Jason June

This gave me flashbacks to when my kid was very into the Bubble Guppies and I could not handle how they completely ignored the fact that they live UNDERWATER. Why is Gil taking a shower?!

This story involves baking under the sea. If you are okay with that, you will find a fun, serviceable early chapter book. If you are like me, you will keep interrupting your 1st grader's enjoyment of the story to point out that baking underwater makes no sense.

I know this is fantasy and I'm being ridiculous, but how about a little world-building? Explain to me how these sea creatures are baking treats whilst in the ocean. That has the potential to be super interesting, right?… (más)

"Labels everywhere and they all seem to be wrapped around genitals."

Firstly, yay for enby merfolk! DeFINitely one of the things that drew me in. I'm a little older than the target market for this, so please keep this in mind for my review.

Crest (ugh Ross) is forced to go ashore for a moon cycle so that they can become an elder merperson. They expect to hate every minute - humans are terrible after all. But they don't count on meeting Sean, a lifeguard, who shows them that humans can be good. They agree to help Sean get his boyfriend back as their selfless act so that they can return home at the end of the month, but as the fake dating trope goes, they end up falling in love. Crest then has to decide if they want to go back to the home they have always loved, or if they should stay on land with Sean, never to return to the mer world.

I have to agree with Crest. People are terrible. I know that drama is pretty typical of YA books (and this book is very YA - I don't mean that as a good thing or a bad thing but as a simple fact) but oh man, the characters were incredibly annoying. Is it accurate for their ages? Yeah, probably, but that doesn't change the fact that I ended up hating pretty much all of them. I did kind of like Crest (or at least disliked them less) but they too weren't the greatest. (sidenote: I liked the way they referred to people and didn't gender everything!)

That being said, this was a fun and easy read. Between being annoyed at everyone and the dragging middle I had a good time reading this. I think queer teens will enjoy this one! Just be prepared to be annoyed at everyone. And hey, queerphobes aren't really a thing in this book so if you are looking to escape that this would be a good choice.… (más)