Greetings oceanic enthusiasts,

I hope your week is starting off swimmingly. With a lot of events to look forward to in the upcoming month (including a birthday) I’ve been in a pretty good mood lately. You know what else makes me feel happy? Reading!

I decided to do another quick read before I delve back into The Vampires of Crimson Cove series, and this time I picked Salt Water by Eugenia Traintafyllou.

Fun fact, this is a TOR Freebie. Yay for free books! To get your free copy, simply navigate the TOR link below.

I honestly didn’t know anything about this author, but I love discovering new talent so I gave it a go. How’d I enjoy it? Keep on reading to find out!

Blurb

While all her friends’ fish are changing into mermaids, is 12-year-old Anissa’s fish becoming something else?

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

TOR (Free Copy)

GoodReads

Amazon

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I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

What a fun otherworldly coming of age story!

I’m not familiar with this author, but I’m glad I gave this short story a try. It centers on a young humanoid girl named Anissa on a planet where fish are matured in youths’ bellies. Anissa is dying to have her fish mature into mermaids just like all of her friends, but when things don’t seem to go in that direction she takes measures to get the answers she needs, embarking on a quest of self discovery and acceptance.

First things first, I loved the bizarre premise of this short story. This had fantasy written all over it and I loved this strange world and its customs. The process of maturating a fish from one’s belly was a new concept, but there was community built around it that helped normalize the behavior.

Anissa was a fun character to follow around, and she’s dealing with what a lot of Earth youth deal with, specifically wanting to fit in. There’s a lot of growth for her in a short time, but it was believable given the actions she took to get answers and I thought she was admirable.

If I had to poke at something, I’d say the writing style was hard to get into at first, especially the lists, but this story’s got a lot of heart that I think any young reader or adult can appreciate. If you’ve got a little bit of time, give it a try! I think you’ll really like it.

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this short story review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this story? Are there other short stories you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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