I am struggling to think of where to start my review. I found this book incredibly intriguing, especially since I honestly had no expectations or ideas of what it could be going in. I see "mermaid" and I jump and hope for the best. I am so happy that this book pretty much exceeded all I wanted from it. The story, told through the journal of the main character, David Baptiste, touched on class, race, colonialism, womanhood, female sexuality, oppression, and greed. I read this story as an audiobook, and I am so happy I made that decision because it greatly enhanced my experience and immersion in the story. It took me a little while to get used to the dialect, as I'm unfamiliar with it, but hearing the character tell his story, essentially reading his own journal directly, made the whole story that much more impactful. It felt like I was listening to an account of real events, making it seem like something that could have possibly happened. This story's true tragedy doesn't lie in the fact that David and Aycayia don't end up together despite their love for one another, but it's in the fact that the jealousy and greed of the women who cursed her continued to take from her. The saddest part was watching everything she finally got to experience being taken from her again, dooming her to live by herself for hundreds of years to come. One of my favourite aspects of the book, being written in such a way, is how 'heavy-handed' these themes are. Because we are experiencing the story through the lens of someone's memories, there is no need to sugar-coat or try to expertly weave them into something that needs to be deeply examined to understand. I've come to understand that many people take such 'heavy-handedness' as a sign that the book isn't well-written because it wasn't subtle about its themes and messages, but I think the opposite. Being able to address these topics in such an abrupt way, in a way that makes sense for the story without making it seem lazy, is something I see as being very difficult, and I appreciate the skill it takes to accomplish. Reading the reviews for this book was an interesting experience. I was so confused about why people were calling the writing juvenile because I didn't get that from the story at all. Then I realized that pretty much all of these reviews and comments were coming from 🖐🏻 readers who have probably never engaged with another way of speaking/writing than their own, so imma leave it.

I loved the exploration of history, not only in the preservation of histories that are actively silenced and hidden, but also the character's passion for sharing that history with others. I don't usually read books with big mystery elements, and it turns out all I was missing was romance because I had been hooked from the beginning. The only reason I was struggling to figure out my rating was a result of my preferences and is truly no reflection on the quality of the story. I always forget why I struggle with second chance romances until I read another and it hits me again. I get too emotionally invested in the stories I read, imagining myself in the position of the character. It becomes all too easy for me to truly start feeling those emotions and when the characters aren't reflecting those emotions or actions, I get frustrated. It was largely the beginning of the book that I struggled with the most. When they come together for the first time in three years, I need some sort of true tension, I need to see her feelings of loss, hurt, and betrayal because I am feeling the loss, hurt, and betrayal. It felt like almost immediately they were falling right back into each other with little to no reflection on what had happened between them, and for me to feel it with them, I would have had to have some sort of proper conversation between them (or even a more verbal acknowledgment). It's difficult because logically I understand this is because they never stopped loving each other and all they truly wanted from the beginning was to be together, so it does make sense, but I was too busy feeling betrayed for her to let it go. Despite my early reservations I quickly got over it as I got more invested in the story and the couple as they came together again. I loved learning about the history of the Underground Railroad in such a way. I think it is so easy to forget that learning about these things can be done in fun ways that don't always mean academia, and for those who do love that aspect of learning the author included discussion questions at the end of the book, which were incredibly intriguing to go through and reflect on after finishing the story. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to read and review this book, which I received a copy of through NetGalley.