Set in 17th century Netherlands, the Dutch Golden Age, this gender-swapping reimagining of The Little Mermaid was delightful. There was magic, creatures of folklore, and a beautiful story of love. Love for our planet, all of its inhabitants, and the love of a human from the land and a prince of the water kingdom.

I enjoyed this immensely. There was a bit of infatuation / insta-love happening here, which may not be for everyone. There is no spice.

Pub date: June 24,2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Graydon House for the gifted eARC! This was such an enjoyable read.

I love Hester Fox books. This one kept me reading but unfortunately it felt a little more YA and definitely not as mature as I expected it to be.

Thank you, @htpbooks and @netgalley for the gifted ARC!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rundown:
✨️Little Mermaid retelling
✨️1600s Holland
✨️insta love
✨️historical fantasy/folklore
✨️slow burn
✨️no spice

Synopsis ✒️
Clara receives a proposal from a wealthy ship merchant and is excited to get away from her controlling parents.  Her only hesitation is an encounter she has with a mysterious red head named Maurits whom she can't get out of her head. Clara's world turns upside down when a deal struck before she was born threatens her family, her town, and her life.  She finds herself thrown into a world she didn't know existed and struggling for survival.

Thoughts 💭
This is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, where the mermaid is actually a merman.  I thought it was a creative switch and I enjoyed it!  It made things different enough where I didn't know what was coming next.  This author has a creative writing style where you actually feel like you're reading an old fairy tale back in the 1600s.   I didn't mind it, but I could see how it wouldn't appeal to everyone. Insta love was a big part of the plot, and I'm not even sure why the characters feel in love because their encounter is so brief.  I think because this didn't add up to me, the rest of the book was a hard sell, and it dragged on in parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

It's 1650, The Dutch Golden Age is coming to an end, and Clara van Wieren will soon be wed. Desperate to escape the stifling—and at times violent—home of her childhood, she cannot wait for this event. Finally, Clara will have some manner of say in her life and what is to become of it... or so she thinks. Ominous omens abound as the day draws nearer, warnings ignored for the possibility of change. However change is not always for the better.

Taking inspiration from <i>The Little Mermaid</i>, we follow the story of love and lies between a young noblewoman and a merman... and the wealthy fiancé between them. A fairytale retelling for adults with a sprikling of Gothic dread, this is a decietful doozy of a novel. Everyone has something to hide and a power to defer to, even if they wished to be rid of it. A tale of love and a longing to be free.

I did have an issue with the formatting of this novel. Line breaks can indicate either large gaps in time or a sudden character pov shift mid scene. I'd rather follow a singular character in a scene instead of bouncing between the leads, it's a bit jarring. I think the moments we follow Maurits would have been more impactful as separate chapters following his perspective, rather than mixing those with shared segments.

Additionally, the insta-love between Clara and Maurits I found disconcerting. I understand attention received after a lifetime of neglect being an incredibly strong phenomenon, but it was a bit hard to take seriously. The chemistry between the pair was definitely palpable, however with no proper build-up it didn't feel deserved. Conflating love with lust or attraction was just silly.

The novel cant decide quite what it wanted to be about: two people longing for freedom from negligent and/or abusive households; a monster insta-love romance; or commentary on the cruelty of empire and demand for environmental justice. I couldn't stand either lead and was honestly rooting for the antagonist come the end of the book.

The only segment of this novel I found well done was the court case and the demand to see the consequences of empire. Ignorance couldn't be conflated with innocence. Humans can only take so much from nature before it strikes back.

I truly wish we had more of a focus on the climate and environmental justice and more of a build up for the romance, as this novel could have been something really impactful. This wasn't a <i>bad</i> novel, it just wasn't for me. Felt like wasted potential...

Sadly, this did not land for me. I love the premise and I was enjoying myself in the beginning. I did struggle with how much Maurits was keeping secret, clearly hiding something. Clara just woefully ignoring it. I also struggled with their chemistry.

In 1650, Friesland, Clara van Wieren ignores superstition to accept the proposal from a wealthy merchant and escape her overbearing mother. She tries to run his household, and is drawn to a young man named Maurits. As enamored as she is, Clara realizes that Maurits isn’t who he seems to be, and his secrets are dangerous. An ancient bargain between the mythical people of the sea and the rulers of the land begins to unravel, and Clara finds herself at the heart of a deadly struggle for power.

The story is heavily influenced by The Little Mermaid, both the original Hans Christian Andersen and the Disney version. We have a collection of human artifacts scavenged from shipwrecks, a hidden grotto, and stolen voices. The need for sacrifice and the different kinds of supernatural creatures are straight out of classic fairy tales of the region. It was interesting to see those stories in the interludes, so we know more when we see the creatures actually showing up. In addition to concern about the supernatural, there's also commentary on human greed, the drive to extract resources for profit without concern for the future, and the willingness to sacrifice children to that greed.

Clara's mother isn't just overbearing, but abusive and dismissive. She is desperate for affection, which she gets from her nurse. The love between Clara and Maurits feels sudden, like the instant falling in love at first sight trope. Clara defies convention to see him before her marriage, despite the knowledge that he lied about who he was every time he met her. As a prince of the merpeople, he tended to shirk his duties to be on land and then to be near Clara. Even when punished, his thoughts are of her. She similarly thinks of him, even after discovering the truth. Their story is a little convoluted, as Clara wants to try saving humanity by telling people the truth. Humans no longer believe in magic, which makes it hard to change their ways. Interesting twists in characters at the end, and I hope that the future will be better for them. The story is ultimately a romance novel, but there's a price to that happily ever after.

One of the best Little Mermaid re-telling's I have read! Love that is takes place in the Netherlands and along canals, ripe with history and awareness for the stripping of resources by colonization. The rich and unique underwater world building is fully fleshed out and utterly original. Shows the dark and hopeful sides of humanity and the sea rebuilding a relationship together through these fictional fantasy characters. What really did it for me was that right when you think you know where the story is going, it diverts and spins itself a new web of magic you weren't predicting.

My only criticism is that there were minor characters introduced who the foreshadowing led you to believe would be involved in a plot twist or tied in at the end that we just kind of never saw or heard about again. Then again, such is life sometimes. Overall I was utterly enchanted by the folklore and historical fiction interwoven with fantasy. If The Miniaturist and The Little Mermaid (1 & 2) had a dark storybook baby, this would be it.

3.5 STARS

Content Warning: flood, physical abuse

+ This story weaves historical fiction and fantasy. I appreciated learning about life in the Dutch Republic. But the story is also a reimagining of The Little Mermaid, and I found it all very fascinating. I found the world under the sea really magical.

+ Clara is a young woman who is arranged to be married by her parents. She knows it’s her duty but then she meets a mysterious man named Maurits and is drawn to him. What she doesn’t know is that Maurits is from another world beneath the water. Now Clara goes through quite a journey in this story. Her mother is physically abusive and holds resentment and hate for Clara and it shows. So Clara’s nursemaid is the one who has raised her and showed her affection. Clara shows lots of growth in this story from dutiful daughter to someone who fights for people on land and the man she loves.

+ There is court politics with the mermaid court and the humans because of an agreement they made years ago. Clara is caught up in it and there is a bit of environmental fantasy with the story because of the floods that are being threatened against the humans.

~ I feel like Maurits fell for Clara instantly. So I didn’t feel very connected to their romance story.

~ I felt like I was interested in the story in the first half but then the story lost my interest for a bit because I wasn’t connected to the characters.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought for the most part this was a fascinating read because of the elements of history, fantasy and environmental events. I do wish I connected more to the characters but I still found it an interesting read.

This was an interesting retelling of The Little Mermaid. The FMC was insufferable at first, but grew throughout the story. The love story felt a little rushed and underdeveloped to me, but I liked the MMC.

Every now and then, a book slips into your life like a whispered secret. A Magic Deep and Drowning didn’t shout for my attention. It summoned it quietly. Like the call of the sea. Like the echo of a story I already knew but was only now remembering.

Set in 1650 Friesland, this story follows Clara van Wieren — smart, stifled, aching to breathe. She’s a woman offered a way out through marriage, but she finds a very different kind of pull. A boy from the sea with rust-colored hair and saltwater in his smile. Enter mystery, magic, and the possibility that some fairytales have barbed hooks beneath their glitter.

What Fox does so well here — what made me dog-ear pages and whisper yes out loud — is write longing. Not just romantic longing (though that’s here too), but a deeper ache. The longing for freedom. For truth. For control over your own narrative. Clara’s world is stitched with folklore, power, and the unspoken rules of being a woman in a time that demands obedience. The gender-flipped Little Mermaid retelling adds this quiet, delicious tension. The sea prince is mysterious, but it’s the land that feels cursed.

Also, this book has such strong candlelit, salt-stung vibes. If you like your books like old oil paintings, full of mist and grief and myth, this one is for you.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this in exchange for an honest review. I LOVE Hester Fox's books so you know when I saw this one I was excited. It's moody and dark. And I loved her world of 1600's Dutch Republic; it felt authentic to the time (from what I know) but also uniquely Fox. Loved it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

A Magic Deep and Drowning by Hester Fox is a third person dual-POV romantic historical fantasy reimagining of The Little Mermaid and The Water-babies by Charles Kingsley. The Queen of the Water Kingdom has been taking children from those who have assisted in destroying the oceans and Clara is who is owed to her next. But the queen’s son, Maurits, falls in love with Clara and can’t follow through with his task of bringing her to the sea. Clara will learn more about the tapestry she is part of as she also explores who she is as an upper-class woman in a society that refuses to recognize her autonomy.

The romance is certainly woven in, but I would put it more at a subplot rather than what is driving the plot. It does fall into insta-love as Clara and Maurits don’t spend a lot of time together before they start kissing, but I found this to be fairly consistent with a lot of fairy tales and given the two inspirations of this book, I was fine with it. It also somewhat subverts insta-love as Clara does pushback against Maurits later in the book and things are certainly not smooth sailing for the two of them.

A major theme is climate change. The queen of the Water Kingdom is upset because of what humans have been doing not only to her kingdom as a kingdom but to the beings that live within it. There’s also a brief flash flood and a sense of urgency that something has to change. Climate fiction is becoming more and more popular and the themes are showing up in a lot of spaces, so seeing it in a historical fantasy based on The Little Mermaid does feel on trend. Hester Fox does take note specifically of the need to recognize Indigenous stewardship in her author’s note and I will be rereading the book at a later date with that lens to see if there is more I pick up on a thematic level.

One of the things I really liked was the brief blurbs of different magical species between chapters. It helps flesh the world out and adds a bit of an academic flair to the text that I personally always like. It also helps add more personality to the story as it’s where the voice is allowed to shine the brightest.

I would recommend this to fans of The Little Mermaid reimaginings and readers looking for a historical fantasy with themes of climate fiction

Thank you to The Hive, Graydon House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of A Magic Deep and Drowning.

This was a BEAUTIFUL retelling of a classic fairytale. I do think it's best to go in blind but, if you've read and enjoyed Fox's other work, you're sure to love this too.

Sensual, entrancing and fresh, A Magic Deep and Drowning is a magical retelling of the little mermaid story. Set near Amsterdam during its “golden age” a young woman named Clara struggles against her limited life with her parents who are cold and unloving. Bad dreams, strange happenings and untold secrets haunt Clara. But when Clara’s parents make an arranged marriage for her, Clara feels that she will finally be free to make her own life. But when a handsome young man shows up claiming to be a messenger from the fiancee Clara has yet to meet, everything changes. Clara’s efforts to get out of her engagement backfires spectacularly, and with dire consequences.

Hester Fox has crafted a beautiful retelling that incorporates Frisian myths and legends into the classic little mermaid story, with stunning imagery and complex characters. The magic and the creatures are compelling, and nobody and nothing is what it seems. I absolutely loved this book!

In this moody reimagining of “The Little Mermaid” set in the 1650s Dutch Republic, a young woman is torn between futures with a wealthy merchant or an alluring young man containing murky hidden depths. Plagued by her parents’ abuse and memories of her childhood friend’s drowning, Clara thinks marriage will bring her the peace she yearns for. But as her wedding draws closer, Clara’s bubbling intrigue toward the lower-class Maurits crests into a wave of passion that’s anything but peaceful. To be with Maurits opens an ocean of otherworldly possibilities for Clara — but it also brings her closer to the brewing storm between humans and the mythical people of the sea. Author Hester Fox lives in Massachusetts.

"A Magic Deep and Drowning" was my fourth Hester Fox book, following "The Witch of Willow Hall" as my introduction to her work. I haven't read all her books yet, but based on what I have read, I know that if I pick one up, it's going to be an easy 4 or 5-star read for me. This one was no different.

Hester has this way of writing that immediately draws you in and holds your attention until the very last page. Each character feels rich, complex, and hauntingly written—there's just something about how she crafts them that stays with you.

This particular novel is a retelling of "The Little Mermaid" with a gender switch, and despite being a retelling, there were enough differences to keep the story interesting and fresh. The interstitial chapters were really well done too—they provided great context without feeling like they were interrupting the main story. And can we talk about those opening and ending lines? SO well crafted and brought everything full circle in the most satisfying way.

While this novel is inspired by a classic fairytale, it's so much more than that. It's really a commentary on human greed and the sacrifices we make for forbidden love.

4 stars and my thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

The Dutch Republic, 1650. One fine spring day in Friesland, twenty-year-old Clara van Wieren is faced with an ill omen: a whale, beached and rotting in the noonday sun. But Clara doesn’t believe in magic and superstition, and this portent is quickly dismissed when a proposal from a wealthy merchant arrives, promising Clara the freedom she seeks from her mother’s overbearing rule.
When her attempts at overseeing the household at the family’s estate lead to her chance encounter with a young man with russet hair and sparkling eyes the color of the sea, she finds herself strangely drawn to him. As Clara grows closer to Maurits, she must choose between the steady, gentle life she has been raised for and the man who makes her blood sing.

Classic Hester Fox book: Reel you in (pun intended) with the fantasy world building and then kill you dead with the romance.

Clara had a good head on her shoulders, though she did tend to be a little too gullible at times. Believing anyone and everyone who came from the water had good intentions despite being warned by multiple people never to trust anyone who came from said water.

This is a rare book where I didn't feel like the ending was rushed, which is another thing I love about Fox's storytelling. She knows how to spin a yarn.

The only thing keeping this from the full 5 stars is that the story kind of dragged on just a little and there was just too many times where Clara went under the water and came back out. I felt a little lost at times, wondering where she actually was.

A Magic Deep and Drowning by Hester Fox

A Magic Deep and Drowning offers a contemporary twist to the classic, The Little Mermaid. In this story, it is a merman instead of a mermaid. There is a good mix of history and magic as well as fairy tale components.

The story begins by introducing us to Clara who has grown up in a harsh and lonely home environment. There is a mystery as to why she is kept safely tucked within the confines of her family’s estate and why her mother treats her poorly. Now that she is grown, her father has arranged for her to marry a wealthy businessman. However, everything changes when Clara has a chance encounter with Maurits, a man who appears out of nowhere and whose story does not add up. Her life becomes greatly complicated as she learns there is trouble brewing underwater and she is believed to be the one who can right history and restore balance between those of the land and sea.

Clara’s story instantly caught my attention and I really loved the setting descriptions. However, I lost interest as the story developed since it seemed somewhat predictable and Clara was presented as gullible and self-centered throughout most of the story.

Thank you to The Hive, Graydon House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of A Magic Deep and Drowning.

This was a beautiful re-imagining of The Little Mermaid with other old lore intertwined. It was a beautiful read - lyric, descriptive and mesmerizing. Clara is a young girl in the golden age of the Dutch Republic. She has had a cushy life and is set to marry an acquaintance of her father's. Enter Maurits, a beautiful young man who sparks something in Clara that she has never felt before. Much happens in both land and sea and the end result is this beautiful novel. Definitely recommended.

The year is 1650. We are in the Dutch Republic and Clara is a twenty year old girl in Friesland, about to be married off to a man who hunts whales. And while that repulses her, the need to get out of her mother’s house is bigger.
Until a stranger arrives and captures her heart. There is just something about him that has her questioning her wedding, and then he is gone.
Maurits is not who or what he seems, in this wonderful retelling of The Little Mermaid, and an age old bargain between humans and the water has been breached and the payment is Calra.


Oh how I loved every little morsel of this story! I do hope there will be more.




NetGalley/ Harlequin Trade/Graydon June 24, 2925