Book: Ocean of Secrets
Author: Aimee Friedman
Publisher: scholastic
ISBN: 9781407134598
Rating: B
16-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science ...and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she's happy to spend the summer on small, mysterios Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate. There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship ...and reality
Ocean of Secrets. What Can I say? The book was perfect. We really don't see much mermaid myth and folklore amongst the YA section and this really was a gorgeous read. The intricate tale followed Miranda to Selkie island where she meets a boy on the beach and they fall in love. Of course he's hiding a secret and he is of course a merman. It might sound like not a lot happens and thats no true! It's a good filled novel but it's an incredibly light read and definitely a breath of needed fresh air. In fact what I loved about this was that the novel was shrouded in mystery, with the fact that it was never actually revealed whether Leo is a merman on not.
The plot as a mentioned is very easy going and nothing to heavy whilst still being interesting and captivating and weaving in those tendrils of mythology and folklore that I love so much in a novel of this sort. The story was snappy, fast paced and there was always something happening, however small or large it may be. I also loved the way many subplots were masterfully stitched together like that underlying plot of the folklore book that Miranda finds.
The writing style in this was nice. The descriptions in this were exquisite. The way Friedman builds up visions and images in you minds transports to the place she is describing. I love descriptive books and for me this hit the nail on the head. It was an absolute dream to read and I loved every minute of it. The way she expressed and showed thoughts was done well and the simple narrative somehow managed to show you exactly what was happening but yet still follow the rule of show don't tell.
The characters were built up extremely well. Fair enough there were only two that mattered, literally no one else meant anything in this series. But for these characters you really got an insight into them and their life and what made them who they were and why.
Overall I did like this. At the moment, although the story hasn't lingered, I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending and if there is a sequel I definitely think that Leo's identity should be revealed but overall it was a pleasant read.
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