What a great debut fantasy novel with strong side characters. I loved the two main characters. Princess Makenna McNamera of Cladach. A feisty twin, spirited curvy redheaded, heir to the throne. And Ried Mackenzie of Mackenzie Clan. Strong, caring, a confident presence.
Set in an old world feel with kilts and Scottish Gaelic language used. A war is brewing, with the neighboring Faerie kingdom..McKenna struggles to do her duty, honoring her parents wishes as she is forced to attend her Winchin festival. Where she is to find her future husband and strengthen the clan for a possible war on the horizon. With the calling of the sea always on her mind. Ried is the last person she want to see amongst the five suitor from her past. A anguished youth relationship between the too. A slow burn of romance, her love of the sea, and a forced marriage. It doesn’t get any better.
Prince Tristan. McKenna younger twin brother by two minutes is an incredible character. With Kenna self doubt over her body size. He’s always there to build her up. His the brother everyone wants… I really
hope the author continues with more stories in this world.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

If you love the Little Mermaid, Brave, and a little bit of spice, then this is the story for you. This story is about Kenna, a vivacious, neurodiverse, princess that is anything and everything but weak. Ever since an incident that occurred as a child, Kenna has been drawn to the sea but more specifically, drawn towards the myth of mermaids. This belief had fueled her to wanting a life different from the one she was fated for. Caught between her duty of needing to marry to unite her people against a war from an opposing kingdom and choosing a life for her own, she happens upon a suitor that changes her fate entirely.

This book will truly hold you in a grip from beginning to end. We have this dynamic fireball of a princess who is fierce, strong and beautiful but has all too realistic vulnerabilities and insecurities that definitely hit home. Then we have this mystery, this twist that steered clear from my expectations and added a different type of depth to this fantasy. Oh and we cannot forget the spice and the “he falls first” trope (which in my opinion is top tier). Altogether, this was a solid and enjoyable debut novel by Emily B. Rose.

However, there were some kinks in this armor. What kept me from giving a full 5 star rating was the actual fantasy part. I felt the world building was a bit shallow, the characters felt decently fleshed out but once I thought I was being given more about the world, the author would fall short and I could not help but wanting to understand more. Every great princess has her kingdom, but I felt her kingdom was not all there in the end.

If you are okay with a not fully fleshed out world, then this should not deter you from delving into a romantasy with body positivity, queer, neurodiverse, and mental health representation all packed inside a sweet and sassy love. I cannot wait for future releases from the author.

This is a very fun book about a princess obsessed with the ocean and proving the existence of mermaids. She is set to inherit the throne, but feels out of place and would rather be exploring on the sea. It is a wonderful story with LGBTQ+ and fat/big body representation, about accepting yourself and realizing the love other people have for you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I think it would be a great read for anyone who enjoy romantasy. There were a few moments where the dialogue seemed a little odd or the language was a bit repetitive, but overall, this is a wonderful debut novel for Emily B. Rose, and I would love to read future releases from her!

**I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for a review**

I knew from the Prologue that reading Call of the Sea was going to be a cinematic experience. The descriptions were detailed and vivid making it easy to picture the lands of Cladach and the yearning Kenna experiences for the sea. I loved the fat and neurodivergent representation in this book. The anxiety, self-consciousness and frustration that coming from existing differently than the rest of society were represented true to the experience of many. Call of the Sea is a story of a girl trying to find herself in the most trying of times, when everything feels like it's out of control. It's moving and emotional, but with well timed comedic relief. Rose manages to explore the heavy topics of fatphobia and bullying without slowing the pace of the book or making light of the issues. Tristan is a gem and I hope we get to see more of him and I love the relationship he has with Kenna and how they've spent their lives supporting each other. Mr. Love Interest was a dream even when he was being annoying and I love the way he loves her. The romance was swoony, the adventure was interesting and overall the experience was pure joy to read.

My favorite quote (without any context) was "I feel like a pirate"

i personally liked the main character quiet a lot and all the other characters in the story. it’s a cute story, also liked the fact that it covers topics such as body positivity, body shaming, ADHD, depression and anxiety. the romance part was cute too. few parts of the story was off but it was minor so doesn’t really matter much.

I am a huge fan of Disney/classic Barbie movies but make it an adult read and this book was just that. It's such a fun Romantasy read! It does include some trigger warnings so just beware of that.

But Brave plus The Little Mermaid with tension and spice...sign me up.

I really enjoyed this book! It's romantic, fun and perfect escapism. I enjoyed the world we were in, with Scottish/celtic vibes which lend themselves perfectly for fantasy novels. It was nice to have so much diversity in a book that we don't see often and nothing particularly offensive caught my eye so you'd have to read own voice reviews. Now, it's not super serious and the plot gets resolved very easily, the romance isn't my favorite either and overall a few things were a bit too easy in my opinion. 3.5 stars

The Story is about Kenna who is a princess who always loved the ocean. Since an accident she is sure that mermaids exist. But no one believes her. She is an adventurous soul and doesn‘t want the life ahead of herself. But at some point her parents decide that it is time for her to find a husband, so they organize a festival to meet the potential mens. Kenna doesn‘t like those men, except for that one mysterious one.

The english isn‘t to hard, so a non native speaker could read it easily.

I am a bit ambivalent about this book.
On one hand i love the representation on so many different things like ADHD, a fat person and homosexual persons. The fears and thoughts of Kenna also feel so much like problems a normal person has. So I really love that it gives the feeling that you don‘t have to be perfect to be a hero and happy.
But on the other hand the story is a bit boring. After reading the description you already know whats going to happen in the first half of the book. So it takes really long until the story gets a little bit more exciting. And also after this part, the book is quite predictable. I just prefer book where I don‘t know whats going to happen next. 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you don‘t have a problem with predictable stories and love a story with a fat heroine, then this book might be for you.

A fun debut that certainly fits the genderbent <i>The Little Mermaid</i> meets <i>Brave</i> description!

Kenna must choose between duty and desire in more ways than one. While she longs for freedom and adventure at sea, she is being forced to find a suitor via a festival where she must pick someone from one of her kingdom's clans to marry. She finds herself enamored with a mysterious suitor who has secrets and leaves abruptly. Her following him means she must find herself along the way as secrets reveal themselves along the way.

I really enjoyed this story and felt that it was a very strong debut. We get fat positivity, queer representation (Kenna is demi and her brother is bi), neurodivergent rep (Kenna has ADHD), and depression rep (love interest). It also had a bit of caretaking, a deserted island, and family secrets. I loved Kenna's close relationship with her twin brother and her family as a whole. Lots of cute moments and I loved the love interest for the most part, especially the "it's always been you" aspect.

While I really enjoyed this story I did find a couple of little things were off for me.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

When Calder tells Kenna he likes her, he calls her stupid and it kind of struck me since it was supposed to be a sweet and exasperating moment and the word choice just threw me off a little and made it a bit off-putting. I also thought the curse was rather easy to break, especially since Kenna didn't technically meet the requirements and she was only half qualified (I'm trying not to fully spoil it but once you read it you'll know what I mean). Also Kenna was super chill with being stranded on a deserted island and didn't seem worried in the least. I know she was probably ready to get away from things for a while, but she was was so chill and not worried about having a conversation about the circumstances for a while which struck me as a little odd. She just went full survival mode ready to look for freshwater.

*END OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

Overall, this was a fun debut that I enjoyed. I love that we're getting more books with demi rep and extensive representation. The author does explicitly state in the notes that the story itself does not use official labels as we know them for the various types of representation but that the characters are very much queer and neurodiverse. I also liked the Gaelic incorporated and the notes at the end regarding the language and the phrases used throughout the book. You'll be swept up by the sea with the smell of salt in the air as you follow Kenna on her journey to uncover secrets and find her true self.

Overall: 3.5
Characters: 4/5
Plotline: 3.5/5
World-Building: 3/5

Romance: 3.5/5
Spice Factor: 2.5
Themes: 4/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Enjoyment Factor: 4/5

Review: This was a fun mixture of Brave and The Little Mermaid. I loved the anxiety, depression, and body shaming/body positivity representation; it was very well executed. Kenna was a great main character as she was complex and fascinating. The love story was swift and obvious. I wish the tournament were drawn out more, or we got more of the Mer world. Everything happened quickly and never left much to wonder about and guess with the story. The twist was super exciting and did surprise me. Overall, it was an enjoyable and whimsical book!