deep blue; jennifer donnelly

 Hopefully, this will be short and sweet: straight to the point, down to the brass tacks, the bottom line, etc. A blistering hot day-trip to the river with some friends sparked an immediate awakening. After watching a group of young girls play mermaids, I quickly realized I wanted to play mermaids too. Regardless of how many birthdays pass by, I will always and forever be a mermaid girl; I hope others can relate. What has been a lifelong passion and, dare I say, lifetime goal of transforming into a mermaid may never fizzle out. Thus being stated, I’ll never turn down a mermaid book. Deep Blue is highly ranked on several “best mermaid books” lists including Goodreads, Google, and other reputable sources. To be frank, I was disappointed. While I didn’t have high expectations to begin with, this novel had several noticeable technical issues. Only when I was halfway through reading did I realize that Deep Blue was authored by Jennifer Donnelly. Jennifer Donnelly is an acclaimed best-selling writer with numerous literary awards and recognitions. Her historical mystery/thriller, A Northern Light, is exceptional and a captivating read I would recommend to all young adult readers. Compared to A Northern Light, Deep Blue was cringey, quite silly, and just barely a perfect read. Jennifer Donnelly’s other works have proven to be significantly better material. While Deep Blue wasn’t great and lacked certain technicalities, it also wasn’t entirely atrocious.

This book in particular is difficult to review. I dislike providing any piece of literature a bad review, however, there are certain negative aspects that should be brought to light. This story sits in between “poorly written” and “eye-catching composition”. Like a strange literary equilibrium. While Deep Blue is certainly not geared for adults, it wasn’t meant for youth readers either. It also felt too immature for young adults or teenagers. Overall, I would suggest Deep Blue to those on the younger side, the sweet spot being around ages 11-13 years old.

There was a considerable amount of foreign inflection and language weaved throughout the text. Royal titles, magic terms, and locations were all invented or non-English words that made it very difficult to follow. This book even includes a lengthy glossary after the acknowledgments in its final pages. The author also included an abundance of slang correlating with the mermaid world Deep Blue takes place in. I felt it to be, dare I say… tacky. Some examples include replacing ‘girl’ with ‘merl’ and doing activities such as ‘shoaling’ or ‘listening to shells’. While reading, I was determined to keep an open mind but the lingo definitely overstepped and became quite annoying. There was an explicit point where the included slang and extrinsic language was too much and distracted from the plot itself. When authors create a new fantastical world, these aspects of world-building are necessary. However, with Deep Blue it refused to click completely; the author almost tried too hard, not quite reaching one hundred percent. With this being said, I struggled to get through the ending. It ended abruptly and lacked a satisfying denouement. Deep Blue happens to be a four-part series, but the ending failed to create a secure foundation to transition into a sequel.

My final criticism includes the significant amount of typos within the text. I was surprised considering Jennifer Donnelly’s caliber of authorship. Unfortunately, they were blatantly obvious and stood out. Part of me wants to be gracious, however, these were flaws that students could have found and edited themselves. 

Despite its faults, I was fairly interested and captivated with the story. The characters were well-written, engaging, and satisfied my mermaid itch. Deep Blue follows the perspective of Serafina, a young princess destined for her family’s throne and the betrothal to the prince of another ocean kingdom. When attacks fall on the royal palace and the kingdom falls to shambles, Serafina flees to seek protection with a group of river sirens, called the Iele, who perform ancient magic to keep unwanted evils at bay. Through Donnelly’s vibrant description and depth of detail, readers are submerged into a brilliant ocean tale. With magic, humans, and unfathomable monsters, Deep Blue utilizes a wild imagination to construct the mermaid world of youthful dreams. 

Admittedly, this read was pretty terrible in some parts, especially coming from an author such as Jennifer Donnelly, but do I have the second book requested at my library? Yes, yes I do. And will I read it? Probably.

Best,
Evelyn Harrier