Evergreen(Mer Tales 2)Publisher: Obsidian Mt. Publishing, 2012Genre: YA Paranormal RomanceA kingdom on the brink of war.
A king on the fringes of insanity.
A family running for their lives.
Ash and Fin’s only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other’s life: become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone’s lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They’ll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can’t decide?
Evergreen picks up where Everblue left
off. Fin and his family have left their home and are on their way to the safe
house in Florida. They’re doing their best of keeping their secret, but the
lakes/ponds they have to stop at each night are becoming increasingly
dangerous. Some have contaminated waters and other have too many humans around
who might see them transform. Fin is doing his best to keep in touch with Ash,
trying not to lose his mind in the process because the bond they now have makes
being apart literally painful for them. However, for all that they love and care
for each other, they keep lying to each other.
I
still have mixed feeling about this sequel and it mostly has to do with these
three things: 1) Ash’s attitude (more on that below), 2) the overall defeatist
feeling of the book, and 3) some icky characters. This turned out to be one of
those books where everything—and I mean e-ve-ry-thing—goes wrong for our
heroes. I wouldn’t have minded so much if a little reprieve or two had been
woven in, but ever twist and turn brings on worse events. As a reader, I was
exhausted and pretty much depressed for Ash and Fin.
On
top of all the misery there’s Ash’s attitude. Though it irked me sometimes, I
got why she continually pined for Fin. It’s a result of the bond. I get it. It
doesn’t mean I didn’t get tired of hearing her whine all the time. Also, I was
kind of thrown with Ash’s strong dislike and lack of patience with her school
friend Georgia. I don’t remember Ash hating her in the first book. Again, I get
it that the bond is making Ash crazy for Fin, but going as far as saying that
her friend ruined all her plans for
the future was a bit harsh. There were also comments like this all around…
“There
was no way I’d share my Fin time with her. Maybe it was time to finally tell
her I had a boyfriend.”
Maybe
it bothered me so much because she turned into one of those girls. You know,
the ones who drop a friend in a second once they get a boyfriend. Ash goes as
far as saying she would have to glamour Georgia a boyfriend so that she’d have
something to occupy herself with. Seriously? You want to give your friend a
fake boyfriend so that she leaves you alone? Not cool.
Some
new characters appear in this book that I didn’t like at all. Fin’s uncle and
cousin come back and seriously bring on the creepy and icky feelings. There’s a
mer-princess involved that really got on my nerves, and I mean REALLY. Even
Ash’s mom made me want to fling the book away. Add anger to exhaustion from
reading everything go wrong, and you see why I have mixed feelings.
Overall
Fin was the best character, the one that kept me reading. I now think Ash
doesn’t deserve all his love, care, and devotion. She needs to grow he hell up.
As for the story, the final twists and revelations were great. It was a good
mystery to keep through the whole book and I never saw it coming. Even though
this sequel and I didn’t click, Mer Tales is still one of my favorite mermaid
series and I’ll be waiting for book 3.
Favorite Quotes:
~Unwanted
Visitor~
He caught my wrist. “Tomorrow?”
“Busy.”
“Later today then?”
I tugged my wrist away. “Nope, still
busy.”
He opened his lips and the music
started.
“What mom?” I yelled, a little too
loud as I knocked into his ribs with my elbow as hard as I could. He sputtered
and finally moved out of my way.
“Sounds like my mom needs me. Bye.”
I pivoted and slammed the door in his
face.
Get
a clue, mer-moron.
