Took a bit to get through, but I enjoyed it! EVEN THOUGH there is a cliffhanger! LOL I guess I should've known, but I went into it pretty blind so I didn't really know.

Like the description says, if you like the Little Mermaid and the Pirates of the Caribbean then you'll love this!

I'm excited to see what the series holds!

Thanks NetGalley for this copy!

I enjoyed this quite a bit. At the very start, it feels like this book is a YA re-spinning of the Little Mermaid, and in some ways that kind of holds true, at least at the very beginning of the book.
Celeste, our main character, is a third daughter and siren princess. She's training to become part of the Chorus (a siren attack/defense force) and is known to be quite emotional (which is bad to sirens? There's lore behind this, but still, idk feels weird.) and a crybaby. In order to become a full-fledged member of the Chorus, she must attack a human ship. The problem is, she was above water earlier that day and saw this exact ship, becoming infatuated with a man on the boat. As you would expect, this complicates things, and leads to the beginning of a wild adventure for our heroine.
I enjoyed the supporting characters of this book a lot, they fleshed out the group of adventurers that Celeste finds herself with. Raiden, the male lead, is also interesting. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about him, but I think that's kind of the point by the end of it all.
I will say, while I did love all the world-building in this first book, the pacing of it was very strange. You g0t some at the beginning, very scarce info for a big chunk of the story, and a WHOLE LOT at the very end, leaving the book on a cliffhanger. While I don't mind the cliffhanger, I do think the middle of the book would have dragged less if some of this super important and interesting lore saved for the very end was sprinkled in earlier. But, I am excited to see where this series goes, so I anticipate the next book!

Thanks for the ARC!

Seriously, is there anything Kelsey can't do? She acts, sings, raises a hundred babies, and now she's written a book!

I was surprised at how much I loved this story. Honestly, I was sold with the retelling of The Little Mermaid, and then the writing and the emotional ups and downs kept me hooked.

The story follows Celeste, the Siren Queen's youngest daughter, who wants to prove herself by joining this elite warrior group called the Chorus. But when she saves Prince Raiden Sharp—a human royal who's tied to her people’s enemies—she breaks Siren law and is facing death. She gets one shot to redeem herself: she has to bring back the prince's head. As she navigates a foreign world and her growing feelings for the prince, Celeste must decide where her loyalties truly lie.

Here are some key themes:
• Sirens and humans
• Slow burn
• Found family
• Ocean legends
• Pirates
• Deals
• Treasure hunting
• Oh, and a heads up: touch her and you die!

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

3.5 stars

voice of the ocean was an interesting original retelling of the little mermaid, full of betrayals and dark secrets above and below the sea.

our fmc celeste continuously makes the wrong choices as the youngest siren princess — from breaking treaties with other siren kingdoms by exposing the secret of sirens to humans, saving a prince who is actually a pirate and attacks innocent ships, and indirectly hurting her friends, celeste is extremely careless. despite celeste’s actions, i still enjoyed the overall plot and pacing of the story!

i also listened to the audio, and of course love anything narrated by natalie naudus!

I wasn’t sure going into this book whether I would love it or not because I love the little mermaid and this book I would say the first first three chapters were very nostalgic in that they were similar to how the little mermaid begins. However after that we are introduced to staria and you see just how the book will differ from the movie and I actually really enjoy that in the book they aren’t just mermaids but sirens. We see so much of their lore and why they defend themselves. But Celeste in the moment she must prove herself starts doubting herself and whether everything she’s grown up to believe is true or lies. I definitely enjoy the pirate aspect to the MMC because it brought some action to the story. I will say I didn’t know it would be a series so I’m so sad with the cliffhanger we get at the end but will read the next book in the series for sure.

This had a bit of a slow and predictable start, where I thought we were just in a not-so-creative retelling of The Little Mermaid. About a quarter of the way in, the story shifted and things got a lot more interesting! I loved the found family element and I thought the side characters were well-developed and interesting, which is something that can fall by the wayside in fantasy adventure novels. I was admittedly also a little swoony over the love interest. The relationship progression between the Celeste and her man was slow but I felt it was realistic and it still held my attention as a significant subplot.

Three stars for the slow beginning and pretty standard writing style, but I could see myself continuing what I assume will be a series. As a disclaimer, I probably would not have picked this up if the author was not a YouTuber I have been following for a while, but I like to think that as a casual fan I didn't let me enjoyment of Kelsey Impicciche as an internet personality affect my rating. Consider this a 3.5+ with a lot of enjoyment in the second half of the book.

Growing up I adored The Little Mermaid, both Disney’s version & Hans Christen Anderson’s, so that plus my already being a fan of Kelsey Impicciche made me jump at the chance to read this. Unfortunately it fell a little flat for me.

The story was really good, but it took to long for me to get into it. It also could have been shorter, a lot of the lore was not needed. The characters were not very fleshed out either.

Ultimately I liked the idea but I won’t be reading the sequel.

I signed up for this read the moment I saw the cover 😍
Sirens, pirates, and found family? This book delivered.

This is a retelling of "The Little Mermaid" but better. I enjoyed all of the action. I enjoyed the drama. I enjoyed the betrayal. The only thing I DIDNT enjoy was the cliffhanger. I don't want to wait for this story.

This was such a miss and massive disappointment. I had to DNF at 36% because it had some MAJOR writing issues (listed below), and it just wasn'tinteresting to me. That said, I normally love any and all Little Mermaid retellings, but I just could not get interested in this one, and I think it's because of the writing errors throwing me off. These writing issues are huge. and I honestly don't understand how this made it to NetGalley and to ARC readers, or how an editor/ proofreader didn't catch these blatantly obvious errors. I truly missed my calling because I can't NOT notice these things, and it makes me hate a book so fast when it happens more than once.

First, in chapter 2, at only 4% into this book, our main mermaid, Celeste, is living underwater, swimming in the ocean with her tail, and a shark comes out and is hunting her. The shark "dove for her legs." WHAT LEGS DOES THIS MERMAID HAVE UNDERWATER?!?!? Uhg. Major eye roll and irritation, but whatever. I kept reading, hoping it would get better.

Second, by chapter 11, Celeste is on land, learning how to walk with her new legs, courtesy of the sea witch, where she is described as naked, and mentions asking the sea witch if she needed clothes, when a human finds her and says "what are you doing out here, where are your clothes", (remember, she's naked) and then a few paragraphs later, that same human "gripped her armor on either side and pulled, as if to rip down the front laces. The bodice, which was made of strong stingray leather, did not budge. " HOW DID SHE GO FROM BEING NAKED TO HAVING A WHOLE THING OF ARMOR THAT COULD BE TAKEN OFF LIKE CLOTHES?!?!?!

After painstakingly making it to 36%, I just can't deal with this writing. Part of me wants to finish this story to see how many more issues I spot, but I'm sure the editor got paid to do so. I am so sorry for not finishing this, but I hope this review makes it to NetGalley and this books publisher so they can improve on their process for filtering ARCs/editors before giving it to readers to rate and review. This is a ⭐️ for me.

Voice of the Ocean has such an interesting concept and sell: the main character Celeste is a siren who wants out of her restricted life, and will do anything to escape her predetermined future. To do that, she desires to become part of the siren "Chorus": the warrior group made up of elite siren warriors that protect her kind. While training to pass the test to become the newest member, she chooses to rescue a human sailor who has been thrown overboard his ship and is about to drown. Celeste's choice to save a human is strictly forbidden within her world, and to return back to the good graces of her community she is ordered to become human and kill that same sailor, who it turns out is the son of the king who murdered many of her siren-kind.

The premise of this book is so interesting, and I think it's a fresh take on the Little Mermaid fairytale. However, despite having so much promise, and although I still liked the story on the whole, it took until the last third of the book for the plot to start moving and for the magic system to really start shining. I felt like the pacing of the story could have been planned out better, but I am hopeful that book two is better paced and that it focuses more on the magic system!

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a digital copy of this book, and the chance to read and review it! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My first impression reading this book was that it was a little TOO close to the fairy tale upon which it is based. Throughout the first few chapters, I could only picture the Disney version Ariel and Prince Eric and all the other side characters. (I kept waiting to figure out who was Flounder and Sebastian!) But as I kept reading and the book started deviating from the lore, it got much more interesting to me. I loved the ragtag group of pirates, the scenes where Celeste explores the human world, and the brief moments where we get information about the Siren lore that complicate the plot even further. I'm hopeful to see more of this in what I believe will be a book 2.

However, I didn't see any marketing that this would be a series, so assumed it was a standalone. While that isn't necessarily an issue for me, usually in book 1 there are smaller conflicts that get resolved, but larger, more complex conflicts emerge that need to be resolved in future books. By the end of this book, a few loose ends are tied up, but I felt like it ended rather abruptly.

I enjoyed the banter between Celeste and Raiden, but their relationship arc confused me. She starts the book fascinated and clearly into him, and then betrays her people to save him (with several opportunities to opt out). While I definitely saw the author painting her as altruistic and compassionate to creatures, when she meets Raiden again, she instantly sees him as the enemy. Her mission may have complicated her view of him, but I was surprised to hear her say she had no affective for him. Her emotions for him felt a little too much like a yo-yo, which again, makes sense plot wise, but just read a little too confusing for me! Despite that, I liked how their relationship grew on their voyage together and will be hoping to read more of that in book 2!

This was such an amazing book, I was hooked very early on in it. I love the characters and how the events unfolded were so fluid. Absolutely a fan, hope there is a second one!

This is a rather more adult reimagined version of the Little Mermaid and I thought the characters were very cleverly written and romance aspect was quite welll done without being forced and a rag tag bunch of fun pirates who add to the flavor of the tale. Also the dog is a key point in adorableness . Overall, a great book, and. A great retelling.

I really, really enjoyed this book. As a massive fan of the little mermaid, this was such a good inspired fantasy. It pays homage to the story of little mermaid, while still being wholly its own. I can’t wait for the second one!

This is such a fun example of two of my worlds colliding. I have been a simmer since the original The Sims released and the author of this book is a famous YouTuber whom I have been following since I discovered there were actually other people who loved The Sims and shared their gameplay and stories online. Needless to say, as a simmer, Impicciche is a master weaver of stories. So when she announced she was writing a book, I had the highest expectations.

While it started a little slow and there were a few things that stuck out to me as cliche, my thoughts quickly changed once we really got to the heart of the story. This book had everything I wanted in a Little Mermaid inspired read: mermaids and pirates, adventure, twists and turns, and even a little romance. I'd consider this to be a YA novel, as it was super wholesome and no spice at all.

With Impicciche's love of a little spicy romance novel, I was surprised that there was hardly any romance other than a couple of kisses, a hand brush here, and a stare across the room there. Definitely an EXTREMELY slow burn. These are things I don't typically enjoy, however, there was so much else going on in this story that it didn't really bother me, per say, but I do wish there was maybe a BIT more between them.

To give you a bit more about what the story is, we follow Celeste, one of the siren princesses of Staria. In true Ariel fashion, she longs for something more than the life of a royal. She trains hard to become a member of the Chorus — a group of warrior sirens who use their song to protect the kingdom from danger. However, on her first mission as a trainee, she sees it fit to save the prince, his right hand, and his dog, the Admiral, and goes against the laws and morals of her people by doing so. She is banished until she can return with the prince's head, killed by her own hands. Not sure where else to turn, she pays a visit to the sea witch, who changes her into a human in exchange for a "favor" that can be redeemed as she wishes. Celeste agrees and finds herself in a port where Prince Raiden and his crew are saddling up to take a second try for the treasure they seek. In an effort to acquire information and kill the prince, she joins the crew and the adventure begins.

I don't want to give too much away, because I do strongly recommend this book. It had so many wonderful things going on and Impicchice's writing was easy to read, but still enjoyable and intricate.

There was one thing that I wish I'd been prepared for — the ending. It was like watching the series finale of the Sopranos. (IYKYK). If you don't — HUGE cliffhanger. Stopped in the middle of the story. I literally would have rather this been a 600 page book than splitting it up, especially now that I had finished it before it was even release, who knows when the next book will come out!

Needless to say, this was a very solid four stars from me. I really, very much enjoyed it and it was really fun to read a book by an author that I feel like I know. Even though I've obviously never met her, I've been watching her videos for years and, as I'm sure we've all experienced, good YouTubers make you feel like you're friends even though they definitely don't know you exist personally, haha. Although she DID like my IG comment, which was super cool and a great end to this review! Can't wait for the next book in the series!

The biggest thank you to Kelsey Impicciche and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to read this early!

I have been following Kelsey since her days at Buzzfeed. It's been so rewarding watching her journey to getting this debut novel published. And what a debut it is! I wasn't sure what to expect of her first novel. It's one thing to enjoy watching her videos playing the Sims, but it's a whole other thing reading an entire book by her. But Kelsey delivered on what she promised. A fresh take on The Little Mermaid with swashbuckling pirates? Yes. Found family and a bit of enemies to lovers? She's got you covered.

I loved following Celeste's growth as a character. She's a precious, emotional little moonbeam, full of so many doubts and insecurities, which is just so relatable. Despite all of that, and maybe a little because of it too, she is also strong. Everything just made her character feel so real. Raiden, is a fun love interest, although he does remind me quite a bit of Rhysand from ACOTAR. I'm honestly not even a little surprised, though, since that's one of Kelsey's favorite series. Still, he's distinct enough that he's not a carbon copy. I could go on about each individual character, but honestly, they're all fun.

I also really enjoyed her world building. The kingdom of Staria and the siren culture was very fascinating. I was enjoying the lore behind everything and look forward to even more of it in the sequel.


My one complaint? I now have to wait for the second book for who knows how long. Please don't keep us waiting too long Kelsey!!!

I've known for years that Kelsey Impicciche could tell a damn good story, but this takes it to a whole other level. As someone who has watched Kelsey weekly since her Buzzfeed days (being able to take Sims and make me care about hundreds of children), when I saw Kelsey was writing a book I KNEW it was going to be outstanding.

We follow Celeste, a young siren, who give up her dream as being a warrior member of the Chorus to save two humans and their dog (yes I pictured Kelsey's dog the entire time). In order to be accepted back into her kingdom, Celeste agrees to kill the very prince she saved.

I am usually wary when a character is experiencing the world that we are used to for the first time. But the way Kelsey describes seeing a dog's ears flopping for the first time or trying to figure out what a watch is used for keeps the magic of the story alive.

My main issue with Voice of the Ocean is that I didn't know it was going to be a series. I am not against reading unfinished series, but I would prefer to know that a story is not going to have a clean ending before I go in.

If you are looking for a world of sirens, pirates, romance, and an adorable dog named Admiral, then you NEED to pick up Voice of the Ocean.

Rating this 1 star because I genuinely could not finish it. I had such high hopes for this book, but it did not feel original at all. It immediately started off on the wrong foot when it was like she copied and pasted the opening scene of Disney's "The Little Mermaid," from the way the dog reacts to Celeste to her watching the men on the ship, and even down to her noticing human trinkets.

In addition to the blatant plagiarism, it's just poorly written. The author's target audience is her YouTube followers which is mostly people around her age, young adults, and some older teens, but this reads as though it was written for third graders. The pacing of the sentences is horrible, and clunky and the pacing is awful. This is by far the biggest disappointment of any book I've read, period.

If you're a fan of The Little Mermaid, you should definitely pick up this book. It's a beautifully done retelling that stays true to the original lore while introducing a unique world and intriguing twists. Readers will surely root for Celeste as she embarks on her journey to the human world and discovers what it has to offer.

✨ Standout Themes: Discovery, Romance, Fate
🛑 Content Warnings:
⭐️ Rating: 5/5
Would I recommend? Yes, any mermaid fan should read this book!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ /5 – A Dark, Romantic, and Fresh Take on a Classic Tale

Kelsey Impicciche’s Voice of the Ocean is a captivating reimagining of The Little Mermaid, blending sirens 🧜‍♀️, pirates 🏴‍☠️, and a touch of darkness into a tale that feels both familiar and entirely new.​

While the story starts at a slow-ish pace, it truly gains momentum once Celeste becomes part of Raiden's crew. From that point on, the narrative is filled with unexpected twists that keep the reader engaged, offering a refreshing departure from the traditional fairytale. The inclusion of sirens and pirates especially adds layers of intrigue and excitement, infusing the story with a darker tone that elevates it beyond a typical PG-rated retelling.​

The romance between Celeste and Raiden is both sweet and appropriate for a YA audience, making it a perfect recommendation for high school students. As a teacher 🍎, I appreciate stories that balance romantic elements with age-appropriate content, and this novel does just that.​ I will absolutely be recommending this to my high school students to read!

Celeste and Raiden are compelling protagonists. Celeste's emotional depth and her tendency to process challenges with vulnerability, rather than immediate action, offer a refreshing perspective. She's not the girl to go in guns-a-blazing, but she is still strong and capable, which is nice to see. Her character feels authentic and relatable, especially for readers who value emotional resilience.​

Overall, Voice of the Ocean is a must-read for fans of twisted fairytales, adventure, and subtle romance. Its unique blend of familiar themes and innovative storytelling makes it a standout addition to the YA fantasy genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, Kelsey Impicciche, and her publisher for access to the advanced reader copy!