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Rating: 3 stars
Pages: 293 (Hardcover)
Genre: Young Adult/Middle-Grade (Paranormal)
Summary: Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.
When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.
Thoughts: Wow, is that summary ever… perky! Let me confirm – the writing in Forgive My Fins is about as cheesy and pun-ridden as its summary. Very cute, and very simple to read. If you know a Middle Grader who wishes she were a teen, well, she’d love this book.
Forgive my Fins was really quite cute. It was as Technicolor as its cover and was set in a fishy world that was extremely unique. Think The Little Mermaid, but in jeans and wearing lip gloss. Fun Fun Fun! I really enjoyed the adorable verse and could have swum right into it, had the pages allowed!
But, God, were the characters – and plot – ever simple: X loves Y who is in love with Z (who is kinda annoying). But wait! Y sees the error of her ways after spending time with X. And they all swim off happily ever after. The End!
Admittedly, this could be done brilliantly, but in Forgive My Fins it was just done… simply. Nothing truly bad ever happens to any of the characters, and reaching the final happy ending simply took patience. No baddies running in to ruin the day, just a girl who needed time to to come to her senses. This – along with the writing – is what made it a MG book for me.
On the other hand, Lily is actually a pretty fair (albeit fishy) representation of a typical teenager. She thinks she knows what she wants – she even claims to be in love – but she hasn’t a clue. Even though this ended with an OTP, it does remind you that not all teen love is meant to last – half the time it only exists in your head!
Bottom line? Very fun, light-hearted read. If you are looking for something to perk you up, look no further! Just don’t expect a serious discussion about the complete and utter decimation of the world’s fisheries… or a serious discussion about anything, really.
To those of you who have already read it: WTF was with that last chapter??? Bizarre.
Lol the last chapter was sort of crazy, but I think it should have been for the next book (it would work better as a prologue for the next book right?). But there you have it, oh well. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty fun. I'd wondered about this one so it's great to read a balanced review that really gives me a clear picture of what it's like to read this.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I said basically the same thing in mine - it's fun, but not very deep. The writing leaves a lot to be desired. You make a good point about it being more MG than YA. Will you be reading the next book? I'm not sure I'll be able to take anymore fish talk :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like it could be cute, but maybe a bit simple. I might give this one a shot though! The cover is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI have this one to read. I knew it was more MG when I bought it, so that won't be much of a surprise. I'm now intrigued about this last chapter!
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