I first heard of this book from Instagram funny enough. A lot of people had been posting great, beautiful shots, showcasing the cover. I don’t judge books by their cover (try not to at least!) but if I did, this one would be up there. Fairytale retellings and I have a love/hate relationship but I’ve always been drawn to the darker more grimm tales (I know what I did there haha couldn’t be helped!) This had dark coastal vibes that I couldn’t say no to.
“The sea is a fickle witch.”
Right off the bat and you’re already hit with a small, strong and easily looked over introduction. This screams a dark and angry sea setting and I’m here for that. This tone also lent better to the Swedish angle to the beloved fairytale. There’s no mistaking the plot or the direction in which it’s headed. Atmosphere was on point! Scarily on point.
I loved Hansa’s character. She was the grouchy yet sassy grandmother figure with tons of life experience and most importantly a hairstyle so efficient it could, “blood-drawing tightness of her hairdo.” Characters with what I call personality, leap off the page and stick with us readers because they’re so real. I can picture Hansa, I’m pretty sure I’ve even met a few eccentric people like her. The realness gets me and that’s an important trait in any book regardless of age or genre. I loved how she was never fooled by Annemette and her stories which leads me into my next point, the naiveté of the main character, Evie.
The plot centers around this mysterious stranger being discovered by the sea and how she’s brought into this coastal town. Evie immediately sees her long lost friend in this stranger and is convinced that she is one in the same. Annemette (stranger) claims to have no recollection of her life before washing up on the shore and being taken in by Evie and the whole time she proves how skilled she is and yet Evie can’t see past this familiar face. She’s never overly suspicious of Annemette and the whole story lacks that element which only reflects poorly on the MC. When they discover how talented of a witch Annemette is, instead of wondering how that can be for someone so young, Evie’s envious of her. She doesn’t question ANYTHING! That made her character infuriating to follow. I couldn’t grasp why she could be so trusting of Annemette and her desperation to get her friend back was only clouding her judgement which provides a weak argument to support why the MC is so foolish.
Another thing that I can’t stand (other than terrible MC’s) are insta-love romances. Now, I knew going into this that the original fairy tale is very heavy on this exact type of love story but the execution in here made me disappointed and it wasn’t because it was fast but rather how and who it ended up being. It was abrupt and there was a lot of pining without any reason why she likes the guy. There was chemistry between Nik and Evie and Iker and Evie but it was flat and immediate. I can’t tell you why both guys were drawn to her and there wasn’t much difference between them either. I didn’t like the ‘band-aid’ romance tie up near the end (won’t spoil it!) it was rushed and came out of the blue. Love stories are often at the root of fairytales and The Little Mermaid is definitely one of them. However, the execution of this came out poorly.
And although I loved this tale for its darker side of the story, the incorporation of Denmark and its culture backfired. Many times Henning would use foreign words that would lend authenticity (which was nice and original) but then she wouldn’t include a clear cut explanation of what those words meant leaving the reader lost and confused. The language barrier ruined the understanding the plot and ultimately the readability of the story. Sadly because of all these things I don’t think I will read the companion novel, Sea Witch Rising and unfortunately I have yet to find a Little Mermaid retelling that I’ve liked. I give the Sea Witch by Sarah Henning 2 stars.