Title: The Summer of Chasing Mermaids
Author: Sarah Ockler
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: 2.5 Stars
2.5 stars actually. As in...It's OK. I was really excited at first to
read this book because the synopsis and the premise of the story really
captured me. It was a bit of a let down b/c there were some things that I
didn't like. The story was a modern-day spin off of the fairy tale The
Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Except in the book, the
heroine gets the guy and does not turn into sea foam. What got me
interested in reading the book was that the heroine, Elyse d'Abreau, is a
mute girl. Back in Tobago, Elyse was an outgoing, confident, and
expressive girl with big dreams of becoming a famous singer. However,
after the fateful night of her accident, all of Elyse's dreams were
crushed, rendering her discouraged and meek with hopeless thoughts of
never recovering her previous self without her physical voice. Readers
follow her along in her narration as she begins to regain her
inner voice back even though she had already lost her physical one. I
thought that was a powerful premise: finding your inner voice again.
That was an important message that the author has written in her
acknowledgements.
The concept of the story was truly wonderful, but I
gave it 2.5 stars because of two reasons. The first is the writing
style. I understand that the author is trying for the poetic way where
the first paragraph is a long prose and then there are fragments
following the paragraph to enhance the mood/situation of the
protagonist's narration...
I wrapped my hands around the offered mug, closing my eyes as the steam enveloped me. Unbidden, unexpected tears slipped from behind my lips, warm and salty, streaming into my mouth. I'd nearly forgotten the taste of them, the feel of their soft tracks on my cheeks.The ocean.
Tears.
Illumination.
I whispered his name anyway; this time, I knew it would be enough.
"Sure you're all right?" he whispered, and when I nodded, he covered my mouth with his, kissing me with fresh hunger. I returned it, desperately alive.
Repaired, renewed, recovered.
Rejuvenated.
Restored.
All the REs complete, and I was whole.
Ockler uses this format on EVERY page of the damn book. The entire book is littered with it! It just gets annoying. It interrupts the whole rhythm of the story for lack of a
better word.
The second reason: characterization. In the beginning, I felt empathetic with Elyse as she goes through her turbulent emotions after losing her voice. This was page 56. I can totally understand why the chick was angry AF.
After this year's Carnival, before I'd even been released from the hospital in Port of Spain, neighbors had sent cards full of advice on how I couldn't let this setback bring me down, how I was still a beautiful girl with lots of prospects. How fate altered our course, and it wasn't for us to question things or to linger too long in anger.
Anger, they'd warned, was an invitation for the devil.
And what were my new plans, they wanted to know?
I used to hate it, all their macoin'--being nosey. But now I couldn't decide which was worse--having neighbors spy on me, counsel me like they knew the workings of my heart? Or having them look right through me?
We troll through 2/3 of the book. Here, at page 239, Elyse bemoans about her misfortune. At this point, I was getting weary of this flowery narration of hers. I get that the
self pity part is the expository of the transition to moving on....but
there were times when I wanted to give up the book because of
that--purple prose, aside.
I just wished that one time, someone on the island of Tobago, someone rocking on the front port of the main house of d'Abreau Cocoa Estates, someone lying on the Atlantica under the blue moon, someone practicing all of our old songs in front of the bedroom mirror, someone someone someone knew how hard it was for me. That they'd give me one word of acknowledgement, one moment of space,
one bit of understanding as to why this whole thing might hurt. Why I
might need time, an undetermined amount.
The romance was mediocre; I blame the weak characterization of
the hero. Meet the hero, Christian Kane, who is the typical playboy (I call him
the rake of the 21st century).
'Christan's not a poster boy for monogamy,' Kirby explained.
I thought of his smile when he'd caught me on the boat, the glint in his eyes as he scanned the words I'd left on his walls.
Around here, liberating with Christan was probably like high tide. Regularly scheduled. Alluring, yet slippery. Dangerous.
For all of Kirby's warnings, for all of Vanessa's defending, for all of the women who looked at Christian with longing and history in their eyes, none of them seemed to really know him, to see beyond the obvious.
I felt like he'd given me a rare gift, this precious glimpse.
Being with Christian was like nothing I'd ever experienced.
I think contemporary YA books are harping
on the regency romance theme that "reformed rakes make the best
husbands"--"boyfriends" in this case. Sure, Kane had some family issues
which colored his character and decisions in life...but other than the
fact that he was a playboy, I just didn't feel anything for him. I
couldn't identify strongly with him. To me, he was just some other
character who just happened to be the heroine's love interest and
supposedly helped her with fulfilling her quest. That was it. In short,
he did not stand out from a pile of nameless-easily-forgetful-heroine's
love interests. While reading, I wanted to give up the story, but
figured I might as well finish it to fulfill my quota and the ocean
setting was a nice change from the typical high school ones that plague
most YA novels.
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| Shuu-chan is not the least amused. |
