**REVIEW** The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova

I may have been one of the few people that didn't read this last year but even last year

I was holding out on many books for this event!! Thing is I'm kicking myself for the wait!

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave. He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth. His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he's heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he's suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods. Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea...and now it wants him back.

Release Date:  May 1, 2012

Published By: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Copy:  Hardcover,  372 pages

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Review

  Just got to say as much as I love mermaids it was so much fun to read things from a merman point of view. This Mer tale is told from a male POV which I absolutely love.  I don't think the guys actually get as much notice as they should!!  The Vicious Deep kept me engaged and turning the pages and there is no doubt in my mind that this series will become one of my favorites and put on a must read list.

  Based in Coney Island this story does not wait to make its grand entrance. Tristan is your mostly typical high school guy or so he thought. When a storm hits and he risks his life to save someone only to wash back up three days later his life is changed forever. This is only the start of all the changes he must deal with and something his family has known all his life. In one really amusing scene we get more important characters and more smiles and action than I was expecting. When told that these are not the Mermaids you know on the cover they couldn't have been more correct. The world building is so well written you won't be able to do anything but feel you are there and heck I didn't want to be anywhere but there from start to finish and even then I wasn't ready to be done.

  Tristan is such a well fleshed out character and I freaking loved him. The first time he changed fully and his panic over where his "parts" went, had me laughing so hard it hurt. He is what I imagine a teenage boy is like exactly. Though he is good looking and cocky at times he does have a head on his shoulders (even if it does wander from time to time). He takes everything that is going on relatively well and doesn't fight what is being asked of him and it isn't like it's small things. Tristan has to be one of my favourite male characters due to his realistic and comical nature.

  There was a little romance to this one but it was far from the main focus. Seeing Tristan is Mer there is no denying that he has had his fair share of girls. We all know that Mers hold a certain allure and that extends to the males as well. Thing is that all the girls he has ever been with never really meant anything because there is only on girl that he really wants and she seems unattainable. Layla is not a clingy, needy girl but more than that she has always been Tristan's friend. The romance may not be intense but it runs deeper because of their friendship and Layla's to hold her own and not back down.

  The book ended on an intense note that has me glad I waited to read it. Why you may ask? Well because now I have The Savage Blue in my hands and I can start to devour it without dying during the wait for the release. Zoraida has created a Mer tale that is far more adventure than romance, giving her story something new and fresh from others. Throw in her amazing world building and phenomenal mythological background and you have a story that is hard to forget and is still with me weeks after reading.

Quotes

I'm beyond a freak.  I'm unnatural.  I want to bang my head against the tiles.  I want to find a shrink who'll medicate me until I'm no longer a hazard to myself and others.Mom grabs a towel and wraps it around my tail.I.  Have.  A.  Freaking. Tail.

"The Sea People.  The Beautiful Deadly Ones.  The Fey of the Sea.  Children of Poseidon.  Dwellers of the Vicious Deep..."  She pauses as if I don't already know I'm a moron.  I just want her to say it.  "Merfolk."

He even eats like there's a stick up his Merman ass.  Where is a merman's ass?

When I don't answer, she looks down at our wet feet.  She's giving up on me, ans I'm going to let her.  She's about to say something else but we're interrupted by the loudest crack of thunder, a reminder that I have somewhere to be.  "Good-bye, Layla."