On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mergirl, true, but signing the renunciation will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being-human thing once and for all.
Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, the waves start to get rough. Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?
The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up—Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?
Tera Lynn Childs’s sequel to Forgive My Fins offers another tail-flicking romance with plenty of fun, sun, and underwater adventure. (YA)
Review:
Fins are Forever is the sequel to the delightfully original mermaid taleForgive My Fins. (my review here)
Warning:Contains spoilers for Forgive my Fins - the first book in the series.
Lily has chosen to renunciate her title as Princess Waterlily to be with her true love Quince and live forever on land. She is having a few tiny misgivings though. The usually perpetually perky Lily is having a bit of a hard time this time around. Her cousin Dosnia has committed an unspeakable offense and as punishment has been sent to live on land - with Lily.
If you read the first book you know that Doe is NOT Lily's favorite person. She's impulsive and selfish and continually flirts with Quince.
There is also trouble brewing under the sea. An alliance in the form of a bonding kiss with childhood friend Tellin would go along way to smoothing things over but could prove to be too much for Lily's human boyfriend Quince to handle.
I really, really, really wanted to love Fins are Forever but I just didn't. The first book swept me away in it's magical, quirky prose. I do understand that we need some drama and Lily is going through a lot of changes in her life but she was very negative in this book and I don't enjoy a negative Lily. She was almost pouty and whiny.
Her cousin Doe and her blossoming romance with Lily's former crush Brody provides conflict but to be honest I don't like Doe or care that much about her so I wasn't invested in her storyline too much.
Tellin sort of just pops up out of nowhere with a pretty big offer for Lily that would completely change her life yet again. The internal conflict that Lily has to work out between her loyalty to the people of Thalassina and her love for Quince was more interesting but was shortchanged and felt rushed to me. If there is a sequel, I'm guessing that Tellin will play a much bigger role. One that Quince (& I ) will not be too happy about. So in that regard this plotline felt more like a setup for the next book.
Quince and Lily have the most amazing relationship. It's sweet, loyal and surprisingly mature for their very young age. I just wish there was more of it in Fins are Forever. Quince isn't in this book nearly enough. Lily thinks of him often and he plays such a big part in all her decision making so it would have been great if he was physically present more often.
Rating: For me this was a 2.5 but many of my blogger friends have read it and loved it as much as the first so I would still recommend fans of the series read it. It just lost some of that fun, magical quality that I loved so much in Forgive My Fins. Nevertheless I would snap up the sequel in a heartbeat.
Author website: Tera Lynn Childs, Facebook, Twitter
Publisher: Harper Collins
Buy the book! Fins Are Forever
**Make sure you read Forgive My Fins
first!
first!
Bum deal. This is why I don't think sequels are always a good thing, especially if they feel forced. The best example I can think if is Shiver. LOVED the first book, and thought the story was nice enough to end where it did.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this series yet because I'm kind of meh when it comes to mermaids, but if I do, I think I'll just pretend it is a stand alone.
LOL
I feel, oh conflicted because those things you mention are things that truly would annoy me too
ReplyDeletetotally understand your review and Quince was big part of the first story. Some times sequels are not always the best.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't enjoy this one as much. The first one sounds excellent. I'm not sure I'll have time to read these! It's hard sometimes to capture the fire of first books.
ReplyDeleteAck. I'll read it, but I dont' like a marginalized Quince or a pouty Lily.
ReplyDeleteI'll read it, but I don't like the idea of Quince not being around much. Donna wasn't impressed with the book, and she felt like the ending was set up for another book. Sigh. I'll give it a go.
ReplyDelete-Jess