Descent

Descent is a really good story about mermaids. I can not believe there is a good YA book featuring mermaids. I read just few books with mermaids in it, and the were all... bad. It is hard to accurately portray something, that is so far from our everyday experience. And to make it believable, that says something about the writer.

I really love the plot setting, the mermaids, the whole world portrayed here.

This is story about Shea, who in the mist of family tragedy discovers something incredible. He goes from farm boy, who doesn't know how to swim to being a mermaid (merman ?) with really interesting heritage.

I only wish the book was a bit longer, so we would get a chance to have a bit more character development.

Thanks to Netgalley and respective publisher.

Stunning, Supernatural ! ! !
Well,It's my first Paranormal books of year, but utterly it was splendid and more what I had expected before reading.

*Highly recommended for Paranormal lovers.

I never write about storyline, I don't like to be spoiler nor read spoiled reviews.

I like skill of writing and flow and rhythm.

"Teenage boy entangled in paranormal via her mother's gene. Became part of 2 kind of life eventually."

I loved every second of this book. It was the greatest adventure

Descent
April 10, 2017


Shea MacNamara's life just got complicated. When a freak tornado devastates his Oklahoma farm, fifteen-year-old Shea moves to Cape Cod to live with a grandmother he's never met. Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he meets a girl along the shore who changes his life.

Forever.

Kae belongs to an undersea world hidden from humans, where bloody war rages between opposing clans. A fragile peace accord hinges on marriage between the royal families, but treachery and magick lurk in every shadow.

With Kae's help, Shea discovers his true heritage and finds that his destiny lies somewhere far below the ocean's surface.
My only experience with mermaids was Disney so I thought it’d be interesting to try this out since it seemed Katie O’Sullivan created an intriguing premise. She writes with a sense of beauty and vivid detail so you feel as if you’re actually walking around the Cape along with seeing the colorful ocean life flow before your eyes.

It’s a speedy plot with well-developed characters, it’s definitely the kind of book teens and middle school students will enjoy. So many books are told from the female perspective or female centered it was interesting to read one in this genre and with this storyline that had a male central character.

There’s plenty of dirty politics, intrigue, drama, fantasy, mystery, betrayal and just a bit of romance to keep things interesting; this novel was the whole package. It’s just the right book to get your kid to read this summer and you’ll enjoy it too. Even better it’s the first in a new series so there will be more to come.

3.5 Stars
A middle grades/younger YA novel with a boy MC who discovers he is the son of a mermaid. Good plot, ideas, and underwater setting. The dialogue is more tween than teen. There are some opportunities for more development in the next book (there's a couple of holes in the story), but overall a fun novel with a different take on sires of the sea.

Net Galley Feedback

Descent by Katie O'Sullivan is the first YA book about mermaids I've actually read. I love all things fantasy but for some reason haven't come across a mermaid related book before. But I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed this one!


Shea McNamara is a normal boy who lives on a farm with his dad and deals with fancying girls, hating the spoilt rich kid and trying to get a pass to spend his birthday at a baseball game with his best friend John. Oh and trying to ignore the weird traits he has like being able to remember everything he ever reads, and eyes which adjust to the dark.

But when his father is killed in a freak, flash tornado, Shea has to move to Cape Cod to live with his grandmother. Here he begins to unravel the mystery of his mother's disappearance and enters a world he never believed could exist.


The story is really engaging and quite a quick read, mainly because it's quite short. I found the characters interesting, and the plot engaging if simple. The underwater world is well constructed and the ending perfectly set for another instalment!

http://fkrants.blogspot.com/2017/04/april-ng-fails-2017.html

*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley*
This book was good, light YA, that follows Shea on his adventure. What I didn't like was that there was little action in the beginning and in the last pages it was very 'suicidal mission.'
What I did like was the writing and the sweet main character, Shea, as at first he took everything in stride.
This book is a great way to pass the time, though I think it lacks a bit of depth.

I really like this and it drew me in pretty quick. You have Shea who is a son of a mermaid but doesn't know it since his father moved them out to Oklahoma when he was little. Poor Shea doesn't even know his mother for the first 15 years of his life until he loses his father and has to move to Cape Cod. From there things get really interesting when he meets Kae who is a mermaid. Of course the two don't know what the other one really easy for a while. Anything else would just be spoilers.

The only issues I had with this story is the age of the characters. They're 15 and they profess their love to each other and that whole thing seemed a little off. The story has more of a middle grade feel to it but then some of the things said make it seem like the author was trying for more YA. The ending did seemed a little rushed but other than that I was happy with the book.

This was a fascinating take on a mermaid tale. I liked the plot and it was mostly engaging. The things that I found that were hard to decipher were the main characters easy acceptance of his mother entering his life again after abandoning him and his father and knowing that his merman grandfather was the cause of breaking up their father and accepted his role of taking over the crown once he's gone. I thought a little more rebellion would have been more believable and create more tension to the story. It didn't seem believable that Shea would willing accept them so easily after losing his father. I thought the relationship with him and Kae was a bit rushed and didn't leave room for them to fully explore their relationship since they were only 15 and had time to figure out if they loved each other or not.

This story just seems a little too slow to me to be for middle grade kids. I think that I would be too bored in the beginning of the story to keep going until the interesting ending. Also, it is not super original in any aspect, but it was still interesting and cute enough that I read through to the end.

I thought that the story about the self discovery of Shea was a great message for the readers of the book. I think it is a wonderful feel good read for a mental magical getaway that wouldn’t stress your brain too hard to read through to the end. Acceptance of other people is also a common theme of the book that I really appreciated.

Didn’t really enjoy the romantic aspect of the story, thought it was awkward rather than sweet, say like in Crossing Ebenezer.

I think that there are some books aimed at this age group that can transect all ages, but I don’t think this is one that adults would particularly enjoy reading.

I can't remember what I rated it before but I would say 3.5 stars now that I have finished.

"It was like things suddenly snapped into place.
He had a mom.
He had mermaid blood.
He had a tail.
Nothing felt impossible. Not even saving the ocean."

Something about this book didn't click for me. I'm not sure if it was the writing style, the characters, the premise, the insignificant climax, or a little bit of each. While this is undoubtedly a quick and easy read, I felt that I breezed through it without a whole lot sticking with me.

We meet Shea, a fifteen-year-old growing up in Oklahoma. When a tornado hits, he discovers that his father died in the storm. Forced to pick up his life and move to Cape Cod where is only remaining family lives. He instantly feels out of place, clearly seeing that his life on the farm is long ways away from the ocean.

One day, while walking on the beach, he meets a mysterious girl, who slips away before he can find out more about her. Through a series of events, he discovers what, and who he truly is. His new-found identity does not come without consequence. Shea quickly learns that he's stepping into a political battlefield that has existed long before he has.

I'll start off with the things that I liked:

#1 In tales likes these, there's always a sense of whimsy. Being fantasy, I'd say it's a must! While I felt rather unimpressed by the rest of what was going on, I did get that necessary sense that the fantastical was happening to Shea.

#2 I liked that the protagonist was a boy who turned out to be a merman! I think every merfolk-related book I've read had a female protagonist, which minor references to mermen. It was good to see the male gender being represented in this genre and reminds readers that merfolk aren't just for females. ;)

Things I didn't like:

#1 I thought the writing style itself, and the voices given to the young adult characters were a bit juvenile. I don't mean that in a bad way, but it seemed this book would fit more appropriately in the middle-grade genre. Many times their deliberations and interactions with one another (including the adult characters) were childlike.

#2 I'm not sure what it is about these mermaid books, but apparently insta-love is a must. I think the targeted audience needs to see examples of infatuation vs. actual love because these lines are being blurred something fierce. Beyond physical attraction (the culprit for the majority of insta-lovers) there's nothing to ground Shea and Kae's relationship. If these two characters are going to dive into the sea of love, (HA! quite literally) I need more explanation as to why than, "We both have green eyes and...oh yeah! We are merfolk."

#3 The climax was completely and utterly underwhelming. I'm not even sure what happened there. There was hardly a plot to be foiled. Anyone could see that the antagonist was aiming for the crown. I simply wanted more to the entire scheme.

#4 To say a little more about the characters, I felt that some were wildly unused! For example, there is a dark sorcerer, Zen, who does next to nothing but Demyan's bidding. I feel like his reasoning could hang over his head for a little while, but not for years and years. A person with that much power doesn't normally sit behind someone less powerful than himself. I think he would have made a better and more sensible antagonist than anyone.

I'm not sure if I will continue on with this series or not. I'd like to see the growth and development of the writing style. However, I'm afraid it will remain the same. I guess we will see.

Vulgarity: I don't recall any.
Sexual content: Kissing only.
Violence: There actually were some rather grotesque scenes in here. There wasn't over-explanation, but more than I expected.

2.5 stars.

I was looking forward to reading this because there are so many books on mermaids but there seem to be few on mermen. I found the book to be okay but I kept losing interest for some reason and had to force myself to continue finishing it. I am not sure why I had trouble reading it (I think it was just me) but I know others who have read it and enjoyed it more than I did.

I have read many mermaid novels but almost all of them follow a female protagonist so when I learned that Descent followed a male protagonist I couldn't wait to request it and it was worth the wait to be approved. If you are looking for a great mermaid story with a male MC I highly recommend Descent by Katie O'Sullivan.