Rate this book

Die Fiese Meerjungfrau (2011)

by Jim C. Hines(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

3404206339 (ISBN13: 9783404206339)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Bastei Lübbe Taschenbuch

series

Princess

review 1: Yet another in a string of fairy tale retellings, most of them being really well done. This one is no exception. I love what Hines did with this. He seems to dive into not only the originals, but also some of their variations with which most of us might not be so familiar. All the major characters are recognizable of course, and Hines does a great job bringing the stories of Cindarella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and the Little Mermaid all together into a cohesive work.The world--which has the feel of an alternate Europe and adjacent Middle East--as well as the story and supporting elements strike a balance between the hard darkness of the original tales and their fluffy Disney versions. There's plenty of whimsy and I found myself chuckling frequently. But there's ... moresome noticeable adult material, too. All the characters have glaring flaws and serious baggage from their pasts, which makes them interesting and just as interesting, they never really overcome their problems, but instead figure out how to work around them. As the story unfolds, we the readers keep learning things are more complicated than they appear and that certain things we thought we knew were wrong. Hines also has no qualms about beating up his characters and once they are beat up, their recovery is realistic given the limitations of that world and some of the characters actually don't recover, so the happy ending is somewhat bitter-sweet.I was partway through when I realized that this is the 2nd book, which I really should have noticed from the get-go had I been paying a little more attention. But Hines gives us enough recap to fill in the blanks (or remind us) without disrupting the story's flow. So I went ahead and tracked down the others in the series, which I expect to be just as much fun.I did find the prose a bit jerky in spots. I'm not sure it affected the readability much, but I did notice--maybe it's something I can chalk up to writing style. It also seemed that the male characters were a bit weaker than I might have expected, perhaps a function of contrast with the very strong female main characters.
review 2: Like many others, I enjoyed The Mermaid's Madness much more than the first book in this series, the Stepsister Scheme. The plot just seemed a lot more cohesive, and I really liked that we got the POVs of Snow, Talia, and the mermaid Lirea. I like Danielle, but she isn't my favorite character, so I think that is part of the reason I found the first book a little tedious to get through.I really liked Hines' take on the Little Mermaid tale. For one thing, it's a fairy tale that I haven't seen retold a lot, so it was nice to get a fresh take on that. And also, I think it's a tale that, if retold in the wrong way, could end up being totally ridiculous (I mean, how do you write characters with fins without them being ridiculous?) But Hines succeeded in his new take on the mermaids, and on the story of Lirea and her prince. I really enjoyed the mythology of the mermaids, and the new characters of Lirea, Morveren, and the Hiladi prince (I can't remember his name - not the one Lirea fell in love with, but his brother). All in all, an enjoyable read, and I look forward to the next one! less

Download links for: Die Fiese Meerjungfrau

Advertising