It’s really clear to see how the story of the little mermaid was incorporated into this retelling! Of course, this is strictly the Disney version and not the Hans Christian Anderson one. It’s a story about love; love its many forms, between friends, family and lovers. Of course, you also have a key element in here from The Selection.
Odette did give us a grown-up take on the little mermaid; Maisie’s kiss can kill, and she has no idea why. She has a knack for lifting things out of pockets to sell and make money while living in self-imposed exile (while also adding pieces to her own collection). Maisie has a large number of siblings but has grown up closer to her brothers, and Podaxis. As she rescues the handsome stranger, she leaves not because she is shy but because it is the prudent thing to do. She competes for his hand and goes from the girl who was relieved to have just grown up among brothers, to someone who values all her friends. Like Ariel, she grows from someone very sheltered to someone who understands political games, even if she refuses to play them.
I’ll admit this book started off really slow, and I was prepared to write it off. It’s only when we meet Maisie’s mother and understand the dynamics there that things really pick up. As we learn more about Queen Nimue, we slowly gain more sympathy and respect for her. She’s the real star of this book for me, and if Tessonja Odetta wanted to write more about her I’d be happy to read it. I do think Maisie was also far too quick in forgiving her father for what he had done to her mother (but we do need to know more about what was said to her), but I think that’s also us as children writing off our parents mistakes.
I also loved Podaxis! While in the little mermaid, Sebastian is more of a hapless older relative or uncle, in this Podaxis is his brother in a way that we all didn’t know we needed. I’m glad that we will get a story about Britney Rose (I mean just the name made me realize that there would be something based on her), and I love how Maisie was tied into the previous book, and how we saw some characters again!