Review: Seaspoken
For the final day of 2023, let's review one more mermaid book before branching out to other fairy tales in the New Year. Seaspoken by Sarah Delena White was part of a previous holiday promotion. I was drawn to the title and beautiful cover illustration of two elves swathed in white embracing in front of a stormy sea. Since Fierce Heart by Tara Grayce had a charming interracial elven love story, I hoped this one might be similar. As an added bonus, the female protagonist in Seaspoken comes from a race that can transform into mermaids while underwater, so what's not to love? The book introduces a strong Romeo and Juliet-style relationship between two warring races , but it lacks the stakes or compelling emotional core of many other similar stories. Seaspoken includes many traditional princess tropes including arranged marriages , forbidden love , and magical transformations . It contains elements of "The Little Mermaid," including an underwater rescue sequence