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Monday, February 8, 2010

Book Review: The Mermaid's Madness by Jim C. Hines

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: DAW (October 6, 2009)

There is an old story-you might have heard it-about a young mermaid, the daughter of a king, who saved the life of a human prince and fell in love. So innocent was her love, so pure her devotion, that she would pay any price for the chance to be with her prince. She gave up her voice, her family, and the sea, and became human. But the prince fell in love with another woman. The tales say the little mermaid sacrificed her own life so that her beloved prince could find happiness with his bride. The tales lie.
If you want to know the real story, a tale not of unrequited love and noble sacrifice but one of madness, murder, and magic gone awry, Danielle, Talia, and Snow-a.k.a. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White-are three princesses who can tell you what really happened. They were there when everything fell apart, and unthinkable tragedy struck the kingdom of Lorindar. And they were the only ones who stood a chance of setting things right, not only for Queen Bea and Lorindar, but for the merfolk as well...

This is the second book in the Princess novels by Jim C. Hines and it is a story about a mermaid, Lirea, who has gone mad and killed her father the king and her older sister, and now she is out to kill her younger sister Lannidae out of revenge. It is a very unique take on the fairy tale of the Little Mermaid but it is easy to spot some resemblances throughout. There is a lot of magic, fighting, soul sucking, shape shifting, and life saving. There is even a ship that heals itself. All in all a very interesting read. Although you could probably get away with reading this book without reading the first one in the series I would not recommend it. I think there would be too many small details that would be confusing.
I actually enjoyed this book more than the first book. It had a much faster pace with a lot more action.

4/5

You can read my review of the first book in the series, The Stepsister Scheme HERE




CymLowell

4 comments:

Brooke Reviews said...

I really want to read this one. I'm so behind on my reading! Glad you enjoyed it though, thanks for the review!

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

This looks really good! I love the cover! I'm going to check out your review of the first one now :)

Ellz said...

Great review, never heard of this series before, thanks for sharing.

Simcha said...

The The Stepsister Scheme had been on my list of books to read for a while now, though I haven't gone forward with purchasing it because I've heard very mixed reviews. This does sound like a fun series of books though.