only not until a mysterious oil spill that causes her little brother to grow really sick. Sick to the point that he might die without the magical exlir that may be either a legend or something actually real. Regardless, she goes on this wild adventure to find it and meets a mermaid, Izar, who claims to used to be a man but somehow lost his legs and gained a fin. Sounds pretty wild.
I must admit that when I first started this book I was a little worried. The first few chapters seemed like Sonia did a very good job at researching underwater creatures and how the ocean works. It was impressive. She blended it well within the story, having characters explain the basics to readers through conversations. Although, it made the story a little bit harder to get into, Sonia quickly rids of the research and dives more into the plot.
I was also worried about the characters. I felt some annoyance to specific characters like Rosette, an envious mermaid of Coralline. Rosette believed it was her destiny to marry Coralline's fiance but instead of coming off as a genuine antagonist she seemed far stretched. The things she said didn't come off as mean but more childish and exaggerated. And then we have Coralline's mother. She was your typical materialistic person who cared more about looks and status than true feelings or personalities. It made me roll my eyes a lot but if that's what Sonia was going for, she did an amazing job.
Overall, the story was entertaining. I really liked the bits of Izar's story that we got to read in the beginning. He seemed like he was just like Coralline--being in a relationship that neither made him excited or happy but just indifference because it's what he has always known. These characters were so much more alike than imaginable and it was fun to see it pan out in the story.
MY RECOMMENDATION
Pick this up if you enjoy mermaids and an underwater adventure!
I received an arc from Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for a honest review and to be part of the blog tour.
I adored stories about mermaids so when I was contacted by the publisher I had to take part in it. I never read any of Sonia's books before but the synopsis of this one sounded too good to pass up. And not to mention the stunning cover! It's deep blue with hints of gold.
The Oyster Thief follows the story Coralline who lives a somewhat normal life. She goes to work at what would be described as an underwater hospital with focuses on mermans as a nurse and returns home to be an older sister to her younger brother and a daughter to a materialistic mother and a smart father. Coralline is also newly engaged to the ocean's most eligible mermaid. It's only not until a mysterious oil spill that causes her little brother to grow really sick. Sick to the point that he might die without the magical exlir that may be either a legend or something actually real. Regardless, she goes on this wild adventure to find it and meets a mermaid, Izar, who claims to used to be a man but somehow lost his legs and gained a fin. Sounds pretty wild.
I must admit that when I first started this book I was a little worried. The first few chapters seemed like Sonia did a very good job at researching underwater creatures and how the ocean works. It was impressive. She blended it well within the story, having characters explain the basics to readers through conversations. Although, it made the story a little bit harder to get into, Sonia quickly rids of the research and dives more into the plot.
I was also worried about the characters. I felt some annoyance to specific characters like Rosette, an envious mermaid of Coralline. Rosette believed it was her destiny to marry Coralline's fiance but instead of coming off as a genuine antagonist she seemed far stretched. The things she said didn't come off as mean but more childish and exaggerated. And then we have Coralline's mother. She was your typical materialistic person who cared more about looks and status than true feelings or personalities. It made me roll my eyes a lot but if that's what Sonia was going for, she did an amazing job.
Overall, the story was entertaining. I really liked the bits of Izar's story that we got to read in the beginning. He seemed like he was just like Coralline--being in a relationship that neither made him excited or happy but just indifference because it's what he has always known. These characters were so much more alike than imaginable and it was fun to see it pan out in the story.
MY RECOMMENDATION
Pick this up if you enjoy mermaids and an underwater adventure!
July 18, 2019
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review
The Oyster Thief is a fantasy novel that takes place underneath the vast ocean in Urchin Grove; it follows Coralline as she works as an apothecary and becomes engaged to a nice merfellow, named Ecklon. Izar, a human, works for Ocean Dominion and has finally found a way for fire to exist underwater when sinister things begin to happen. This is where we start and the real plot doesn't come along until almost halfway through the book. As a result of an oil spill caused by an attempt on Izar's life, Coralline's brother is infected with black poison and she decides to track down a legendary elixir to cure him. She sets off with her trusty shark, Pavonis, a smattering of other creatures and stumbles upon, Izar, who holds a clue to the location of the elixir. He's also transformed into a merman. Curious.
However, this book is not good. Not only is the storyline all over the place, but the style is completely wooden and awkwardly formal. There are sentences such as "You're delicate like the algae after which you are named" and descriptions like "Izar looked down at the scrape that tore through the palm of his hand like a straight, orderly earthquake." What kind of earthquake is orderly? And furthermore who actually thinks or talks like this? It doesn't make a lick of sense and I find that it only makes the characters seem awkward and silly. My favorite is when the author refers to two random bad guys as a cantaloupe and a carrot for no reason beyond their coloring. It makes the book come off as silly when Izar seemingly fights magical fruit and vegetables. More importantly, the scene fails to be serious or suspenseful because I personally could not figure out why they were being called that. Honestly, it really bothers me that no one questioned this choice at all.
I hate to be negative but I am completely flummoxed by this book and the world it presents. I really want to like it and become fully immersed in the sea but the author fails to explain how humans and mermaids coexist and generally more about how the two worlds are connected. I really wanted more an explanation especially when the hummers were introduced without batting an eyelash. It still reads like the first draft where the author is still figuring out how everything fits together. In other words, it's a good idea but it still lacks polish. At this point, I hope the final version has been reworked and edited for flow and clarity.
The Oyster Thief is a fantasy novel that takes place underneath the vast ocean in Urchin Grove; it follows Coralline as she works as an apothecary and becomes engaged to a nice merfellow, named Ecklon. Izar, a human, works for Ocean Dominion and has finally found a way for fire to exist underwater when sinister things begin to happen. This is where we start and the real plot doesn't come along until almost halfway through the book. As a result of an oil spill caused by an attempt on Izar's life, Coralline's brother is infected with black poison and she decides to track down a legendary elixir to cure him. She sets off with her trusty shark, Pavonis, a smattering of other creatures and stumbles upon, Izar, who holds a clue to the location of the elixir. He's also transformed into a merman. Curious.
However, this book is not good. Not only is the storyline all over the place, but the style is completely wooden and awkwardly formal. There are sentences such as "You're delicate like the algae after which you are named" and descriptions like "Izar looked down at the scrape that tore through the palm of his hand like a straight, orderly earthquake." What kind of earthquake is orderly? And furthermore who actually thinks or talks like this? It doesn't make a lick of sense and I find that it only makes the characters seem awkward and silly. My favorite is when the author refers to two random bad guys as a cantaloupe and a carrot for no reason beyond their coloring. It makes the book come off as silly when Izar seemingly fights magical fruit and vegetables. More importantly, the scene fails to be serious or suspenseful because I personally could not figure out why they were being called that. Honestly, it really bothers me that no one questioned this choice at all.
I hate to be negative but I am completely flummoxed by this book and the world it presents. I really want to like it and become fully immersed in the sea but the author fails to explain how humans and mermaids coexist and generally more about how the two worlds are connected. I really wanted more an explanation especially when the hummers were introduced without batting an eyelash. It still reads like the first draft where the author is still figuring out how everything fits together. In other words, it's a good idea but it still lacks polish. At this point, I hope the final version has been reworked and edited for flow and clarity.
October 4, 2018
My review is on my blog here: https://booksonthebookshelf.wordpress...
This book was a beautifully written story of an under water adventure. I found it to be like a modern day tale of The Little Mermaid. Faruqi takes you on a beautiful journey in the sea as a young mermaid takes on the journey of finding an elixir in the hopes of saving her brother who has become ill.
Along the way we are introduced to many likable characters and I loved learning about them all and their different ways of life under the sea. We are introduced to a wide variety of different characters in the book and it was interesting to read about them all and get an understanding of their various personalities and their life.
The writing in the book makes you feel as if you are there in the ocean world with the characters and their world under water seems to come to life in a very colourful way in the book. A magical story that takes the reader on this beautiful and incredible journey with them.
A great read for lovers of fantasy type books. Happy reading!
3.5/5 stars
This book was a beautifully written story of an under water adventure. I found it to be like a modern day tale of The Little Mermaid. Faruqi takes you on a beautiful journey in the sea as a young mermaid takes on the journey of finding an elixir in the hopes of saving her brother who has become ill.
Along the way we are introduced to many likable characters and I loved learning about them all and their different ways of life under the sea. We are introduced to a wide variety of different characters in the book and it was interesting to read about them all and get an understanding of their various personalities and their life.
The writing in the book makes you feel as if you are there in the ocean world with the characters and their world under water seems to come to life in a very colourful way in the book. A magical story that takes the reader on this beautiful and incredible journey with them.
A great read for lovers of fantasy type books. Happy reading!
3.5/5 stars
January 5, 2019
I took this book with me to my summer vacation in Brazil. How perfectly fitting!
This was the first mermaid book I read, and I had no idea what to expect! I was immersed in this beautiful and alluring underwater world that Sonia Faruqi created. The amount of detail and accurate information on marine life and oil drilling machinery surprised me. You can tell how much research went into this book!
I loved the love triangle in this book. And I felt coralline's anguish and her confusion as my own. And I could see the love grow between her and the other characters. It was a adorable slow burn.
The animal characters were so fun, I loved reading about them. I loved the idea about a muse so much I want one for myself now! Haha pavonis was definitely one of my favorites!
There were so many good life lessons and important quotes in this book that I just kept a notepad alongside me while reading to scribble it down! Such powerful messages. I recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy books, romance, wildlife and animals!
I will definitely look at the ocean with different eyes from now on, just imagining all the wildlife beneath the waves...
This was the first mermaid book I read, and I had no idea what to expect! I was immersed in this beautiful and alluring underwater world that Sonia Faruqi created. The amount of detail and accurate information on marine life and oil drilling machinery surprised me. You can tell how much research went into this book!
I loved the love triangle in this book. And I felt coralline's anguish and her confusion as my own. And I could see the love grow between her and the other characters. It was a adorable slow burn.
The animal characters were so fun, I loved reading about them. I loved the idea about a muse so much I want one for myself now! Haha pavonis was definitely one of my favorites!
There were so many good life lessons and important quotes in this book that I just kept a notepad alongside me while reading to scribble it down! Such powerful messages. I recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy books, romance, wildlife and animals!
I will definitely look at the ocean with different eyes from now on, just imagining all the wildlife beneath the waves...
August 31, 2018
See this review and more on Books and Ladders!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.
DNF @ 5%
I read the summary of this one and thought it sounded ah-mazing. Both protagonists are looking to save family members, a fantasy world of mermaids, and romance: literally the perfect equation for me. But I could not get into this one at all. I read approximately 3 pages and knew I would be stopping this one but I tried to soldier on. I cannot get into the writing style at all. The main character is supposed to be around my age (25) but acts like a child. The way she interacts with her boyfriend/love interest is weird and the choppy writing just isn't for me. I know that if I continue, it would be a pure hate read. However, if you don't add a rating on Goodreads, your review doesn't show up. So I am rating it.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.
DNF @ 5%
I read the summary of this one and thought it sounded ah-mazing. Both protagonists are looking to save family members, a fantasy world of mermaids, and romance: literally the perfect equation for me. But I could not get into this one at all. I read approximately 3 pages and knew I would be stopping this one but I tried to soldier on. I cannot get into the writing style at all. The main character is supposed to be around my age (25) but acts like a child. The way she interacts with her boyfriend/love interest is weird and the choppy writing just isn't for me. I know that if I continue, it would be a pure hate read. However, if you don't add a rating on Goodreads, your review doesn't show up. So I am rating it.
December 6, 2018
4/5
This book was sent me for free in exchange of an honest review! Thank you to the publisher and author for this opportunity.
Finally another under the sea adventure!
I loved how this book started with two POVs of out main characters and how everything then intertwined.
I loved the story and even if sometimes I wasn’t able to put on focus the characters an their action it was a true adventure.
Totally recommend for underwater book lovers 😏
This book was sent me for free in exchange of an honest review! Thank you to the publisher and author for this opportunity.
Finally another under the sea adventure!
I loved how this book started with two POVs of out main characters and how everything then intertwined.
I loved the story and even if sometimes I wasn’t able to put on focus the characters an their action it was a true adventure.
Totally recommend for underwater book lovers 😏
January 4, 2019
As the story unfolds, Coralline is an apprentice apothecary. She returns home late from work and is about to nap when her mother rushes into her bedroom and reminds her that Ecklon is due to arrive. She's informed she must dress for supper in a new corset that matches her bronze scales.
Thereafter, we travel back in time to where Coralline recalls first meeting the handsome, merman, Ecklon. She does remember him reaching across the counter to brush back a strand of her hair. And, now 6 months later, he wishes to marry her.
Coralline does agree to marriage and shortly thereafter a tremor from a passing ship, Ocean Dominion, causes her parents home to vibrate and Coralline to nearly faint.
It is then that we learn that Izar, Vice President of Operations for Ocean Dominion, is obsessed with mining the depths of the ocean. This has caused many hardships, but even he couldn’t have conceived of his merman transformation.
While Izar focus is on transforming back to a human, Coralline is on a quest for the elixir to save her brother who is ill from the Black Poison. In the process, she plunges headfirst into a relationship with both mermen - but which will she choose?
In closing, Faruqi’s beautifully written story is a charming invite into marine biodiversity. The parallel between ecology and the environmental threats occurring is well-detailed. We see all habitats are confronted with challenges, which makes the character interaction, without doubt, engaging.
I received a copy of this book from Deputy Publisher Jessica Case at Pegasus Books and via Marketing Manager, Abeeda Poorna.
Thereafter, we travel back in time to where Coralline recalls first meeting the handsome, merman, Ecklon. She does remember him reaching across the counter to brush back a strand of her hair. And, now 6 months later, he wishes to marry her.
Coralline does agree to marriage and shortly thereafter a tremor from a passing ship, Ocean Dominion, causes her parents home to vibrate and Coralline to nearly faint.
It is then that we learn that Izar, Vice President of Operations for Ocean Dominion, is obsessed with mining the depths of the ocean. This has caused many hardships, but even he couldn’t have conceived of his merman transformation.
While Izar focus is on transforming back to a human, Coralline is on a quest for the elixir to save her brother who is ill from the Black Poison. In the process, she plunges headfirst into a relationship with both mermen - but which will she choose?
In closing, Faruqi’s beautifully written story is a charming invite into marine biodiversity. The parallel between ecology and the environmental threats occurring is well-detailed. We see all habitats are confronted with challenges, which makes the character interaction, without doubt, engaging.
I received a copy of this book from Deputy Publisher Jessica Case at Pegasus Books and via Marketing Manager, Abeeda Poorna.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2019
Thank you to Pegasus Books for my free copy in exchange for an honest review!
If you’re a fan of The Little Mermaid, this one’s for you! THE OYSTER THIEF by Sonia Faruqi is told in two alternating perspectives, one of which focuses on Coralline, a shy mermaid who resides in the Atlantic Ocean and dreams of becoming a healer. The other POV belongs to the character of Izar, a human man who works for Ocean Dominion, a company whose mission is to destroy the merpeople’s idyllic underwater world. Nevertheless, Coralline’s and Izar’s diverging paths unexpectedly collide, and they’re forced to work together on a dangerous quest.
As someone who’s fascinated by anything mermaid-related (I blame Disney), I found this to be a fun and adventurous tale. I think Faruqi did a great job with the world building; everything was meticulously detailed and it was obvious from the start how much care and effort she put into this novel. I personally enjoyed Coralline’s chapters the best—she was a really sweet character and it was so satisfying to track her character development as she slowly gained more confidence and agency. If you enjoy novels that contain elements of fantasy while still being grounded in the real world, then I’d recommend checking out this book.
If you’re a fan of The Little Mermaid, this one’s for you! THE OYSTER THIEF by Sonia Faruqi is told in two alternating perspectives, one of which focuses on Coralline, a shy mermaid who resides in the Atlantic Ocean and dreams of becoming a healer. The other POV belongs to the character of Izar, a human man who works for Ocean Dominion, a company whose mission is to destroy the merpeople’s idyllic underwater world. Nevertheless, Coralline’s and Izar’s diverging paths unexpectedly collide, and they’re forced to work together on a dangerous quest.
As someone who’s fascinated by anything mermaid-related (I blame Disney), I found this to be a fun and adventurous tale. I think Faruqi did a great job with the world building; everything was meticulously detailed and it was obvious from the start how much care and effort she put into this novel. I personally enjoyed Coralline’s chapters the best—she was a really sweet character and it was so satisfying to track her character development as she slowly gained more confidence and agency. If you enjoy novels that contain elements of fantasy while still being grounded in the real world, then I’d recommend checking out this book.
May 17, 2020
OH NO! NO! NO! I am going to step out of the bunch of star ratings I see on Goodreads and ask if we read the same book. What the heck did they see that I didn’t? When I first started reading this book, I thought it was cute with its parody of life above the surface... but as I read, I noticed that it really lost its cuteness and the whole thing was pretty wearing by the end of the book. …
Let me think, murder, sexual assault, burglary… crappy mean people.. above and below the surface. SELFISHNESS everywhere.. what is going on here people? How can this be “beautiful?” What kind of an imagined world is this?
While the conservation message was fine, it was actually the lack of it that grated on me. In the end I did not think that the world under the sea used less resources or was any better than the world above, perhaps different resoures were used.. but maybe not less. Nor were the people (mer or not) any better… in fact, they were worse BECAUSE they were supposed to be better! They were not nicer or more polite… in fact, I can’t think of one nice word exchanged between any of the female characters in the book, including Caroline’s mother.
My question is… If you were going to build a magical world under the sea, with mermen and women, why would you drag all of the ugliness of the human world into it? This only indicates that mermen are no better than humans, right? For example, the idea that in what is presented as a better and more perfect world, rape would be considered… why? Why doesn’t someone who imagines a new world see females in an equal position with males? Or why would you imagine mermen in a perfect undersea world being thugs and committing a break-in and rape?
The main character, Coralline expects to be treated in a lesser way which made her a rather uninspired and flat character and after a while, SHE majorly bored me. She leaves behind her merman almost marriage to fall for Izar, the secrete heir to Ocean Dominion a corporation that is poised to destroy the ocean in an uninspired love affair that was as flat as paper.. I would have said the bottom on the ocean, but that can’t be proven.
All in all… yuck.. yuck.. yuck. I would have tossed it but I needed it for a challenge.. so dragged myself through it… and filed it in the “can’t believe I read this crap” folder.
2 stars
Happy Reading!
Let me think, murder, sexual assault, burglary… crappy mean people.. above and below the surface. SELFISHNESS everywhere.. what is going on here people? How can this be “beautiful?” What kind of an imagined world is this?
While the conservation message was fine, it was actually the lack of it that grated on me. In the end I did not think that the world under the sea used less resources or was any better than the world above, perhaps different resoures were used.. but maybe not less. Nor were the people (mer or not) any better… in fact, they were worse BECAUSE they were supposed to be better! They were not nicer or more polite… in fact, I can’t think of one nice word exchanged between any of the female characters in the book, including Caroline’s mother.
My question is… If you were going to build a magical world under the sea, with mermen and women, why would you drag all of the ugliness of the human world into it? This only indicates that mermen are no better than humans, right? For example, the idea that in what is presented as a better and more perfect world, rape would be considered… why? Why doesn’t someone who imagines a new world see females in an equal position with males? Or why would you imagine mermen in a perfect undersea world being thugs and committing a break-in and rape?
The main character, Coralline expects to be treated in a lesser way which made her a rather uninspired and flat character and after a while, SHE majorly bored me. She leaves behind her merman almost marriage to fall for Izar, the secrete heir to Ocean Dominion a corporation that is poised to destroy the ocean in an uninspired love affair that was as flat as paper.. I would have said the bottom on the ocean, but that can’t be proven.
All in all… yuck.. yuck.. yuck. I would have tossed it but I needed it for a challenge.. so dragged myself through it… and filed it in the “can’t believe I read this crap” folder.
2 stars
Happy Reading!
October 7, 2018
Review originally posted on my blog, ReadingMaria.
I really wanted to like this book more. When I was approached for a review, I jumped at the chance to get out of my reading comfort zone. I think this book had a lot of potential, but it just fell a little short for me. I think some parts were really great and had a lot of suspense, but most of it fell flat. For me, the biggest issue was the disconnect between the altering POVs. One part left us in suspense, and then the next POV starts out at a completely different setting with no mention of the previous suspense until a few more pages have passed…like, boo. I’m usually a fan of switching POVs, but I just wasn’t feeling it for The Oyster Thief.
I think the characters were also a little juvenile. They were supposed to be getting ready for weddings, and saving the underwater world. But I find that they acted like 15 year olds. With that being said, I think the names of the characters were really creative, and I think this part of the novel pulled together nicely. The underwater towns, and even the human world incorporated nicely together.
I do think that mermaids can be a great trend in YA fantasy novels, and The Oyster Thief is the first book I’ve personally seen with mermaids. This book is different, and I believe a younger YA audience will love the story more than I did.
I really wanted to like this book more. When I was approached for a review, I jumped at the chance to get out of my reading comfort zone. I think this book had a lot of potential, but it just fell a little short for me. I think some parts were really great and had a lot of suspense, but most of it fell flat. For me, the biggest issue was the disconnect between the altering POVs. One part left us in suspense, and then the next POV starts out at a completely different setting with no mention of the previous suspense until a few more pages have passed…like, boo. I’m usually a fan of switching POVs, but I just wasn’t feeling it for The Oyster Thief.
I think the characters were also a little juvenile. They were supposed to be getting ready for weddings, and saving the underwater world. But I find that they acted like 15 year olds. With that being said, I think the names of the characters were really creative, and I think this part of the novel pulled together nicely. The underwater towns, and even the human world incorporated nicely together.
I do think that mermaids can be a great trend in YA fantasy novels, and The Oyster Thief is the first book I’ve personally seen with mermaids. This book is different, and I believe a younger YA audience will love the story more than I did.
December 27, 2022
— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Oyster Thief
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Sonia Faruqi
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 16th October 2018
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 1.5/5
The Oyster Thief greets us with alternating perspectives; Coralline, a painfully shy, unconfident but pretty mermaid (already sounds generic, doesn't it? Cough, weak female lead, cough.) And Izar, a wonderfully inventive, typically arrogant, superior human male, who think anyone/thing in the ocean is beneath him - figuratively, and literally. This includes our female lead.
Side note: I realise my description so far is a little passive aggressive, this is because this book lacks any substantially heroic characters that I can truly get behind, but I will try to do better with some neutrality.
Izar and Coralline are symbolised, constantly, throughout the story as fire and water. The glaringly obvious use of symbolics are repeated throughout both monologue and dialogue to such an extent that what should be a pleasant undertone, becomes an eye-roll extracting, banally annoying overtone; fire and water; land and sea; Izar and Coralline, I hope that some readers enjoy the imagery and associations that come hand in hand with such blunt symbols, because it is a nice idea, but for me, I found the execution far too perplexing to be entertained by it.
However, there were some enjoyable quirks, and little gems of creative ingenuity in the world-building and mannerisms:
I found that throughout the story, I would learn something new about the authors underwater world that would keep me going. Coupled with the enigmatic prose, it persuaded me to see if my fictional underwater journey would be worthwhile. As a particularly stubborn reader, I needed closure before I could put the book down, and move on.
Although, overall, I found the plot too messy yet predictable to be of a good standard, the author continually points out the obvious with unnecessary re-descriptions, not leaving enough to the imagination, and definitely not giving the reader any credit.
I found Izar's point of view particularly unenjoyable; it felt like the author worked really hard on making him fundamentally dislikable, his introspection was arrogant and unseemly. As a male lead, he was generically described as if this were a romance novel; he had an overly inflated ego, a harsh monologue, and all his actions were questionable to the point of cruelty. Like in a romance novel, the author tries to turn the reader's point of view of him around after 50% of story completion, but for me was unsuccessful, he was the antagonist, attempted-to-turn protagonist, but still ended up coming across as an antagonising... antagonist. For lack of a more elegant description.
Although I didn't like Izar, I found the portrayal of Coralline utterly disturbing. As a female lead in a new trend of fantasy, I needed her to be strong, heroic, with many redeemable qualities that I could look up to, instead, she was lacking in any kind of substance, the author decides to revert to old-fashioned, damaging, boringly universal descriptions. Here's an example:
WHAT. STARVATION-BRIGHTENED EYES. THE ONLY TIME MY EYES BRIGHTEN WHEN I'M STARVING IS WHEN I'M EATING. I don't glow when I starve myself, and neither will anybody else.
"She had never felt worse, but never looked better?" Please keep this kind of backward thinking in the 90s where it belongs.
The body image portrayal is... well... entirely ignorant, but the character could still have some remedial substance about her, right? Wrong. Coralline's only skill set is healing. Which, by the way, you barely see any of, and when you do, it's either going terribly, or goes well accidentally. There are no female characters in this book that inspire any kind of positivity within me. Otherwise, this book would have scraped a 3.
Thank you to Net Galley for giving me a copy of this ARC in exchange of an honest review.
Side side note: I truly did try not to be passive aggressive, and believe it or not, I did hold myself back, but the annoyance this book has wrought upon me is too spiralling far too much for me to be nice about this novel. Looking back on this review four years later has me realising how much this book triggered me.
🧚🏻♀️
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𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Oyster Thief
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Sonia Faruqi
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 16th October 2018
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 1.5/5
"'Humans are a menace,' Trochid said. 'Our only solace is that they cannot disrupt our lives any more than they already do.'
'Why not?' Coralline asked.
'Because they're fire, and we're water. Fire vaporises water, and water vanquishes fire. The two can never truly meet.'"
The Oyster Thief greets us with alternating perspectives; Coralline, a painfully shy, unconfident but pretty mermaid (already sounds generic, doesn't it? Cough, weak female lead, cough.) And Izar, a wonderfully inventive, typically arrogant, superior human male, who think anyone/thing in the ocean is beneath him - figuratively, and literally. This includes our female lead.
Side note: I realise my description so far is a little passive aggressive, this is because this book lacks any substantially heroic characters that I can truly get behind, but I will try to do better with some neutrality.
Izar and Coralline are symbolised, constantly, throughout the story as fire and water. The glaringly obvious use of symbolics are repeated throughout both monologue and dialogue to such an extent that what should be a pleasant undertone, becomes an eye-roll extracting, banally annoying overtone; fire and water; land and sea; Izar and Coralline, I hope that some readers enjoy the imagery and associations that come hand in hand with such blunt symbols, because it is a nice idea, but for me, I found the execution far too perplexing to be entertained by it.
However, there were some enjoyable quirks, and little gems of creative ingenuity in the world-building and mannerisms:
"Coralline, meanwhile, regularly swam out the window rather than the door, even though her mother often told her that to do so was 'the hallmark of an ill-bred mermaid.'"
"Merpeople told time in two ways, Coralline told him: the hue of the waters and sand-clocks. She pointed out a sand-clock to him on the mantel of Taeiniata. It was an hourglass filled with fine white sand, with twenty-four notches carved onto its lower bulb, one for every hour of the day."
I found that throughout the story, I would learn something new about the authors underwater world that would keep me going. Coupled with the enigmatic prose, it persuaded me to see if my fictional underwater journey would be worthwhile. As a particularly stubborn reader, I needed closure before I could put the book down, and move on.
Although, overall, I found the plot too messy yet predictable to be of a good standard, the author continually points out the obvious with unnecessary re-descriptions, not leaving enough to the imagination, and definitely not giving the reader any credit.
I found Izar's point of view particularly unenjoyable; it felt like the author worked really hard on making him fundamentally dislikable, his introspection was arrogant and unseemly. As a male lead, he was generically described as if this were a romance novel; he had an overly inflated ego, a harsh monologue, and all his actions were questionable to the point of cruelty. Like in a romance novel, the author tries to turn the reader's point of view of him around after 50% of story completion, but for me was unsuccessful, he was the antagonist, attempted-to-turn protagonist, but still ended up coming across as an antagonising... antagonist. For lack of a more elegant description.
Although I didn't like Izar, I found the portrayal of Coralline utterly disturbing. As a female lead in a new trend of fantasy, I needed her to be strong, heroic, with many redeemable qualities that I could look up to, instead, she was lacking in any kind of substance, the author decides to revert to old-fashioned, damaging, boringly universal descriptions. Here's an example:
"Coralline saw why her mother had wished for her to be a waif on her wedding day - with her newly pronounced collarbone, thin shoulders, and starvation-brightened eyes, she looked as dainty and fragile as the rose petal tellin above her beating heart. She had never felt worse, but never looked better."
WHAT. STARVATION-BRIGHTENED EYES. THE ONLY TIME MY EYES BRIGHTEN WHEN I'M STARVING IS WHEN I'M EATING. I don't glow when I starve myself, and neither will anybody else.
"She had never felt worse, but never looked better?" Please keep this kind of backward thinking in the 90s where it belongs.
The body image portrayal is... well... entirely ignorant, but the character could still have some remedial substance about her, right? Wrong. Coralline's only skill set is healing. Which, by the way, you barely see any of, and when you do, it's either going terribly, or goes well accidentally. There are no female characters in this book that inspire any kind of positivity within me. Otherwise, this book would have scraped a 3.
Thank you to Net Galley for giving me a copy of this ARC in exchange of an honest review.
Side side note: I truly did try not to be passive aggressive, and believe it or not, I did hold myself back, but the annoyance this book has wrought upon me is too spiralling far too much for me to be nice about this novel. Looking back on this review four years later has me realising how much this book triggered me.
🧚🏻♀️
♡ my bookstagram • my twitter ♡
↑ follow my socials for more bookish content. ↑
September 20, 2018
Full Review appears at Pop Culture Bandit
Set deep within the Atlantic Ocean and focusing on the complicated relationship between a mermaid and a human, The Oyster Thief naturally invites comparison to The Little Mermaid. Tonally, the novel fits between Han Christian Andersen's dark original incarnation of the fairy tale and Walt Disney's animated musical as our hero character sets off on a quest to rescue her brother from slow, agonising death at the hands of pollution. Much like the Disney classic, author Sonia Faruqi has a marine menagerie of talking animals accompany her mermaid protagonist but rather than telling a “fish out of water” tale, she subverts the traditonal mermaid narrative and has her male hero adopt a “human in the water” role instead. It is a refreshing shake-up, and allows Faruqi to explore the inner-workings of her underwater world where merpeople cure illnesses with algae, investigate murders and adopt animal muses as life-long friends.
The level of world-building on display in this novel is amazing as Faruqi not only creates a living, breathing universe under the sea but she also weaves an intriguing backstory for the lead principals of her novel which unravels as the tale progresses, revealing some shocking connections between characters. With most of the novel taking place underwater, Faruqi faces a challenge in bringing this world to life for the reader – something that her descriptive prose and detailed explanation of the inner-workings of underwater life manage to achieve almost effortlessly. Aside from the odd Google of a specific algae or animal, I was able to envisage the underwater environment very easily which made it all the more enchanting. I also enjoyed the names of the characters (Coralline, Pavonis, Abalone, etc.) which felt authentically nautical, making this fantasy world all the more real.
At the heart of The Oyster Thief lies a love story between man and mermaid – a fractious pairing as these star-crossed lovers come from two completely different worlds that are at odds with each other. Alternating between character POVs, Faruqi establishes dramatic tension as events build to unavoidable tragedy to propels the second act of the novel, seeding plenty of dramatic tension and conflict to blossom towards the finale. As the reader, we are aware of the secrets that will form a wedge between the couple, but at the same time, we witness them unavoidably become attached to each other during their quest. This middle-section of the novel is the most enthralling as Coralline and Izar undergo an odyssey across the ocean to recover a mystical elixir rumoured to cure death. Faruqi does such a great job with her characters here, bringing them together reluctantly and forming an unbreakable bond that fuels the final third of the novel. It is entirely believeable that these two will fall in love, and the adventure is extremely enjoyable and makes the more dramatic elements of the final act all the more nail-biting.
One of my criticisms of the novel comes from the final third, where Faruqi has to unravel the secrets and mystery she has skillfully set up throughout the novel – there are moments where character's have huge unrealistic monologues to fill in every gap in the plot and I feel that there may have been more natural ways to reveal this information. In an effort to ensure that her earlier clues were noticed, it feels that Faruqi overexplains some of the mystery. There were some reveals that I figured out early on due to the heavy-handed nature of some of the clues, so when the exposition came, it felt inorganic. I also had some issues with character's making leaps in logic, particularly in the final few chapters, so some more work on the back-end of the novel would have tightened up some of those inconsistencies. It seems like there was excitement to reveal the secrets and put those final puzzle pieces in place that the book lost some of the measured pace and realism of the earlier half.
While Faruqi deserves heavy praise for her world-building, it is her wonderful character interactions that also ensures that novel doesn't sink beneath the surface. I loved Coralline's group of animal friends that accompanied her and Izar on their quest: Pavonis, a whale shark; Nacre, a sea snail and Alstair, a pregnant male seahorse. Each with unique personalities that suit their species, these creatures provide light relief throughout – much like how Ariel is supported by Flounder, Sebastian and Scuttle. It is these little reflections of The Little Mermaid that make The Oyster Thief, and its underwater world, seem familiar yet completely different as events take darker turns. I would recommend The Oyster Thief as a YA novel for fans of The Little Mermaid who want a more complex and adult take on the genre. That said, it is equally enjoyable for adults who've sat through multiple viewings of the Disney classic!
Surprisingly, since it is a debut novel, The Oyster Thief is rich with confidence thanks to its strong world-building and engaging character work. Sonia Faruqi does a great job at tackling the genre with a fresh voice and creating a story that stands apart from The Little Mermaid. While there are a few missteps towards the end, I found the novel truly enchanting throughout and would definitely recommend it to anyone who ever wanted to be a mermaid, or meet one!
Set deep within the Atlantic Ocean and focusing on the complicated relationship between a mermaid and a human, The Oyster Thief naturally invites comparison to The Little Mermaid. Tonally, the novel fits between Han Christian Andersen's dark original incarnation of the fairy tale and Walt Disney's animated musical as our hero character sets off on a quest to rescue her brother from slow, agonising death at the hands of pollution. Much like the Disney classic, author Sonia Faruqi has a marine menagerie of talking animals accompany her mermaid protagonist but rather than telling a “fish out of water” tale, she subverts the traditonal mermaid narrative and has her male hero adopt a “human in the water” role instead. It is a refreshing shake-up, and allows Faruqi to explore the inner-workings of her underwater world where merpeople cure illnesses with algae, investigate murders and adopt animal muses as life-long friends.
The level of world-building on display in this novel is amazing as Faruqi not only creates a living, breathing universe under the sea but she also weaves an intriguing backstory for the lead principals of her novel which unravels as the tale progresses, revealing some shocking connections between characters. With most of the novel taking place underwater, Faruqi faces a challenge in bringing this world to life for the reader – something that her descriptive prose and detailed explanation of the inner-workings of underwater life manage to achieve almost effortlessly. Aside from the odd Google of a specific algae or animal, I was able to envisage the underwater environment very easily which made it all the more enchanting. I also enjoyed the names of the characters (Coralline, Pavonis, Abalone, etc.) which felt authentically nautical, making this fantasy world all the more real.
At the heart of The Oyster Thief lies a love story between man and mermaid – a fractious pairing as these star-crossed lovers come from two completely different worlds that are at odds with each other. Alternating between character POVs, Faruqi establishes dramatic tension as events build to unavoidable tragedy to propels the second act of the novel, seeding plenty of dramatic tension and conflict to blossom towards the finale. As the reader, we are aware of the secrets that will form a wedge between the couple, but at the same time, we witness them unavoidably become attached to each other during their quest. This middle-section of the novel is the most enthralling as Coralline and Izar undergo an odyssey across the ocean to recover a mystical elixir rumoured to cure death. Faruqi does such a great job with her characters here, bringing them together reluctantly and forming an unbreakable bond that fuels the final third of the novel. It is entirely believeable that these two will fall in love, and the adventure is extremely enjoyable and makes the more dramatic elements of the final act all the more nail-biting.
One of my criticisms of the novel comes from the final third, where Faruqi has to unravel the secrets and mystery she has skillfully set up throughout the novel – there are moments where character's have huge unrealistic monologues to fill in every gap in the plot and I feel that there may have been more natural ways to reveal this information. In an effort to ensure that her earlier clues were noticed, it feels that Faruqi overexplains some of the mystery. There were some reveals that I figured out early on due to the heavy-handed nature of some of the clues, so when the exposition came, it felt inorganic. I also had some issues with character's making leaps in logic, particularly in the final few chapters, so some more work on the back-end of the novel would have tightened up some of those inconsistencies. It seems like there was excitement to reveal the secrets and put those final puzzle pieces in place that the book lost some of the measured pace and realism of the earlier half.
While Faruqi deserves heavy praise for her world-building, it is her wonderful character interactions that also ensures that novel doesn't sink beneath the surface. I loved Coralline's group of animal friends that accompanied her and Izar on their quest: Pavonis, a whale shark; Nacre, a sea snail and Alstair, a pregnant male seahorse. Each with unique personalities that suit their species, these creatures provide light relief throughout – much like how Ariel is supported by Flounder, Sebastian and Scuttle. It is these little reflections of The Little Mermaid that make The Oyster Thief, and its underwater world, seem familiar yet completely different as events take darker turns. I would recommend The Oyster Thief as a YA novel for fans of The Little Mermaid who want a more complex and adult take on the genre. That said, it is equally enjoyable for adults who've sat through multiple viewings of the Disney classic!
Surprisingly, since it is a debut novel, The Oyster Thief is rich with confidence thanks to its strong world-building and engaging character work. Sonia Faruqi does a great job at tackling the genre with a fresh voice and creating a story that stands apart from The Little Mermaid. While there are a few missteps towards the end, I found the novel truly enchanting throughout and would definitely recommend it to anyone who ever wanted to be a mermaid, or meet one!
November 27, 2018
Video Review: https://youtu.be/bB1wokhzzbE
*I received a copy of this book for a free and honest review
*I received a copy of this book for a free and honest review
October 29, 2023
luin tän ysiluokal ja oli tosi hyvä jee
September 30, 2018
The Oyster Thief, written by Sonia Faruqi, is a star-crossed (or, ocean-crossed?) lover-type book, featuring the mermaid Coralline and the human Izar. Coralline’s life isn’t terribly exciting, and while her mother gets annoyed by some of the atypical choices Coralline has made, she has managed to snag the most eligible bachelor. Disaster strikes in the form of an oil spill, and her younger brother becomes deathly ill. Coralline decides to take matters into own hands, and sets off on a quest to find a cure to save her brother. During the quest, she ends up meeting and traveling with Izar, and wonders how much she can trust him.
Whelp, where to start…
This was sloppy, repetitive writing. Each sentence was constructed as if Faruqi was following a grade school “how to construct a proper sentence” lesson, not leaving room for any excitement or action. Each sentence lead into the next, so every page seemed to be akin to, “Suddenly this happened… which resulted in this… then the characters did this…” *Yawn*
Simple concepts were over explained. Faruqi would go on about how a character now understands what had happened… and then proceeded to explain everything in the next paragraph or two, even though the audience was able to pick up all these clues beforehand. It seems like Faruqi doesn’t have faith that her readers are intelligent enough to understand what her book is about.
Nothing was consistent. There were flashbacks throughout the story that kept being brought back up (mentioned in the start, middle, and end of the book), and each time it was mentioned, there was something slightly different about it which changed the whole story! I mean, come on, what really happened? >.>
The whole plot jumped around. It seemed as each new break or new chapter, the characters were somewhere completely new, or doing something completely different. There was no exposition on how they got there, or why. It was just like, oh, ok, guess we are doing this thing now...
There is no character growth or development. The characters make weird assumptions from events that happened, that don’t make much sense at all, and jump to crazy conclusions. I’m assuming (hah, hah… get it… assumptions...) that this is to drive the plot, but it was poorly done. When it WAS shown that the character was misguided, they didn’t seem surprised.
The use of metaphors. Don’t even get me started on the metaphors. Holy crap. See above about the writing tone of a grade school lesson.This is the same. Remember how, as a child, you are told that if you can use a metaphor to help describe something in a cool, different way? It can be true, metaphors do work, just not when they are completely ridiculous, happen every other sentence, don’t make sense, and don’t add anything special to the sentence! Faruqi seemed to need to use a metaphor at least once a page.
**Thanks for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Whelp, where to start…
This was sloppy, repetitive writing. Each sentence was constructed as if Faruqi was following a grade school “how to construct a proper sentence” lesson, not leaving room for any excitement or action. Each sentence lead into the next, so every page seemed to be akin to, “Suddenly this happened… which resulted in this… then the characters did this…” *Yawn*
Simple concepts were over explained. Faruqi would go on about how a character now understands what had happened… and then proceeded to explain everything in the next paragraph or two, even though the audience was able to pick up all these clues beforehand. It seems like Faruqi doesn’t have faith that her readers are intelligent enough to understand what her book is about.
Nothing was consistent. There were flashbacks throughout the story that kept being brought back up (mentioned in the start, middle, and end of the book), and each time it was mentioned, there was something slightly different about it which changed the whole story! I mean, come on, what really happened? >.>
The whole plot jumped around. It seemed as each new break or new chapter, the characters were somewhere completely new, or doing something completely different. There was no exposition on how they got there, or why. It was just like, oh, ok, guess we are doing this thing now...
There is no character growth or development. The characters make weird assumptions from events that happened, that don’t make much sense at all, and jump to crazy conclusions. I’m assuming (hah, hah… get it… assumptions...) that this is to drive the plot, but it was poorly done. When it WAS shown that the character was misguided, they didn’t seem surprised.
The use of metaphors. Don’t even get me started on the metaphors. Holy crap. See above about the writing tone of a grade school lesson.This is the same. Remember how, as a child, you are told that if you can use a metaphor to help describe something in a cool, different way? It can be true, metaphors do work, just not when they are completely ridiculous, happen every other sentence, don’t make sense, and don’t add anything special to the sentence! Faruqi seemed to need to use a metaphor at least once a page.
**Thanks for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
September 23, 2018
What a story! I was enthralled with it from the very beginning, from the first scene in which Coralline must decide whether she will accept the proposal of her suitor, Ecklon.
I loved the love triangle element of the story - I find Ecklon to be a more sympathetic and relatable character than Izar, but Izar is more intriguing. It was tough for me to decide who I was vouching for as I was reading.
Another element that I really liked and that made the oceanic setting feel real was the merpeople language - rose petal tellin, desmarestia, luciferin, algae. It was not a fairy tale type story but a deep and well-imagined and well-researched fantasy. I have also really enjoyed this author's other book, Project Animal Farm. The two books are very different but very good in their own rights. I think Sonia is an amazing and talented writer and I can't wait to read more of her books in the future!
I loved the love triangle element of the story - I find Ecklon to be a more sympathetic and relatable character than Izar, but Izar is more intriguing. It was tough for me to decide who I was vouching for as I was reading.
Another element that I really liked and that made the oceanic setting feel real was the merpeople language - rose petal tellin, desmarestia, luciferin, algae. It was not a fairy tale type story but a deep and well-imagined and well-researched fantasy. I have also really enjoyed this author's other book, Project Animal Farm. The two books are very different but very good in their own rights. I think Sonia is an amazing and talented writer and I can't wait to read more of her books in the future!
October 6, 2018
I am in love with mermaid fiction and will read anything I can get my hands on to do with mermaids, so this was right up my street!
The cover is beautiful and I was very excited by the premise of a mermaid on a mission that doesn't start with her wanting or ending up being human.
Once I delved into the book the major stand-out factor was the world building. Wow! Faruqi has created a world that is tangible and beautiful. I've always thought that this must be the hardest part of creating society in a fantasy world but with all the colourful corals, animals, currents and social constructs, she manages to do this with ease.
The story moves along quickly and you're invested in Corralline and what she wants to achieve.
The ending was perfect and I could have read at least another 100 pages more!
Sonia - please please write some more!
The cover is beautiful and I was very excited by the premise of a mermaid on a mission that doesn't start with her wanting or ending up being human.
Once I delved into the book the major stand-out factor was the world building. Wow! Faruqi has created a world that is tangible and beautiful. I've always thought that this must be the hardest part of creating society in a fantasy world but with all the colourful corals, animals, currents and social constructs, she manages to do this with ease.
The story moves along quickly and you're invested in Corralline and what she wants to achieve.
The ending was perfect and I could have read at least another 100 pages more!
Sonia - please please write some more!
February 10, 2019
‘The Oyster Thief’ is Sonia Faruqi's debut novel concerning the value of marine life, and what could happen if huge corporations violate precious underwater commodities. It's a story spoken through two main characters. Coralline, a young mermaid living in the underwater world of Meristem, who is engaged to be married. Izar Eridan is the son of Antares, head of Ocean Dominion, a corporation that seeks to destroy the ocean’s beloved coral reefs and precious marine life. Coralline has passions in life, yet feels bound to rules and restrictions within her controlling mother. This pull toward normalcy is disrupted as a tragic oil spill, triggered from one of Izar's ships, wreaks havoc in Coralline's world, sickening her younger brother Naiadium. She then goes on an adventure to seek out a legendary elixir to heal him.
Izar, meanwhile, discovers suspicious events leading up to the oil spill disaster. These events seem to lead to the answers of his personal origins. His journey leads to a shocking revelation, yet he abruptly awakens in the ocean as a merman, suffering what he feels is a vicious attack. He then runs into Coralline, and he learns about her quest for the legendary elixir. He then joins Coralline to claim the cure (secretly for himself) in order to restore his human nature.
I deeply enjoyed reading The Oyster Thief. The character development with Coralline was quite significant. She grows from a woman who fears breaking rules due to the opinions of many into a strong person who ventures out to claim what is rightfully hers. She endures quite a change in character, as great obstacles get thrown into her path. Izar goes through quite a change in character himself, as his mindset as a big corporate conglomerate shifts dramatically as his mindset of the underwater world shifts dramatically due to Coralline sharing with him the ways of ocean life.
I also enjoyed reading about the underwater would of Meristem. Sonia Faruqi beautifully wrote about an ocean world that co-existed beautifully with the land of Menkar. Since there were two parallel perspectives throughout the novel, we have a dual viewpoint of Coralline's life of these ocean communities, and Izar's life above ground and his ocean ‘quests'.
It was also quite lovely to read about the relationship between Coralline and Izar. Their origin stories were destined for their paths to never cross: Izar was raised to run Ocean Dominion; and Coralline, a mermaid, represents everything that Izar stands against. It takes Izar’s transformation as a merman, combing the waters with Coralline and her muses (known as bonded sea animals), that opens Izar’s mind to the beauty of ocean life and its inhabitants. As the book progresses, their friendship deepens, creating a love triangle that sends both Coralline and Izar into their own personal conflicts. I will say that the third part of this novel was filled with many emotional scenes, as Coralline and Izar’s quests lead to their dramatic conclusions.
Sonia Faruqi wrote a very captivating debut novel, and I look forward to reading more tales from her in the future.
**Trigger warning: 'The Oyster Thief' contains a scene describing sexual assault.**
Izar, meanwhile, discovers suspicious events leading up to the oil spill disaster. These events seem to lead to the answers of his personal origins. His journey leads to a shocking revelation, yet he abruptly awakens in the ocean as a merman, suffering what he feels is a vicious attack. He then runs into Coralline, and he learns about her quest for the legendary elixir. He then joins Coralline to claim the cure (secretly for himself) in order to restore his human nature.
I deeply enjoyed reading The Oyster Thief. The character development with Coralline was quite significant. She grows from a woman who fears breaking rules due to the opinions of many into a strong person who ventures out to claim what is rightfully hers. She endures quite a change in character, as great obstacles get thrown into her path. Izar goes through quite a change in character himself, as his mindset as a big corporate conglomerate shifts dramatically as his mindset of the underwater world shifts dramatically due to Coralline sharing with him the ways of ocean life.
I also enjoyed reading about the underwater would of Meristem. Sonia Faruqi beautifully wrote about an ocean world that co-existed beautifully with the land of Menkar. Since there were two parallel perspectives throughout the novel, we have a dual viewpoint of Coralline's life of these ocean communities, and Izar's life above ground and his ocean ‘quests'.
It was also quite lovely to read about the relationship between Coralline and Izar. Their origin stories were destined for their paths to never cross: Izar was raised to run Ocean Dominion; and Coralline, a mermaid, represents everything that Izar stands against. It takes Izar’s transformation as a merman, combing the waters with Coralline and her muses (known as bonded sea animals), that opens Izar’s mind to the beauty of ocean life and its inhabitants. As the book progresses, their friendship deepens, creating a love triangle that sends both Coralline and Izar into their own personal conflicts. I will say that the third part of this novel was filled with many emotional scenes, as Coralline and Izar’s quests lead to their dramatic conclusions.
Sonia Faruqi wrote a very captivating debut novel, and I look forward to reading more tales from her in the future.
**Trigger warning: 'The Oyster Thief' contains a scene describing sexual assault.**
July 11, 2024
(UPDATE 01/26/2020): After reading this book a second time, I find some thoughts have mellowed and changed, and so I think it's appropriate to give an amendment to my review. I'll keep the original, though, which I invite you to read at your leisure. It's rather funny and accurate, if I do say so myself (although much too snarky, and for that I apologize to Sonia Faruqi).
My original rating was three stars, but after re-reading this novel, it's warmed to four. The Oyster Thief, despite its problems, truly is an engaging and entertaining story. It's colorful, well-researched, and sweeping, and its quirks (like redundancy and oddly alliterative names) are somehow endearing. If you're looking for a good mermaid fiction novel, this is a solid choice. But I do still stand by my original statement that its non-fiction voice renders the characters too flat and one-dimensional. I was helped this second time by imagining the reactions and speech halts that I think the characters should have given, and this might help you, too. The ending leaves the door open for a sequel, and while I don't believe one will come, I would still read it if it did. So, could there have been improvements to the storytelling of The Oyster Thief? Yes. Of course. But I appreciate the scientific research much more now than I did my first time reading it, and I must admit that its main characters do travel an arc within its pages. I was inspired the first time I read this book, and I still am, and I'm truly glad that Sonia Faruqi had such a great time crafting and writing it. You should enjoy what you write, even if no one else does.
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(ORIGINAL REVIEW 01/20/2019):
You might think, what with my three-star rating and the critiques I'm about to level, that I hated The Oyster Thief. But that would be untrue. I can't hate a tale about a human-turned-merman aiding a mermaid on a magical quest; that would be stupid. It's just that Sonia Faruqi wasn't the person to tell it.
I love fiction because it tells stories about people - flawed and damaged, but human. Good fiction brings characters - through their brokenness and their quests for redemption - alive. Good fiction gives characters souls. That, to be succinct, is the fatal flaw of The Oyster Thief: Izar and Coralline don't have souls. Sure, I know a lot of things about them, but I don't know them - because every experience - life-threatening or otherwise - every interaction between them is absorbed with frustrating apathy - and then never discussed. That is due to the way this novel was written.
This book does a lot of telling. Sonia Faruqi tells you everything, but she shows you hardly anything. Her only other book is non-fiction, and in The Oyster Thief (which is fiction), that (no pun intended) shows. The saddest part is that what she tells you - what she describes in unnecessary detail - is boring. You'd like some internal struggles? Some moral dilemmas? Some reflection on who Coralline and Izar are or how their choices and secrets might hurt or harm the other? Well...you're not getting that. Have a technical paragraph on why sharks can't stop swimming instead.
Everything is delivered – and received – with hardly any emotion: the awkward, the dramatic, the revealing, the romantic, the suspenseful, and the serious. You noticed something important? Well, you’re the only one who did.
Coralline: I found you suspended between seabed and surface! Who are you?
Izar: I’m a human, but I’ve been transformed into a merman. I think I was…dead?
Coralline: Oh. ...Wanna come with us on an adventure?
Izar: Yeah, alright.
(May I also note that Izar doesn't become a merman until page 130 in this 330 page novel? If I had to read the word "borehole" one more time, I swear...)
It's pretty disappointing. Everything was described and explained in long, boring, technical paragraphs, but nothing was ever felt. I never got the sense that these two felt anything, that they had any interest (romantic or platonic) in the other at all. It's surprising, really, that they fell in love: they have about as much sexual chemistry as corpses.
Izar: I kissed you.
Coralline: Yes, I know. I kissed you back.
Izar: You wanna…talk about that?
Coralline: Nah, I thought we could ignore it for the next one-hundred pages, then perhaps each briefly reflect on it privately without discussing the moment with each other.
Izar: Sweet, sounds aces.
(Ugh.)
Izar and Coralline never read like real people because I was told so many facts about them (their jobs, their families, their significant others) - always, though, in a monotonous, objective, mechanical way, as if I were reading their biographies. As far as characters go, they were rather wooden. We never saw what made them tick. We never really got to see them shine.
Ah, yes, character development! The other tragic, tragic flaw. It's...not a good thing when characters sound exactly the same at the end of the novel as they did in the beginning - and everyone in Meristem (or Menkar, to be fair) sounds exactly the same. No one evolves. Not a single character emotionally develops over the course of this novel. Coralline is still easily persuaded by everything in the sea (I can't tell you how many times I wished she'd tell those sea creatures to shut up and let her do what she thought best); Izar is still gullible (and, you know, he wasn't given much time to adjust to the emotional hurricane he was thrown into - I think the poor guy needs a mertherapist); Abalone is still a verbally abusive mother and superficial mermaid, and so on... Some characters claim they've changed, and I guess we'll have to take their word for it because, uh, it doesn't really look that way to me.
Meristem is epic (although I wish more time had been spent exploring it and less time spent analyzing the molecular structure of its various algae), and this premise is epic, but it's frustrating to be told so much. It's frustrating to be told what everyone is doing, but not being allowed to relate with them or feel with them. It's frustrating to have dialogue scattered across pages like breadcrumbs. It's frustrating to be told, like a child, how everything is fitting together, when I can deduce it all on my own because I have a black belt in literary analysis, thank you very much. WITH ALL OF THAT, I actually do not hate The Oyster Thief. In fact, I'm applying for a visa to Meristem as soon as I finish this review. It's just that this tale (ha) would have been much more enjoyable if it had been written as fiction, and not as an oceanography textbook that cardboard characters accidentally swam their way into.
My original rating was three stars, but after re-reading this novel, it's warmed to four. The Oyster Thief, despite its problems, truly is an engaging and entertaining story. It's colorful, well-researched, and sweeping, and its quirks (like redundancy and oddly alliterative names) are somehow endearing. If you're looking for a good mermaid fiction novel, this is a solid choice. But I do still stand by my original statement that its non-fiction voice renders the characters too flat and one-dimensional. I was helped this second time by imagining the reactions and speech halts that I think the characters should have given, and this might help you, too. The ending leaves the door open for a sequel, and while I don't believe one will come, I would still read it if it did. So, could there have been improvements to the storytelling of The Oyster Thief? Yes. Of course. But I appreciate the scientific research much more now than I did my first time reading it, and I must admit that its main characters do travel an arc within its pages. I was inspired the first time I read this book, and I still am, and I'm truly glad that Sonia Faruqi had such a great time crafting and writing it. You should enjoy what you write, even if no one else does.
-------------------------------------------------------
(ORIGINAL REVIEW 01/20/2019):
You might think, what with my three-star rating and the critiques I'm about to level, that I hated The Oyster Thief. But that would be untrue. I can't hate a tale about a human-turned-merman aiding a mermaid on a magical quest; that would be stupid. It's just that Sonia Faruqi wasn't the person to tell it.
I love fiction because it tells stories about people - flawed and damaged, but human. Good fiction brings characters - through their brokenness and their quests for redemption - alive. Good fiction gives characters souls. That, to be succinct, is the fatal flaw of The Oyster Thief: Izar and Coralline don't have souls. Sure, I know a lot of things about them, but I don't know them - because every experience - life-threatening or otherwise - every interaction between them is absorbed with frustrating apathy - and then never discussed. That is due to the way this novel was written.
This book does a lot of telling. Sonia Faruqi tells you everything, but she shows you hardly anything. Her only other book is non-fiction, and in The Oyster Thief (which is fiction), that (no pun intended) shows. The saddest part is that what she tells you - what she describes in unnecessary detail - is boring. You'd like some internal struggles? Some moral dilemmas? Some reflection on who Coralline and Izar are or how their choices and secrets might hurt or harm the other? Well...you're not getting that. Have a technical paragraph on why sharks can't stop swimming instead.
Everything is delivered – and received – with hardly any emotion: the awkward, the dramatic, the revealing, the romantic, the suspenseful, and the serious. You noticed something important? Well, you’re the only one who did.
Coralline: I found you suspended between seabed and surface! Who are you?
Izar: I’m a human, but I’ve been transformed into a merman. I think I was…dead?
Coralline: Oh. ...Wanna come with us on an adventure?
Izar: Yeah, alright.
(May I also note that Izar doesn't become a merman until page 130 in this 330 page novel? If I had to read the word "borehole" one more time, I swear...)
It's pretty disappointing. Everything was described and explained in long, boring, technical paragraphs, but nothing was ever felt. I never got the sense that these two felt anything, that they had any interest (romantic or platonic) in the other at all. It's surprising, really, that they fell in love: they have about as much sexual chemistry as corpses.
Izar: I kissed you.
Coralline: Yes, I know. I kissed you back.
Izar: You wanna…talk about that?
Coralline: Nah, I thought we could ignore it for the next one-hundred pages, then perhaps each briefly reflect on it privately without discussing the moment with each other.
Izar: Sweet, sounds aces.
(Ugh.)
Izar and Coralline never read like real people because I was told so many facts about them (their jobs, their families, their significant others) - always, though, in a monotonous, objective, mechanical way, as if I were reading their biographies. As far as characters go, they were rather wooden. We never saw what made them tick. We never really got to see them shine.
Ah, yes, character development! The other tragic, tragic flaw. It's...not a good thing when characters sound exactly the same at the end of the novel as they did in the beginning - and everyone in Meristem (or Menkar, to be fair) sounds exactly the same. No one evolves. Not a single character emotionally develops over the course of this novel. Coralline is still easily persuaded by everything in the sea (I can't tell you how many times I wished she'd tell those sea creatures to shut up and let her do what she thought best); Izar is still gullible (and, you know, he wasn't given much time to adjust to the emotional hurricane he was thrown into - I think the poor guy needs a mertherapist); Abalone is still a verbally abusive mother and superficial mermaid, and so on... Some characters claim they've changed, and I guess we'll have to take their word for it because, uh, it doesn't really look that way to me.
Meristem is epic (although I wish more time had been spent exploring it and less time spent analyzing the molecular structure of its various algae), and this premise is epic, but it's frustrating to be told so much. It's frustrating to be told what everyone is doing, but not being allowed to relate with them or feel with them. It's frustrating to have dialogue scattered across pages like breadcrumbs. It's frustrating to be told, like a child, how everything is fitting together, when I can deduce it all on my own because I have a black belt in literary analysis, thank you very much. WITH ALL OF THAT, I actually do not hate The Oyster Thief. In fact, I'm applying for a visa to Meristem as soon as I finish this review. It's just that this tale (ha) would have been much more enjoyable if it had been written as fiction, and not as an oceanography textbook that cardboard characters accidentally swam their way into.
January 14, 2019
Poorly written, repetitive, obvious plot and full of painfully naive, one-dimensional characters. Very surprised that this book is being marketed as an adult novel. Wouldn't recommend it for younger readers either, given its reinforcement of the stereotypes of women as weak, vicious towards each other, in need of rescue by men and at their most beautiful when painfully thin and waif-like.
July 14, 2020
3.5
So unique!
So unique!
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