Between the Sea and Sky, by Jaclyn Dolamore
Between the Sea and Sky, by Jaclyn Dolamore
This is the first mermaid story I've read since... er... Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, I think. For whatever reason, I'm generally not attracted to mermaid stories. Maybe because I can't get past the idea that mermaids are capable of exploring waaaay more of the world than we land-dwellers are, yet they're so often depicted as Longing To Be Free.
I mean, they're also often depicted as having pretty rigid, insular societies, so I know that that's part of the Wanting To Be Free thing—I understand the desire to go somewhere/see something that would usually be closed off to you, and to witness/experience/participate in another culture—part of my frustration with mermaids lies in the fact that I'm fascinated by the ocean, and as I'm not James Cameron, I don't really have the means to explore it. So, yeah. Someday, I'd like to see the mermaid version of Indiana Jones.
None of that really has anything to do with my feelings about Between the Sea and the Sky. Yes, the main character is curious about the land-dwellers and their world, but she doesn't leave the water because of a romantic lurrrve: she leaves the water looking for her sister. (Who, yes, left the water for romantic lurrrve.) Anyway, even though none of that stuff really figures in here, I figured that I should mention my bias.
Just as Esmerine is finally old enough to join her sister Dosia and the other sirens—they use their magic song to wreck ships if humans get out of line and treat the sea badly—impetuous Dosia takes off with a human. Knowing that it's quite possible that Dosia's being held against her will—if a siren gives (or loses) her magic belt to a human, she's stuck in that form—Esmerine heads to the mainland to find her.
Every step is like walking on the edge of a knife—the pain will only end if she gives up her belt—and the human world is confusing and strange... but Esmerine is determined, and the longer she stays, the more fascinated she is with this new world. It helps, of course, that's she's finally reconnected with the bookish winged boy (now a bookish winged man) that she knew as a child...
Considering my Mermaid Issues, I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to. Dolamore touches on some things that hadn't occurred to me—the lack of books underwater, as well as the less-varied diet—as well as giving nods to Andersen and to the selkie legend. Although I never really connected with the characters emotionally—which easily could have been My Own Problem—I enjoyed some of the details of the world building: the differences between the cultures of the merfolk and the winged people and the humans, and the idea of the winged peoples' Floating City.
The resolution, I felt, was a little sudden/weak, although it did avoid one of my other Mermaid Peeves: Esmerine doesn't just swan off into the sunset with her dude, leaving her family behind with very little thought and/or struggle*. Although the chain of events that led to the [SPOILER] ultimate mega best-of-both-worlds happy ending compromise (for Esmerine, not so much for Alan) [/SPOILER] was a bit much for me to swallow, I doubt that'll be an issue for many of the readers in the target audience.
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*[SPOILER] Her sister, however, does. [/SPOILER]