The Little Mermaid is a graphic novel adaptation by Metaphrog of the popular fairy tale. The book is full of gorgeous illustrations filled with gentle blue and green hues for the underwater scenes, and deep gold and pink hues for when The Little Mermaid goes above ground. It follows a different storyline from the usual childhood tale, staying more true to the original Hans Christian Andersen tale. This book is great for kids and adults alike.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

I am sorry that I couldn't complete the book on time and it got expired. I am giving 1 star because of the book description. I liked the synopsis and that is why I asked for the book.

This book wasn't for me. I didn't overly enjoy it. Maybe it simply was because of the graphics or the storyline, I'm not sure yet, but the fact is I didn't enjoy it much, though I really wanted to like it.

Awesome story. Can’t wait to read more from this author!!!

This is a beautiful book. I felt rather melancholy while reading it. The sad and dark nature of the story went well with the color palette and the unique style of the characters' faces.

A beautiful and stunning rendition of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. The pages are rich with imagination and capture the truly imaginative tale of the Little Mermaid. I would go as far as saying that this book is a must have for any Little Mermaid fan and that every child should have a copy of this tale in their bookshelf.

This had goregous artwork. I was surprised at all the detail. This was so enjoyable. I look forward to reading more by this author.

The accompanying illustrations to this edition of The Little Mermaid are simply beautiful. They compliment this story so well it became quite easy to forget about the red-haired, shell wearing Ariel of Disney fame.

This is the original and darker fairy tale as written by Hans Christian Anderson and this edition is beautifully put together. A must have for a family bookshelf or for the classroom.

The Metaphrog team of John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs working out of Glasgow, Scotland have come up with a graphic non-Disney version of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Utilizing Andersen's rich, vivid descriptions of the land beneath the sea, their gloriously appealing, bright colored illustrations attempt to capture the essence of his words. The deep blue and green and orange templates are stunning in their beauty and detail.

This is not the feel-good, love-conquers-all fairy tale that has been sanitized for the general populace, but a sad story of sacrifice and unrequited love. The beautiful and talented youngest daughter of the Sea King finally gets a chance to peek at the human world on her fifteenth birthday. It is even more marvelous than her sisters and grandmother have related. Peering into a passing ship, she is mesmerized by a celebration in honor of a prince, but becomes horrified when a sudden storm destroys the vessel throwing the unconscious young man into the ocean. Realizing he cannot survive without her help, the young mermaid keeps his head above water and eventually gets him to a beach where others find and minister him back to health. Overcome with love for the man, she goes to the Sea Witch to find a way to become human, but it is a costly endeavor involving pain and the loss of her voice. Now in human form with two beautiful legs instead of a tail, the prince finds the Little Mermaid on the shore and brings her to live with him in the palace. Not realizing this is the one who saved him from drowning, the prince goes searching for the maiden he believes was his rescuer. While he cares for his mute companion, it is another woman he decides to marry. Unfortunately, without marriage to her true love, the Little Mermaid is destined to morph into the foam which floats upon the sea. In order to find a way to save her from this fate, her sisters sacrifice their lovely hair to the Sea Witch, but the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the man she loves and jumps overboard to become one with the foam.

Such a tragic ending, but not the intention of the author. In the original tale, the Little Mermaid is given a reprieve due to her unselfish sacrifice and finds herself lifted up by the Daughters of the Air and given a path towards immortality through her continued kindly actions.

The challenge Metaphrog faced was transforming the dense, comprehensive text of Andersen's fairy tale into simple wording appropriate for a comic book format in order to tell the tale to even the youngest of children, letting the graphics carry the plot. While some of the nuances and details of Andersen's words were lost, the team did a credible job maintaining the integrity of the story. My main complaint is the dismal ending which could easily negate all hope for the future, when Andersen intended to provide a means of redemption for the young mermaid. While I wasn't looking for a Disney style happily ever after ending, I also didn't expect a narrative which depresses the anticipated audience of children, or for that matter, adults. Four stars.

A thank you to Netgalley and Papercutz for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review also appears on my blog, Gotta Read.

Wonderful illustration work. Though it is an adaption but art work has taken it to completely new level. Sure short recommended for kids.

ARC kindly provided for an honest review.
A stunning visual adaptation of a beautiful classic.

A wonderful take on a classic story. I always love whatever iteration of The Little Mermaid I can take, so maybe a little bias - but definitely one to share.

I liked the style and approach to this book but as I'm buying for a children's collection I think it's a little too sophisticated for them.

A beautifully illustrated version of the original telling of The Little Mermaid.

Retellings are always fun, especially with good art.

3 1/2 stars for the graphic novel retelling of an old classic. Lovely illustrations, lovely, and accurate retelling of an old fairy tale. (Don't expect a happy ending!) Kids and adults both will like this one.

This was beautiful like a dark flower unfolding. I went through it without taking in the synopsis because I love the little mermaid and I was pleasantly surprised. The vibrant illustrations were amazing and well thought-out; on some pages I couldn't resist the urge to just stop and stare at the screen till I was satisfied that the scene was ingrained in my memory. Exquisite artwork at its peak!

The story was easy to follow but the ending blew me away. I wasn't expecting a sad twist to the original and had no idea what I was in for; a dose of melancholy was injected in me to say the very least!

I love this retelling of a classic story. Especially since it's not just another version of the Disney tale. I really enjoyed the illustrations, and comic book style the tale is presented in.

This is such a beautiful depiction of the fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. The art is mesmerizing. Would make a great read for kids and adults alike. Highly recommended!

Once upon a time, deep in the ocean depths, six mermaid sisters were waiting for the chance to come of age, and to finally see the lands above the waves. They had hardly ever put two and two together to realise that a sunken ship meant humans dying, but when they in turn grew up, they could see what was so special about the exotic air-breathing worlds – but they always returned to the seas. That is until the sixth and last mermaid – the littlest one of the bunch – went, saw a wondrous prince such as she had always admired in the form of a drowned statue, and determined to swap her life for his…

I'm showing form at this – when the chance arose for me to read The Snow Queen only the other year, it was to realise I'd never read it. Here, I've seen the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, and the more buxom one in Henley-on-Thames, but again never actually read a centuries-old classic for all ages. But I have at last caught up, and boy was it worthwhile.

The story is fine, with a simplicity to it, yet heart and soul and a poise in this adaptation that shows the dark qualities Andersen is so known for. The girl who wishes for too much, and/or the wrong thing entirely, the folly of love at first sight – the moral can be one of many things. But this edition will always be known to me for the artwork, which is purely a thing of beauty. OK, perhaps not purely – the mermaid's face is a little too wide-eyed and her hair a touch cartoonish at times, but boy, the colours on each and every page… Whether soaking in the golden hour's sun, or firmly fixed in the palette you'd expect of deep underwater, or both the human world and theirs meeting for the first time when our heroine approaches a ship, every shade of colour here is spot on, replete with detail and dazzling in execution.

So not only do you have a story that is perfectly readable, and re-readable, as the decades have shown, you also have presentation to match, if not surpass that, from the young Glaswegian duo known oddly as Metaphrog. It's the second of their books concerning Andersen adaptations I've met with, and their telling of The Red Shoes was more broadly cartoonish but equally powerful. This however surpasses much I've ever had the opportunity to see in publishing, either for the adult with an eye for visual creativity or for the younger audience this will receive. It truly is breath-taking at times, and is well worth the price of admission for a lifetime's enjoyment.