The Vicious Deep

The Vicious Deep
written by Zoraida Cordova

I haven't read any other mermaid YA novels, although I hear there's a relatively new-ish trend towards the mermaid trope.  After reading this one, I'm really not sure I want to seek out any more mermaid books.  I tried to be open-minded and read the whole book, but really, though, this was not a good book for me.  Just in terms of the writing style, basic sentence variation goes a long way to counter awkward writing.  It's something I personally struggle with, but then, I'm not looking to be a published writer either.  Beyond that though, the story itself...Tristan is the obnoxious popular kid you can't stand at school.  He's full of himself, you can't relate to him, despite his role as the main character, he's shallow, sexist, unlikable...the list of adjectives goes on.  He's a caricature of hotheaded teenage arrogance. Guys, the sentence "I'm not rippling with the muscles of the other bros, but I've got a pretty hot body" exists within these pages.  Honestly?  My favorite characters in this book were Tristan's parents.  That's probably not a great sign for a young adult novel.  People spend so much time and energy ripping apart novels like Twilight, and the criticisms are often merited, but I'd really like to hand those same people this book and see where that goes.  So on top of awkward writing and two-dimensional characters, the plot is convoluted, and I just could not bring myself to care.  If anyone has any good YA mermaid book recs, sure, I'd love to check them out with an open mind, but this was not a book for me.