Deep Blue

As my stack of books grows, my day job continues to cut into my reading. *Sigh*. Onwards, friends into the Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly, author of one of my all time favorites A Northern Light. In this tail, get it- tail- Serafina is about to complete her Dokimi ceremony and commit to a life with Prince Mahdi. She is the heir to the throne of Miromara an undersea kingdom. Oh, did I forget to mention, she is a mermaid? Sera isn't sure she is ready to rule, let alone get married to a boy she hasn't talked to in years. And the rumors about him are disturbing. He has an earring! He goes out shoaling! He hangs out in the Lagoon in Venice! All this will soon be irrelevant as her kingdom is attacked. Her mother is mortally wounded, her father is killed and she has to flee with her best friend Neela. As they escape the death riders, she and Neela realize they have been having the same dream and are being called by the mythical witches to come and help kill the evil Abbadon. If Abbadon is allowed to escape, all the seas and the creatures in it will be destroyed. Along they way they meet up with the other four mermaids who were in the dreams and they find their way to Baba Vraja, who knows the truth of the six girls' identities. Whew. Don't worry, there is a cute merman named Blu who helps Sera along the way, his identity is a mystery- but I have my suspicions. But this isn't a romance novel. It is about girl power- or in this case, mermaid power. The girls find that they are stronger together and only through teamwork will they be able to defeat the big bad. This one took a few pages to connect to. There is a whole new vocabulary to being under the sea. Once you get used to that, this is a roller coaster! Non- stop action with a cliffhanger ending. I predict many more tails - get it again? to come. So dive in to the Water Fire Saga with both fins and hang on to a passing Mako- it's a wild ride. Happy reading my friends!