The Last Mermaid

by Shana Abe

[Angie]

Mermaids are far from my favorite mythological being in novels, but I was hoping an adult romance novel would change my mind about the genre. While I did enjoy The Last Mermaid, it failed to wow me, and it didn't present anything new about mermaids/sirens. It sticks pretty close to the classic mythology, which is fine, but not altogether interesting and engaging. The Last Mermaid actually contains three separate love stories spanning from ancient times to modern, all linked together by the tale of the original siren of Kell. I loved how little details from each story trickled down into the next one, further connecting them. Like any good tragic love story, it starts with a betrayal followed by a curse. Kell may be a beautiful, uninhabited island, but it's history holds dark secrets.

531: Ione and Aedan
This first story follows prince Aeden who is captured during an attack, then thrown overboard near Kell. Ione, the last mermaid of her time, rescues him and immediately falls in love. However, Aedan wants nothing more than to get back to his home in order to continue fighting in the war and save his people. Ione's loneliness blinds her to the fact that Aedan doesn't truly belong to her, so he's forced to brave the rocky waves on his own. I liked Ione and Aedan's story a lot because she is the one doing all of the rescuing and fighting. There are no damsel's in distress and she can certainly hold her own against men much larger than she. I definitely think there needs to be more stories with women saving the man and making death defying escapes! I also loved all of the descriptions of the island. It reminded me a bit of The Little Mermaid (Disney version) because the castle on Kell is full of treasures and trinkets collected from the sunken ships just off of the reef.

1721: Ronan and Leila
I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much. I was bored for most it, and didn't really get into until almost the every end. I did like how Ronan was the mermaid heir in this case, but he's been living as the Earl of Kelmere and as his own heir for several generations. Leila is another tough heroine, an assassin contracted to kill Ronan. I had no idea why someone wanted Ronan dead until the very end and this nagged at me the whole time. I was also confused as to why Leila was an assassin in the first place since she didn't seem to enjoy it much and was attempting to get out of the business. There also isn't much romance. Ronan discovers she's hired to kill him, takes her back to Kell, then hires her to assassinate the man who hired her to assassinate him, then they lived happy ever after. Boring.

2004: Ruriko and Ian
Finally, the modern day story is quite different. Ruri is the siren of Kell, but she doesn't know it. In fact, she's living in the US, far away from Scotland until Ian contacts her about buying the island from her. She's had no idea it's been in her family for centuries and agrees to sell it, but Ian wants her to see it first. I found this story really interesting, since Ruri has "nightmares" about the ocean, but really they're distant memories of her life on Kell which Ian hopes to unlock. Their story had also bits of the original tale inserted in, which I also enjoyed. It definitely all came full circle in the end.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.