Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Sea Witch is both a retelling of the Little Mermaid story and an origin story of the Sea Witch. I love fairytale retellings, so when I saw this book and its gorgeous cover was available as an audiobook from my library I immediately borrowed it. While this story wasn’t perfect, I enjoyed the way that the author reimagined this classic tale and the dimension that she brought to the characters. It was a challenge to rate because my feelings about it varied wildly. There were times when I was completely engrossed in the stories and characters so it was a 4/4.5 star read, but others that made me cringe or drift off like a 2 star read. As a result, I settled with a 3.5-star rating.

The plot was a little slow in the beginning, you may need to give the book some time to find it’s footing and pull you in. If you are a reader that will put a book down if you haven’t been hooked in the first chapter, try giving it a little more of a shot before you make your decision. There are many points that can drag and overall the pacing is very slow. It is also a vastly different story than the classic Little Mermaid tale you may be familiar with (and I mean the actual original, not the Disney version.) I believe that it will make the read tough for some readers that may have enjoyed it otherwise.

While I enjoyed the characters, I wasn’t in love with any of them. They were relatively well developed, but for some reason, I just didn’t form any strong connections. Yes, I liked them but no I probably wouldn’t remember anything about them in a year. To be honest, I can’t remember all of their names now. Evie, Anna, Nikolas (this is probably spelled incorrectly because I only listened to the audiobook), and whatshisface… I know it begins with an E or the sound of an E. Eeker? Gosh, that cannot be spelled correctly. Other reviews tell me it is Iker. WEll there you go, four main characters and I had to legitimately think for a minute to remember their names and couldn’t tell you anyone else in the book. That is my problem. No one particularly stood out, beyond perhaps Nik – as he was allowed to be a romantic, cinnamon roll which we don’t see enough in male leads.

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story, even if the drama and stakes didn’t really appear until the last 2/3 or 3/4 of the book. I worry that many people will not make it to that point and put the book down long before it can make an impact. Hopefully, you’ll give it a shot but don’t put too much pressure on the book and just let it slowly sweep you away.

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