ARC Review: Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

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Book summary: 

Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.
When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.

          With tons of paranormal creatures in YA lit and me enjoying more or less all of them it's really crazy that I haven't enjoyed a good mermaid book ever since The Little Mermaid and I think and I was like five then. Somehow they are always missing something or mermaids in general annoy me with all the singing and beauty show. Anyhow I hoped that Deep Blue will be something that will connect me with this world, but sadly it did not.

           We are in depths of Mediterranean Sea, setting yet familiar and still so strange to me. Serafina is preparing for a big day in her life. It's time for her betrothal and it means her destiny and everything she is preparing for is coming to life. She will once inherit the kingdom and rule and there is also her future husband Prince Mahid, who is not the same he used to be. But night before, she has a weird dream which seemed so real and like with Shakespeare dreams are never good omens so they are not here either. Serafina discovers that not only political intrigues are what threatens people of the sea but something much bigger and stronger.

          What impressed me the most in this book is world-building which was really detailed and even at time confusing as the author really used the imagination and created not only world but also slang to make it even more real. But sadly her characters aren't of that sort. Serafina is typical YA character who is at the same time strong and brave and impulsive and a drama queen. But my bigger problem here was Sera's best friend Neela who is one of those flat characters and I knew her reactions before I even read them and the problem is I don't like that silly type of people nor characters. Other thing is lack of romance in this book which really bothered me.

        All in all, I don't think this was the right Jennifer Donnelly's book to start with as I have heard amazing things about her other books but I guess mermaid books and I aren't meant to be.

Rating: 3 stars.

Until the next time,

Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher Disney via Net Galley. Thank you!