Good concept for the book but, I did not really care for how it was executed. I also just kinda liked the illustrations. There were some printed errors and though the story was kinda cute it did not really keep my interest.

The story was interesting, but the illustrations were unoriginal and uninspired. The story is a little reminiscent of the Disney incarnation of the little mermaid - a sea princess who wants to go to the surface to witness/experience something that is forbidden because it could lead to her death. Overall not bad or good.

This is more for school children who love fairy tales, for that is what it reminded me of. There is a happy ending and everything works out for everybody. I personally don't like the way the book is written but young people might.

The illustrations are beautiful! I am not sure this is really a children's book. It might be over the heads of younger kids. The overall story was enjoyable and I look forward to seeing what comes next for this author. I believe I read this was the author's first book? I see a lot of potential! Adding this author to my authors to keep in mind

*thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.
Ok, I am confused. This had so much potential. The story was descriptive which was great to try and get an idea of what the author was saying. The illustrations look 3D which I really liked. But, my mind kept drifting. This story could not hold my attention and most of the time I had to re-read parts and I just didnt know what was going on. I do not know if this was just me not engaging in it or if the story was lacking. Probably both. It started out so good that I had high hopes for it. But, I think this book would do much better as a graphic novel. I do like the cover though.

Prym is princess of the Steigens, a rare form of water fairy. Senlight is lethal to them, yet Prym heard that the senrise is beautiful and full of colors. Determined to see the senrise, Prym sets out on an adventure to find a way to see the senrise for herself.

This is a fantasy story geared for school age children. She is exuberant and determined in the way that young children can be, sure that she can find a way to do what is considered impossible. This leads her on adventures with an agoraphobic kraken and a crab that shares a tie to the Steigen, as well as Mother Gull, the Big Bad of the story. Prym never really loses hope to find what she's looking for, a valuable trait for children to learn. We get something of a happily ever after at the end, and it seems as though characters all get what they need at the end. They are drawn a little thin in the way that all fairy tale characters are, relying heavily on common tropes to move you through the story. Children interested in fairy tales won't mind it, but adults reading this book to them might feel that it's a bit lacking for their taste. There are a few illustrations in the book to complement the text, helping you visualize the characters. It's a cute read.

While the concept is intriguing, the pace and abrubt end of the story left a lot to be desired. Spent more time with descriptions than actual storytelling.

I was a little confused when I started to read this book because the synopsis made it sound highly child-friendly, which was why I had downloaded it to begin with, it was for a bed time read to my kiddos. However, as I began reading it I had to giggle and stop myself because it was a little too...beyond the age of 6. I felt as though this leaned more toward a nine/ten-year-old as it has a heavier tone to it.

I finished reading it by myself.

The beginning of the story is more like a history book before it settles into the actual story. It was an alright read - the best part was the illustrations.

Note that this is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was a simple story which I was unsure about when I began it, but which I ended up enjoying immensely even though it’s written for a younger audience than I represent. I felt the story was slightly lacking in 'magical' although now I think about it, I have a hard time trying to define what I mean by that, and I'm not going to let vague feelings get in the way of a positive review for a story that well deserves it. The writing was engaging, and Sheng-Mei Li's artwork was a joy - one I would have liked more of.

The characters were delightful, and interesting, even though the story has its roots in established mythology of supernatural and fantasy characters. I had never heard of the Steigens, so this was a fun and new revelation, and I liked how they were represented. They're a sort of underwater fairy people, who live in the deeps and are related to vampires in that they cannot be exposed to sunlight on the surface, or they will suffocate.

This limitation does not please Prym, who has heard tales from her fishy and mollusc-y friends Daeggar and Seffy, that the senrise is the most beautiful thing, full of joy and color. Prym, who loves colors, cannot get the idea of watching a brilliant senrise out of her head, and so she sets about learning how it is she can get to see one.

I loved Prym, who is sensible despite her adventurous streak. She's a strong character who is possessed of self-confidence and derring-do, and she starts her quest in a library, which is admirable. And she succeeds, not by machismo, but by thoughtful approaches and inventive solutions.

There were a couple of minor issues with the text. I read, "...an arrow of pure energy would appear, knocked and ready...." An arrow is 'nocked', not 'knocked'. This is a common error and no big deal; most people probably wouldn’t even notice it. The other issue is more of a pet peeve of mine rather than an outright error because I've seen this done so often it’s actually becoming an accepted part of the language, but to me a book is 'titled' - not 'entitled'. Entitlement is something different entirely. Or is it tirely?!

The book worked both on the smart phone and on a tablet in a Kindle app, although the cover was broken inexplicably into about fifteen pieces on both devices. The rest of the artwork looked fine, especially on the tablet. One odd thing I noticed on both the tablet and the phone was the appearance of strange capital letters such as 'P' and 'H' apparently randomly in the text, such as at location 81, where it read (or red!): P"You know what I said...", at location 159, where I read, "...a skull Pthat looked...", and at location 180, where I read, "Cold hands Phad wrapped...".

There were several instances of this kind of thing. In the iPad they were red letters, on the phone they were the same color as other text (white on black by my choice because it saves the battery!). Part of the problem in my opinion is Amazon's truly crappy Kindle app which cannot handle anything that contains pictures or fancy text with any reliability at all. Barnes & Nobles's Nook does a much better job in my experience.

I don't know where the 'P's and 'H's came from, but the red 'I' at location 6 appears to be a drop-cap from the top of the page. It was missing from the start of the chapter, which began, "n the farthest reaches...' rather than "In the farthest reaches...". The 'I' which should have been up there was several lines below, between "In the beginning," and "there was only one magic creature". Weird, but that's Kindle for you. This is why I detest Amazon. The book was viewed on an iPad in the Kindle app and on an LG smart phone in the Kindle app.

But hopefully these issues will be fixed before publication. Or you can play it safe and buy the print version! I checked this out in the PDF version in Adobe Digital editions on my desktop computer and it looked beautiful there. The text looked (I imagine!) exactly as the author imagined it, and the images in particular were gorgeous, especially the one of Prym watching the sunrise. That needs to be a screensaver or a wallpaper!

In conclusion, I recommend this book for a fun read for younger children. It's great fantasy tale, well told, and even adults can enjoy it, especially if they're young at heart.

Prym is a Steigan, one of the first races of Earth. She lives in the ocean, happily playing the days away with her best friends Seffy, a squid and Daeggar, a narwhal. But when she learns of the beautiful but deadly Sen, her stubborn streak comes out she won't rest until she finds a way to see it.