Raging Sea by Michael Buckley

Series: Undertow (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Fantasy

Subjects: merfolk, mermaids, romance

Setting: Texas & Coney Island, New York

POV/Tense: 1st person, present tense: Lyric Walker

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 357 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary/ product description: “In the first book of Michael Buckley’s Undertow trilogy, the Alpha arrived and the world was never the same. At the start of the second book, most of south Brooklyn is in ruins and the nation is terrified. Nearly everyone that Lyric Walker loves is either missing or presumed dead, including the mesmerizing prince Fathom. It’s up to Lyric to unite the Alpha before the second wave of a cataclysmic invasion wipes out mankind for good. The Undertow trilogy is an unforgettable reading experience that author E. Lockhart calls, "Allegorical and romantic, the book nevertheless reads like an action movie with especially awesome CGI.”

My Review:  Raging Sea is the sequel to Undertow. In Undertow Alpha children were given a chance to attend school for the first time in the 2 years since the appeared on Coney Island. Lyric meet Fathom, a Triton and Alpha prince. Fathom was strange and exotic, but Lyric fell for despite his odd Alpha customs and the fact that he was engaged to Arcade.

Lyric, Bex, and Arcade are in Texas looking for the place where Lyric’s parents were taken. This place is called Tempest and it’s like a death camp for Alphas. When shop lifting at a Piggly Wiggly, Lyric has a run in with the cops and they recognize her. She makes the decision to use her glove to control the water around her and help Bex and herself get away.

They make a couple close calls with Doyle and the White Tower a couple of times along the way. When Lyric finally makes it to Tempest, she’s treated like a prisoner. They try to break her, but Lyric way too stubborn to be broken. They tell her she has to train other Alpha-Human hybrids to do what she does while wearing the glove.

I did enjoy this sequel. I felt like there wasn’t much romance in it though. Fathom doesn’t show up till later on. I do like the fighting stuff and the cool abilities that the glove gives Lyric. The gloves are kind of like the Green Lantern ring because Lyric can use her imagination shape anything out of water. It was pretty awesome.

I recommend this series to fans of Anna Bank’s Syrena Legacy series and other mermaid related series like Lies Beneath. Also dystopian series like Inhuman by Kat Falls.

Cover Art Review: Cool cover illustration. Fits with previous cover. Eye catching. Love it.

Undertow by Michael Buckley

Series: Undertow (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Fantasy

Subjects: merfolk, mermaids, romance

Setting: Coney Island, New York

POV/Tense: 1^st person, present tense: Lyric Walker

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 376 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary/ product description: “Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world’s initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric’s small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity’s only hope of survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it’s more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen.

Action, suspense, and romance whirlpool dangerously in this cinematic saga, a blend of District 9 and The Outsiders.”

My Review:  Undertow is an exciting and unique dystopian story that involves merfolk called the Alpha. The only Alphas that look like the classic mermaid are the Sirena, and there are many other races as well. Lyric’s mother is Sirena, which make Lyric half-Sirena, half-human. She’s been keeping this secret for the past  three years, since the Alphas were made known to the world. Lyric doesn’t have any abilities like her mother, but she gets awful migraines all the time.

Alpha children are being given a chance to attend school. People of Coney Island, specifically a group called the Niners, are angry about this. The governor of New York, a crazy lady is fighting against it too. It reminds me of the show Starcrossed that had one season on the CW, in which a few teen aliens are allowed to attend school. Very similar situation. The Alphas don’t blend in so well. The only ones that look really human are the Sirena and Tritons. There’s the Nix who have sharp teeth and freaky claws and the Ceto who have transparent skin. The Sirena can form tails in the water and their scales change color with their emotions. The Triton can retract blade-like bones from their arms.

Fathom is of Triton and a prince of his people. He fights a lot. And gets hurt a lot even though he wins. I kind of hated the Alpha tradition for the barbaric-ness. I’m not sure I’m in love with Fathom as a love interest. I only found out he was blonde near the end, so I didn’t have a clear picture appearance-wise. Those blades sound freaky, like he’s Wolverine meets Aquaman.

Aside from all that, I enjoyed the story. I love books with mermaidy stuff. Since I finished Anna Bank’s The Syrena Legacy series and also the Lies Beneath Series, I’ve been at a lose from good mermaid stuff. So even if they aren’t technically mermaids, I’m sure this will fill that gap. I know there are other series out there (but Deep Blue was more fantasy looking that paranormal romance). So if you enjoyed any mermaid books, I’m sure you’ll like this one. It’s cool how it blends dystopian stuff like District 9 with mermaid stuff.

Cover Art Review: Really well illustrated. I don’t know how the made the tent city, but cool.

The Vast and Brutal Sea by Zoraida Cordova

Series: The Vicious Deep (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy Adventure

Subjects: adventure, magic, magical creatures, merfolk, mermaids, mermen, mythology, supernatural,

Setting: Coney Island, New York and in the Atlantic ocean

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Tristan Hart

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 317 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Summary/ product description: “This epic clash of sand and sea will pit brother against brother-and there can only be one winner

In two days, the race for the Sea Court throne will be over-but all the rules have changed. The sea witch, Nieve, has kidnapped Layla and is raising an army of mutant sea creatures to overthrow the crown. Kurt, the one person Tristan could depend on in the battle for the Sea King's throne, has betrayed him. Now Kurt wants the throne for himself. Tristan has the Scepter of the Earth, but it's not enough. He'll have to travel to the mysterious, lost Isle of Tears and unleash the magic that first created the king's powerful scepter. It's a brutal race to the finish, and there can only be one winner.”

My Review:  What and interesting and adventurous ending! Tristan and his friends must bring the pieces of Triton’s trident/scepter together and defeat the silver mermaid Nieve. He, Nieve and Kurt are after the throne. Kurt is also being manipulated somewhat and now wants to kill Tristan. Nieve of course want to rule the seas. I had a hard time remembering what happened in the previous books so I was lost for a while.

The first part of the book was really interesting and pretty different from the rest of the series. Tristan arrives at an island where the river tribe lives. He also finds Dylan, Brendan and Kai there. Time move differently there, it’s many days on the island before a day in the real world passes. The river tribes were not merpeople, but could turn into water. The leader was a woman and she was nice to Tristan, but secretive. One girl named Yara helped Tristan. He is given a task to defeat a creature called the Naga and he is given some training. Something happens and when he leaves the island, he has another addition to his group.

Tristan meets with more oracles and searches for answers in unexpected places. His circle of friends and followers grows and he gather’s a sorta-army to fight Nieve and her merrows. He gathers land locked merpeople, vampires, demon and other creatures living in New York City. His shape shifter friend Marty helps too. There’s fun along the way, including underground speed dating (hilarious) and a giant turtle.

This series has been fun and crazy. It may not be my favorite mermaid/merman series, but I really enjoyed the narrator and the humor. I love the mix of paranormal creatures too. There’s a touch of romance between Layla and Tristan. The action, adventure, magic and mythology. I’d definitely recommend the Vicious Deeps series to fans of Percy Jackson and The Olympians and Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown.

Cover Art Review: I love the big crystal scepter. It does look like quartz, but not the usually crystal structure. Way too pointy. The cover work well with the previous books’ covers.