Friday, May 10, 2013

**REVIEW** Sea Change byAimee Friedman


Sixteen-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science. . .and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she's happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate.There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship. . .and reality.Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined?





Release Date:  June 1, 2010
Published By:  Point
Review Copy: Paperback, 290 pages
*Purchased

Review

With a mysterious edge this was not the mermaid novel I had expected.  It was more about the mysterious unknown of it all and leaving what you believe to be logic and believing in the unbelievable.  Mermaids are made out to be myth but what if they weren't?  What if our logical brains just deny what they can not process?  Sea change tackles that and brings a bittersweet lining with it.  Though this wan't what I had expected I loved the touch of truth and mystery this one brought to the table.

  The setting is absolutely stunning and Friedman did an astounding job really bringing breath into Selkie Island.  There was a special and mysterious feel to the island from before you even got there.  Though you are never sure what is fact and what is fiction, this is all part of the allure.  Miranda is a practical girl that lives her life by the facts and all of the unknown that is on the island strikes her as nothing more than stories.  That is until she meets Leo.  Leo is a local boy and makes her question almost every logical though she has and Miranda wants to find out why.

  Miranda is a very self sufficient character.  She was not afraid to be who she was, despite the fact that the other people her age on the island were expecting the change.  She wasn't perfect though, she had faults that made her realistic.  Her embarrassment over her toes was a little over the top at times but who isn't uncomfortable with something on their body?  The curiosity that overtook her when she found a book on Selkie Island in her grandmothers study was contagious.  When she was trying to sort out everything with her logical mind I was trying to pull her towards the more mythical, causing me to be more involved than I realized.

  The romance was both too quick and well paced.  Confused?  Well upon her and Leo actually meeting up it was like she was sold.  The sparks were flying, her heart was racing and I was dreading it.  I am not opposed to insta love but I like it to have a background, a reason and this didn't have that.  Then however it was like Miranda snapped to and kind of backed off.  Though her feelings remained there and she thought of Leo while walking away, this gave a breather and slowed it down.  Plus Leo made my heart beat a little faster with his sweet ways and I'm not the character in the novel with him.  The chemistry was undeniable and so I was happy that things worked out. 

  Sea Change though not your typical Mer story had history to it and gave a feeling that it all could be real.  I liked that the idea is planted in your head that just because Friedman didn't come full out and say "Yes there are Merfolk here," doesn't mean the thought wasn't placed in your head.  I would like to see a sequel to this and maybe a bit of the mystery and myth lifted to become Leo and Miranda's truth.  


Quotes
I wanted to ask Mom what Delilah had meant - and also how the two of them had ever been close - but I felt dazed by the human hurricane that had just swept over us.


"If he seriously wanted me, he'd skip the stupid dinner, don't you think?"
"I have no idea," I replied honestly.  What did I know about male creatures?


This was intense, I realized as we kissed and kissed in the pouring rain.  This defined intense.  my kiss with T.J. seemed faded, insignificant.  Now I couldn't help but close my eyes as every thought in my head - every question - swam away.


The light from above cast bright patterns on each couple as they pressed close together. There was something sexy about fireworks: the anticipation, the explosion, the release.  My cheeks burned.


  It was easy to go a little mad out on the ocean, I thought, with no specific chart or guide other than the sky.  But madness could be lovely sometimes.

10 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this book! I love the cover though. I'm glad this book was better than you expected! I love when that happens. That last quote you chose is kind of cool - "madness could be lovely sometimes".

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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  2. Cool review, I love this book! I love the whole mystery thing about it, like is Leo really part mer? ;)

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  3. Miranda sounds like a fantastic character, and one that I could fully enjoy! I really would love to find just one mermaid story that I can love. I have not had a single bit of luck with it and it gets frustrating. This book sounds really good, and the main focus doesn't seem to be solely mermaids. So, I might have to try this one out and cross my fingers that this book might change the course of my mermaid history!

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  4. oh my..the cover is really beautiful...thx u for ur review...i will put on my TBR list ;)

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  5. The cover has always caught my eye. Thanks for the great review. Sometimes it is good when a good is something I don't expect it to be. I'll have to check this out.

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  6. I've read Sea Change a few years back. I also love that about the story, that it was not directly that Mer people really exists. It gives this sort of mysterious aura to the story.

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  7. To be honest I have never heard of this book. The cover is pretty,sounds like a good Mysterious mermaid&myth read. Great review!

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  8. I hadn't heard of this before but it sounds excellent and I LOVE this cover!!!!

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  9. Lovely review. The book sounds fantastic! I can't wait to read it.

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  10. I'm glad you thought Friedman's descriptions of Selkie Island is worth mentioning. Some authors don't build their worlds enough to be able to imagine them, so I'm looking forward to what Friedman has done in Sea Change.

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