Ice Floe
By Melissa Birling

I had access to an advance reading copy, and this review is not sponsored by any entity. I thank the publisher and author for the opportunity to read the book ahead of the publication date.

A review in short: I did not like this book at first, but grew to enjoy it. As an avid YA reader growing up, I feel that I would have enjoyed this book much more had I read it as a teen (rather than in my late 20’s).

Overall, I liked the mermaid idea. I like when books are set in a contemporary world, but with fantasy mixed in. I feel like the author did a good job of mixing the two, though I was confused about how the humans wouldn’t have found them yet with things like radar, sonar, and simple diving. We’re told that mermaids are supposed to keep the secret above all else, but it’s never explained how humans haven’t found them yet. Especially when they are supposed to be all across the globe, and within mermaid-swimming distance to shore.

I found the writing to have too much exposition (telling me things instead of showing, as all writing teachers have pounded into young minds for probably forever). The main character, Glacia, is a mermaid, but she's *different* from other mermaids. She doesn't like the girly stuff that ALL other mermaids like, and that their whole society is based on. I have seen matriarchal societies depicted in other books, and sometimes they fall into the same trap that the mermaid society in Ice Floe did. Sometimes they don't.

The problem that I keep running up against, is that every single mermaid that Glacia comes into contact with is a caricature of a “girly-girl”. They all LOOOVE clothes, jewelry, dancing and all other manner of stereotypical girly things. Glacia is different. She likes to fight. She has anger, seems to be chock-full of it, actually. Many of the characters fell flat because they are being painted in this stereotypical girly fashion. All of the women in their society are supposedly charming, demure, polite, etc. It makes it so that none of the characters really stand out from each other. Glacia’s cousin, Trita, is more of an interesting character. This is partly due to the fact that she says and does whatever pops into her head (as read kids do), which makes her more believable.

In the end, there is a little bit of depth beyond the girly-girl caricature for one character other than Glacia, but the story could have been much improved with more discreet foreshadowing around that character. There was some, but not enough for me to believe that this character was as terrible as they ended up being. In the end, readers were told that this character was a bad guy (queue maniacal laughter), so we had to believe it. It came out much like we were told things about every character and plot line in the book.

As I said in the beginning, I feel like I would have absolutely loved this book as a teen. Some of the issues with plot and character/world building wouldn’t have bothered me, or even been noticed. A book can’t be great for all ages, and I feel that this missed its mark for me as a reader.

Looking for a book with a unique story like you’ve never seen before? How about a book with a cute, but forbidden romance? Well look no further, I’ve found it for you! Packed with secrets, ‘Ice Floe’ is a book that will have you caught hook, line, and sinker for the whole story.

‘Ice Floe’ is a book set where under the waves is a world of mermaids. They have a society of strict rules where no merman is allowed. The sisterhood of mermaids is very tight and their safety is in secrecy. But when Glacia falls into a forbidden romance and upsets the life the mermaids all know by tracking a kidnapper and shaking up the government. She’ll have to make a tough decision of whether she should trust her instincts or follow the rules and who she’ll trust to unveil secrets in the deep.

Storyline? 5/5
World Building? 4/5
Characters? 4/5
Romance? 4/5
Betrayal? 5/5

Let’s talk about the storyline. While it starts off somewhat slow as you learn about the characters and world, it does quickly speed up and takes you on a whirlwind of an adventure. The author does such a good job with the storyline and makes what the characters say so convincing that I found myself wondering if I was going crazy with the main character. It's everything you want in a story. Suspenseful, thrilling, and absolutely captivating.
The world of the mermaids is solid and well thought out with lots to leave to the imagination. For lovers of romance, this slow, blossoming, yet forbidden romance is sure to hook onto you. It’s entertaining watching what starts as a hesitant friendship turn into a romance that isn’t supposed to be. Now for my favorite part of every book. The betrayal. While I had some ideas of who would betray who, I still was caught off guard by the surprise of the villain at the end. It was a curveball and I loved every second of it. I felt for the main character who was constantly doubted because no one wanted to challenge the social norm created by their government. She set an example of being different. Not just in the aspect of attitude but appearance as well. The author made a wonderful story of showing that just because you are different doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. But you’re special in your own way. This book was amazing from start to finish.

This book was a solid three star read for me. Let me preface this review by saying that I did have a good time reading it, however I believe that the story was lacking in parts and the final resolution was not satisfactory in my opinion.

To be more specific, in the beginning I was really excited because the book promised mystery, a fight against an obsolete matriarchal society of mermaids and an interesting and challenging love interest. However, it turned out that the mystery was rather easily solved by only two people against an entire gang and an evil conspiracy who kidnapped babies and mercreatures, the love interest was mutual but led to a dead end that none of the two lovers were, in the end, willing to fight for. Lastly, despite the unmasking of this whole conspiracy, the barbaric society ruled by mermaids went back to its obsolete and extremely cruel ways and our seemingly rebellious main character, Glacia, simply returned to this dysfunctional way of living.

All in all, the original ideas of this story had great potential, however the way the author handled it gave me, as a reader, no satisfactory resolution.