Sea Witch

Sea Witch #1

by Sarah Henning

Everyone knows what happens in the end. A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss. But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends. One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch.

A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Mermaids, Romance, Fiction, Fairy Tales

368 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2018

About the author

Sarah Henning is a recovering journalist who has worked for the Palm Beach Post, Kansas City Star and Associated Press, among others. While in South Florida, Sarah lived and worked through five hurricanes, which gave her an extreme respect for the ocean. When not writing, she runs ultramarathons, hits the playground with her two kids and hangs out with her husband Justin, who doubles as her long-suffering IT department. Sarah lives in Lawrence, Kansas, which, despite being extremely far from the beach, happens to be pretty cool.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sea is a fickle witch.
She is just as likely to bestow a kiss as to steal the breath from your lips.

3 1/2 stars. I gave myself a bit of a headache trying to rate this book. Parts of it were 2 stars, other parts 4/4.5, so in the end I've settled on this. But I will say one thing: this book is probably not what you are expecting. I hope it can find the right readers.

It's really a question of how much patience you have. And how easily you can sit through maritime chapters without falling asleep. It's a very slowly-paced book, especially during the first two thirds of the story. Any exciting witchy The Little Mermaid goodness you might be expecting happens in the later chapters, and even then it's pretty subdued.

Though, in many ways, Sea Witch is much smarter than I expected for a YA The Little Mermaid retelling. The story is set in 19th Century Denmark and is woven with hundreds of years of Danish history. The Danes, especially under King Christian IV, put many "witches" to death in the 16th and 17th centuries. Henning combines this real fear of witches on land with the story of the sea witch we all know from the Andersen tale (and the Disney remake).

There are many interesting aspects of what the author has done here. I love that so much of it is rooted in history; I love that I googled Øresund Kingdoms and discovered that the Øresund strait is a real thing. I love that it mentioned the infamous "witch" - Maren Spliid.

The story is about three unlikely childhood friends - Nik (the prince), Anna (now deceased) and Evie (the half-Italian fisherman's daughter). In the present of the story, Nik's near-drowning results in him being saved by a mysterious girl who looks like Anna. She is the beautiful Annemette and Evie quickly befriends her, feeling drawn towards this stranger who looks so like her friend.

Slowly drawn friendship and romantic dynamics lead toward magical secrets. Annemette is clearly not all she appears to be, but the depths of what she's hiding are indeed dark and full of terrors. This is all set to an atmospheric backdrop of salty air and sea breezes. Henning does a great job of infusing everything with a sea-like essence.

Also, Nik is a delightful little sweetie. Rarely are male characters allowed to be such starry-eyed romantics and it was adorable, yet not unrealistic.

Unfortunately, though, it really is slow. I actually wonder if I would have made it through if I hadn't committed to an arc, and I foresee many DNFs on the horizon. It's not a thrills and romance kind of book - it's a gentle wander through history, class divides and the unwarranted fear of witches. The occasional third person chapters also slow down the book. I think Sea Witch will work really well for the right sort of reader, but I think the majority of readers will pick this up expecting something it doesn't deliver.

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[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to make my own painted edges. They are not great, but I love them! I used purple to go with the purple in her eyes!





Book & Poster Below



A million stars for the cover and the poster I got in one of my book boxes and got laminated!

I liked the story! I didn't love it to death as I'm not a big fan of The Little Mermaid. But who cares, it was good enough for now and I'm glad plenty love it 😊

Happy Reading!

Mel 🖤🐺🐾

[Korrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure about this when I first started reading it, but I’m so glad I carried on! Around the 40pg mark, I became hooked on the plot. It ended up being hard to put down. Very unique take on the classic story of The Little Mermaid. I think people are going to enjoy this one!

[Riley · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was just....not good.

reasons why this book did not work for me:
-there was no plot up until the last 50ish pages
-the characters were flat with zero development
-the two male characters were completely interchangeable
-the romances were the worst cases of insta love I've ever seen
-when the plot finally picked up all the characters became different people out of nowhere

overall this book was just flat out boring

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars!

She knew that with power, the bravery to act would come.

I'm just going to say I hoped and prayed this was going to be good. Ever since I read To Kill a Kingdom I was hook line and sinker for any form of a re-telling of The Little Mermaid. I say that but this is the first one I've read since then. Anyway I'm going to be frank, this is a real slow burn, but I loved that. It really builds up to what is coming. You get the back story of a specific day in the past and it goes backwards and forwards in time.

As previously mentioned, the build up for me was glorious, it had me second guessing everything, trying to dissect certain things, now I'm not saying that I didn't see some things coming, because I did however in the last few chapters it was just blindside after blindside it was incredible. I kept think surely this isn't happening, but that's what was so good about it.

Characters

So we have Evie and Nik to start with. They are two best friends, one is a high born Prince and the other is a fisherman's daughter who isn't seen as worthy to be friends with a Prince. I really really enjoyed the friendship between the two of them all though at times you could see it become a little strained. It was really interesting to see Evie learn certain things and she always tries to do things to help the people she cares for. Evie has a tough time with the place she lives and this is where Nik comes in. His protectiveness for Evie made me love him even more! I just couldn't cope with it. I'm sorry to gush, but I can't help it.

Then we have Iker and Annemette I honestly couldn't figure either one out. I was questioning them both throughout for different reasons. That being said I did enjoy their characters because it brought more to the story especially seeing things from the characters POVs.

What I liked?
- Tante Hansa, I wish we'd seen more of her, but what I did see I was all for
- The magic system was interesting, especially later on what things came together
- Witches and Mermaids
- The back stories, I lived
- The loyalty they have for each other!
- All of the little nods towards The Little Mermaid
- Literally loved the Epilogue, it was so interesting

Overall I really really enjoyed this book, I actually think it's a miracle because normally when I'm super hyped for a book it falls flat, but luckily for me I enjoyed it! I know not everyone can be a fan, but if you can deal with slow (but building) pacing for an epic ending, I'd suggest this.

------------
So your girl didn't get an Arc...
BUT THIS WAS INCREDIBLE!

Like holy fuck those last few chapters, I can't even cope.

HOPEFULLY full rtc, cause I've been reading to try and finish because I needed to know everything!
------------
Never wanted Netgalley to approve an ARC so much :))
Probably won't because I have a million other books, but I'm requesting it.

May the odds be ever in my favour!

#prayforbethtogetanarc
---------
Sea Witch - 5 Stars
Sea Witch Rising - 3 Stars

[Hamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can find this review and other non-spoilery reviews @ The Book Prescription

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

“IT’S A PERFECT NIGHT FOR BURNING WITCHES.”

🌟 I learned to go into books without high expectations because the end result will be better whatever it is. But The little mermaid retelling? I am lying if I say that I didn’t raise up the bar a bit!



🌟 I recently read To kill a kingdom and that book was very good, it is getting much attention and for The little mermaid fans, it is actually a very good retelling! Now I don’t know if this can be called a retelling because that was only found after like 80% of the story. Actually this was the biggest problem in this series: nothing pretty much happens till 70% of the story. Now this is not a bad book, but it starts out good and then things start to get slow and there is dragging till the above mentioned part! I can see why people won’t be motivated to continue this in early parts, so if you want the good parts in this book, you have to be tolerant/patient.

🌟 The writing style is good. Not so special but it held my attention enough to make me finish this. There were a few quotes that I like too.

“My father, the sea king, says that when everything is as you hoped, you are blind to the imperfections.”

🌟 The characters are well-written. Once again, nothing too special and by that I mean I didn’t add them to a favorite list or any list in mind, I believe they are the kind that is good but won’t stick with me for a long time.

🌟 Summary: There are many Mermaids stories now and they are increasing too. Sea witch is not the best one of them, but it is a good story if you wait enough. The last 20-30% made me happy. There were literal quotes from the Little mermaid movie, I know some scenes by heart and that’s why I got excited reading them. The majority of the book is 3 stars for me, the final parts were 4 and 5 stars. So the final Rating from me will be 3.5 stars!

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Buddy Reading this with Queen Of ARCs

[Natalie Monroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Magic was barter—the right words, actions, potions for the right result.”

Well, that was... unexpected.

Sea Witch is marketed as a villain origin story, namely the sea witch from The Little Mermaid. Being the weird kid in the murder corner, I eagerly requested on Edelweiss, thinking it'd be a dark and transgressive retelling along the lines of Marissa Meyer's Heartless or Fairest. What I got instead was a quiet, rather literary novel about friendship and social class.

The story does largely unfold the same way as the original tale: a mermaid saves a prince, then goes on land to try to win his heart in four days. If she fails, she'll be turned to sea form. A human witch called Evelyn narrates the novel, with third-person chapters recounting the past. The mermaid Annamette bears a striking resemblance to Evelyn's best friend who drowned four years ago and she naturally wants to persevere Annamette's life.

Honestly, Sea Witch didn't start getting interesting until the 60% mark, when a twist kicks things into high gear. The writing doesn't help either. It's difficult to explain, but it tries too hard in places, plugging descriptives when they're unnecessary and weigh down a sentence.

Most of the novel has a small-town atmosphere, focusing on Evelyn's struggle with her low birth and her friendship with the prince Nik. There are also lots of insights into Danish history and culture, the country The Little Mermaid originated from.

Sea Witch will appeal to a certain kind of reader, but it failed to hook me in. (Fish pun intended)

ARC provided by Edelweiss

[Lea (drumsofautumn) · Rating 5 out of 5]

♦ Video Review ♦



Sea Witch is one of those books that grew on me more and more with every page that I read.
I started it with excitement because I love The Little Mermaid and Ursula as a villain but also some hesitation because villain origin stories can be repetitive and unoriginal. But what I got out of Sea Witch was incredibly special!

“I could tell her that it's like the tang of summer wine and the sound of arrival bells as a new ship docks. Like the scent of salt and limes and the tinkle of a boy's eyes just before a kiss in the moonlight.”

This is also one of those books that I have a super hard time doing a review for because it's one that just took my heart by storm. I have a huge emotional connection to it that is hard to put into words.
Not just that, it did exactly what I wanted from a villain origin story. It had some twists and turns and unexpected revelations and in general felt very original. In my personal opinion it didn't go the well-known paths that millions of authors have gone before.

But obviously with retellings or villain origin stories it always depends a little bit on the picture you have of the fairytale or villain. These can be hit or miss solely on the fact that this author's portrayal of a character simply doesn't fit what you imagine that character to be. So it's hard for me to wholeheartedly recommend this, I just know that I truly loved this and I keep thinking about this story and its characters, days after finishing.

It's also hard to talk about my expectations and how well they were fulfilled without going into spoiler territory or ruining your reading experience. As I said, I was impressed by this because I thought it went a different route than one might expect from an origin story like this. I think it is an amazing ability to write a story where everybody already knows the ending but constantly have you question how we will get there and what will tip this story over. I had huge hopes for how this would turn out but I was still questioning everything until the very end.

“I return to my lair, the new silence ringing in my ears. Somehow, it's more painful than before. As if hearing a new voice, regaining the shortest moment of humanity, has torn open the wound that is my loneliness.”

But as I said, not only did it completely meet my expectations, it was first and foremost a book that I was emotionally invested in from the very beginning. And it broke my heart. I could already tell after the first third that this would shatter my heart into pieces, long before I knew how. And there's not a lot of books that can do that so effortlessly.
I know this is not my most conclusive review but it's probably one of the most sincere ones I've ever written. Because while I like all the aspect of this book and I could tell you how great the characters are or how much I liked the setting, I simply fell in love with this book. And there's not always a way to explain why.

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I received an ARC of this through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited for this book and it turned out to be a major bummer. The Little Mermaid was my jam back in the day (it still is, if we're being honest), so imagine my excitement when I found out that 2018 would bring me not one, but TWO Little Mermaid retellings. Psyched isn't even the word. Unfortunately, this fell short for me in so many places. This review is definitely going to be on the shorter side because I just really don't want to rehash all the disappointment I felt while reading this.

The plot, first of all, was so incredibly boooooooo-ring. The story only really started getting good within the last 50 or so pages. And even then it was painfully predictable. Luckily for me, I was listening to the audiobook and was able to fly through it since I listened at double the normal speed. Otherwise this would have taken me weeks to get through because I just was not invested in the story plot-wise and it just became too redundant for me until the action started picking up.

As far as characters go, they were forgettable at best and that's mainly because we weren't given any real reasons to like them. The story focuses more on the characters backstories, and while the were necessary to the story, they didn't really provide any development either. I could honestly care less who lived or who died. The love interests in the story just felt like a filler more than anything else. The romance was just so BLAHHHH.

EVERYTHING WAS JUST SO BLAND.

Last but not least, the VERY end of this book. Just why? It wasn't really necessary, and now it just opened other doors for no reason. Not a fan, my friends. I would have been much happier if the book ended the way it was going to before we had one more plot twist thrown our way.

Favorite Quotes

“Perhaps fantasties are only meant to come true for a moment.”

“Don't grant all the prince's requests, darling girl. Men are always asking for more than they should.”

Overall, I really wasn't expecting to be this let down by one of my most anticipated reads of 2018. If you like retellings and The Little Mermaid then by all means give it a shot, it just wasn't for me.


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[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evie lives off a cold strait between Denmark and Sweden where the water is where you earn a living, and mermaids steal those you love. She has magical powers, but must keep them a secret so she isn’t burned alive. Friendships play a huge part in this delightful fairy tale, between Evie and her lost friend Anna, Nick, the crown prince, and Eiken, his cousin. When a storm sweeps Nick overboard, Evie is sure she’s seen a ghost bending over Nick’s body on the beach. But before she can get there, the mysterious girl disappears back into the waves. When a strange girl shows up in their seaside town, who is she, and can she be trusted?

This “Little Mermaid” retelling was the perfect mix of friendship, mysticism, romance, and fairy tale. The witch burning angle combined with mermaid lore was a great take on it (I’ve read several LM retellings this year, and each have had their own cool angle.) Evie made a delightful, independent main character, the backstories were AWESOME, and I eagerly devoured every page of this one.

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My heart is not mine to give because it is already yours”.

¡Amo un retelling de La Sirenita bien hecho! Sobre todo si, como en este caso, la historia no se centra en la protagonista, sino en la villana.

En Sea Witch nos encontramos con la historia de Evie, una chica humilde pero con un don para la magia que nadie puede conocer. Evie vive en Dinamarca y, contra todo pronóstico, es la mejor amiga de Nik, el príncipe heredero del reino. Ambos se conocen desde que eran pequeños, pero una tragedia marcó sus infancias: su amiga Anna se ahogó en medio de una tormenta. Ahora, muchísimos años después, todo empieza a complicarse cuando Evie, Nik y su primo Iker salen a navegar y se topan nuevamente con una tormenta que arroja a Nik por la borda. Evie, que está desesperada por salvarlo, lo encuentra en la playa justo cuando una mujer (a la que jura haberle visto una cola de sirena y se parece muchísimo a Anna) lo está sacando del agua y le está cantando una canción. Nik se salva y, justo un par de días después, aparece en el reino una chica llamada Annemette... ¡y es la misma chica que vio Evie en la playa!

Así es como empieza un relato fascinante y lleno de misterios marinos, magia prohibida, promesas peligrosas y un amor que puede ser letal. Sea Witch es un libro que tarda unas cuantas páginas en engancharte, pero una vez que has asimilado todo el entorno, la cultura nórdica, los prejuicios contra la magia, el respeto que sienten hacia el mar y las dinámicas de los personajes, todo se vuelve alucinante.

Me encantó el aura que desprendía cada página del libro y, además, me encantaban Evie y Nik como personajes. Ambos son chicos que han sufrido un montón, que ven constantemente juzgada su relación de amistad y que, poco a poco, empiezan a ver que tienen que enfrentarse con más cosas de las que habían esperado en su vida. Evie no solo tiene que lidiar con la magia prohibida que corre por sus venas, sino con la peligrosa ilusión de creer que su amiga ha vuelto y con los complicados sentimientos que está desarrollando hacia Iker... que ella bien sabe que es un playboy, pero decide ignorarlo.

Y Nik... ay, Nik. Yo de verdad amo a los personajes que son príncipes. Esto es inevitable desde Maxon. Pero los amo aún más cuando son tremendamente dulces, saben navegar la línea entre el deber y la diversión, los describen de tal manera que yo me derrito de lo guapos que me los imagino y cuando tienen un corazón hermoso. Nik es ese tipo de personaje que defiende por encima de todo a sus amigos, que hace sacrificios por el bien común y que, dada la ocasión, no teme dejar sus sentimientos claros.

En cuanto a Iker y Annemette... uf, son de esos personajes que sabes que te van a hacer daño, que traman cosas y tienen su propia agenda lista, pero a la vez son tan encantadores que terminas cayendo en su juego. Los amé y los odié a partes iguales. Y es que debo admitir que me encantan los personajes ambivalentes, así que chapeau! por ellos.

El final del libro me encantó. Le dio ese toque oscuro e intrigante a un retelling que no me daba muchas pistas sobre cómo iba a llegar a ser ese gran nacimiento de una villana como Úrsula. Las últimas 30 o 40 páginas son tremendamente angustiantes. ¡Hay muchísimas cosas pasando y muchas vidas en riesgo! Hay revelaciones que me dejaron con lágrimas en los ojos, hay sacrificios muy dolorosos y hay una atmósfera del mal que me daba escalofríos. Y el epílogo... ay, mis pobres sentimientos. Yo ahí lo voy a dejar.

[Iben Frederiksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So... Sea Witch.. Alright.

Sea Witch is a kind of retelling of the classic fairytale of the Little Mermaid - with a twist. The story focuses on the girl Evie, a witch who is best friends with the young Prince Nik, and the story tells of how she turns into the sea monster Ursula, kind of.

I bought this back when the book first came out, and was pretty excited to read it, but then some months later, it's rating had dropped a bunch and I had read some reviews that made me kind of regret to have even bought it.

Now that I've read it though, there's definitely some things about it that I didn't like, but there's also things I really did like.

THE BAD:

- I know this is supposed to be a whimsical kind of fairytale, but it's a little hard to imagine a prince hanging out with the fisherman's daughter all the time, like that's not very realistic.

- A character we learn of through mostly flashbacks returns to the present story, however she's very out of character, something that I hate. This person who was kind and sweet in the past, would have never done the things that she ends up doing to her loved ones.

These ^^ are small petty things that annoyed me a little, but by far the biggest fault of this book and story is the setting!

The setting: 1860's Denmark. This was initially cool to me when I realised, because guess what - I'm danish. However it quickly turned cringy.

The story shifts between being a realistic and historical account of Denmark in that time period, to being this whimsical fairytale land where the author has just made up things. Either you go completely historical or you go completely fairytale crazy and set your story in some made up country.

Thoughout the story, the author references several historical figures, like King Christian the Fourth and Maren Splid, as well as seasonal events like Sankt Hans Evening, danish food and drinks like hvidtøl and sild (herring), which she hilariously misspells several times into something that means something very different, oh my lord that one made me laugh for two minutes straight.
There are SO many grammatical errors with the danish words she uses - I won't list them all, but by far the most annoying was her continuing to write "the Jutland" omg, that's like writing "the New York" or "the Dublin". You just.. don't xD

THE GOOD:

- Surprisingly, I liked the characters a lot, especially Evie, Nik and Iker. They were cool, with distinct personalities and characteristics. I especially loved to follow Evie, because she's such a kind and smart girl, that you can't imagine her becoming anything like the Ursula we know from the Little Mermaid.

- The friendships between Evie, Nik and Iker were lovely. They felt like real friendships - something that I enjoy a lot.

- The story, which at first seems pretty predictable, actually takes a turn somewhere past the half way mark into something that surprised me a little, and I actually found myself wanting to know what was going to happen to these characters.


Anyway, this was a three-star read from me. I doubt I'll reread it ever again, but I'll let it hang around on my bookshelf for a little while - I'll admit I'm actually quite curious about the sequel :)

[Mikee (ReadWithMikee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really torn about this book. I didn’t LOVE it but it kept me entertained and intrigued enough to push through until the end. It was the last hundred pages or so that really made this book great. Besides that, it probably would’ve been a solid 2/5 stars for me.

I am a HUGE mermaid fan. I love everything and anything mermaid and The Little Mermaid is and always will be my favorite fairytale. That being said, my expectations were very high considering I haven’t actually read a mermaid book that I loved and The Little Mermaid deserved a retelling nothing short of perfection. Though Sea Witch didn’t reach those expectations, I did find myself enjoying this origin story of the infamous Ursula.

The overall story itself moved a bit slow and I never really connected with the characters. To be completely honest, I didn’t really like the book at all until we got to the last hundred pages because that’s where everything started to click together. Once we got to those last few chapters, I couldn’t put the book down and I was on my toes the whole time just speed reading to see what would happen next. Though I was never attached to the characters, the epilogue did tug on my heartstrings and my heart ached for the characters. It is an Ursula retelling so you can only imagine how the story ends and if it ends in a happily ever after. 😌

All in all, I didn’t love this book too much but it was definitely a creative retelling of Ursula’s origins. The book wasn’t my cup of tea but I can see many readers enjoying this one especially if you love a good sea tale (or should I say TAIL) like me. 😊

[Tahera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of 'For Love of a Book' group's September Buddy Read.

I haven't read many re-tellings of old fairy tales so far but this was a good one--what a clever take to the Little Mermaid tale this was! ❤️ And that cover picture is absolutely gorgeous 😍!

Oh and here is the badge 😁.

[Noura Khalid (theperksofbeingnoura) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen books for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"The sea is a fickle witch. She is just as likely to bestow a kiss as to steal the breath from your lips."

Urusla is possibly one of my favorite villains, and finding out that this was a Little Mermaid/Ursula retelling just got me extra excited to get my hands on this book.

The start of this book seemed interesting. I’m not the kind of person who gets bored easily when it comes to books even if the beginning is boring. There were ofcourse interesting bits in between, but it felt quite dragged.



I felt like the excitement showed up after going through 70% of the book. I guessed a few things while reading, and being right actually made me a bit upset because I really wanted to love the book. I thought that would be the end of the plot twists, but I was happy to find out that I hadn't guessed them all. The last few chapters were pretty good. I was surprised with what happened at the end, and I admit that it kept me thinking even after I finished the book.

“My father, the sea king, says that when everything is as you hoped, you are blind to the imperfections.”

Overall, I really liked this book. I felt that the story was unique and that it was nicely written. A new and different twist to a beloved story.



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[☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

pre read: wait- you mean a story about my fAVORITE VILLAIN ON THIS EARTH, URSULA? someone find a pen and sign me uP (pleasepleaseplease let this be everything I'm hoping for rn)

aug.19: okay, im here. we’re about to read this. It sounds extremely soul crushing, so I’ve been delaying this read, but we’re finally going to do it.

post-read: wow. Someone please remind me to never read a retelling of a fairy tale if the ending ends up sad. I never want to deal with this pain again

[jessica ☾ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must be reading a completely different book than everyone else, but this seriously sucked. I felt like the characters had zero personality, and what parts of the book I forced myself to trudge through seemed like filler and lacked any substance. As someone who loves retellings, this was a major disappointment.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! I don't read many retellings anymore, and especially not many about mermaids so I don't have much to compare this to though. It did take me a few chapters to get into - until we actually meet a mermaid. A lot of it did feel predictable, especially considering the title, but it played well with elements from the original Hans Christian Andersen tale and the Disney movie, and overall I did enjoy myself.

TW: drowning/near drowning

[Patricia Bejarano Martín · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 en realidad.
Muchas veces nos hacemos ideas preconcebidas sobre algunos libros, y yo tenía una idea sobre este y sin duda no me he encontrado lo que esperaba. Muchas veces esto no es malo y nos sorprende, pero en este caso ha conseguido que el libro llegue a decepcionarme un poco, porque tenía muchas expectativas puestas y no ha llegado a estar a la altura. Para nada ha sido una mala lectura, tiene una buena nota, pero sin duda no ha sido la mejor.
La historia nos habla sobre Nik, Evie y Anna. Ellos son tres amigos incondicionales, él un príncipe y ellas, sus mejores amigas. Anna, de una clase social bastante elevada y Evie, una chica del pueblo más que siempre ha desagradado por estar cerca del príncipe. Con 11 años, Anna se ahogó y desde entonces Nik y Evie quedaron muy afectados, ya que sucedió estando con ellos.
Cuatro años después, Nik casi muere ahogado en un incidente en su barco, pero es salvado por una sirena, que pocos días después aparece en la vida de Evie, con un gran parecido a Anna. Evie está convencida de que es Anna, pero la nueva chica lo niega por completo. Pero ambas comparten algo, y es que ambas poseen magia. Evie por ser una bruja (herencia de su familia, y en su pueblo pesquero está totalmente prohibido, por lo que lo mantiene en secreto) y Mette por ser una sirena. Y ella ha venido aquí con un propósito. Ama a Nik y para permanecer en la superficie para siempre, debe recibir un beso de amor verdadero o se convertirá en espuma para siempre. A partir de aquí, Evie hará todo lo posible para salvar a esta chica que tanto le recuerda a Anna. Ya la perdió una vez y no piensa volver a perderla.
El libro tiene un problema muy gordo. Y es que al principio NO PASA NADA. De verdad, durante más de la mitad de la novela los acontecimientos son bastante irrelevantes y no aportan casi nada a la historia que se va a desarrollar más tarde. Y no, no es que empiece lento. De verdad, eso no me importa si al final lo que te está contando es importante para la construcción de personajes, trama o del mundo que nos rodea, pero en este caso lo que pasa, no aporta NADA. Quitando los flashbacks, yo creo que hay muchos agujeros al principio. Cosas que se dan por hecho y que no te explican bien, sobre todo en el sistema de magia y sobre las brujas, algo que es muy importante para la historia. Pensad que la magia es uno de los hilos conductores de la novela, y con estos agujeros, hay cosas que no quedan del todo claras y de las que se aprovecha la autora en su beneficio, por supuesto. Se podría haber profundizado un poco más en esto sin ninguna duda y dejarse de fiestas, vestidos y amoríos que para mí sobraban totalmente.
Pero debo admitir que el último tercio del libro es BRUTAL en todos los sentidos y que a partir de la mitad, todo empieza a cuajar algo más y fue cuando me empezó a gustar de verdad.
Si debo admitir que desde el principio cogí mucho cariño a Evie, nuestra protagonista. Es una chica muy astuta, luchadora, que a pesar de sus circunstancias, es capaz de salir adelante. Sin duda para mí es lo mejor de esta novela. Luego Nik me ha gustado bastante, pero para ser el protagonista, me ha fallado un poco su construcción, me hubiera gustado conocerle un poquito más y ver más desarrollo en su personaje. El personaje de Iker es un personaje con el que no he podido simpatizar en ningún momento y es el principal interés amoroso de Evie, cosa que me sacaba mucho de quicio porque shippeo al máximo a Evie y a Nik xD Y luego tenemos a Annemette, la misteriosa chica que ha aparecido y que tiene sus propios secretos que serán fundamentales para lo que ocurra en la historia.
El final me ha encantado, me ha hecho sufrir, me ha dejado muy buen sabor de boca y me ha parecido muy buen final (a pesar del sufrimiento real que he sentido leyéndolo).
Si os apetece leer un retelling de La Sirenita, recomiendo que le deis una oportunidad. Es un libro con mucho potencial aunque no se haya exprimido como se hubiera podido. Y como en Heartless, Dorothy debe morir o libros de este estilo, es maravillo ver como surge una de las mejores villanas de todos los tiempos: la bruja del mar.
Debo decir que aunque abre la historia para la segunda parte, creo que ha cerrado bien la historia de este libro. Lo digo por si sois de los que os da pereza por si podéis olvidar algo... no creo que tengáis problemas porque la historia de estos personajes queda bastante cerrada.

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audio was so freaking good!

Sea Witch was such a fun audio. I'm actually really happy it was Book of the Month for Challenge Corner. In this book, you will meet a girl named Evie. She has always been drawn to the sea (like Moana or Ariel's daughter from the second Little Mermaid movie). However, after a terrible accident that involved her best friend Anna drowning she has tried to stay away from it. Of course, things don't go smoothly for her throughout the book because there are way too many secrets bubbling up to the surface.

One day Evie meets a mysterious woman down by the shore. She ends up looking just like her beloved best friend Anna. Of course after this I just kept thinking that it was her dead bestie because no one ever found her body. So, did she ever really die? I'm not going to tell you that but this Anna look-a-like and Evie both have secrets that they would like to keep hidden.

Besides all of that mystery, there is a bit of romance in this book. However, I just didn't feel the chemistry between any of them. It was more like friendship love than relationship love in my opinion. The guys in this book felt like they were just there really. I did enjoy getting to know Evie and Anna more though. Their friendship and secrets seemed way more important than anything else in this book.

Overall, it was a pretty interesting book. I definitely got vibes of The Little Mermaid but I also got vibes of To Kill A Kingdom. Just little ones though.

[♛ may · Rating 2 out of 5]

book #2 completed! for the reading rush, under the challenge of: "read a book with a non-human main character"✓


things i didn't love about this book:
- the characters are flat, the playboy prince and the sweet prince have the some personality and are basically interchangeable
- the book didn't ACTUALLY sart until 80%, honestly it felt like the same fact we knew just kept getting reiterated A MILLION TIMES
- the mc is too boring to have everyone in love with her. oh!! there it is, i said it
- i wish we could get a lot more 'in the sea/with the mermaids' scenes bc they were pretty much non-existent
- ENOUGH of the balls and parties omg that felt like the entire book bye


things that were okay about this book:
- mette's character and her ending was probably the most entertaining thing about the book
- the final chapters were a good closure for the main character, i'll give it that
- yeah that's all i can find

a really big, meh from me on this one

[Coos Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yo diría que "La bruja del mar" no es un retelling, ya que todo lo que sucede se enfoca en la conocida bruja del mar "Úrsula" (o así creemos que se llama, gracias a la versión animada de Disney). Aunque en la historia original, la bruja de "La sirenita" no lleva ningún nombre específico, ni tampoco es vista como la bruja más terrible de todas. Este libro sigue esa linea, y me parece de suma importancia recordarlo para que no haya decepciones. Hay que olvidar la preciosa y carismática versión Disney: el drama y la fantasía de Henning proponen otras ideas.

Acá les adjunto mi videoreseña: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1uNj...

[Kristi Housman Confessions of a YA Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw that this was Ursula's story before The Little Mermaid, I knew I had to request it (I also ordered a book box with it).  I love anything with mermaids and The Little Mermaid is a favorite.



This book really surprised me.  I'm not sure what I really expected, but I really liked this one a lot.



Evie is a poor girl with two best friends above her class.  Anna and Nik.  Nik is a prince and really shouldn't be playing with Evie, but his father made an exception because Evie's aunt has healed him multiple times.  Evie and Anna race in the water one day and both start to drown.  Nik goes into the water and saves Evie, but Anna doesn't survive.



Evie is a witch and she tried to cast a spell for Anna.  She had to hide it because magic isn't used.  Witches are killed, so she and her aunt hide their powers.  Evie has a hard time after Anna's death, but she finally starts enjoying life again.  She still hangs out with Nik and is also somewhat in love with his cousin, Iker.  Evie uses her magic for the fisherman's boats so that they have good catches.  But she doesn't have a lot of understanding of her magic.  



While out on a boat celebrating Nik's birthday, there is a storm and Nik goes overboard.  Evie finds him washed up on the shore with a girl singing to him.  She sees Evie and leaves, but not before Evie sees her tail.  Mermaids were supposed to be myths.  Their stories were used to scare children.  None of the tales were positive except that they sometimes helped save men in the sea.  Other than that, they were considered evil.



The girl appears later with legs.  This girl looks exactly like Anna, but says her name is Annemette.  Annemette has powerful magic and admits to Evie that she's a mermaid, but not her lost friend, Anna.  Annemette fell in love with Nik and has four days to get him to love her back.



Throughout the story, we get chapters from the past.  They start with the accident and then the story continues to now.   These are the parts that we learn more about what happened to Anna and also how Annemette came to land.



This story did have the mermaid and magic, but it really focused on friendship, love, and revenge.  I knew things wouldn't have a happy ending, but it didn't stop me from hoping while the story unfolded.  I enjoyed the writing, too.  It was a little slow at times, but I couldn't put it down for the last third of the book.



I gave this one 4  1/2 stars (rounded up to 5).  Thank you to Edelweiss and the publishers for giving me a copy for review.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

An origin story for The Little Mermaid’s villain Ursula? Yes, please! I can’t help but have a special place in my heart for Ursula because that’s what I was almost named. Of course, the famous Disney movie came out in ‘89, and in the classic tale, the sea witch did not have a name. So the urge to name me Ursula was purely a German thing and thankfully it wasn’t my name because in elementary school, kids would’ve had a field day with this. Anyway..the name Ursula isn’t actually present in the story, but it is her origin story.

At times the story feels soooo slow, while at others it’s enchanting. What’s brilliant about the book is the real life Danish history blended into the story. This isn’t something I expected and it even went over my head at first while I was reading. The second I realized what was happening, I had google up and couldn’t stop.

Evie, Nik, and Anna are best friends. Evie is poor, while Nik is prince and Anna is a baron’s daughter. One day while playing by the water, Anna drowns. It’s been four years. Evie is an outcast who still struggles with the loss of Anna. She also is a human witch with magic she doesn’t understand. She still hangs out with Nik and is in love with his cousin Iker. One day, a girl rescues Nik from drowning after he falls off his boat. Evie sees her on the shore with Nik and notices a tail. A few days later, a mysterious girl shows up with a striking resemblance to both the girl Evie saw on the shore the other day…and her friend she lost four years ago, Anna. This girl has legs and is called Annemette. Who is she and why is she here? What secrets is she keeping?

The beginning of the book is very slow. The pace picks up closer to the end. The romance is off-putting for me, but only because of where things went at the end. We’re led to believe one thing that goes a completely different way and it just confuses me? Other than that, it was fine throughout the story. It works in this plot up to a certain point.

This one could’ve been better, but it was a solid origin story for the sea witch. I just wish it hadn’t been so slow at times.

[Sarah Henning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved writing this book and I hope all of you enjoy it as well! I've been blown away by the amount of support this book has received from booksellers (ABA Indies Introduce!) and early readers—I really couldn't ask for more.

That said, I wanted to give a little something back to you darling readers, so please see the space below for preorder prize pack details and a list of my Sea Witch-related events.

XOXO,
Sarah

Preorder:

Everyone who sends an email to seawitchpreorder@gmail.com by end of day July 31st will receive a Sea Witch postcard and signed bookplate. In addition, you’ll be entered to win the grand prize Sea Witch pack, which includes:

1. A signed final copy of Sea Witch
2. Tarte Be a Mermaid Makeup Palette
3. Pearl necklace (a la the one in the book)
4. Octopus ring
5. Set of pencils and journal
6. Sea Witch candle

Check my Instagram (@shhenning) to see each piece up close! (International and book box orders OK)

Good luck!

Events:
Saturday, July 14, 2 p.m.: Debut Authors Panel with Megan Bannen, Gloria Chao & Jessica Pennington at the Sulzer Regional Library, Chicago, Illinois.

Tuesday, July 31, 7 p.m.: Sea Witch Launch Party—in conversation with Renée Ahdieh at The Raven Bookstore, Lawrence, Kansas.

Wednesday, August 1, 6 p.m.: In conversation with Bree Barton and Zoraida Cordova at Books of Wonder, New York.

Friday, August 3, 6:30 p.m.: In conversation with Bree Barton and Kosoko Jackson at East City Bookshop, Washington, D.C.

Saturday, August 4, 3 p.m.: Talk Book to Me Author Panel with Megan Bannen, Adib Khorram, L.L. McKinney and Miranda Asebedo at the Kansas City (Missouri) Public Library, Plaza branch

Monday, August 6, 6 p.m.: Reading and signing event at Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins, Colorado

Thursday, August 16, 6 p.m.: In conversation with Bree Barton at Watermark Books, Wichita, Kansas

Thursday, October 4, 6:30 p.m.: Women of YA Panel with Megan Bannen, Natalie C. Parker, Miranda Asebedo and L.L. McKinney at the Johnson County Public Library, Overland Park, Kansas

Hope to see some of you lovely readers soon!

[••Camila Roy•• · Rating 2 out of 5]

RATING: 2/5

e-ARC provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

DNF-ed at 37% :(

Ever since her best friend, Anna, died, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. Hiding her talents, mourning her loss, drowning in her guilt. Then a girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore, and the two girls catch the eyes of two charming princes. Suddenly, Evie feels like she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.
But her new friend harbors secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, without Evie’s help. But when Evie reaches deep into the power of her magic to save her friend’s humanity—and her prince’s heart—she discovers, too late, what she’s bargained away.

I detest DNF-ing books but sometimes it is the only way to go. I was at risk of entering a reading slump if I continued. The beginning was okay but after the initial impression, time seemed to stop. The pacing was very slow, to the point where I lost interest. After several days of trying to engage with the world and the characters, I realized the book wasn't worth the stress. I didn't care enough to pull through, so I decided to quit.

It seems pointless to try to review only a third part of the book. All I'm going to say is that, even though I didn't enjoy it, others might. The premise sounds promising and, in another time, I would have managed to make it to the end and appreciate the story to the fullest extent.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

First I have to mention that this is the most beautiful and mesmerizing cover ever!!! I really loved this, it was just the right book at just the right time and I couldn't seem to put it down!

Full review can be found on my blog, here.


Blog | Bookstagram | Instagram | Twitter

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning is a young adult fantasy that is loosely based on The Little Mermaid. Being a fan of retellings and new takes on the stories I love this take on the origins of Ursula was right up my alley.

Evie is the daughter of a fisherman but not just any fisherman but the fisherman for the royal family. So while Evie was not upper class herself she had grown up with the royal children and became best friends with Nik, the prince. Nik and Evie had lost another good friend of theirs, Anna to the sea when they were younger.

As Evie, Nik and his cousin are out on a boat celebrating Nik’s birthday a storm hits the group and as they make a run for shore Nik falls overboard. Unable to help her best friend distraught Evie gets the boat to shore and begins the search for Nik where she finds him with a mermaid who looks just like Anna.

While I did enjoy reading Sea Witch and the authors take on Ursula and The Little Mermaid I did think this one had a few issues. The story seem to move rather slowly during the middle of the book with the end feeling a bit rushed after the slower pace. And I also thought this one was a tad predictable for some of the events in the story but overall it was a creative take on these characters that I would rate at 3.5 stars.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed a copy from my local library!

I'm not going to lie, I was left feeling quite disappointed by the end of Sea witch. I absolutely love retellings and The Little Mermaid is something I grew up with as a child. But ultimately, the constant switching back and forth between the past and the present day left me confused and a lack of connection with Evie and Anna as characters. In this novel, the main character Evie is a witch but must hide her true identity, which is tricky since she is friends with Nik, the heir to the throne. In a twist of fate, a mermaid arrives out of the sea and Evie senses that she needs help. But her decision to do so may change everything forever. I struggled to visualize the scenes and characters. As someone who reads, writes and learns visually, this was sadly not a good thing and made my reading less enjoyable. I found the ending to be quite rushed. I read another Ursula reimagine earlier on in the year and loved the writing style. The dialogue I did enjoy with Sea Witch but like a calm sea with no breeze, it fell very flat for me overall.

[Victoria Resco · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐7/10⭐
Me gustó, amé el final, pero siento que le quedó bastante para explotar.