Sea Change
Susan Fletcher
An original and timely new YA novel from acclaimed author Susan Fletcher, set in a near-future where rogue gene editing has changed humanity—loosely based on The Little MermaidA girl torn between two worlds . . . Turtle is scavenging a drowned town when she saves a stranger’s life. There’s something special about Kai—an attraction she’s never felt before. She would do anything to see him again. But Turtle can never truly be with Kai, because Kai is Normal, and Turtle is one of the Mer, kids whose genes were illegally hacked before birth and who now have working gills as well as lungs. Turtle lives on an old cruise ship with the other Mer in order to be close to the water she needs to survive. Yet she sneaks away and lies to her friends to spend more time on land with Kai. And the pull of the shore grows even stronger when Turtle reconnects with her sisters and learns that her father, who has been in prison for having her genes modified, has escaped and may be hiding out nearby. When scientists come up with a way for the Mer to surrender their gills and live as Normals, Turtle faces a terrible choice. Turtle loves her life with her Mer friends, but she desperately misses her family. And then there’s Kai . . . Should she give up her Mer community and their way of life, along with the joy of living freely under the sea? Or give up the guy she’s falling for . . . and any hope of reconnecting with her family?
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Thank you to Books Forward for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! Sea Change is a story loosely inspired by The Little Mermaid, where gene modification has separated people into 2 camps: those who are modified and those who aren't. The main character, Turtle, belongs to a small group of people who were illegally modified to have higher lung capacity which resulted in them having gills and being named Mer. The book tackles discrimination and prejudice, young love, and a wanting to belong in numerous ways. I think the book did a great job at describing and portraying these themes, especially young love. I found that the writing of the book was really fun and it definitely sucked me in. I would tell myself "one more chapter" or be eager and excited to pick up where I left off. And in a good way, I wish parts of the story were expanded on. The only downside to me was that I felt that many of the characters felt empty, like a lack of substance. I don't know if this was due to the length of the book, writing, or just limited interactions with characters i thought would be important. This didn't effect my enjoyment of the book too much though, as the concept and storyline was really interesting to me.
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