Between the Sea and the Sky: Review

Title: Between the Sea and the Sky

Author: Jaclyn Dolamore

Release Date: October 2011

Published By: Bloomsbury

Pages: 229

Goodreads Rating: 3.53 stars

Review: Esmerine has always wanted to join her older sister Dosinia as a siren, the highest calling a mermaid can have, but when Dosinia runs away, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. As she painfully makes her way across land, she runs into a young man she hasn't seen since childhood, Alander. Their search mission bonds them together into something greater, something that can not be stopped by sea, land, or air.

I'm not generally the hugest fan of mermaid or wolf or vampire or zombie or witch selkie ghost books, but I heard BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE SKY was different, so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't entirely bowled over by it, but one aspect I did enjoy was the mythology behind it. The mermaid society had an interesting hierarchy, and I thought the idea of incredible pain accompanying having legs on land to be a fascinating concept.

However, what primarily disappointed me was how little I was able to relate to the characters. Esmerine felt mostly dull and didn't seem to have a particularly well-rounded personality, which made it difficult for me to root for her throughout the novel. It was hard to care about her and most of the time, I wasn't really sympathizing with her situation, especially since the stakes weren't really high.

Because I didn't feel much for Esmerine, I similarly felt very little sparks for the romance between her and Alander. He came across to me as a little cold and also not particularly well-developed, so I wasn't able to swoon for him or hope for them to get together. I did feel like there was a lot of potential for an excellent romance to be kindled, but the concept wasn't as well executed as it could have been.

All in all, BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE SKY had a great deal of potential but didn't ultimately live up to my expectations. The concepts were all very intriguing, from the mythology to the idea of a winged boy falling in love with a mermaid, but the characters weren't that great. Esmerine and Alander both didn't have well-developed personalities, which disappointed me. I would still recommend this book to anyone who loves mermaid novels.