The Savage Blue by Zoraida Cordova

Title: The Savage Blue (The Vicious Deep #2)

Author: Zoraida Cordova

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 7, 2013

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

A storm is coming…

The ocean is a vicious place. Deeper and darker than Tristan could have imagined. Beneath its calm blue surface, an ancient battle is churning--and no one is safe.

In the quest for the Sea Throne, Tristan has already watched one good friend die. Now he must lead the rest on a dangerous voyage in search of the trident that will make him king. But while Tristan chases his destiny, the dark focus racing against him are getting strong, and the sea witch of his nightmares is getting closer.

Battling sea drains and savage creatures of the deep, Tristan needs his friends' support. But they each have their secrets, and a betrayal will force Tristan to choose between his crown and his best friend Layla--the only girl he's ever loved.

When it comes to mermaid stories I am always game. Often, all I actually need to know is that mermaids are involved for me to pick up those books. And that's how last year I found myself reading Zoraida Cordova's debut, The Vicious Deep. And though it wasn't a story I loved, it was one I enjoyed enough to pick up the sequel, The Savage Blue. And I am happy to report that I enjoyed that one even more.

Now that Tristan knows the truth about who he really is, he has to find a way to make his family proud by beating the other champions and taking his grandfather's place as king of the sea. But this whole champion thing might be a little harder than Tristan thought it was going to be. It doesn't help that Tristan has a lot of catching up on the whole merman thing. But as is often the case, there might be more going on than everyone originally thought, putting everyone Tristan cares about at risk.

While I enjoyed the first book, I had my issues with The Vicious Deep. The story was well laid out and moved along at a decent pace but I remember feeling that the action finally really started once I was about 50 pages from the end of the book. And so for that reason I decided to pick up the sequel, The Savage Blue. And it was off to a good start. Right from the first page I was thrown into the action from the end of the previous book. And for a while the action kept up. But then it slowed down until, again, it picked up close to the end of the book. But that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the story. Because I did, maybe even more than I enjoyed the story in the first book. The way it would slow down than pick up again almost felt more natural this time around. This might be because there was less setting up that needed to be done which made the story flow more. But regardless of what it was, it has convinced me that I will be picking up the third book to find out how Tristan comes out of all of this.

Here's the thing, I love romance in the books I read. Typically I'm one of those people that thinks along the lines of the more romance the better. But the romance in The Savage Blue kinda of frustrated me. The whole time I was reading the first book, I was rooting for Tristan and Layla because he is obviously in love with her and she with him. And then at the start of The Savage Blue it seemed like progress had been made on this front until it felt like we were back to square one with Tristan and Layla both clearly aware of each other's feelings but not willing to act on them. I can appreciate the situation they find themselves in is quite unusual and that for all they know Tristan is going to have to leave to go live under the sea and Layla wants to protect herself. But still. These are two characters that I've come to genuinely like and keep rooting for, but at times I just seem to get frustrated with their relationship. Hopefully this is something that changes in future installments. Though I will say this, the other characters, in particular the mermaids and mermen currently forced to live outside of the ocean can be quite the entertaining bunch at times...that is when they are not trying to manipulate someone into doing something they shouldn't be doing.

Overall, I enjoyed The Savage Blue more than I did The Vicious Deep. Some of the problems I had with the first book were fixed, though others kept frustrating me as I was reading. But either way, it makes for a mermaid story that is different from the other ones out there. And because I still want to know how it all turns out, I will be reading the next book in this series.

The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova

Title: The Vicious Deep (The Vicious Deep #1)

Author: Zoraida Cordova

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 1st, 2012

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.

he was gone for three days. Sucked out to see in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he's heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he's suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.

Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

I have always had a bit of a soft spot for mermaid stories. I chalk it up to how obsessed with The Little Mermaid as a kid. That meas that when I heard about The Vicious Deep, my curiosity was piqued, especially since I had been told it had a bit of a twist. While the story was highly enjoyable, I wasn't completely satisfied by it.

Tristan Hart was perfectly happy with his life and spending his free time on the Coney Island beach. But when he gets carried to sea in a storm and disappears for three days, everything changes for Tristan. When he comes back, Tristan isn't the same anymore. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees the face of the silver mermaid, though he isn't sure how he first saw her. And his other sense also seem to be enhanced. Tristan's also distancing himself from his friends, especially his best friend Layla who is starting to worry about Tristan. When he finally discovers what's really going on, Tristan might just end up back in the sea.

When I first heard about The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova, I was really interesting in reading it because I was told it wasn't a typical mermaid story. This turned out to be true and I was happy to read a story where mermaids were a little darker and not necessarily quite as peaceful. What was also interesting was that the story was told from a boy's perspective. Most of the mermaid stories I've read were from a girl's perspective so it was really neat to see if from a different point of view. Where the story sort of let me down, is in terms of the story itself. I was expecting more from it. Wile the story didn't drag per say, it felt like when things finally starte happening, the book ended. But that made it so I will probably go and read the sequel when it comes out.

Tristan was an interesting character. Like I've already said, it was interesting to have a mermaid story told from a boy's perspective, especially since you don't necessarily think "boy" when you hear the word "mermaid". And Tristan himself was a good character. While on the surface he came across as a bit of a jerk, he was well-meaning and would admit when he was wrong...at least he would in his head. Even though  I liked Tristan, I liked Layla even more. Layla was the kind of girl I like to read about. She was feisty, stubborn and didn't let anyone walk over her. But Layla also had a sensitive side that was more hidden. So I'm hoping I'll be albe to see more of Layla in future books.

While The Vicious Deep didn't necessarily live up to all my expectations, Zoraida Cordova still wrote a story that took me away to the world of mermaids for a few hours. At any rate, I will still be picking up the sequel when it comes out to see what happens next.