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| The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova Published: May 2012 Age Group: YA Series: The Vicious Deep #1 |
I found this book a while ago and added it to my TBR list on GR only for it to be buried underneath all the adds I do daily. So lately, I've been in a reading slump and not really enjoying any book long enough to read the entire thing so I figured I'd dig up one of my old YA-TBR and give it a shot. That's how I re-found The Vicious Deep and I'm glad I did. It's definitely cured my reading slump since I finished reading it with a gusto.
The Vicious Deep follows the story of Tristan and his discovery that he's actually a prince of the merfolk. Then he's told that he has to participate in a championship for the throne and the story starts. The story takes the tale of the God Poseidon and gives a future to the myths and legends where a kingdom is born from the once divine God of the seas. It's a tale of someone finding out what they're destined to become and how far they're willing to go to fulfill their destiny.
Tristan is probably the typical hot guy that flirts with girls and breaks their hearts without any consciousness. He's a typical stock character. Although it is evident that as the story progresses he starts to change. He becomes more caring, compassionate and in a way displaying the characteristics needed in a good ruler.
The main female protagonist is Layla. Tristan's best friend, which if you've read enough romance novels or New Adult novels it is evident that Layla and Tristan are meant to develop some romantic attraction. At first I didn't mind Layla. She was a strong woman who held her own on a swim team full of boys. She also didn't put up with all of Tristan's s**t and isn't afraid to speak her mind and tell him that he's an idiot. Then she figures out his secret and it all goes down hill from there. The woman who isn't afraid of speaking her mind turns from being strong-willed to annoying and stubborn in my eyes. The girl who stands up for herself turns from being brave and courageous to being reckless and foolish. I found myself disliking Layla more and more as the story progressed. I can't relate to her and her personality is absolutely horrible in my opinion. Tristan can do much better.
The story is an intriguing one, and sort of a jump for me. I decided, many many years ago, that I wouldn't read any stories about mermaids, sirens and water creatures like that due to a bad experience I had with a book that had these supernatural creatures as the main attraction. In hindsight, I probably should have known that this book was about merpeople from the blurb, but I didn't. My fault. But luckily, because of my mistake, I found this lovely book. The mermaids and mermen in this book aren't that bad. They're just like regular humans...with fins and gills. The author does a really good job describing them in clear detail down to the sparkle of the scales and the movements of the gills in water and out that it's very clear to visualize what these creatures would look like even though these are mythical creatures. I always enjoy being able to visualize the characters and the story because I think it adds so much more dimension to the tale when you are able to follow along in your head and see the action unfold while you're reading it. I also enjoy the use of other sea creatures, whether they be real or fiction. Like I said, I haven't read a story with these paranormal creatures in a long time so this is a welcome change for me. Perhaps that's why I got hooked on to this story so fast. That and the good plot and charismatic characters.
The ending is a cliff hanger. In fact the main plot encompasses the entire series. I believe there are sub plots in each book, or main events that the characters deal with, but it is very evident that the story continues in the next installment and that there is a build up towards the end.
Overall an excellent YA novel. Although following the standard storyline of a YA book, the characters and detailed description is enough to overlook the clichés.
MEH
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