Review: Wrecked by Anna Davis

Title: Wrecked by Anna Davis

Published: May 1^st, 2012 by Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers

Source: Won from Goodreads First Reader

Format: Paperback ARC

Challenge(s):

Grade rate: D

Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.    

But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.    

Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.

My Review

This is the second mermaid related book that I’ve read (The Mermaid Mirror was the first one) and I have to say that I was disappointed by it.  Believe me when I say that I don’t like to write unfavorable reviews, but I try to be as honest as possible.

As you can imagine by the description the story is very similar to The Little Mermaid (the Disney version actually).   This is not necessarily a bad thing and I do love re-telling s of the classic stories, Beastly is a great example, but I do have some issues with Wrecked.   The characters left much to be desired.  Miranda is so depressed and whines and complaints a lot.  I really tried to put myself in her shoes, but I just couldn’t.  If I found myself to be this unhappy and being blamed for something that was not my fault, I would take my fancy car and leave *period*   I think Miranda did have serious issues and needed help. 

The story is told from alternate points of view (between Christian and Miranda). I did like Christian, although he wasn’t given as much light to shine as I would have wanted.  He is more practical and more mature than Miranda is.  The attraction between them seemed too fast and not believable.  I did like Miranda’s grandmother (even if no one else did) since she had a strong character and was doing the best she could under the circumstances.  The Sea Witch was, as you might expect, the stereotypical villain.  

There are many inconsistencies and loose threads throughout the story.  Since I read an ARC, I can only hope that the final version was heavily edited to catch and correct these.  The school scenes didn’t add much to the story and the way everyone was shunning her was completely unreasonable.  The writing was just okay for me. The ending was quite abrupt and poorly crafted.

As I said, I really wanted to like the story, but it just didn’t cut it for me. 

About the cover: I like the cover, the guy’s shiny skin, the water and the coloring. I think it is beautiful.  I just have to mention that it might be a tad too much for a YA book, but that’s just my opinion.  

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