Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the e-arc!

I read the first book of this series when It came out and I loved it. I was excited to see there was a sequel. This sequel did not disappoint, it did a stunning job finishing the series. I loved catching up with Atana and the other mythical creatures of this series. The art was also beautiful and helped the enhance the world. If you haven't checked out this series, I highly recommend!

I was so excited to revisit Atana’s magical world of mermaids, witches and firebirds. In this new adventure, Atana helps Ren reunite with her magic source while also attempting to find her own home. I thought this story got off to a bit of a slow start, but once big things start happening, I felt whisked away into the fantasy. This is a book of heroines and strong women and a bit of sapphic love. It’s also about finding yourself, sharing good in the world and redefining home and found family. The art is lovely with soft pastel coloring- simply beautiful and very easy to read. Another hit is on the books for Vivian Zhou and I felt lucky to snag a digital ARC of this graphic novel for review from NetGalley.

The inspiration taken from folklore and put into this story is beautiful. Per usual the art is amazing. I loved the magic and strong character bonds. Thank you so much for this e-arc!

Atana is back to finish her adventure and fulfill her prophecy. This is a great sequel that continues right where Atana and the Firebird left off. Her friends, Ren and Cosomos bring such joy to the story with their real feelings and struggles. I love how this duology wrapped up and am sad to be leaving this world behind. Any reader who enjoyed the first book will love Atana and the Jade Mermaid. Thanks to HarperAlley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was unaware that this was the second book in a duology (totally on me), so I was a little confused at first when it started, but it did a very good job at explaining what the premise and stakes were so I caught up very easily!

This was a very sweet story! I loved the characters and their relationships with each other! The art was very lovely too! The colors were beautiful and the lineart and designs were very nice!

I really liked the idea of needing all magic to work together in order to be at full strength! I enjoyed this quite a lot and will definitely go back and read the first book too!

I loved the first book, so I was so excited to finally get to read the second book! Intriguing that the series was only two books, it kind of felt like it could have been set up for a whole series!

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade/teen graphic novel about a mermaid and a firebird trying to fix a magical problem from the past. Excellent plot, magic, worldbuilding, and characters. A wonderful conclusion to the Atana duology. Not to be read as a standalone.

Plot Preview:
I won't give any plot details as this is a direct sequel to the first book and I don’t want to go into spoilers. So all you can know for now is that Atana and Ren, along with their companions, try to sort out all issues raised in the first book. Their journey isn't easy, but their friendship and their determination are as strong as ever.

This second book of the Atana duology continues immediately from the ending of the first Atana book: “Atana and the Firebird”. As such, it is not to be read as a standalone.

Book One had impressed me with its magical beings and the plot, but the number of dangling threads and the intricacy of the multiple backstories had left me reluctant to hit the 5-star mark. It was clear that the sequel would need to fill in all the gaps in the plot without making it seem cluttered or convenient. Thankfully, this book does a great job of bringing all the subplots to a neat finish.

Though we know the end goal of this story – to sort out all the unresolved arcs from Book One, especially the part connected to Atana’s backstory – there are still a few surprises awaiting us herein, along with many humorous moments. There are also quite a few memorable quotes connected to self-acceptance and self-confidence. On the whole, this book doesn’t feel as complicated as Book One because it doesn’t introduce many new tangles; it mainly attempts to sort out the knots from the earlier muddle.

Atana, Ren, Cosmos, Celosia, and Suah all return in this story in key roles. There are some new characters as well, connected to Atana and Ren. We don’t get to know these new entrants intimately as the primary focus of the story is on the pending arcs of Book One. However, we learn just enough about them to get a hang of their behaviour. Kudos to the author for providing depth to a character even within a limited page space.

The cast is quite female-dominant, with every single on-page character being female. One of the characters uses the they/them pronouns, and there are a couple of Sapphic relationships hinted at. However, just as in the first book, these are barely elaborated upon.

I wish the title hadn’t mentioned “Jade Mermaid.” In the first book, Atana meets the firebird in the first chapter itself, so there’s no spoiler. However, we don’t get to know even about the existence of the jade mermaid until much, much later in the story, so the surprise is kinda spoilt by the title.

The worldbuilding is much clearer this time as we get to see the entire magic system instead of just bits and pieces of it in passing. Each of the three worlds has a distinct look in terms of both features and characters.

The illustrations are just as beautiful as in the first book. They feel like an ode to Studio Ghibli (without any stupid AI intervention, of course.) I just wish I could figure out why the Witch Queen’s eyes are always hidden.

All in all, this is a worthy conclusion to the duology, and as it satisfied all the doubts and questions I had after reading the first book, I enjoyed it even better.

Definitely recommended, but only to those who have read the first book. Both the stories are lovely, so this set will be a nice addition to your graphic-novel/fantasy-loving teen’s TBR.

4.5 stars.

My thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and HarperAlley for providing the DRC of “Atana and the Jade Mermaid” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for advanced copy*

What a joy it was reading Atana's story in this. I loved how her magic worked. This is perfect for middle grade audiences and for fans of the comic series 5 Worlds or the animated series Steven Universe.

This is a cute read with lovable characters and beautiful scenes in the graphic novel. The author creates a magical world that readers of fantasy and mermaids will love. Good, engaging story line.

When I read the first book, I was very keen to see how the story would move forward and how Atana's adventures would end. The second and final (I think) volume definitely wrapped up Atana's story but it definitely left a lot of holes and jumped some key plot points. Was that bad? Not necessarily because you could easily infer what went on, but I did come away wanting just a few more pages to fill in the gaps. Atana and her friends figure out how to fix their world and to make magic work properly again. It's just a matter of bringing all of the elements together to make the fix. That's what the bulk of the book is about .... fixing their world and, in so doing, finding their place amongst family and friends.

The ending was satisfying overall, especially the epilogue. This was a lovely book about friendship, and testing the friendship through adversity and adventure.

The artwork is lovely although a few characters were drawn so closely that I did find it hard telling them apart. They weren't even siblings!

I wouldn't go into this book without reading the first volume - you definitely need the context. And as far as sequels go, this one does a good job and, most importantly, it wraps up the story without loose ends.

Thank you to netGalley and HarperAlley for the eARC.

As a sequel to the duology, Atana and the Jade Mermaid was a delightful read, expanding on the magical world and the stories that started long before we encountered our main three heroes.

This was a cute read, with an interesting world, great art style, and good pacing throughout the book. I really enjoyed their adventure!

This was cute! I appear to have liked this one more than the first book, though it's been a while since I read the first installment. I think a duology is a good length for this, and I liked seeing some of the character arcs pay off in this volume.

As the title suggests, this one focuses more on the deep sea and the merfolk. There's a very middle grade logic to this which relies on a simplification of greed and altruism in people's behavior, but if you can roll with that, there's some nuance to the literal balance of power in this world. There's a focus on harmony and working together, which should come as no surprises given that the core of this story are three young people from the three main factions of this world all becoming friends.

As a fantastical middle grade graphic novel, this worked for me. It's easy to tell that the creator worked in animation---with some action scenes, I find that order of events can be confusingly communicated, but this was well laid-out. The different aesthetics of each kingdom are pretty cool, too. This is a very sapphic-forward world, and the various relationships are sweet. Fast-paced, dreamy, and heavy on the power of friendship.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is such a sweet art style; crisp and clean with a perfect color palette. I read Atana and the Firebird right before reading Jade Mermaid and I really enjoyed being immersed in the world building. The atmosphere brought to mind the 5 Worlds series and Kay O’Neill’s style of storytelling while still being unique. Atana, Ren and Cosmos are a great main trio, but I found myself also very invested in the histories of the adults in the story. This duology manages to pack plenty in to make the story hit home, but I definitely could’ve read more. I look forward to future works by Vivian Zhou!

Atana and the Jade Mermaid was both a whimsical and powerful second installment to of the Atana series. This installment focused on our favorite trio as they are all on their seperate quests together; Atana attempting to uncover more about their past, Ren attempting to fix the disruption of magic by her people, and Cosmos found stuck in the middle of all this chaos. This was an incredibly poignant sequel as amongst the gorgeous pastel illustrations there was a focus on the complexities of friendship, family, and legacy. This graphic novel packs a punch in just 256 pages as the trio races to fix the distruption of magical balance against all the odds that seem to be agains them.

From my 8 year old daughter:

I would rate this 4.5 stars because I loved the story. I wish it was a little longer! I would say it’s one of my favorite books, in my opinion. I loved the art style. All the pictures were beautiful. The characters were nice, except for the MC’s mom! If you’re looking for a fun book about mermaids, I recommend you give this a try!

"Atana and the Jade Mermaid" is the second book in the Atana series of middle grade graphic novels by Vivian Zhou. Atana is a mermaid (whose tail turns into legs when on land) who is trying to find out about her past, but her priority right now is getting help for her friend Ren, a Firebird (magical human with wings) who needs to get to the source of her magic. The artwork is beautiful and the story will keep readers hooked. A must-buy for middle grade graphic novel collections where fantasy is popular. It is recommended to have the first book in this series as well.

I have been waiting to finish this story since July of last year and it ended so perfectly. A beautiful duology about a witch, a mermaid and a firebird and their adventures to bring balance back to the earth.

I enjoyed this sequel much more than the first. The world building has improved and expanded. The magic and its origins are explained more thoroughly. I enjoyed the mermaid empire and the introduction of the mermaid side characters. The art style is simplistic yet still beautiful. The story itself reminds me of something that could be a Ghibli movie. A solid conclusion to an enchanting graphic novel duology!

I didn’t realize Atlana and the Jade Mermaid was the second in a graphic novel duology. That being said, it does a great job giving you the background information you need to not be lost or confused if you did miss book 1 (and I loved it so much I absolutely will be reading book 1 now!). This graphic novel, for ages 8+, is a coming of age story that follows 3 best friends- Atlana (mermaid), Cosmos (witch), and Ren (firebird). In particular, Atlana is trying to figure out what SHE wants, not just do what’s expected of her as a mermaid! I absolutely loved this graphic novel- the art style was stunning and the story was so heartwarming and is centered around this message: “You are yourself. Isn’t that a wonderful thing?”. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Atana and the Jade Mermaid.

"Atana and the Jade Mermaid" completes the Atana Duology in this stunning 2nd novel! I loved how Atana, Ren, and Cosmo's friendship continued to grow as they journeyed to save the magic source of the world.

The art style is perfect for a younger audience, bright and simple, and would be great for elementary and middle school readers. The plot was enjoyable and featured the friendship of 3 young girls who learn to fight for each other and the world they want. This series even includes a few very minor LGBTQ relationships, which are briefly alluded to near the end of the novel.

I thought it was the perfect conclusion to the story and would highly recommend this graphic novel duology!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.