Forgive My Fins (Fins #1)

Review Found At: literarychaos.com

One of the first things I noticed about this book is that it felt very young. Even for Young Adult fiction it just seemed very juvenile. I wouldn't go as far as to say the novel feels middle grade, but I can comfortably say that this book seems to be written for a younger YA reader, say 13 to 15. I think that this is one of the reasons that I had such a hard time connecting with the characters and the storyline.

My main issue with this book is the main character, Lily. Disliking the main character is nothing new for me, but I can usually find some redeeming quality about them. With Lily, however, I just couldn't find anything to like about her. Her character was childish, shallow, immature, and just plain clueless throughout the entire book. If I hadn't known better I would have thought that she was much younger than seventeen. It felt as if she was trying to blame all her problems on those around her rather than doing anything about it.

Then there was her obsession with Brody, the would-be love interest. Her thought process when it came to Brody was nauseating. It seemed like the author wanted her to look like she was pining for an unrequited crush, but it felt more like she was delusional and borderline unstable. The only real saving grace to this book was Quince. His character was witty, patient, and charming in an unconventional way. He was rough around the edges but he really had a heart of gold, I don't know many people who could have put up with Lily the way he did.

From a plot standpoint, this book wasn't the most revolutionary; I was able to figure out the plotline pretty early on in the book and wasn't able to really immerse myself in the story. I did findThalassinia to be an intriguing and did enjoy learning about the mer society. While this book was not one of my favorites it was a cute read that I could see a younger reader loving it.

I liked this way more than I thought I would. I haven't really read a lot of mermaid books so I didn't really know what to expect, but it was fantastic!

I spent a good bit of the book trying to figure out whether I like Lily's obsession with fish terminology or not, but in the end it only added to her character. I really like Lily for the most part, but my one big gripe is how absolutely blind she is to everything around her.On the one hand, this was incredibly annoying to read, but on the other hand, I can kind of see it. Remember those crushes you pined for and thought you were in love with? Yeah, it happened to most of us so I'll let it slide for Lily. I, for one, didn't see the charm in Brody whatsoever but Lily was simply blinded by her crush obsession.

Quince was seriously awesome. I don't think I've ever liked a "bad boy" character as much as I liked him. Quince had depth! How often does it happen that the boy has depth, especially the bad boy? And when Lily continued to be a big fat jerk to him even though there were times he actually helped her out, I just wanted to hug him.

The descriptions were pretty good too. I loved all the mer-building and technology descriptions. It was nice to hear realistic descriptions of things like houses and the whole clothes situation as compared to The Little Mermaid type stuff. Also, the powers were a cool little touch even if they didn't really get to be used that much. It reminded me of the Australian show H2O: Just Add Water which I was obsessed with a while ago. One thing I really could have done without though, was the epilogue. Sure, it promises a sequel, but it just kind of ruined the moment for me.

Final thoughts: If you're looking for a romance with a splash ( ;]) this should definitely be your pick. The characters were good and the exploration of the merworld was really fun. This is a really cute read with the addition of awesome mermaid stuff.

ISBN: 9780061914669
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 293

Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenager, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily Sanderson, there's no such thing as a simple crush. Especially when your crush is gorgeous (and 100% human) Brody Bennett.
The problem is mermaids aren't the casual dating type - the instant they kiss someone, they "bond" with them for life. When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to an enormous case of mistaken identity, she finds herself facing a tidal wave of relationship drama.

I loved every moment of reading Forgive My Fins! From beginning to end it was quirky, fun and light-hearted. I thoroughly enjoyed Lily's underwater quips and references. My favourite characters were Lily, Shannen and Peri. Shannen and Peri were my favourite characters for many of the same reasons, they both care a great deal about Lily despite each only knowing her for one half of her life, (Peri for her life under the sea and Shannen for her life above it, on land). Lily was my favourite character because of her quirky personality, loyalty and slightly cheesy fishy remarks.Despite Forgive My Fins being about a mermaid, I didn't feel it was too cliché at all, I enjoyed the perfectly balanced mix of chick-lit and paranormal.
I love the whole jacket of this book! The blue under the sea themed cover image alone is amazing but the cute "doodled" shells and bubbles make the whole book jacket even more magical.

Available at Amazon.co.uk.

Looking at the cover and the puny title, I was not sure if I was going to like this. I'm glad I gave it a chance. Lily is a mermaid who is in love with a human boy, Brody. To bad she kisses Quince, thinking hes Brody and the kiss begins to turn him mer.Bonded with Quince, lily trys to talk her daddy, the king into severing the bond. He father decideds to give her time to see if she wouldn't just want to stay with Quince and forget Brody.

This book is filled with fish slang and a mordern underwater kingdom. It will leave you smiling.

This book was super cute. It was a nice beach read honestly. And I think I did read it on the beach when I first got it. I liked the fact that Tera wrote a mermaid book. Mermaids are something that I hope that actually catch on in YAL books because unlike vampires they don't suck out your blood and they sort of bring memories back to my long ago childhood where I forced my mom to let me watch The Little Mermaid on a daily basis and even had a Little Mermaid themed birthday party. Enough about that though, back to the review. Mermaids....to say the least the use of mermaids was charming. I especially liked how the fact that Lily was a mermaid but it wasn't what the entire book was about. It was more about Lily growing as a person and finding herself. I know that sounds cliche but it's really not. Lily's the type of character whose head you really want to get into. And girlfriend has a lot of issues to say the least which made the read even more exciting.

I just finished Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs, and can I say amazing!!?! The book was humorous, witty, and everything you want in a love story. I couldn't put this book down. I started it Saturday and read it all day today.
I love Quince, he was witty, hilarious, and the boy every girl should fall for. Except for the peeping Tom issue he has... He always kept Lily on her toes when he was around and brought out the hidden person in her. Lily, of course, had some issues with him. He tormented her all the time for the three years that she was on land.
Lily, on the other hand I had some issues with. I get it, your first love, all i you want is for that "perfect" guy to notice you. Love makes you blind, and that's exactly what it did to Lily. She didn't notice Quince at all, except when he was tormenting her. The constant Brody obsession going on in Lily's mind and her life was a little annoying but all in all an amazing book!!

I even painted my toes a nice Sea Greenish Blue in honor of the book! I cannot wait to see where the mysterious epilogue takes us in the next book Fins are Forever coming June 28th! Save the date!!
- Sam

Reader reviewed by iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books

Reader reviewed by The Bookshelf Sophisticate

I just have to say that without a doubt that I'm a very big fan of Tera Lynn Childs' writing. I believe it's possible to be a one-hit wonder in the writing world just like it is everywhere else, but Childs is in no danger of falling into this category. After reading her Oh.My.Gods. series, I was hoping for the same fun, light reads that I had come to expect from Childs, and I was not disappointed with Forgive My Fins. I think I've found a new series that I'll be following in the future with a lot of anticipation.

We are introduced to Lily, our half human, half mermaid main character and I think a lot of readers will be joining her fan club after getting to know her. She's very easy to sympathize with and relate to. Although I can't claim to be a mermaid (even though Ariel and The Little Mermaid had me daydreaming as a little kid) I think most girls have had their share of crushes growing up. And Lily shows this in spades. As Lily pines for Brody Bennett (the swim god at her high school) I think every reader will be walking on egg shells right along with Lily as she tries to get up the courage to confess her love to the boy in question. And if that wasn't enough to stress her out, Childs decided to throw another wrench into her plans.

This wrench I was talking about happens to go by the name Quince and lives right next door to Lily. He's tall, well built, knows his way around a motorcycle (major cool points there), has blonde hair and blue eyes the color of the Caribbean. Can you tell I'm drooling over here? While Lily might find his teasing and constant meddling in her personal life irritating, I'm saying I'll take him off her hands if she doesn't want him! But I digress, because the fun didn't stop there, it was only just the beginning.
With just one kiss Lily's world is thrown upside down and in order to fix and figure things out she just might have to spend a little time with Quince and *gasp* get to know him a little better. Can you imagine the horror? Will she survive the torture? Will she finally find the courage to confess her feelings to Brody, or will she discover that just because you get what you want doesn't always mean that it's what you need or could it be that you might not have realized what you really wanted when it was staring you right in the face. Enter Childs' world and enjoy the ride!