MER-CHARMER, by Amy Bearce
Genre: middle-grade fantasy
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Date of Release: May 9, 2016
Cover Artist: Amalia Chitulescu
Find Online: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads
Description:
Fourteen-year-old Phoebe Quinn is surrounded by magic, but she can’t muster any of her own. Her sister is a fairy keeper. Her best friends are merfolk. And all she does is dishes and housework.
When Phoebe finds out a terrible sea creature is awakening that preys upon the peace-loving merfolk, she becomes determined to help them, even though it means going with Tristan and Mina to their home deep in the sea.
Beneath the waves, Phoebe learns she’s more like her sister than she realized. The merfolk are drawn to her, and she can sense the magic of the sea all around her. Magic is finally at her fingertips, but that’s precisely why the stirring dark power under the waters decides it wants her most of all.
Now she must not only help the peaceful merfolk escape this ancient enemy, she must master her out-of-control powers. If she fails, she will die and darkness will rise and enslave the merfolk once more. But embracing her full power could cost her the very people she loves the most.
Review
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Having read and enjoyed Fairy Keeper, I was happy to have the opportunity to read the second book in the series.
I liked being able to see Phoebe in this book and it was really easy to empathise with her as a character. I thought it was especially good to see her relationship with her sister and the other characters from the first book… though I felt Sierra didn’t really come across as a very nice person in this book, given the way she didn’t care about the humans breaking the treaty with the merfolk.
I liked seeing Phoebe with Tristan and Mina. It was nice to see how close the three of them were… but it was also good that the merfolk didn’t just accept Phoebe and what she could do. I liked being able to see Phoebe’s conflicts about whether or not she was forcing Tristan and Mina to be friends with her… and I did think it was intriguing to read about the mer-tears and the mystery surrounding them.
I found it easy to empathise with Phoebe’s fear that carried over from the first book. I would have liked to see some of her earlier exchanges with Tristan and Mina, but I did really like seeing their friendship and I felt that the romance came across as real and natural. I did like being able to see a bit more of the merfolk’s culture… and while I really didn’t like a couple of the elders (and would have liked to see more variety in their personalities), I did feel that their attitudes made sense and I wouldn’t have liked the book so much if everything had just come easy to Phoebe.
I thought that the descriptions in the book worked really well and I was drawn really easily into the world and the relationships between the characters. The wraiths were creepy enough, but it was good to see the other creatures that made the ocean their home as well… and there was a lot of tension that kept me reading the book, wanting to find out what would happen next.
I found this book easy to read and I enjoyed being able to see the characters from the first book and meet new ones. In the near future, I would really like to read more book/s in this series and by this author.
About The Author
Amy writes stories for tweens and teens. She is a former reading teacher with a Masters in Library Science. As an Army kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they’re raising two daughters and are currently living in Germany, though they still call Texas home. A perfect day for Amy involves rain pattering on the windows, popcorn, and every member of her family curled up in one cozy room reading a good book.
Find Amy Bearce Online:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
About Curiosity Quills Press
Curiosity Quills Press (CQ) is a small hybrid publishing company specializing in genre fiction of the highest quality. With 150+ titles in our catalog already and approximately 6 new books coming out each month, there’s never a dull moment at CQ. We work with major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible to ensure that you, the reader, can find whatever you are looking for at your convenience.
Founded in 2011 by Eugene Teplitsky and Lisa Gus, CQ was initially a resource portal for writing and publishing, created in an effort to help writers, like themselves, survive the publishing industry. After rapid success, CQ morphed into publishing press that over time has solidified its share in the market. Now we spend our days searching for the next great escape!
Ink of Blood 