Sarah Henning

Wicked meets The Little Mermaid in the captivating origin story of the sea's most iconic villainess, perfect for fans of Heartless and Dorothy Must Die. Ever since her best friend Anna died, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. Hiding her talents, mourning her loss, drowning in her guilt. Then a girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears on the shore, and the two girls catch the eyes of two charming princes. Suddenly Evie feels like she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after. But magic isn’t kind, and her new friend harbors secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad—or on two legs—without Evie’s help. And when Evie reaches deep into the power of her magic to save her friend’s humanity—and her prince’s heart—she discovers, too late, what she’s bargained away.

Sea Witch

Christina

"My heart has been yours, Evie - always. Since Anna's death. Since sandcastles and stick princesses."

"Evie, you don't understand. My heart is not mine to give. "

Ashley Wendt

3.5 there were times I found my mind wandering during the audiobook. It was a really interesting tale and I loved all the Scandinavian Mythology and language.

Elisa Bieg

Most of this was a fun, light read.

The world building, though somewhat summarily executed, did fit — but I felt like the author only scratched the surface of its potential, and perhaps lacked the skill to bring it to life as vividly and in detail as she might have.

The characterization was... ok. They are all distinct, but they lack subtlety and are crafted with such a heavy hand that their roles are defined right at the beginning, leaving them mostly one-dimensional and simply fulfilling a clearly scripted role throughout the story. The villain is the only one who has a few surprises in store.

Despite that, there was a certain balance in the characters, and that was what pulled me in, and what kept the story moving.

Flashbacks in varying POVs are used to reveal how things developed leading to any point in the narrative, and to try to show the characters’ motivations. These flashbacks are useful to the story, but a bit dry.

Nevertheless, it all moves at a decent pace, until the last 1/4 of the book, when the author gets perhaps too ambitious and tries to pull off a shocking ending and turn this into an origins story, all at once. And that’s when what had been a charming retelling turns into something that just doesn’t have the structure to support its efforts, and it crashes.
This last section of the book is when my rating moved from 3 1/2 to 2 1/2 STARS, and it became not just something I wasn’t interested in keeping or continuing, but something I wouldn’t particularly recommend, either.

I don’t say this often, but I am very glad that I resisted the pretty cover and ended up buying this as a Kindle deal for $1.99, because it really would have bothered me to have paid full price for it.

Alas, this book is a good example of why I don’t often reach for retellings — hints of a favorite tale hook you in, but often it ends up being a let-down. That’s the price of trying to travel on the back of a beloved story: you have a built-in audience and fandom, but you have big shoes to fill 😬

Nicole Dykeman

This isn’t QUITE a 4...more like a 3.75. I just don’t think I’ll look back several months from now and remember all that much, and it was a little predictable. Evie was a great narrator, and I honestly love the way she valued her friendship with Anna over everything else. It was a refreshing change from YA mcs who put romantic love first. Though Nick was a precious bean and I spent the whole audiobook wishing I could slap Evie for not realizing he’s in love with her. 

Overall, though, this is one of the better villain origin stories that I’ve read. I don’t think I’ll pick up the sequel though.

Steph L 

A fantastic retelling 

This book was just fabulous. I have always loved The Little Mermaid, and I wanted to know what would happen if the Sea Witch was human. What I got was a with fantastic characters I loved reading about. The plot was interesting because it was sort of a verse The Little Mermaid. The writing was excellent as it needed to be to tell a tale this epic. The romance was sweet, and I wanted more. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone.

Zara Doulton

Krystal 

The fairy tale you thought you knew... The story of the Sea Witch, the villainess from Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale The Little Mermaid, told from the viewpoint of the Sea Witch when she was a twelve-year-old girl...

Joyce Linneweever

This was a struggle to get trough from time to time, i think the first 100 pages or so i was trying to figure out if i should just put it away, but after those pages and their struggle and the slow beginning the story finally grabbed me. Especially the last couple of chapters where a whirlwind of emotions troughout all the different povs and this book is absolutely not one with the beautiful happy ending everyone hopes for, saying that ursula is born. 

Alexa Jade

Katerina 

I finished this book in under 24 hours, impressive when the last time I picked up a book it put me into a nearly year long slump. 

I loved this book though, the pacing was phenomenal, and the drama was just right. The only reason it is recieving 4 stars instead of five is because the jumps fo another perspective jarred me a little, and made the story flow not quite as smoothly. I often found myself skimming those chapters instead of properly reading them; however i still loved this book and highly recommend anyone who has an interest in mermaids, sirens, or The Little Mermaid give this book a try! Picking the second book up right now!

The fairy tale you thought you knew... The story of the Sea Witch, the villainess from Hans Christian Anderson's classic tale The Little Mermaid, told from the viewpoint of the Sea Witch when she was a twelve-year-old girl... Evie has been wracked with guilt ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned. So when a girl appears on shore with an uncanny resemblance to Anna, Evie befriends her in an effort to make amends. And as the two girls catch the eyes - and hearts - of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at happy ever after. But is Evie's new friend really who she says she is? A gripping story of friendship, betrayal and the power of hope...

always, annej 〄

I laughed, I cried, I was swept to the ocean. I fell in love and then broken my heart. 

Before the Little Mermaid, the Sea Witch had lived a long crestfallen life. But before she turned wicked, what was her life like?

This book is a story of friendship bonded by childhood. Written in a series of flashbacks in between the present time. The author told the story in an uncomplicated manner. The plot was good for a fantasy book. Just like the others, it is full of surprises. The setting happened on an island where festivities are always celebrated. Those who'll read it will surely be engulfed under the sea and into the kingdom of celebrations. 

The romance has a little twist that I love. Though I can't hide my sympathy for them all. Sea Witch carved a deep scar in my heart. Wherein, I don't know if it will be mended until I read the second installment - Sea Witch Rising. 

The characters turned out who I'd expected them to be. As they say, everyone has a different story. I love that there's a whole backdraft to the story of the Cruel Sea Witch. 

I applaud the author for a dark fantasy book that will surely capture the hearts of many. By capture, what I meant was, be careful what and who you give your heart to. You might not get it back altogether.

Maryam Ahmadi

It is a nice book. I really liked this twist of little mermaid

Candyce Kirk

I was really looking forward to this retelling, but it just didn't wow me. It was entertaining, but not what I was expecting. Full review to come soon on thebookdutchesses.com

I finished this book in under 24 hours, impressive when the last time I picked up a book it put me into a nearly year long slump. 

I loved this book though, the pacing was phenomenal, and the drama was just right. The only reason it is recieving 4.5 stars instead of five is because the jumps to another perspective jarred me a little, and made the story flow not quite as smoothly. I often found myself skimming those chapters instead of  properly reading them; however I still loved this book and highly recommend anyone who has an interest in mermaids, sirens, or The Little Mermaid give this book a try! Picking the second book up right now!

Sara 

This book told a sad but beautiful story and I am here for it.
If you see the cover you may have some expectations from this book, but you must go in with zero expectations and you are not going to be disappointed.
Sometimes the story became boring or flat to me, but it was still beautiful.
I don't know why, but I got so many times distracted while reading this book. I think that is my fault but yeah.
I knew from the beginning that the ending isn't gonna be pretty, it is obvious because you know about who the story is. But still I got tears (which I don't have normally) at the end. The relationship of the two people was so good described and the story took you in it so you felt the strong bond.
I loved this book and it had something unique in it, something different.

Megan Lapides

This was a super interesting back story for the Sea Witch/Ursula. I really liked the main character, Evie. She was a really well rounded character and a good person. I did not like her love interesest, though. At all. He was a butthead and I hated him and I didn't understand why Evie liked him. Overall, I liked this book, but I just don't think it's going to stick with me.

danielle bush

For most of this book I just kind of drifted through.. i didn't really care about the characters ot what happened.. but from about chapter 29 to the end everything really picked up and I was sucked in.. i do think I want to read the sequel when its released to see where it goes. But I'll probably get it from the library.

Averi Hobbs

** spoiler alert **
           "Before she took the mermaid's voice, she gave up her own heart." 

Right, so let me start off by saying that I LOVE The Little Mermaid, that was my favorite movie as a child and I still adore it. So when I saw this book in the Barnes and Noble I was so excited to have an Ursula origin story, as I've loved retellings and villain origin stories in the past. 

BUT, I didn't really love this, and I didn't have super high expectations either. Was I excited? Yes. Did I think it would be a 5 star read? No, but I figured I'd give it a try and hope for the best...and I found myself trudging through it. 

As far as plot goes, it wasn't super developed. I found myself getting bored of hearing the same things over and over again: Magic is forbidden, Evie is a witch, Annamette is a mermaid, Nik and Evie are ONLY friends and Iker and Evie could never be because of his status as a Prince and she not being nobility and the death of their friend Anna four years before. I get that this information is important but I felt it became very repetitive for the majority of this book. The ending was okay, but it left me unsatisfied, and not in the normal this is the first book and there's another releasing this year kind of way. 

The characters felt very one dimensional to me, I didn't really feel connected to any of them, save Nik and he's a background character for the most part. And the entire book we are told that he and Evie are JUST FRIENDS and they are both pursuing other love interests save the last ten pages where it's revealed that they actually have loved each other romantically the ENTIRE TIME and it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME! And they admitted it at the absolute last second, out of nowhere and then that's it. There's no follow up, it just ends with Nik being a good kind, marrying someone else and having kids while Evie is secluded in this cove thing and then BAM Nik's grandson is mentioned and the classic Little Mermaid story begins and it felt so disjointed to me and I just really wanted to love it. I wish I had but unfortunately it just didn't do it for me.

** spoiler alert **
           I was about halfway through and had thought up a few scenarios, but boy was I wrong! The more the story progressed I was kinda able to figure out the end but there was just so much to this book.

The one thing I felt could have been done better was the whole love triangle thing. I mean I’m pretty sure everyone saw the whole “I’m in love with my best friend” storyline from a mile away and it felt dragged out. 

Otherwise the characters were pretty developed, The name Annemette is an amazing name, I love saying it haha. Anyways, I was slightly confused by the whole Iker storyline ending, like how he betrayed her instantly. Did he or did he not know the name of the girl on the scroll? I think it’s yes but am still unclear. 

It was definitely a backstory for the Hans Christian Anderson tale more than the Disney I’m used to but I wasn’t disappointed.

Although it seems the Sea Witch was a lot more evil than in this tale. It makes sense but at the same time doesn’t as to why she would put another mermaid through the same thing she had to go through and witness.

laura

*I got this book for review for my honest thoughts*

I was immediately captured by this novel. It starts off as pretty simple story but it the way this story unfolds is really so well crafted. I loved the duel time lines of the story we get exposed to and the hints and nods to both the fairy tale the little mermaid and all the characters we meet in that story. I loved the lead Evie and found her path in this story to be so compelling. I thought the world building magic system had me so engaged. I really flew through this book and it makes such a prefect summer read. I would love to read more fairy tale retelling from this author in the future!

Paulina R.

** spoiler alert **
           The story left me feeling a bit sad, I had hoped til the end that Annemette would change her mind. On top of that it felt like Evie had deserved a better life than she got in the end. But from a stories' perspective it was really well done, and it was really interesting to get to know (one version of) the story before the little mermaids' story. I would definitely recommend :)

Kristen

3.5 stars

For a Little Mermaid retelling featuring Ursula's backstory, I expected something darker. And more interesting. I honestly found this pretty slow, and I think it could've been done better if Evelyn had actually undergone a real transformation to the villain we all know Ursula to be. As it was, I was left thinking "That's IT?" 

However, it did some things well. The last 15% of the book, before the epilogue, was the fun adventure I signed up for -- and the first time in a book titled Sea Witch that the characters were ACTUALLY in the sea in the present time. The last three hours of the audiobook seemed to fly past, when up until that point the story kind of dragged. 

I also think the author developed the relationships well. I didn't feel like some of the situations were unrealistic, even though they were kind of out there, because of how well developed the relationships were. That's very hard to do, and I applaud the author here.

Also, it was beautifully written. The flowing imagery and pretty sentences created a beautiful atmosphere for the story. Everything fit. And as far as I can tell, it's historically and geographically accurate, as well, which is pretty awesome, too. 

There are reasons to love this story, and I actually did like it. The last chunk made up for the slow first half. It just wasn't the dark adventure I had been expecting when I started the book.

Moon Child

im Starting to love retelings more than i though i would its probably my 2º one well 3º is you count a court of thorns and roses

Heather Harrington

Evie has never fit in with the rest of her small fishing village. After the drowning of her best friend, Anna, the townspeople made sure to keep a wide berth whenever Evie was around. This is fine by Evie, especially since she has a secret that could kill her if it ever got out: Evie is a witch. Despite her powers, she wasn't able to save Anna, and that guilt has stayed with Evie for years. So, when a mysterious girl who smells of the sea comes to town, and who bears a striking resemblance to her long dead friend, Evie is more than willing to help her with whatever she needs. Soon, Evie discovers this girl has powers of her own and if she hopes to stay on two legs, she must win the heart of the handsome prince. But Evie learns too late that not all magic is kind, and she must dig deep into the well of her own powers if she hopes to save everything she loves.

I've always loved The Little Mermaid, so I was intrigued to see this take on it, especially when I found out it wasn't from the traditional perspective of the mermaid. I really liked seeing the events unfold from Evie's point of view, and learn how she ultimately became the sea witch we're all familiar with from the story books. There's so many elements of friendship and betrayal that were all done very well, even though the characters themselves could've been developed a bit more. The plot twist was satisfying. I will say that I did want a little more magic throughout instead of just at the end. Other than that, this was an enjoyable and quick read, and I'd recommend if you're into retellings.

Kat Kooiman

The premise of the story was interesting. It did hold my interest, but it was fairly predictable. Solid 3 stars.

Sea Witch

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