It’s officially summer and what’s the perfect type of book to read? I’d say books about mermaids! Underwater looked like an amazing summer read with a beautiful cover. This book released yesterday, so is available to read now. A big thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC to read and review.

Hidden deep beneath the azure surface, the secret of the ocean is coming to the light of day.
Don’t be afraid to dive Underwater!

Marissa Davenport is just a regular girl living in a small town on the island of Hawaii until one fateful night changes everything for her. The ocean takes away the boy she loves, and to save him, she will risk her own life.

Now, she has to confront the consequences of her actions. The consequences of her choice. With the pressure of a dark secret looming over her, Marissa has to figure out how to return things to how they were before or she might lose everything forever. Her friends, her family, the boy she loves and even her own existence.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓.

Review

Underwater sucked me right in and I was so curious to see where it would go. Marissa is trying her hardest to save the love of her life from drowning and to do so, she makes a deal with an ocean nymph. She has three full moons and if the boy who has her heart doesn’t confess his love, Marissa will take the ocean nymph’s place in the ocean. The ocean nymph will get Marissa’s legs and place on land.

This story started off really strong for me. I loved that Marissa was curious about the curse and even asked her grandfather about mermaids. Then it fell kind of flat. It was odd that someone who is facing a curse like this doesn’t research it more. I mean, of course she’ll go after the guy she’s been in love with, but that is where it kind of ended. Accepting something so easily felt odd, because it was clear she was fighting to break this curse.

Marissa has been in love with Ty all her life and he’s clearly clueless. So to get him to finally see her will be quite the task. Enter Caleb, someone Marissa knows and feels some sort of attraction to. What’s a better way to get Ty’s attention than to make him jealous by dating someone else. This did have some fun moments, because it’s clear there is a connection.

This love triangle made it hard for me though, because at a certain point I felt like the book was only focusing on the romance. Marissa was going back and forth between her feelings even though it was obvious to everyone she was in love with Caleb. I mean the romance will be a big part of the book, because of the curse, but it just felt like too much. And I am a fan of romance.

Underwater is told from both Marissa and Caleb’s POV (even though I would’ve liked more of his from time to time). It does give us a bit of more of the story and I loved Caleb, but I missed some more about him. It’s like the character development stayed on the surface. I just needed a bit more.

All in all, it was a fun summer read. Marissa’s best friend was hilarious and I loved her trying to help Marissa solve her boy problems. I also loved the little references to Marvel and stuff like that. Authors adding some of my favorite fandoms is always a plus. If you’re a big fan of love triangles, this book is definitely for you.

If you’re looking for a fast summer read with romance and mermaids, definitely pick this one up. If you’re looking for more of the fantasy aspect of this type of story, it may not be for you. All in all, Underwater was a fast and fun read. Definitely a book to read on the beach while having a relaxing day.