Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately I have been unable to get into it. DNF @ 16%.

A dark mermaid story for kids? Yes please! I really enjoyed this one and will definitely lick up another book from this author!

What a fantastic book. They subject, how everyone deals with grief in their own way, was handled wonderfully. I would recommend it for any age group as it is so well written.

A wonderfully sweet yet sad story. A story about friendship, love, grief and the ocean all rolled into one. But don't worry, there's a happy ending!

This book was a surprising one for me, aimed at the middle grade age group, I was still able to completely engage with 10 year-old Stella. This book had some really beautiful lines in it, especially when Stella describes her gramma who has dementia.

"Her grandmother was a time traveller, Stella thought. She was always arriving - with great delight and surprise - into her own future."

I found this to be such a beautiful way of describing her and it stayed with me throughout the book.

I felt so much empathy for Stella and the way she felt different and had no friends and it was happiness I felt when new girl Cam becomes her friend.

"“There’s nothing to laugh about, Stella Martin!” the teacher scolded. Stella didn’t care. She’d never had someone to laugh with at the back of English class before. Or any class, for that matter."

Stella has it in her mind her mother was a mermaid and through small clues and things her Gramma says, she decides she needs to find out for sure. Stella sets out on an adventure which gives her more than she bargained for.

This book had a feeling of poetry about it for me and it was an interesting and different read going places I didn't expect.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for a copy in return for an honest review.

Stella is coping with the death of her mother, while trying to find her place in the world. At school her peers think she's weird, but she finds a great friend in Cam. Her father is dealing with his grief in his own way, making him go on the road for business often.

Stella's grandmother is living with them and does a lot of time travelling, as Stella calls it. Grandma is living with dementia, and mixes up stories sometimes. When she tells Stella her mother is a mermaid, Stella finds clues on the back of a photo and runs away.

What follows is an adventure of travelling on board a moving truck, a trip on a ferry and getting kidnapped by a woman who knows the truth.

I loved this book! It would be something I would recommend it to the children in years 5 and 6 in my school.

What I Expect
You would thought that this was just a metaphor. Mermaid was something to describe a beautiful woman or maybe it was really indeed a mermaid. Nevertheless, I came reading this book without any expectations. Just the summary intrigued me, that’s all. A story of a girl trying to find who she really was, sounds familiar? It captivated me that I had to click the request button and read it right away. And I did really hope that I would not find a cliche romance here that was not really necessary.

What I Got for the Characters
Now here we have Stella, a little girl who’s odd in her school. Her new friend was her grandmother who hardly remembered what’s going on, but they had such a good relationship. Her father, on the other hand, was not told that much except he had his distance with Stella after her mother passed away.

Stella was your typical little girl who was still finding her true self. She wanted to believe that perhaps there was something more about her, that was why she would be willing to take risks to do the unbelievable quest to find the answer. I feel that Stella was so natural. Sure, she was annoying sometimes for being thick-headed, but that made her feel so 3D for me, oh my, that meant a lot coming from a 2D or 3D character such as myself, the Mad Hatter.

And Stella had a friend, Cam, who was more willing to talk and Stella was more the silent type. Both somehow complimented each other although I feel that Cam was far more annoying at the end of the story. But no spoiler here, I just could say that Cam was my least favorite character, but perhaps she was the other piece of Stella that the latter had to have.

Though I shall say their relationship reminds me of us Alice, me as Cam who can’t stop talking and mad, and you being Alice.

What I Got for the Plot
I enjoy reading this book a lot, I could not even stop it even if I wanted to. I even had to ask White Rabbit to pour the tea to my empty cup because I was so engrossed.

At first few chapters, there was not much to tell, but I recall it was interesting because the flow was beautifully written. And when it started to the point of the climax, I was cursing Stella for being stupid. I apologize for my language. But since she was still a child, I can tolerate it. I remember how I was a little kid and loved to do stupid things.

But that stupid thing led her in a difficult position. You can feel the tension, you was hoping that some miracle could happen (I did wish for one) that Stella could manage to survive (no spoiler there but a hint perhaps?). I was even rooting for Stella in her little adventure.

And man, the ending? It was so perfect. And I would say that you have to be so careful reading it because everything was hinted right from the beginning, you just have to be curious.

Definitely recommending this book as it is a 4 Stars from me! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

One of the best middle grade book that I’ve read this year! I really hope you’ll enjoy this as much as I do! Happy reading

This little book was such a light and fluffy read, I basically finished it in one sitting. It's a beautiful story about family, love and loss. The main character Stella loses her mother at a very young age and finds solace in the thought that her weirdness doesn't come from herself, but from the fact that her mother was an actual mermaid.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this story. The relationship between Stella and her grandmother, who is suffering from some kind of dementia, is so beautiful and hopeful, although there are good and bad days. Stellas Father is quite distant, but the way their relationship develops was very realistic and felt natural. I also loved the truthful friendship between Stella And Cam. Just a very soft kids friendship, that got the exact right amount to develop.

Overall I really enjoyed the plot of this book. When I started reading and at the first big turning point, I wasn't sure where the story would go, but with each plot-twist I grew more intrigued. This story kept me interested and while it did go to some white dark places for middle-grade fiction, I did enjoy it and I don't think it would be too dark for children.

Overall this was a very beautiful story about a young girl finding her place in the world and discovering the secrets of her mothers past and I would recommend it to anyone, no matter how old they are.

A mermaid tale for those who like their stories a little darker. Stella's mum died years ago; her dad is still sunk in grief and Grandma's sliding gently into dementia. Stella has no real anchor in life - who was her mum? Was there something strange or different about her? Odd comments from Grandma, folk tales, and the discovery of an old drawing by her mum all convince Stella that there's something a bit strange going on - could her mother possibly be some kind of mermaid? A chance discovery and a unique opportunity sends her off on a mission to uncover her family history.

The current crop of mermaid books seem aimed firmly at 6-8yo, but I would pitch this one at slightly older children - those who enjoy stories by Lisa Thompson and Lara Williamson, for example, would certainly appreciate the mix of family life and magical realism. The writing is spare and tight, keeping the reader closely interested, with a good element of thriller in the latter third.

Stella's father is distant, lost in grief after the death of his wife, and Stella's refuge is her eccentric grandmother, who, although she may have a shaky grip on the present, is usually right. Stella wonders about her mother - what was her connection to the sea? maybe she was really a mermaid? So a fight with her best friend Cam, and then her grandmother's failure to recognise her when she arrives home from school, leads her to run away, following clues that lead her into danger.
The novel deftly balances real life with the tantalising hint that mermaids might just exist, and is underpinned with strong and likeable characters. The sense of menace when Stella is held captive is nicely balance by the comic arrival of Cam, who has only partially understood Stella's coded phone-call. This was a real page-turner, and held me gripped right to the end.