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B O O K T R A I L E R:
O P E N I N G H O O K:
Daughter of Merrow, leave your sleep,
The ways of childhood no more to keep.
The dream will die, a nightmare rise,
Sleep no more, child, open your eyes.
From her place in the shadows, the elder, Baba Vr˘aja, watched the blue waterfire, her bright eyes restive and alert.
“Vino, un r˘au. Arat˘a-te,”she muttered in her age-old tongue. Come, evil one. Show yourself.
Around the waterfire, eight river witches continued their song. Hands clasped, they swam counterclockwise in a circle, their powerful tails pushing them through the water.
Daughter of Merrow, chosen one,
The end begins, your time has come.
The sands run out, our spell unwinds,
Inch by inch, our chant unbinds.
One book is never enough when mermaids are involved. Luckily, the Waterfire Saga will be four books. At the moment, Disney Hyperion also has plans to, according to Publishers Weekly, release enhanced e-books with "promotional video content and an original song commissioned by the company’s Hollywood Records." There will also be graphic novels, an illustrated gift-book, and more. The publisher is looking to "launch the series across various platforms, and are looking to develop interactive, digital, and additional video and music components.” (Um, and I don't do audiobooks because I have hearing loss, but if the audio has all of the awesome chants and songs that I can only envision as I read, I really want to get my hands on a copy!)
For now, take a peek at the song commissioned for the series and watch the world of mermaids come to life!
All Princess Seraphina ever feared was making a mess of the most important ceremony of her life. Things seem to be going as planned until her kingdom falls under attack. Her parents are assassinated and she's suddenly in charge of a kingdom...and on the run. As she's chased into exile, Seraphina realizes that a powerful destiny awaits her, one that will change everything.
A lot of care was taken to bring together a good, engaging series. There's so much wonderful world-building and unique mermaid lore. I was captivated by prophecies and underwater life and elements that brought the book to life. I'm excited to see how much deeper the world will unfurl in future books. I also loved the way mermaid terminology was used and explored. It didn't feel like too much, but made it seem like the mer have a culture and slang that's all their own. It really helped me immerse myself more fully into the world and forget that I wasn't swimming right there aside my merl Seraphina.
There's quite a bit of action in DEEP BLUE, and a lot is going on. As more characters joined the cast, it was a little harder to keep track of everyone because there was just so much information, and it all came so fast. I've come to expect this type of "info dump" in the first book in a series, though, and think the next three books will be much tighter as Donnelly plays with the world she's introduced us to. I'm hoping for more character exploration so I'll really care about these six mermaids of prophecy and be rooting for their success by the saga's conclusion.
I was really excited for DEEP BLUE from the moment I first heard about it, sensing the darker tone and hoping it would be like my favorite mermaid series, the Lost Voices trilogy by Sarah Porter. It's not as dark and gritty, but it certainly is dark. The mermaids are at war, and peace is only a memory. I really like the mix of dark and light, and the way there are so many new mythological concepts to explore. I can't wait to get my hands on ROGUE WAVE in January! (And thankfully, these books are on a rotation of about six months, so we don't have to wait four years to see how it all ends!)
~*~
C O N T E N T R A T I N G S
Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details
Romance: PG ( There's not really a lot of romance at all in this book; it's mostly mooning over a childhood crush.)
Language: PG ( There are mermaidy versions of curses like "bad-wrasses" and "jackwrasses" )
Violence: PG13+ ( Assassination, death, violence, ceremonial cut )
Other: ( There is mention of some of the bad habits the Prince is involved with in his free time. He's a bit of a troublemaker. He stays out all night and parties..)
~*~
C O V E R D E S I G N:
This series is gorgeous. GORGEOUS!
You may not think so at a glance, but when you open this book up, it's so, so beautiful.
Take a peek at what awaits!
Here's a vlog featuring all the cool aspects of DEEP BLUE's design. Talk about a homerun!
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: DEEP BLUE
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Received: For Review (BEA Copy)
Received: For Review (BEA Copy)
SUMMARY:
The first in a
series of four epic tales set in the depths of the ocean, where six
mermaids seek to protect and save their hidden world.
Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.
When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.
Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.
When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.
The cover is really wonderful and sounds intereting this book! :)
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