Title: Speak the Ocean

Author: Rebecca Enzor

Pub. Date: July 9, 2019

Pages: 327

Pub: Reuts

Genre: YA Fantasy Mythology

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For Mer handler Finn Jarvis, the feral mermaid performers at Oceanica Marine Park are nothing more than ruthless aquatic predators, violent and unpredictable. That doesn’t stop the public from flocking to one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions. To them, the Mer are magical entertainment, too beautiful to be dangerous. They don’t see what happens to the ones who dare swim out of line.

Newly caught Erie doesn’t know what the evil landfolk want from her. Alone and voiceless, she watches the other merfolk from the confines of her tank. Broken into submission, they’ve become shells of the once vibrant creatures she knew. But Erie refuses to be subjugated. She’ll get the crowds to see her as something more than simple entertainment—starting with her captor, Finn.

While Finn trains Erie in her routine, she secretly teaches herself the air-words he and the other trainers speak. And when the language barrier falls, Finn starts to realize that the gap between human and Mer is smaller than he thought, and maybe it’s not the Mer who are monsters, after all.

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review. If you’re looking for a mermaid fix, then this is something you probably want to pick up.

Strangely enough, this book reminded me of a fanfic I read years ago that featured Dean, Sam and Cas from Supernatural. Cas was a merman. Don’t ask me what it was called, I don’t remember and – hold on, I might actually still have the tab…omfg I do. It’s still saved in Safari. It’s called Out of the Deep by riseofthefallenone.

I’m getting sidetracked.

Anyways, I inhaled this book. I couldn’t put it down. I started it two nights ago before bed, had to stop reading since I had to get up early for work. And then all day at work I kept thinking about it and I realized how much I love and how much I miss mermaid stories. Especially darker ones like this. Though, I did expect this to be darker.

I enjoyed the cast of characters and the changes they went through. Finn went from slightly annoying playboy to someone who actually cares and figures out what he wants. Jen goes from caring but unsure, to fighting for what she believes in and righting wrongs. Sergio realizes that his rose-colored tinted world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Aunt D can get fucked. I wasn’t a fan from the beginning. She seemed a little wack. Erie is wonderful. She’s fierce, though a little naïve, but she’s also incredibly curious. Her curiosity is what I loved most about her.

Overall it was a good book. The pacing was perfect and kept me turning the page, needing to know what happened next. Like I said, I inhaled this book. I could easily imagine the world Enzor created. The only thing that I didn’t love about the book was the ending. I know, with how it ends you’d think I’d be all on board. But it felt a bit cheap and I just didn’t buy it. It had me rolling my eyes. I just didn’t buy it. The relationship between Finn and Erie is cute and endearing and I love that they care for each other, but like of course that has to happen. All I could think about was everything Finn was losing and his lack of caring about those things drove me nuts.

Will I still recommend this book? 100% definitively because it’s such an enjoyable read all around. And even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending, I could very easily read a second book. Like, if the author wanted to write more books set in this world about humans and mer – I’d totally be down for it.

I’m glad I finally read this book and I’m kicking myself for having waited this long. I can honestly see myself rereading this down the line, because I truly loved and enjoyed it. So, if you’re looking for a mermaid fix, you’re going to want to check this out.