I really wanted to like this book. Mermen, mermaids, sea setting; it could have been so good. Something in the story fell flat for me. I am not sure if it was the writing or the story development. I just couldn't get into the book. It read more like an unfinished book than one ready for publishing.

I love this types of books where its setting is by the sea. And where merfolk or mermaids are present. I love the relationship between the two, Llyr and Crystal. It mostly felt like their relationship was insta-love but it is quite nice. I love how the world was described properly and mainly love the world building. The book was also well written. Gotta love that it made me not confused when reading which is really great. I totally recommend this book especially to readers who loves reading about merfolks like me!

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I received an eARC of A Thousand Salt Kisses by Josie Demuth from NetGalley and Josie Demuth in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
4 stars! A creative and well-written start to a series. Highly recommend it if you are a fan of fantasy, mermen, and YA genres.

So this book is about a girl, Crystal who, one night while swimming, is pulled in by the waves. She thinks she is going to die but a handsome stranger saves her and disappears. When she finds him again, he introduces her to magic and so much more than she ever thought possible. While the idea of the book about mermaids and mere was quite exciting, it failed to impress. the execution of the story was disappointing. It was kind of cliched and predictable and it. certainly failed to impress.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review!

You want romance? U get romance. U want sad? U get sad? U want sad romance? U get sad romance. Not enough words will describe how incredibly poetic and beautiful this story was. The title was enough. Enough to tell you how to feel.

5/5. This was brilliant

I really tried to like this book, but I really did not like it. The writing is very poor and the characters and their relationships with each other are not well developed. The story feels as though it was put together too quickly in a short amount of time.

I am always fascinated with mermans / mermaids’ tales and this book fits the bill.

I like the storyline as it revolves around Llyr ( a
Merman! ) and Crystal. Of course, there’s romance! In fact, it’s insta-love for these two! Yup, the teenage, “you-wanna-roll-your-eyes” type! 😆 If you’re not into those, then consider yourself warned. Obviously relatable to teens ( I’m way past those years! ) but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Overall, an okay read!

While I appreciate the sentiment, the attempt, and the idea of this story, the writing was not quite polished enough. It came across immature and lacking intention but did have moments of potential. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me from the start. With the hyper-immature tone of the lead character I wasn’t ever able to connect, relate, or become remotely invested in the plot.

I encourage others to read it, though, and formulate your own opinion. You may love it.

Read if you like:
Mermaid Magic
YA fantasy
Closed-door romance

Sadly, I had to DNF this book. Did not hold my interest in the first few chapters and the writing was too juvenile. Could've used some more editing.

So I enjoyed reading this book, but there were a few things about it that bothered me. One, the relationship was very weird. It seemed like a middle school relationship were they “can’t live without each other” and it didn’t seem to progress, just stayed the same intensity the whole time. The other thing that bothered me was that there wasn’t a ton of character development. Other than that, I enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and one that kept me interested. I liked the characters individually, but some of the relationships were boring. It didn’t keep me interested enough to read the next books, but it was a good book to read fast and for fun.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to young adult readers and those who enjoy mermaid books.

I asked for a copy of this one on Netgalley because I'm a sucker for mermaid romance, but I ended up forcing myself to finish it. At least it's a quick read, with short bite size chapters. I was able to look past the few errors I found while reading (I suck at spelling too...I get it). I know this story originated on Wattpad and had millions of young readers, so it has more of a fanfic vibe, I get that too. But I really wasn't a fan of how basic it seemed. The relationships lacked depth and the storyline was over simplified. I found myself rolling my eyes because things just didn't add up with her parents’ / SKANX storyline. Plus, there are a few tropes I hate that feature heavily in this story:
1) 17 year old virgin dates a hundred year old magical being (why is he interested in a teenager...)
2) Couple fall madly in love without us seeing any real conversations or relationship development.
Why do all these ancient magical beings sound like 12 year olds? I almost stopped reading when a unicorn came out of the water.

What I did like were the friendships. I felt the inconsistency in how often they spoke and saw each other was reflective of what really happens when you start a new relationship. Their dynamic felt real, the other relationships in the story didn't.

⭐️ Book review! ⭐️
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First off, huge thanks to NetGalley and Wise Ink for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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A Thousand Salt Kisses by Josie Demuth was an interesting read. The grammar was very much on the “young” side of young adult which I think fit this book well and reminded me a lot of Aquamarine. I really enjoyed the overall premise and feel like it could have a lot of potential. This book could have used at least one second read/edit, as there were so many grammar errors that it was hard to get through at times. The parents’ storyline felt jumbled and not well explained, leaving me confused at times. I’m also from the United States and not London, so a lot of the colloquialisms went over my head in a lot of parts. Not a huge critique, just notable.
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Three stars for:
1. The storyline was well thought out and I think was executed well for a YA novel. The idea of a forbidden romance is always fun, and I thought the environmentalist spin was interesting.
2. This book was very easy to read; I finished it within the next day that I started reading it. The dialogue is very easy and the narrator’s thoughts are very simple.
3. While the writing style was at times unbearable, I do genuinely want to read the next two to find out what happens.
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I couldn’t give 4 or 5 stars because again, this book seriously needs an editor and the parents’ storyline really detracted from the story. Overall, a good book but. Not something I’d necessarily move to the top of your TBR, but a good little story nonetheless.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review…
A Thousand Salt Kisses (Second publication June 2021)

A Thousand Salt Kisses is a reasonable YA yarn complete with requisite romance, a love triangle and teen angst. Very light and easy to read, I would recommend this coming-of-age story to my Grade 9 ESL pupils.

In an interesting departure from the norm it tackles environmental issues - a very relatable topic for modern-day teens. The storyline moves along at a reasonably brisk pace which will ensure the interest of most teenagers is maintained.

In my opinion, the story suffers from a lack of depth and tension, primarily through an absence of character development. It has the potential to be more mystical and enchanting but somehow falls slightly short. The repeated switching from low to high register is offputting and even clunky/unlikely at times, not sitting altogether comfortably with the character. There is too much squealing, squeaking, squawking, and biting of lips for my taste. One final observation: Has this version been proofread yet? At the risk of sounding too ‘teachy’, I noticed more than a few spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

Thank you NetGalley and Josie DeMuth for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Starting out, I really like to concept of a girl falling in love with a merman and going through trials and hard times. I felt like this book was more of a late middle school grade to early YA from the writing style and the character voices.

Crystal and Llyr's relationship felt very forced. I didn't like how they instantly fell in-love after only speaking briefly. Crystal's relationship with Rosie was a very healthy depiction of friendship. Given that this book feels like it's for younger audiences I like that I shows no matter where your friends are in your life, you can always pick back up where you left off.

Overall the plot line and story were interesting enough to keep you reading all the way through. It was a very light read that you could get through in one sitting.

The plot had so much potential, but the execution needs a little more work. Too much tell with less show/feel. Unfortunately,  I couldn't connect with the story.

3 stars

~ I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own ~

Thank you, the publisher and NetGalley, for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Thousand Salt Kisses is a sweet book that I finished reading in one sitting. The first few pages surprised me; most of the time, when I start reading a new book, I need to re-read the first pages more than once to feel the atmosphere of the new book and get used to the characters and the settings. But here, in this book, I felt welcomed. The slow beginning gave me time to know Crystal and root for her. The writing style was straightforward, as you are sitting with your friend and she is telling you a story: no big words, no lyrical sentences, and no complicated description, it was that simple, and I find this exciting and relaxing.

Crystal is a girl from London who recently moved to an Island and left everything behind her. She meets with a merman, and they fall in love. But the plot isn’t that simple, soon the drama will start, and things will get complicated.

I loved the romance between Crystal and Llyr, but the insta-love annoyed me a little. I knew that Crystal would fall in love soon because she said it right in the first few pages that she wanted someone to share the love with, but I found the whole thing rushed.

The story was exciting and heartbreaking at the end. I enjoyed reading the book, and I am looking forward to reading the following two books in the series.

Overall, I recommend this book to everyone who likes fantasy romance YA books.

I tried to read this. I gave it a chance. Got to 16% and decided that I couldn't read anymore which was a shame as the back of the book blurb sounded great. This was not well written at all. The main character was uninteresting and contradictory. She met a merman once and is then basically in love with him - so weird. Everything sounds unreal and the relationships she has with family/friends do not come across well at all.

So, I will be honest and say this book wasn’t my favorite.

I was excited to read it because I love all things mermaid and am a big fan young adult fantasy books, but this one read even younger than young adult.

There were some comments about curves and grown men and what not, but the narrator sounded much younger than 17. The way she described everything seemed more like middle school to me.

I just really wasn’t a fan of Crystal’s character. She felt juvenile and underdeveloped. I would suggest this book for a younger audience perhaps,

The concept was cute and had potential, but I just think the execution fell really short, unfortunately.

Gigantic thanks to Josie Demuth and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story is a mermaid story (yes, you heard right) that follows main character Crystal White as she moves away from everything she knew to the small island of Starfish. While she is there, she is introduced to stories of mermen and creatures that live in the sea but can walk on land. Later, after being rescued from drowning by a handsome and mysterious stranger, she figures out that maybe the stories are true.

My review is simple. You want a merman story with romance, this is the book for you. If you want an easy read that is just simple to enjoy, this is the book for you. I love a good merman/sea story so in that department I am easy to please. I liked this story and will be continuing with this series.

Overall, I gave this story 3 stars. I won't be reading it again. However, I will be continuing with the series, and I would recommend to sea and mermaid lovers.