Book Review : Lucy (Daughters of the Sea, #3) by Kathryn Lasky

Lucy (Daughters of the Sea, #3) by Kathryn Lasky

 Hardcover, 320 pages

Published March 1st 2012 by Scholastic Inc. 

Available on Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Synopsis

A choice between love and survival . . .Lucy's family is excited to spend the summer in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her minister father is pleased to preside over such a prestigious congregation, and his social-climbing wife is ecstatic at the chance to find a rich husband for her daughter.Yet Lucy wants nothing to do with the Bar Harbor social scene; she's simply excited to spend the summer by the sea, watching the waves from her favorite spot on the cliff. Despite having never gone swimming, Lucy feels an intense connection to the ocean, and meets a handsome ship-builder who shows Lucy a world she's never known, yet somehow always longed for.However, her mother will stop at nothing to keep Lucy and the ship builder apart, even if it means throwing Lucy into the arms of a wealthy man with a dangerous secret. Can Lucy break free and embrace her destiny as a daughter of the sea? Or is she doomed to waste away in a gilded cage, slowly dying of a broken heart?

 Review

Lucy is a continuation of the Daughters of The Sea series, but as with the second book, it starts with Lucy's story before Hannah and May eventually get pulled within as well. Lucy is a girl with artistic talents and have a great fascination with the sea - much like her two mer-sisters. Her father is a  minister, and her mother is a vain, snobbish woman whose ultimate goal is to find Lucy the perfect husband. However, Lucy falls for someone else instead - someone who has no social standing, yet shares her love for the sea.

I have mixed feelings for this book. I started reading this with much anticipation, as I hoped things will finally be resolved, whether or not the sisters decide to live on land or in the sea. It started out fine - with Kathryn Lasky's trademark smooth, dreamy writing style, and I was excited to fine out more about Lucy.

However, towards the end of the story, Lasky inserted a plot twist which I totally didn't see coming, but it was rather silly. I mean, the motives were too shallow, and I couldn't see the point behind all the drama and fuss. And the story of the three sisters were never given a decent ending. It just ended. Randomly. I'm wondering if this is one of the author's habits? Leaving readers hanging on a cliffhanger at the end of a book (first / second in a trilogy) is a good thing, but ending your last book just like that? Without any conclusion or further explanation? That's just plain weird.

  

Overall, Lucy is a fairly decent book, though I personally thought that it should have been better. I wished to see the respective conclusions for the sisters' star-crossed romance. Will they forsake their love to embrace their true self or sacrifice their special bond with the sea to unite with their loved ones? And how will Lucy's story end? Curiouser and curiouser!

Rating:

Note of Thanks

A huge THANK YOU to Stephanie from Scholastic Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia for providing this review copy!

About The Author
 

Kathryn Lasky is the American author of many critically acclaimed books, including several Dear America books, several Royal Diaries books, 1984 Newbery Honor winning Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her latest book, Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember, was released on November 1, 2008. Guardians of Gahoole: A guide to the Great Tree was released on September 1st, almost a month before projected selling time. She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Book Review : May (Daughters of the Sea, #2) by Kathryn Lasky

May (Daughters of the Sea, #2) by Kathryn Lasky

Hardcover, 310 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Scholastic Inc. 

Available on Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Synopsis

The second book in bestselling author Kathryn Lasky's stunning foray into paranormal romance.

May feels her life drying up. The sea calls to her, but her parents forbid her from swimming. She longs for books, but her mother finds her passion for learning strange. She yearns for independence, but a persistent suitor, Rudd, wants to tame her spirited ways.

Yet after her fifteenth birthday, the urge to break free becomes overpowering and May makes a life-changing discovery. She does not belong on land where girls are meant to be obedient. She is a mermaid--a creature of the sea.

Review

May Plum has been constricted within the confines of the Egg Rock Lighthouse ever since she was born. Her father Edgar "Gar" Plum is a nice man who loves her dearly, but her mother Hepzibah "Zeebah" Plum is the exact opposite. Zeebah suffers from an illness - not only of the body but also of the mind. She is constantly complaining about her illness and always orders May around like a servant because she used to be ordered around by her sick mother and grandmother back when they were alive. Vicious cycle, if you ask me.

May's relationship with Hugh Fitzsimmons, the Harvard student who studies astrology is rather believable, and their observing the constellations together is rather romantic - I can almost imagine the background music starting to play. On the other hand, I find Rudd, the local boy who is obsessive about controlling May and getting his slimy hands on her repulsive. Ugh.

Hannah's story, which was left dangling in the first book, is continued somewhere in the middle of May's, where the sisters finally meet each other and marvel at their resemblance to each other. The plot of this book is so much better than Hannah, and the various elements of this story seems to fit each other perfectly. Overall, it was quite a lovely, charming story. Hopefully the third book will be even better than this one!

Rating:

Note of Thanks

A huge THANK YOU to Stephanie from Scholastic Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia for providing this review copy!

About The Author

Kathryn Lasky is the American author of many critically acclaimed books, including several Dear America books, several Royal Diaries books, 1984 Newbery Honor winning Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her latest book, Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember, was released on November 1, 2008. Guardians of Gahoole: A guide to the Great Tree was released on September 1st, almost a month before projected selling time. She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Book Review : Hannah (Daughters of the Sea, #1) by Kathryn Lasky

Hannah (Daughters of the Sea, #1) by Kathryn Lasky

Hardcover, 310 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Scholastic Inc. 

Available on Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Synopsis

Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah realizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea.

Review

Hannah is an orphan who was sent to work at the Hawley’s residence as a scullery girl. She felt an unusual bond to the sea, and her feelings were intensified when she went to the Hawley’s summer cottage to prepare the family’s arrival, for it is near the sea. 

The story has its charm, but there is not much suspense in the plot. For a plotwise reader like me, there isn’t much to discover, and I felt slightly disappointed by this notion. The storytelling has a faraway tone to it – it’s boundless, expressive and charming. One thing that I can tell you for sure is that the author did a great job in detailing the Hawley’s eldest daughter – Lila’s madness. She and her cat, Jade make a crazy and somewhat bizzare couple. 

My favourite character in the book would be Harietta “Ettie” Hawley, for she is a likeable young girl who is both free-spirited and lacking of the arrogance usually present in young ladies from noble families. She treats Hannah like a sister, and she even takes Hannah’s side when Lila is against the scullery girl. Ettie reminds me of a dolphin – kind and gentle, but still playful. 

I really love how the author incorporates elements of fantasy in a story set in a real world. Perhaps I would enjoy this book better if it was not ended so abruptly. But still, I realize that this book is only the first in the series, so I would expect a good explanation for this perplexed ending in the second book in the series, May. 

Rating:  

Note of Thanks

A huge THANK YOU to Stephanie from Scholastic Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia for providing this review copy!

About The Author

Kathryn Lasky is the American author of many critically acclaimed books, including several Dear America books, several Royal Diaries books, 1984 Newbery Honor winning Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her latest book, Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember, was released on November 1, 2008. Guardians of Gahoole: A guide to the Great Tree was released on September 1st, almost a month before projected selling time. She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Book Review : Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061914657
• ISBN-13: 978-0061914652

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.


Forgive My Fins is absolutely lovely! The story reminds me of The Little Mermaid, which I loved dearly. This book is about Lily Sanderson, a high school girl whose real identity is a mermaid --- a princess of the kingdom of Thalassinia, in fact. She has secretly admired Brody Bennett for a long time, but never had the courage to profess her love to him.

Quince Fletcher, her neighbour is a bad boy who always torment Lily for fun. But I knew it from the beginning that he did those things to hide the fact that he actually harboured a secret liking for Lily.

According to the rules of Thalassinia, Lily has to be bonded before she turns 18 so that she can be the next ruler of her kingdom. In vain, she accepts Quince help so that she can kiss Brody Bennett and be bonded in time. But, everything goes wrong when the whole situation turns the other way round. Lily is mad, and she tries her best in order to undo the "harm" that has already been done.

Forgive My Fins is cute in a way that will make readers smile in delight. The story is well-written and the plot is good, though predictable. The beauty of the sea is described flawlessly within the pages of this book.

Among all the characters, I like Quince the most. Quince is the one who consoles Lily when she is sad and loves her with all his heart. He is cute, good-looking, mischevious, perky and caring. He makes Lily realizes that true love is not the same as day-dreams, fantasies and magic.

"I don't believe it,' Quince says with absolute certainty. ' I don't believe anything magical can make someone more in love.' He looks me right in the eye as he says, 'Love is already the strongest magic in the world."

I can feel his desperate feeling when the person he loves does not feel the same for him.

"Oh, Lily," He says shaking his head. "I know about love. About wanting and dreaming and wishing with every part of your soul. I know enough to recognize the parts that are real and the parts that are only in my fantasy."

He turns his head slightly to face me, and I find myself saying,"L-like what?"

"Like when she cries and my heart tears in to little shreds, and all I can think of is making her forget the source of her sadness." His face is blank, emotionless. his words -and the underlying emotion bombarding me through the bond- more than make up for it. "That's real." My voice is barely a whisper when I ask, "And fantasy?"

"Believing she'll ever feel the same way."

Compared to Quince, who is passionate and true to his feelings, Lily is a coward. She is not willing to admit that her love for Brody is only an image. She does not love Brody but rather the feeling of being in love with him. However, she changes in the end because she finally realizes the true meaning of love.

I love reading Forgive My Fins! It is the perfect summer read! I'm anticipating the sequel to this book, if Tera ever decides to write one. [Please do, Tera!]

Rating:

Thanks to Tera Lynn Childs for sending me a copy of Forgive My Fins. Thank you so much, Tera!

Tera Lynn Childs is the award-winning author of the mythology-based Oh. My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp, the mermaid tales Forgive My Fins and Fins Are Forever (coming June 28, 2011) and a new trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa (Fall 2011). Tera lives nowhere in particular and has spent time fleeing hurricanes, making character profiles on MySpace, blogging on her own and with the Buzz Girls, and writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

Get your own copy of Forgive My Fins at Amazon / The Book Depository