I find the number of good mermaid novels in the young adult book selection to be sorely lacking; however, The Mermaid's Mirror is a great new addition to the small addition. I loved this book so much! I sometimes find mermaid stories to be a bit cheesy, but this book did not fall into the same trap. The Mermaid's Mirror is a great story to get lost in and escape the troubles of daily life. The characters are realistic and you find yourself caring about their lives and the choices they must make. My favorite character was definitely Lena as I found her to be a very believable teenager with emotions ranging from the common teenage angst to passion. I also thought the mermaid components of the story were new and original without being over the top. An example of this would be how the mermaids communicate to each other without speaking and the clouding of their emotions. The one thing that did kind of annoy me was the names of the characters. The names of the mermaids were rather odd but that is to be expected. However, the names of the humans in the story were all rather strange except for the father's, son's, and stepmother's name. All the other human characters had strange sounding names which I found to be distracting in the beginning of the book.
Summary which may contain slight spoilers: Lena, the daughter of a former surfer living in California, believes that her birth mother is dead and has been for many years. She then sees a mermaid off the shore who eventually gives her a key. This key unlocks the secrets of the past concerning her mother. The truth behind her mother also affects everything she knows, as Lena is actually half mermaid. Lena eventually must decide between her true mother and a life under the sea or her family on land.
I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a young adult novel that does not involve the trite, overused plot lines that are predominant within teen fiction with the normal vampires, werewolves, etc!
*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
