I received a copy from First Second Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When Jane’s parents pass away in a horrible accident, she quickly learns that she’s completely alone. Plus, her cousin is kicking her out of her own house! That’s when Jane decides that she might be able to get her lifelong crush to marry her if he’s dazzled by her hefty dowry. Things seem to be according to plan when a mermaid abducts her almost-fiancé! Now Jane is throwing caution to the wind by following Peter deep into the sea.
I was extremely excited when I saw that Vera Brogol had a new book coming out! I have loved every single thing I’ve read from them. This time around, we follow a freshly orphaned Jane. She is extremely relatable because she’s never felt good enough for anything. It doesn’t help that even her own parents agreed she was fat and ugly! We also follow her life-long crush, Peter. Now Peter has never fit in with his family because he’s far more interested in finery than continuing the family fishing business. The two have very different experiences in life, but we also see that Peter is genuinely nice even if he is superficial.
It was so much fun following Jane and Peter’s stories as they find themselves somewhere deep underwater. I like that we get to see what Jane and Peter have in common despite having very different experiences and views on life. I love that Jane is considered fat an ugly and learns to love herself and not just accept what society thinks she should be allowed. I wish that this was a story around when I was growing up constantly being told how fat and ugly I was. It’s harder to believe in yourself when you never see yourself reflected positively in your books and tv shows. I love that we’re seeing more and more characters somewhere in the same breath as Jane being depicted in books and media. Jane is such a positive character and I love how we see her slowly learn to love and believe in herself as the story continues.
There are a few other excellent characters in the book. We get to know the mermaids, a selkie that Jane befriends, and meet other characters whether or not they’re positive or negative ones. It was so interesting to see how some of the characters come together in unexpected ways. It was also neat to see that we learn so much about a character we briefly meet through the other characters in the book. I truly loved everything about this story down to the beautiful artwork.
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