Review: To Love a Siren

Despite my overflowing TBR list, I couldn't resist signing up for an ARC of To Love a Siren, a retelling of "The Little Mermaid" from Christina Farley's Fairy Tale Hearts series. It took a bit for me to get into this book because of how many layers there are to the story, but it was worth it in the end. Christina Farley has clearly done her homework and created a complex magical world inspired by fairy tales, real-life writers, and fantasy lore. This is not a light read, but a deep and fulfilling one that combines many different elements. It also contains an homage to "The Snow Queen" that is far more accurate than the Disney variant.

The Fairy Tale Hearts series is different from other series of fairy tale retellings because it includes the original writers as the main characters in their own stories. This mixture of history and reality can be a little hard to take in at first because there are so many contrasting layers that must blend together to create a cohesive story. Christina Farley did such a fantastic job of turning Hans Christian Andersen into both the prince from "The Little Mermaid" and Kai from "The Snow Queen" that I had no choice but to commend her efforts by the time I reached the end of the book. It seamlessly blends facts about his real life and acquaintances with a rich fantasy world fraught with danger and new lore.

Hans Christian Andersen is hired by the Enchantress to find people from other worlds (fairy tale characters) and write their story to return them to their own realm. He is blissfully unaware that the Enchantress is actually the sworn enemy of the deadly mermaids, who assist him during a monster attack. As soon as he meets the beautiful and strong-willed Serena, he falls head over fins in love with her and begins to question his allegiance to the Enchantress. Meanwhile, Serena must find a way to save her own world while navigating the irrational actions of her sister, Maren, who seduces a prince who happens to be a long-time companion to Hans.

Although this book is presented as a "Little Mermaid" retelling, it is very different from the original fairy tale. The mermaids have the ability to turn human whenever they desire, so there are no restrictions on visiting the surface world. In fact, turning human and seducing men is something that they are prone to frequently, given their siren powers. Their goal is to protect their undersea realm from the monsters sent by the vengeful Enchantress to prevent them from crossing the border. It's far more action-packed than the romantic tragedy that inspired it, which might be why "The Snow Queen" portion of the book is more accurate to the original fairy tale, given that it is more of an adventure story.

To Love a Siren packs so much action and detail on every page that not a single word is wasted. The imagery of the mermaids transforming and using their powers is stunning and whimsical, while the fast-paced romance takes so many twists and turns that it continued to leave me guessing until the very last page. Speaking of which, the ending of this book was utter perfection, but I won't spoil it. I strongly recommend this book and the Fairy Tale Hearts series to fans of fairy tale history and ABC's Once Upon a Time. You might even learn something new about some of your favorite stories.