Published: May
1st, 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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