This had every possibility of being very entertaining and original. However I found that this graphic narrative fell short. The first warning bell to me was the description of “Twilight meets the legend of Atlantis”, as I was never a Twilight fan to begin with. I was wooed in however by the beautiful graphics.

I will say that aesthetically Mer is beautiful. Boeh has a captivating art style that I find to be wholly original. The concept behind this story is also unique, as mermaids/men are an untapped resource in the YA fairy tale retelling market. Despite all this promise Sellner did not deliver plot wise.

Mer seemed to skip around, leaving out connecting scenes that would help the reader make sense of how the characters got from point a to point b. I was also disappointed in how quickly the protagonists Aryn and Adrian (there were several A names in this novel, which get’s confusing when you aren’t invested in the characters) began to develop feelings for one another. Now I know there is a certain degree of speed to the plot when graphic novels are concerned, but I’ve read good graphic novels with believable developments. This was not one of them. The love story progressed too fast for me. Also, once Aryn discovered that Adrian was mer there was no reaction from her, which I found to be unbelievable.

In short I did not form any kind of attachment to the characters in this story, so when *spoiler alert* one is possibly mortally wounded I did not find myself overly concerned. Sellner’s pacing was well done action-wise, but lackluster in all other aspects. The cliffhanger ending also left me uninterested, probably because I have no investment in these character’s relationships. However, despite my misgivings I will look for another installment, as Boeh’s artistic ventures will most likely continue to be stunning.

I greatly enjoyed this graphic novel. The story was very well explained and written. The art draws you in with its vibrant colors and creative characters. Upon first glance at the synopsis of this story, I wanted to know more. I wanted this story to grab me and hold on throughout the book but yet when you are reading about Mermaids and fantasy characters such as these you want to have some sort of "scientific" background or understanding of what you are reading. This book gave you all of that and more. It was a pleasure to read.

That should be 'meh'. There're teen-friendly comics, and teen-only comics, and this is definitely the latter. Clunky drawing, overly vivid colouring, and a pretty uninteresting potboiler regarding a legacy of a necklace, a bitchy pop star who's the step-mum to your best friend, and a merman. Now you know why I said 'meh'.

Wasn't able to read this one before it was archived -- interested to check it out when it's available!

When I first looked at the title, I automatically assumed it was going to be a mer-person novel. The cover confirmed my thought.

The Good Stuff:
1. The story was quite captivating.
2. I loved the artwork!
3. I liked that it was full of action.

The Issues:
1. Some parts were cliché.
2. It was a bit too fast-paced for me.
3. The high school drama

Overall impression: I liked the novel and it was a good quick read. I think it could have been a bit better though.

I won't be able to review this one because I forgot too download it before it was archived, so I don't have it to read. I was really looking forward to it but because it didn't come out till April I was waiting on downloading it and didn't realize it archived so quickly. :(

Mer is an okay read. The art is amazing, I liked the way it was colored and how it had lots of blues throughout to keep tying it to the sea. However, I found the story a little jumbled up, confusing at times. I wish it was done a little bit better.

A great story for fans of Teen Wolf who want more beaches in their supernatural drama. Aryn moves to a new town with her familk after her mother's Death. Caught between the snooty rich girls, and friend whose stepmother is too interested in her, and the new hunk in school who has the same necklace as her. Oh, and the hunk has scales..

While the story has been done before, I liked the art, and the lead characters are sympathetic. The volume can stand on its own, but I definitely would read a follow-up.

I could not download properly. It had text bubbles, but no images.

I really enjoyed this comic volume! What an interesting, suspenseful and romantic comic! I really did feel like I was reading and watching a very cool TV series. It was a lot of fun to read and the art is truly beautiful. I would definitely recommend this to people who love mermaids, a good comic, great art and a drama filled story.

So, although this wasn't a terrible graphic novel, I had some problems with it that just overall hurt my enjoyment of it.
The first major issue was the fact that I couldn't really understand how to read it at first. I think it would have been helpful to have directional arrows every so often, like a manga might, to keep you on the right track. The main reason I found issues with the direction of reading was because I found that there was a lot of illustrated boxes on one page, making it unclear for me on how it should be read. This is an issue that may just affect me, but I thought I should mention it nevertheless.

The next problem I stumbled upon was that everything progressed way too quickly, causing me (right up until the end) not having made connections with characters. Sure, I felt a bit sad when certain things happened, but that emotion didn't run deep or last long.

It was predictable from the start, with a fair amount of plot holes. I found the realtionships in particular to happen too quickly, especially with the turn of events right at the begining of ''act 3''. I still don't know why it's not regular chapters... The act style serves no purpose to me. I felt that I had missed chuncks of storyline because relationships seemed to evolve so quickly, like I was missing major events.

The conversation of the mer people felt really stunted and didn't flow very well. To me this did give me the impression that perhaps English wouldn't have been their first language (as they would use full words such as ''I am'', ''I cannot'', as opposed to the quicker, more convenient ''I'm'' or ''I can't'' that other characters would say), but regardless, it still broke up my reading flow a lot.

Overall, unfortunately this book just didn't feel very unique or special and wasn't executed very well. As this is an unedited arc, perhaps some of the smaller issues can be resolved but as for the lacking of general entertainment, I don't think that can easily be fixed, I'm sad to say.

"Mer" is certainly banking on the current supernatural creature trend, just as all the witch and vampire books have before them but that is not where I find fault with this book. At it's core, the idea for this story was solid unfortunately it felt rather rushed. There was a lot of material that potentially should have been covered that was ignored or written off after a single acknowledgement.

There was a distinct lack of character growth in the main characters, Aryn could have been so much more than she was. Her interactions with other characters were stilted and the relationship that was supposed to have built with Adrian felt shallow. How their story ended in this volume felt inevitable but not upsetting. If there is to be a second volume these problems could be solved but that does not save this volume from the lack of world and character building.

I was left wanting more, not a sequel, just more from the characters and their reactions/emotions concerning the situation they were dealing with. There just wasn't enough of anything tangible to hold my attention.

Mer come to land to find a mate. They can choose to stay and become more human or go back, either alone because their mate is Mer too or because their human mate chose to go with them to Atlantis and become a Mer themselves.

Aryn's mother died recently. Her father only kept a few of her belongings before they moved to Connecticut where Aryn and her sister got a scholarship at a very exclusive school there. While going through her mother's belongings, Aryn finds a necklace and decides to wear it. However, on her first day of school, Aryn loses it and accuses the guy whom her only friend takes a fancy on.

Although full of stereotypes and clichés, Mer was quite enjoyable to read and the art was very cute. I like the mythos created and Sellner's take on mermaids so I'll definitely follow the series when the second volume is released. The insta-love bothered me a bit but, since it was mostly one sided and I guess the mate thing kind of explains why it was so, I got over it. The last scene gives me hope for the next volume, I can't wait for it to come out.

Interesting and intriguing with great art and a great storyline.. Love the twist on merpeople, atlantis and the siren like villain with a penchant for eating hearts!
Can't wait to read more - if there will be!

The story captures your attention right from the beginning. With a brutal intro, I couldn’t stop reading on and enjoyed Mer very much. The story concept contains a very cute idea and the artwork was quite my taste. However, there wasn’t a natural flow between the change of sceneries and I missed the time & place stamps I’m so used to in comics. But bear in mind, I just read a non-final copy so here's hoping they’ll change that before the final edition.

In my opinion Joelle Sellner did a wonderful job writing this story and if you enjoy reading fast paced comics without having to wait too long for action scenes, then you should definitely pick up Mer!

The following part of my review might contain spoilers for those who haven’t read the comic yet. Read on with caution!

There were two big plot twists. One, when it was first assumed that Julia was on the dark side, and two, when it was revealed that everything was just an act to save her friends. Although it was kind of an obvious plot line, I didn’t quite know if I should trust her character or not, which made it much more interesting and suspenseful.

I really liked the characters, and although the story was quite fast paced I think I got to know them quite well. There are still so many open questions, though, like did Arwyn’s dad also have feelings for Ophelia? Did she make it out alive? What’s happening in Atlantis? And is that Adrian in the end rising from the water? Hopefully, I’ll get my answers some day!

Review posted on @ Swissbookworm: Monday 23 January 2017.

In trying to sum up Mer, I couldn't help but think that this is the mermaid verison of Twilight - but dumbed down even further for graphic novel format. The plot is silly, the characters unrealistic, the romance forced, the pacing sluggish, and the drama over-the-top. The illustration work is fine, nothing special and the color work is fine. But this feels very much like a studied attempt to compress every YA fantasy romance cliche into a small and undemanding read. Perfect for prepubescent girls, then, I guess.

Story: Aryn's father has moved her to a new home - and she doesn't get along well with anyone except one girl who friends her. But when a cute boy gets in between them, Aryn discovers that mermaids are real and she might also have a connection to them.

I understand and respect that not every YA book has to make girls actually think; nor do they have to be deep. But at the same time, they should at least have an original POV that make the read worthwhile. With Mer, we have nearly all the cliches: great misunderstanding, manipulation, cute boy love triangle, fantasy elements that make our girl a unique snowflake, mean high school girls, etc. etc. Add in a really silly villain (Ursula from The Little Mermaid, she ain't!), a lot of very deus ex machina plot machinations, enough logic holes as to begger believability, and a really bland romance and this really fails in many levels. There's nothing original here.

If written sympathetically, we might have gone along with the stilted dialogue and unnatural motivations/actions. But every character is so wooden and idealized as to be cardboard cutouts. Aryn herself is pretty unlikable, petty and rude to the love interest (which of course he doesn't mind at all), and only the 'bad' people dislike her, of course. Is it terrible that I hated her 'hot' romantic love interest just because he must be pretty vapid to be 'in love' with her?

I did finish Mer - it wasn't challenging though it was definitely unrewarding. I think a 10-12 year old can enjoy the book on their own terms, though. But more demanding readers will likely recognize the book for what it is: shallow and unfulfilling. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

A fast-paced and beautiful graphic novel about mermaids and Atlantis! Though it's supposed to have Twilight elements in it, I didn't see anything like it. I would really love to see what happens next!

There is a quite a lot of drama throughout this graphic novel but I would say that is the result of teenagers being the main characters. I am not sure that I agree with the twilight comparison in the synopsis.
This story starts with death and then moves into the teen girl high school drama complete with bullies, backstabbing, and parents that don’t understand. It is not overly complicated and will hold your interest if you let it. The artwork is good, I like the cover, and there is definitely potential for more. I hope that there is a follow-up.
Aryn is having a hard time adjusting after the death of her mother and a move. As a character, I found her to be likable. Outside of the Sanford family, the characters were pretty diverse in ethnicity and species. The villain is not a mystery for long but evil all the same. Tressa was simply awesome.

Mer by Joelle Sellner is an enchanting graphic novel about Mer, people of Atlantis. These creatures visit Land once in their lifetime in search of their soul-mate. Some find their mates in humans, some in mer.
The main character of this graphic novel is Aryn, a human girl who has just lost her mother and moves to a new town with her father and her younger sister. We follow her as she accommodates to her new life and experiences some of the most prominent events of her life.

I enjoyed Mer very much. I felt it did not lack anything, the plot was very nicely branched out and the characters were quite interesting.
The only thing that truly bugged me while reading was the dialogue - it was a bit forced and sometimes it felt a bit unnatural.

In conclusion, this was a phenomenal read, filled with adventure and magnificent creatures.