Review Detail

I loved Disney's The Little Mermaid, but I'll admit that I've avoided reading YA mermaid books until now. Mostly because the idea of the sweet, sing-a-long tale was so entrenched in my head, I wasn't sure the idea of a mermaid story could translate well outside the realm of a story for young children.

I was wrong.

THE VICIOUS DEEP is a captivating book from the first page, and it left me desperately wanting the sequel. The writing is lovely--the way Tristan notices little details about other characters (especially about Layla) reminds me of Stephanie Perkins' writing, and that's high praise indeed. I was instantly in love with Tristan's voice, which is refreshingly, hilariously alllllll boy. And I found the entire world fascinating.

There were a few places where I felt we didn't quite get a transition where we needed one, or where the plot took a little bit of a leap and left us to connect the dots ourselves, but none of that took away from how fast I consumed this book. I absolutely loved it. Ms. Cordova is a fresh, strong new voice in YA fiction, and I will read anything she writes next.