Elizabeth Jane Wolfe

After a night of partying on her boyfriend's yacht, Briony finds herself waking up naked in a tidepool on the beach. Briony is soon found by Sylvie, who encourages Briony to stay with her in the water and explore. Sylvie brings Briony clothes and gifts and soon exposes herself to be a mer. Sylvie encourages Briony to learn how to swim better and spend more time in the water with her. After convincing Briony to stay, Sylvie explains the truth of Briony's accident and Sylvie's purpose for Briony with the mer.

Mermother is a contemporary, new adult fantasy that delves into mermaid lore. Mermother moves at a fast pace with Briony waking up in the tide pool and Sylvie finding her. I was surprised at how naive Briony seemed with accepting everything that Sylvie was throwing at her and how Briony never actually tried to connect with her former life. Sylvie and the other mers still held a mysterious and dangerous air, even with Sylvie explaining certain things to Briony, the mer culture and habits were mostly unknown. I was really interested in the mers Mermother needs and how new mers are created. Briony and Sylvie's relationship through the story was tumultuous and I wonder how their differences and secrets played into their relationship. Briony's journey of acceptance into her new life was most intriguing and I'd love to see where it goes in the future.… (más)

Mermother was a surprisingly fascinating book that held my attention pretty steadily. The characters seem very flat at the beginning, but grow in depth and complexity as the story goes on. I was pleasantly surprised by the themes of social equality, especially in the unique way they were expressed as Briony fought to be respected by the Mers.

All in all, a fascinating book that takes a very creative take on the traditional Mermaid mythology, and even though some of the explanations felt more in the realm of pseudoscience rather than science-fiction or fable, it was tolerable and didn't get in the way of the unique story that was told.… (más)

I have always been fascinated by mermaids, which is why I found this book so uniquely interesting. I grew envious of the way Briony discovers the many wonders of the sea and of life, since, as I said, the sea fascinates me. I did find the character Briony a bit difficult to take. From a flighty brat, she is transformed into a moody pregnant woman in the book. At times, she was rather difficult to take. I had some doubts about another character also. Sylvie, the mermaid Briony encounters, is mysterious at first, and becomes more real as time goes on, though she does come across as a light weight in some other cases. After reading the book, I have concluded that this was a very unique way to describe the path a young woman takes through life as she matures, and I commend the author for that. This is a very good first book by the author, who shows lots of potential as a writer. If this is the first in a series (and it probably is), I will be interested in seeing where she takes this. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.… (más)