GUEST POST: 5 Reasons Mermaid Books Rock by Small Review


For two weeks, come celebrate mermaids, whether it’s winter or summer where you live. Splash into Summer runs from June 28th to July 12th. There will be author interviews, guest posts, giveaways, reviews, and more! Now is the time to celebrate mermaids, especially with so many new novels about them coming out.



Today, Small Review has written an awesome guest post on mermaids to share with all of you. Small is one of my all-time favorite bloggers. We have VERY similar tastes, so if you like me, you’ll probably like her as well. We often have the same reasons for liking or disliking a book. If there’s a book I wanted to read that Small didn’t care for and the reasons make me think I might not like it either, I’m likelier to pass. If, on the other hand, she reads a book I don’t want to read, haven’t heard of, or have further down my pile and she makes it sound like the most amazing thing since sliced bread, that book is shooting up on my to-read pile! Plus, Small has all these crazy cool features unique to her blog such as Review Comparisons (where she looks at reviews from various bloggers to put together a pros/cons survey, of sorts) and writes up tutorials for making your blog look a LOT better with her html tricks. I love this girl and you should too!




5 Reasons Mermaid Books Rock

THANK YOU Bonnie for inviting me to partake in this fantastic feature!





1. Location, Location, Location!


As you've probably guessed already, I'm a human. That means I can't exactly do the whole "breathing underwater" thing very well. Bummer, I know. Honestly, I can't even swim underwater very well. So the only way I can get my fix for exploring underwater kingdoms is through mermaid books.

This opens up a whole new world of sea caverns, shell decorations, coral architecture, undersea gadgets, and fantastic hair (am I alone in thinking long hair looks fabulous underwater?). The world-building possibilities are HUGE!





2. Princesses


I'm a sucker for a princess story, and many mermaid stories feature a royal main character. Do you know what's better than an underwater house? An underwater CASTLE.






3. Inventive adaptations


One thing mermaids can't seem to do is keep to their underwater homes. They're always finding ways to mingle with humans, and that does present a problem: A beached and floppy mermaid is not a pretty picture. So authors need to get creative. I love discovering all the different ways authors will come up with as a workaround to the whole no-legs thing. Magic spells, deals with very bad witches, shape-shifting abilities, and giant fish bowls (Lish!) are among my favorites.




4. Forbidden love


Ah, forbidden love! Mermaid girls never seem to be able to find love with a nice mermaid boy (erm, merboy? Merman?) So of course they go off and fall for the ultimate unattainable guy: A guy who can't breathe underwater! Talk about relationship obstacles! This insta-conflict helps make mermaid books entertaining. Authors are left with two ways to handle such wayward love: Come up with a creative solution, or write a tragedy. If done right, both have high awesome potential.




5. Humor potential


When a mermaid comes out of the water for the first time, she doesn't know squat about a ton of human conventions and inventions. Watching her learn how to properly use forks and figure out how fire works can lead to some pretty hilarious scenes.

Comments

  1. Small, this post was so much fun! As always, I love your writing style. It's lovely to read. Thank YOU for being so awesome and participating! And I love all the Ariel pictures, especially the one you put with her as a princess! And I looooooooooove the dinglehopper scene for funny mistakes. You are so brilliant! <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to know, which story features a giant fish bowl? I must read it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. @flashlight_reader: It's Paranormalcy by Kiersten White :)

    I LOVED this post! Great picks :) Seriously, are there are no elligible merman for these princesses?! I guess that's not much of a conflict though.

    Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I do always feel bad for the mermen. Their women are always running off! I did actually read one mer book with solely merpeople and no humans: Mermaid's Song by Alida Van Gores. It's OOP but worth reading if you come across it.

    But Small Review, you pretty much nailed the reasons I love mermaid stories too... =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aaaahh Bonnie! You said the sweetest things :) I think I fell in love with you over the Fairy Tale Fortnight when you totally rocked it with all your recommendations (fell in love in that totally platonic book-lover way :P ) And now mermaids!! Thank you so much for having me :)

    Flashlight_Reader, the Story Queen beat me to it, but yes, it's Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, which I highly recommend!

    The Story Queen, Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it. :)

    Jaclyn, Yay finally a merman that gets some love! I was definitely thinking of Between the Sea and Sky when I was writing the Forbidden Love point. Not only is her guy not a merman, but he has wings! Talk about an obstacle! I can't wait to see what happens.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great list! With bonus Ariel and all, love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh geez. Way to make me mermy for the mermish (does that even make sense?? LOL). I feel ashamed that I haven't read all that many mermaid books. Although I did adore Lish in that bleeping awesome Paranormalcy!

    I feel for those poor mereman. Someone needs to write a story with a human protagonist (oh... let's say her name is Brodie) who falls for the smokin' hot mereman. See, still plenty of conflict with conflicting species!

    Anyway, awesome post! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awesome post Small! For me it is all about the forbidden romance since I am a romantic fool :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay, don't drown me, but I haven't read a mermaid novel before, but I have tried a couple of story stories and my initial thoughts were meh, probably not for me.

    This post definitely has me reconsidering. I mean, what's not to love about forbidden love, and yes, you can't beat the location.

    Great guest post, Smalls! Since there are so many available, I'll take a merman! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. So true in all accounts!

    I don't know why but I've never been able to find Mermen sexy... so I totally get why cute little mermaids venture off to find their loves!

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL! I admit I have never actually read a mermaid book before, but I adored The Little Mermaid growing up as well. I found that I could totally relate to all the reasons you love them anyways. I'll have to give one a go sometime. I'm thinking, Forgive My Fins.

    I have noticed that hair looks especially fantastic underwater! Always in motion. You know who else's hair was always good for that (though she didn't live underwater)? Pocahontas! All that magical wind!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You are right on with these reasons! Forbidden love is at the top of my must read list, and nothing says forbidden like being unable to survive in the other's habitat!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Belle, Thanks! :)

    Brodie, Wasn’t Lish great? I can’t believe what happened! I’m still not over it. LOL! I think some author should get on your idea STAT :P I’d read it!

    Nic, Thanks! Ah, me too. Forbidden love is the best :)

    Missie, Oh don’t worry, wearing a shell bra makes up for your lack of mermaid reading. It shows dedication to the cause :P Hope you find one you like!

    Alex, Haha, I think for me it has to do with the whole tail and therefore lack of, um, stuff, that makes them seem less manly to me. :P I totally support the mermaids venturing on land.

    Aylee, I really liked Forgive My Fins. It’s very cute. You should totally give Paranormalcy a try! Lish isn’t the main character, but she’s a very memorable mermaid. Yes! You totally get the fantastic hair thing. Pocahontas had killer hair too. It was all flowy and pretty in the wind :)

    Logan, haha, I know right? Ultimate forbidden love :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great guest post Small! =)
    I agree with all of these =)

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is a super cute post. I love the pictures and the layout. Nice work Small.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Okay, I know I'm late and the Summer Splash is over, but I just have to say one of the best Mermaid books I've read was The Mermaid's Mirror and you'd be able to find the mermen sexy in this book. It's by L.K. Madigan.

    And Small- You did a great job! I'm still not over Lish either. I think long hair looks beautiful under water, too!

    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  17. @Buried in Books: Splash isn't over quite yet! We extended :) Glad you could join us!

    @Small: Awwww, YOU'RE the sweet one! I'm so glad all my fairy tale love is what drew you to me. I love that we both adore fairy tales. It was so much fun to have you here. We should totally do something together again. <3

    ReplyDelete
  18. Heather, Attractive mermen you say? Jotting that one down! Thanks :) Lish! *sob* yay for long hair under water!

    Bonnie, I would LOVE to do something together again :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for taking the time to stop and comment! I appreciate it more than I can say. I try to respond to each one!