Publishers Weekly
Seventeen-year-old Lily is not like the other girls at her high school--indistinguishable from humans in her two-legged form, she’s secretly a half-human, half-mermaid princess from the undersea kingdom of Thalassina. Lily has been obsessed with swimming star Brody for three years, and the time has come to tell him how she feels, reveal her secret, and take him to live with her under the sea as her bonded mermate. Unfortunately, a surprise kiss from her next-door nemesis, Quince, bonds them together instead. There’s only one way out: take Quince to Thalassinia and beg her father to break the attachment before it becomes permanent. But Quince secretly loves Lily and has one week to convince Lily not to let him go. Childs’s (Goddess Boot Camp) effervescent storytelling conveys the delicate tension of first love, and her characters are sympathetic and charming; Lily’s frequent aquatic exclamations (“Speak of the devilfish”) are indicative of the book’s brand of humor. This sweet mix of magic, romance, and teen drama will leave readers satisfied, even as they hope Quince and Lily’s story will continue. Ages 12-up. (June)
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
you can’t ask for a much more perfect beach read
Alyson Noël
Tera Lynn Childs has created an enchanting world of romance, magic and endearing characters you can’t help but root for. FORGIVE MY FINS had me hooked from page one, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in its sequel! I simply adored this book!
ALA Booklist
Full of fishy expressions, mermaid lore, and breathless underwater kisses, this lighter-than-air read will charm teens and tween girls who prefer their supernatural romances to be more Meg Cabot than Stephenie Meyer.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"you can’t ask for a much more perfect beach read"
Alyson Noel
"Tera Lynn Childs has created an enchanting world of romance, magic and endearing characters you can’t help but root for. FORGIVE MY FINS had me hooked from page one, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in its sequel! I simply adored this book!"
The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books
you can’t ask for a much more perfect beach read
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
you can’t ask for a much more perfect beach read
Jessica Long
Being a teenage girl is tough, especially when there is a boy you can't live without. Lily Sanderson has been trying to catch the attention of the god-like Brody Bennett for the past three years. She has been waiting to tell him a secret that must be kept quiet. She is half human, half-mermaid. Not just any mermaid, that is, but the princess of a kingdom called Thalassinia. When Lily found out her mom was human, she decided to see how she fit in on land. After her love at first sight encounter with Brody, she knows he is the one she wants to join her when she rules Thalassinia. Her plan to kiss Brody goes all wrong with a case of mistaken identity. Lily must figure out how to break the bond she made by kissing her sworn enemy—Quince Fletcher. Will her true love be who she thinks? Reviewer: Jessica Long
VOYA - Rebecca Moore
Lily has loved Brody for three years, and is determined finally to do something about it—if only Quince, her annoying Brad Pitt-look-a-like neighbor, will stop interfering. The last straw is when Lily plans to meet Brody one night, but Quince shows up. Unfortunately, Lily does not discover this until she and Quince have shared a soul-searing kiss...and activated a magical bond because, although Lily looks human, she is a mermaid, and mermaids bond for life. Now the pair must swim to Lily's undersea kingdom, Thalassinia, so her father (the king) can perform a separation. Strangely, though,she is reluctant to dissolve the bond—-as is Quince. As Quince and Lily bicker their way through Thalassinia, high school, and the archaic trials Lily's father requires, will Lily finally see what everyone else does? This squeaky-clean romance is Hannah Montana- meets-The Little Mermaid-meets -Sweet Valley High—with decidedly mixed results. Its overabundance of cheesy sea references ("He scared the carp out of me") and even cheesier ocean-equivalencies ("finkinis") would better fit a book for younger readers. Characters and motivations are about as deep as a tide pool, convenient mermaid powers and restrictions abound, and the ending is blindingly obvious from page one. Thalassinia, although beautifully described, is a sanitized idyll straight out of Disney. Nevertheless, young girls who love princesses, mermaids, and fluffy romances will drink it up. Reviewer: Rebecca Moore
VOYA - Serena Liu
Childs presents well-worn and potentially cliched themes—hidden royal identities, life-bonds, and falling for the boy next door—with refreshing humor and originality. Light and engaging, the novel reads easily, marred only occasionally by implausible, contrived situations, such as the resolution to Lily's obsessive crush on Brody. Loose ends are tied a bit too neatly, but, overall, the story makes for a diverting, fun read and will likely appeal to its young adult audience. Reviewer: Serena Liu, Teen Reviewer
Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross
Take one part "Little Mermaid," and combine it with an equal helping of "The Princess Diaries," and mix it with some groan-worthy undersea puns, and the result is the story of Lily Sanderson. The book works perfectly on an entertaining level. Lily has taken a leave from her mer-princess duties to live on the land as her mother did. The caveat is that she must meet her intended "mermate" by her eighteenth birthday and ascend to the throne of Thalassia. Lily fixates on the high school hunk, Brody, a swimming ace who seems to have all the makings of an underwater consort: good looks, oozing confidence, colossal ego, and comfort in the water—think Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast" and add water. Lily's next-door neighbor, Quince, warns her about Brody's shallowness, but her obsession goes beyond common sense. Meanwhile, Quince, a motorcycle-maintaining landlubber, has his own plans to make Lily see that his feelings for her are as deep as the sea. A simple first kiss binds the two in a mer-betrothal that Lily is determined to dissolve, only to discover, too late, that the emotions she feels for Quince are the opposite of hate. This book is certainly a bit of sea foam, but it is an enjoyable read with enough romance for a Lifetime movie. Meanwhile, the epilogue makes clear that a sequel will follow, and once teen girls find this sweet and unsalty romance, there will be plenty of requests for more of the same. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross
School Library Journal
Gr 6–10—Lily, 17, is a mermaid princess living on land and attending a high school where no one knows her real identity. She needs to find a mate before she turns 18 in order to inherit the throne. Her big crush on Brody is going nowhere until her obnoxious neighbor, Quince, intervenes. A surprise kiss from the wrong boy leads to a tidal wave of unexpected consequences. In this lighthearted and mostly enjoyable novel, Childs stretches the relationship drama out perhaps a little too long for impatient readers, but the end result is sweet and satisfying. The ending hints of more mermaid tales to come.—Kathy Kirchoefer, Prince Georges County Memorial Library System, New Carrollton, MD
Kirkus Reviews
Imaginative sea-mythology elements help perk up the formulaic boy-crazy plot in Childs's bubbly novel. At 17, Thalassinian mermaid Lily has been landlubbing for the last three years at Seaview High School on the Florida coast in an effort to feel more connected to her mother, a "terraped," who died shortly after Lily's birth. Now in line for succession to her father's underwater throne on Thalassinia, Lily first has to "bond" with a life mate before her imminent 18th birthday, yet her unwavering choice, swim-team star Brody Bennett, doesn't notice her. However, Lily's annoying, motorcycle-riding next-door neighbor, Quince Fletcher (who can't even swim), adores her quirkiness, and the novel becomes a rather predicable exercise in convincing the stubborn heroine who's best for her. Quince indulges in some troubling importunate antics (restraining Lily in the bathroom, waylaying her for a forceful kiss in the library), and Lily is drawn as a vacillating, stomping-around character in transition. Still, details delineating the kingdom of Thalassinia and Lily's ability to move gracefully between sea and land are nicely inventive and well worth a plunge. (Fantasy/chick-lit. 12 & up)
