Book Review: Between the Land and the Sea (Marina's Tales #1) by Derrolyn Anderson

Summary: 

Something extraordinary is lurking in the deep ocean waters off the coast of Aptos, California. In just a few weeks after moving to the small beach town, sixteen year old Marina has nearly drowned twice, enchanted the hottest guy in high school, and discovered a supernatural creature. If she can only manage to survive her increasingly dangerous encounters with unpredictable mermaids, she might just be able to unlock the mystery of her past to learn how to appease the mysterious forces that seem to want something from her...and maybe even find true love along the way.Between The Land And The Sea is the first book in the series "Marina's Tales". Her story continues on in book two, The Moon And The Tide.

 

Release Date: March 19, 2011

Age Group: Young Adult

Publisher: Independent

Source: Review copy from author

Review:

I'm not generally a fan of mermaid books, having read only The Mermaid's Mirror and Lost Voices from this genre, but I decided to give this series a try and I'm glad I did.  

Marina is a sixteen year old girl who seems to have it all: a father who adores her, the experience of traveling the world, and an indulgent "aunt" who buys her everything she could ever want---and more.  She is sad to leave her hometown of San Fransisco while her father travels to Afghanistan for work, but looks forward to spending time with her aunt Abby and cousin Cruz.  But, strange things start happening shortly after Marina moves to Aptos, and she discovers she is not completely human.

I really enjoyed Between the Land and the Sea.  I was surprised at how much I liked it.  There was a lot of humor in this book, more than I would expect from a mermaid story.  I liked the relationship between Cruz, Megan and Marina, and I loved the banter between the three.  They were so sweet and funny together.  I liked the progression of the relationship between Ethan and Marina.  They don't fall in love too quickly, and their relationship is more of a slow build.  I like that, because it feels more realistic to me.  I also really enjoyed the development of the supporting characters.  Everyone was well-characterized, which makes reading much more fun for me.

The one thing that bothered me about Between the Land and the Sea was a sort of fixation on fashion.  I like fashion as much as the next girl, but Marina is a clotheshorse, and I got a little tired (or maybe jealous?) of reading about her fashion choices.  It made her feel spoiled to me and made me like her a little less. 

Overall, though, Between the Land and the Sea was a good read, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of mermaid books and fans of paranormal YA.