I love mermaids, but I usually only see them in fantasy, not science fiction novels. Technically Nere doesn’t have a tail, but she is as close to being a mermaid as I am going to get in a science fiction novel. I’ll take it!
Global warming has absolutely destroyed the earth, and so a group of scientists decided to genetically modify children so they could live underwater. The water still had many places untouched by humans, so if humans could breathe water, they could have a stable food supply that isn’t poisoned by pollution. They would also not have to deal with the freshwater water shortage that controls most of the people still living on the land. Nere has always thought that she was just weak with bad lungs and poor eyesight. Then the government’s soldiers appear in her village, and her mom says she must finish her “transformation” and go live in the sea. Needless to say, Nere isn’t too happy about this, but she has no choice. That’s where her real journey begins, her journey with her classmates to safety at her father’s sanctuary.
I loved the action in this book so much. The sea is such a mysterious place in real life. Seeing humans living in the deeper parts of it really brought that whole part of the world to life for me. I was excited about each new place they traveled to so I could see what new creatures they would come into contact with and which new people they would meet. Nere and her friends aren’t the only kids who were given the genes to be able to live underwater, and so they must meet a lot of other kids along their journey. There were battle scenes with sharks and government divers, as well as beautiful exploration scenes when they found a new place to call a temporary camp or a new shipwreck to explore.
The author also doesn’t hold back when it comes to real violence. There is some gore, and characters don’t magically bounce back from their injuries. The kids have to be their own medics, and they don’t have much time to stop and heal from more minor injuries. It made for a very suspenseful adventure.
The dolphins added to the story as well! I love dolphins, so the idea of being able to partner and communicate with them was so fun to me! I hope that they stay mostly safe throughout the series, but they are trained to protect the other kids so I’m sure there will be at least one or two tragic losses before the series is over.
The one thing that kind of ruined the book for me was the ugly love square. Nere is like 14, but she has 3 other guys that are 100% into her. 2 are swimming underwater with her, and 1 was left on the land. What made her so special over the other girls on the team? I literally don’t know why everyone was fawning over her so much.
Other than that, I really enjoyed this book! I can’t wait to delve into the rest of the series, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new YA science fiction novel to read.
Overall Rating: 4 out 5 books.
