Books and Sensibility

We're an Open Book

Book Review : Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova

     7 Comments

  • Release Date: May 1st 2012
  • Pages: 384
  • Genre: Mermaid/Urban Fantasy
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Synopsis: For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave. He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth. His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods. Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

I have to admit when I saw mermaids making a splash (l know, I know ) on the YA book circuit, I was doubtful. I just always kind of felt like Hans Christian Anderson and Disney had already told the best mermaid story there is; young mermaid falls in love with a human and sacrifices everything. 

But, I’ve been proven wrong as many YA authors put their bold, new and modern twists on the mermaid genre.

Debut author, Zoraida Cordova brings out her spin on the tale with The Vicious Deep, the story of Tristan Hart, a 16-year-old Coney Island lifeguard who discovers he is a merman. But Tristan isn’t just any merman–he is the heir to the Sea King, and to rightfully claim his throne Tristan will have to win the championship for the trident, an epic quest for the pieces of the trident against other merman.


Tristan is popular at school and with his friends, which is an unexpected change from the more common outcast, loner YA protagonist. His first-person narrative is filled with snark and a little bit arrogance as he discovers what his past.



Most of the novel relies on the hi-jinks of when sea life and human life combine. And there are more than just mermaids in the novel. As the novel goes along we are introduced to more paranormal elements.


With a  title  like Vicious Deep, a bold cover and jacket copy that says “Don’t let it pull you under” and “He was claimed by the sea and now it wants him back” I expected more of an intense epic journey, but this was really more of a comedy.
The Vicious Deep is a a light read and I’m interested to see what Cordova will do with the sequel, Savage Blue

 

.