Friday, August 17, 2012

Review: Fathomless by Jackson Pearce



Fathomless (Fairytale Retellings, #3)
Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
Pages: 304
Published: September 4th 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown
My Source: ARC

My Review:



Fathomless is a dark retelling of The Little Mermaid (not the Disney version.) It's filled with monsters, love, and many complex ideas. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading about darker sides of fairy tales.

This story was definitely different than an average YA novel. Most of everything/everyone in the book could be taken as a metaphor or symbol. One of the main themes was Good versus Evil, and I had a hard time telling who represented what. Part of the fun was trying to figure it out.

My main annoyance was how dramatized the 'love triangle' was. It's in quotes, because I don't even think of it was a love triangle. Two parts of the 'triangle' barely even had any scenes together. If this book was meant to be about romance, then I don't think it did so well. The book didn't need to be about romance, its darkness and writing were already working perfectly. It was just annoying when one character freaks out because the other two are spending time together.

Ah, the characters. I really liked Naida/Lo, although it was tough telling which was which because they had very similar writing-voices. She was my favorite character, because of how different she was from everyone else. She kept a common goal, and that was admirable. Whereas I didn't like reading Celia's POV. I felt like her introverted to extroverted personality changed too quickly before I even got a chance to know her. Also, I did like the additions of her sisters but they could have gotten a better back story. Jude was not a swoon-worthy love interest at all. I don't know how to explain it, but he was just too average for me to root for any romance.

Like the plot twists, the ending came out of nowhere! It was definitely a safe ending, but at the same time it wasn't expected. I wasn't totally satisfied with it, because I still have some questions about the characters, and what will happen, etc. With the dark theme in this book, it was a bit out of character to have such a safe ending. But it didn't ruin my opinion overall.

I recommend this to anyone who is in the mood for a dark fairytale!

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