Blog Tour Review: WATER SO DEEP by Nicole Giles (Jelly Bean Press, 2015)

Tour Schedule

  Water So Deep by Nichole GilesWater So Deep Seventeen-year-old Emma Harris is drowning on dry land. No one knows what’s happening to her, and she’d like to keep her evolution from human to mermaid a secret, but the truth is getting harder and harder to hide. From her adoptive family, from her friends, and especially from the irresistible James Phelps. Her time in the ocean is spent dodging a possessive merman, while her time on land is split between caring for her special-needs brother and squeezing in every last possible moment of human life. She soon realizes falling for James is unavoidable when he constantly comes to Emma’s rescue and somehow manages to see through her carefully constructed icy facade to the vulnerability she lives with every day. Everything about James makes Emma yearn for a life on land she just can't have. When Emma’s brother disappears on her watch, James is the only person she trusts to help her save him. But even if they can save her brother, nothing can prevent her return to the sea. Whether she likes it or not, Emma is changing—unable to breathe without yielding to the tide—and it's only a matter of time before she's forced to surrender forever.

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My Review

Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 294 pgs

Rating: 4

Review: Isn't the cover so gorgeous?! I am so intrigued by mermaid fiction. I know there's a ton out there but I haven't sat down with any yet, so Nicole's is the first. I loved the way she portrayed how Emma was changing, and it was easy to feel the panic of being on land too long and then the release in the water, even though she hated it. Loved the conflict that drove her to and and away from the water! Emma was super easy to love, though frustrating sometimes in her decision making--though I understood why she did what she did. Good frustrating, I guess. James is a great co-main character for her. Sometimes it was difficult to see what drew them together beyond their physical attraction, but they made a good pair. It was great to see James there for her. Merrick is such an awesome puzzle. I can't wait to see how things play out for him. It was great to see a character who was not all good or not all bad. Though it wrapped up well (which is more than I can say for another book I read recently...), the first thing I did was go to Nicole's website to see about how long the sequel would be. :) I had a few picky believability issues. MILD SPOILERS: Rumors about Emma and her ex, Tom, are all over the school, yet it takes several months for James to hear the full story, he doesn't even get surface talk. If Tom was arrested, wouldn't there be some kind of news story with at least bare facts? And the kids in school were talking about it. It also feels like far too into the story when we start to learn about some of Emma's backstory and see interaction with her Gran. At some points it felt like I'd missed a book--things the narration assumes we already knew are alluded to but not talked about.

Content:
Language - 3+ (Frequent use of damn and hell, 6 Sh*, 3 A*, 1 B*)
Sex - 3 (Nothing is ever onstage just a handful of discussions about the two main characters having sex, about other characters who have, Merrick is described as being seen naked in a few instances)
Violence - 2 (Nothing graphic. A sexual assault occurs, but nothing described. There is a fight between Emma and some merpeople)
Overall Rating - PG-16

Source: Review copy as part of a blog tour event.

   Author Nichole Giles 

Nichole Giles, the author of the Descendant trilogy, has lived in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Texas. She loves to spend time with her husband and four children, travel to tropical and exotic destinations, drive in the rain with the convertible top down, and play music at full volume so she can sing along.

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