Name: Breakwater
Rating: 3 (5 reviews)
ISBN: 9781946693167

Catherine Jones Payne

When seventeen-year-old Jade's fiancé murders a naiad, tensions surge between the mer and the naiads. Jade learns too late that the choices she makes ripple further than she'd ever imagined. And as she fights against the tide of anger, she discovers danger lurking in every canal, imperiling her family and shattering the ocean's fragile peace.

Breakwater

A red tide is rising. Jade, a seventeen-year-old mermaid in the underwater city of Thessalonike, finds her world upended when her fiancé murders a naiad. As tensions surge between the mer and the naiads, Jade must navigate murky waters, negotiating her responsibilities as the daughter of one of the king's most trusted advisors and her budding friendship with a naiad. But as she tries to fight the tide of anger in a city that lives for scandal, she discovers that danger lurks in every canal. If she fails to mend the divisions between their worlds, the upwelling of hate will threaten to rip apart everything she loves.

mevi

2 stars. buddy read

The protagonist was a VERY passive character. She never made anything happen, the story is the one who pushed her through it. She was so annoying and forgetful that I don't even remember her name. The world-building and plot were great with different elements and the rising tension throughout the book but that solely couldn't redeem the book. If we followed Pippa or even Maximus, the story would've been much better. I don't think I will pick up the next one.

Sheila Goicea

Publication date May 30, 2017

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

  
    I was already seen as a naiad-lover.
  

Jade is the daughter of one of the mer-king's closest advisers. Growing up in a life of privilege and opulence, she knows little of struggle and inequality---other than the fact that her father was killed trying to fight it. 

Engaged to Tor, she prepares for her future with him---until she stumbles upon him in the courtyard, holding a dead naiad girl.

Forced to decide whether to believe his story, or turn him in for the crime which he admits to, Jade is thrust into the world of politics, where privilege and blind eyes are everywhere. With her beloved city on the cusp of war, she grapples with the truth of what is really going on in Thessalonike. 

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I think it's worth mentioning: I dare you to stare at the cover for a while. 



I just dare you...

It's beautiful!

On to the review.

How cruel power, prosperity, and position can be. It is cruel enough to evoke racism, slavery, and trafficking.
This story speaks loudly about the injustices of racism and prejudice. In Breakwater, the two races who coexist in Thessalonike are the Mer and Naiads. Mer have resided in Thessalonike for eons, but the Naiads had been taken in as refugees after being forced from their river-homes. 


  Things that I liked


#1 The scandal. Although simple, it was well done---so well done, that it took away from the rest of the story. 

#2 The idioms. Even though they are small, and sometimes quirky, I loved them. A few examples were: "the elephant in the room," replaced by a "blue whale," and as often said inappropriately in our culture today, "thank God" was instead "thank the tide." Sometimes these small changes in a story bring the world-building full circle for me. I did still want to see more description, but this helped.

#3 The cliffhanger was completely unexpected! I'm curious to see where this tail (haha---get it?) will go. 

#4 This book is great at walking in the shoes of others. Even in the smallest of versions. In a scene, Jade is talking to her younger brother, Benjamin, and asks how he is after their family has become central to gossip because of Jade's accusations against Tor. He replies:

  
    "No, I'll be fine. I haven't been through nearly as much as you have."
"Doesn't mean it isn't hard," I said.
  

I'm not certain why this interaction struck me so. Maybe because it shows the influence an event can have on each and every person, not just the people directly involved. I think it did a good job at---even if not capturing fully---glimpsing each party's direct or indirect involvement. 


  Things that I didn't like:


#1 Character names varied so widely in this book. From Maximus to Jade, to...George? I felt like it didn't help the novel to flow together because when I think of a name like Maximus, and then compare it to George---they just don't go well together. It's like a mix of ancient world, the 50's era, and contemporary. This is more of a personal preference, and some people may be entirely fine with the variety. I just didn't care for it. 

#2 The character development was lacking. As stated earlier, the main topic of this story was discussed majority of the time, and I felt that it pulled attention away from getting to know the characters more. We are privy to Jade's inner-workings more than anyone else---but I still felt like she needed more complexity. However, I was glad that her character did develop after the instance with Tor. I felt that she went from a silly, conceded teen to, this-is-real-now-young-adult.

#3 I liked the world-building to the point that it took the reader, but this was another area where I wanted to see more of. I wanted to understand the explore the breakwater further, and to get to know more about the history and cultural differences between the races themselves.

#4 The romance/not-so-love-triangle was "meh" to me. I don't think the story benefited from it much, and made it obsolete for me. 

Overall, it was a good read for the lesson to which it offers. Especially for present times and valid for all peoples being aware of prejudices and inequality and how they effect members of society is imperative. 

Sexual content: Minimal.
Vulgarity: Besides some what I deemed to be derogatory terms in Mer and Naiad tongue, there were none.
Violence: There was some, but it was non-descriptive and didn't bother me. 

3.5 stars. 

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

Paige Green

Rating: 4/5

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 13+ (slight sexual conduct, mer-swearing, and some light violence)

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

A red tide is rising.

As the daughter of one of the mer-king’s trusted advisors, seventeen-year-old Jade has great responsibilities. When her fiancé murders a naiad, plunging the underwater city of Thessalonike into uproar, tensions surge between the mer and the naiads. Jade learns too late that the choices she makes ripple further than she'd ever imagined. And as she fights against the tide of anger in a city that lives for scandal, she discovers danger lurking in every canal, imperiling her family and shattering the ocean's fragile peace.

Can the city's divisions be mended before the upwelling of hate rips apart everything Jade loves? - Amazon.com

Under the sea! Under the sea! Seriously, why can’t I read a book with mermaids in it without thinking about The Little Mermaid? So I went into this book thinking it was going to be a light hearted mermaid book, but I was so wrong. This book is probably on par with Undertow by Michael Buckley. It uses mer people to discuss heavy topics such as racism and prejudice. It also discusses slavery and it shows people that the choices they make effect everyone around them, not just themselves. Honestly, this and Undertow together would make a perfect combination for teaching young readers about how harmful their words and actions and their prejudices can be to others. That being said, this book is way more political than some people like in their books but it really fits in well and doesn’t detract from the story at all. The plot was developed amazingly well and the pacing was phenomenal. The writing is also very well done and funny! The writer commonly inserts phrases like “whale in the room” for “elephant in the room” and it really makes the world building complete.

However, I did feel like the characters fell flat and weren’t developed properly. I felt that there could have been many places where the characters had room to grow or their background to be expanded upon, but it just didn’t happen. I also felt that the book gave room for a sequel, but one hasn’t been spoken of yet. I think the world building could definitely continue into a second book and the story could continue.

Verdict: If you like mermaid tales/political thrillers/books that look at social dilemmas then this book is for you! It’s an amazingly well written look at racism and prejudice through the lens of mermaids and it could teach others about what effect their words and actions have on others.

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

** spoiler alert **
           Breakwater, by Catherine Payne, was a read. It wasn’t horrible, but it was disappointing for those of us who like complicated stories. A good read for those who like short serial reads, this book follows Jade, a mermaid, in a mermaid world, whose fiance kills a human-like naiad, and must be tried for murder.

I had hopes for this story, it started out interesting, and then it wasn’t. At only just over 150 pages, there wasn’t a lot of room for development. It was a decent evening read, just disappointing for me.

I recommend this for those who like short stories or mermaids. Yeah.

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Breakwater

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