“Because sometimes, broken pieces find a way to make a new whole.”

This wasn't bad just... disappointing. I felt so disconnected from all of the characters and the plot (once it finally decided to show up) felt like Wildcard 2.0, even down to the villain. I was just so, so boredddd. The story ended so perfectly in Champion that I honestly think this should have remained a trilogy.

With all of that being said, totally got misty-eyed at the last chapter.

OH CMON. *is now unsure what to do with self*

“There is always magic. Even if you can't see it.”

Actual Rating: 2.75

The Little Mermaid has been my favorite movie since before I can even remember. It's almost a part of me at this point. Going into this story, I was careful not to let my adoration of the film set unrealistic expectations for this book. Even with that, it was a bit of a disappointment.

SO many liberties were taken with the characters and the original plot, which- to an extent -is to be expected in a 'twisted tale' but this was almost painful at moments. Ursula was no more than a petulant child,

when Triton is restored, he's just like 'ayyyy woot I'm the king, waddup people'???

, Scuttle was an absentminded grandfather, and Eric was the literary equivalent to a Ken doll (only existing to cheer on Barbie, or in this case, Ariel.)

Things I Liked

1. The nostalgia.
Things were weird in this book, and I would have changed quite a bit, but there's a reason these stories are so successful. Getting more of the characters I've loved for so long was nice, even if I would have done it differently.

2. Ariel's growth.
This is actually both a pro and a con, as I feel like some of it was done well and other times it was simply gimmicky. I appreciated the growth that's shown when Ariel looks back at her past decisions and realizes their errors, but it was so constant that it almost just felt like I was slapped over the head with it.

3. The pacing.
I actually thought the story was paced pretty well? There were no moments when I wished it was going faster or vice versa, which is typically a complaint I find with many books so I was rather pleased with that.

Things I Didn't Like

1. The romance.
I can't believe I'm saying this, and I can't believe it's my number one dislike, yet here we are. Ariel and Eric's relationship was insufferable to me. It felt so forced and contrived that I found myself wishing for my favorite Disney couple to part ways. Permanently. I just... *sighs sadly into my tea* Where did it go wrong?

2. The phrase 'Queen of the Sea'
I never, and I mean NEVER, want to hear/read this phrase again. I felt like it showed up on every. single. page.

3. The characters.
Here's the thing: none of the characters were done horribly , I just personally didn't feel like they were captured well. Ariel felt jaded to an extent that the reader is unable to connect with her, Eric goes from being the 'mad prince' composing operas to... an overexcited hound dog with no aspirations aside from pleasing Ariel?, Ursula gave up on her dreams of ruling Atlantica because she realized she 'liked humans', and every freaking one of Ariel's sisters abdicated to her? Honestly, the best characters were Grimsby and Carlotta.

4. The plot.
It was almost as if the plot couldn't decide what it was. For one moment, it was a fantasy novel with political intrigue and a kingdom at unrest, the next it was a thinly veiled reinterpretation of 'Cinderella: A Twist in Time'. (I love that movie so I wasn't exactly complaining, but that's beside the point.)

5. Ursula.
I know what you're thinking. 'Wow, shocker, you didn't like the villain' And to that I say, touche, but! I've always loved Ursula's complexity, I simply hated how she was represented. As I said before, she was no more than a petulant child. I believe the author was going for a comical effect with her, but unfortunately, it only served to make her seem cartoonish and silly. By the time our heroes are supposed to face off against this supposed (laughable) evil, it's easy to become disinterested and roll your eyes because we watched the 'evil' sea witch fall flat on her face in an attempt to apprehend a young girl.

Honorary mention to the fact that apparently Prince Eric's parents are alive and well, simply living elsewhere, and don't care in the slightest that their daughter-in-law is slaughtering villages in their name?

Overall

I know my review makes it seem otherwise, but I really did enjoy my time reading this. I may have scoffed/rolled my eyes a bit, but it wasn't a bad book. I definitely want to read the rest of the Twisted Tales, this one was just a bit of a miss for me.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go laugh about the part where Eric gets a tattoo of Ariel's name in mer runes on his arm.

"How can I own something that flies and is free?"

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: attempted rape, including a scene in the head of the intended rapist as he imagines himself forcing himself on the victim. (Both were non-descriptive, but they are still very obvious.)

The rapist is also absolved of wrong-doing because he was under the influence of magic and was "too simple" to know that rape was wrong.

"Did I, a child still, deserve to bear such an assault from a creature too simple to know what he'd done?"

I just... no, no, no, no, and again, no.

This is marketed as a steampunk retelling of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. I have no knowledge of 'The Tempest' but the plot sounded intriguing and for the first few chapters, I thought I was really going to enjoy this one. However, from that point, the only two emotions I felt while reading were confusion and discomfort. The plot feels rushed, yet nothing seems to happen. The characters all felt extremely empty, and, oftentimes, came off as caricatures of a stereotype. The setting is confusing, and the steampunk elements are all-but nonexistent. And while I believe the author's intentions must have been in the right place, the rep for mental illness and the female body were, in my opinion, both distasteful and potentially harmful.

The story had potential, and perhaps I would have felt differently about it had I known more about the original story but overall, it wasn't for me.

Excuse me while I cry and try to understand what the heck just happened.