Review:
Another great story about a lovable merfolk family living on the surface, this time with a gripping mystery!
This second book in the series nicely continued the thread about merfolk living on the surface having been discovered—talks with the UN in progress, the military/government following them, the public being curious and arguing over whether they should have rights, the press trying to figure out the truth, etc. The author once again did a great job balancing all the difference perspectives and POVs and how characters sometimes did make the wrong conclusions or assumptions, but in ways that made complete sense since many of them were only working with a small piece of the whole. But this one also had its own plot about someone hunting down and killing merfolk. The mystery was gripping and made me want to keep reading to find out what was really going on, especially as the story got closer to the end.
Since these books are set on the surface, there wasn’t a ton of mer-ness in this one (there’s more in the other books), but there was more use of the merfolk telepathy this time. They had some interesting powers and could do some complicated things through their mental connections to each other, and that was cool to read about.
The cast of characters was also great, once again. Everyone felt real and unique, and that’s saying something considering how many characters there are. It also seemed like there were fewer POVs this time, or maybe I was just used to it since I was already familiar with most of the characters and really liked all the POVs since they all felt different.
Last but not least, the Brooks family is such a nice family to read about. There were some really sweet family moments and touching emotions among the family members. And there was still no romance! These books haven’t needed romance so far, and I’m glad the author hasn’t forced it in.
I’m really enjoying this series with its lovable, three-dimensional characters and its unique take on merfolk living among humans!
Recommended For:
Fans of Book 1 in M.N. Arzu's Under series. Anyone who likes merfolk, realistic characters, adorable family, and a different kind of mer story.
More Books in the Series:
Book Review: Underneath (Under Book 1) by M.N. Arzu
Book Review + Giveaway: Undercurrent (Under Book 2) by M.N. Arzu
Oh yay! I put Underneath on my wishlist when I read your review before. I would so love to win a copy in this giveaway 🙂
I’m so glad you want to read it, I’m loving the series so far! Good luck!
Entering into this giveaway, nice blog.
Thanks, good luck!
Oh my gosh why aren’t I reading this? Merfolk! I love that term “mer-ness” by the way. Right? And merfolk telepathy, plus someone killing mers. This sounds really good!
I don’t think I’ve read any merfolk books either with them on the surface for the most part trying to fit in.
Idk, why aren’t you?! Lol. Adding -ness to words is just the best way to describe things sometimes, haha. This is a great series though, it’s really cool seeing the whole merfolk-human relations thing.
Woohooo! Can’t wait for book 3!
All the books are great, I can’t wait for more!
I love the idea of following merfolk as they live among humans. This sounds like a fun and pretty unique series. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. 🙂
It is a really interesting idea, and the author is doing a great job with it! Thanks 🙂
Oh a series about merfolk! After I read To Kill a Kingdom and the Mermaid I realize I not only like them but love them! I’m not sure about this one because you say there isn’t tonsa mer-ness but I’m very intrigued about the rights discussion! And I’m a sucker for good family dynamics 🙂 so I think this series will be feed it to the TBR beast 🙂
Merfolk are great! The stuff about them being discovered and having rights and all that is super interesting and such a cool, important part of the series.
I have only read two merfolk books and both of them stuck to the underwater life so it would be different for me to read about them living on the surface. I feel like the hunting and killing would just be realistic for us humans which is a shame but it is what it is. I am glad you were able to enjoy this sequel and returning to the characters and their situation in the book!
It’s really cool reading about the ramifications of them on the surface!
This series does sound interesting with all the different perspectives and it sounds like it gives a realistic picture of what would happen if merfolk were real. The mystery sounds like a great addition. I like it when a mystery makes you curious and want to keep reading. I remember a mermaid series I read where they also had a form of telepathy to communicate, I thought it was a clever way to explain how they could communicate under water. Good to hear that plays a role in this book, even tough it also sounds a bit sad there wasn’t as much mer-ness in this book with the focus being on the surface.
It does feel like such a realistic take on what would happen with humans, and I love it. Telepathy communication can be really cool and does make sense for merfolk living underwater!