(26) Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

Book Type: Novel
Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Pages: 288

Summary(goodreads.com):
Be careful what you believe in.

Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.

Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

My Review:
Although this book has been on a lot of Young Adult mermaid book lists, there is a lot wrong with this book, and I mean.. A LOT. Although the cover of this book enticed me to read, especially with the hooks in the shape of a heart, I was disappointed with the way this book turned out. Let's go over some of the positive and negative aspects of the book.

Fishy, Awesome, Exciting! What I Loved:
What I loved mostly about this book was the main character, Rudy. Moskowitz was able to create dialect that a typical sixteen year old boy would say, and also created perfect responses for the situations Rudy became entangled in. Rudy is kind of a bad boy; he likes to do his own thing, and hates that he moved away from his home. He mentions that he smokes cigarettes and has had a lot of experience with girls in the past... I think we all know a guy like Rudy.
I also love that this book has a lot of YA themes, like dating, romance, dealing with a sick family member and... SEXUAL ABUSE?? WHAT IS GOING ON??

Weird, Weird Weird: What I Hated! :
Before I get back to the sexual abuse mentioned above, there were a few other plot elements that annoyed me. Teeth, the merman, is way too similar to Rudy. They both curse like crazy and have the same bad boy attitude. I wish Moskowitz made their characteristics a bit more contrasting. 
The plot flat lined for about three quarters of the book, and nothing really exciting happened until the end! As the plot continued, more and more twisted and sickening things about Teeth are revealed, which includes a lot of horrible sexual abuse and rape, events that are way too graphic to talk about on this blog. 
Let's just say that the way Teeth was brought into this world is sick at best.
The end of this book was just sad, depressing and twisted, and I just wouldn't bother reading this if you are sensitive towards topics like brutal rape, molestation, child abandonment, developmental issues and feral children.
I give this book (**) 2 stars. 
-Sirenita The Selkie

(24) Wrecked by Anna Davies

Book Type: Novel
Author: Anna Davies
Pages: 336

Summary(amazon.com):

A mysterious stranger holds the key to Miranda’s fate in this contemporary retelling of “The Little Mermaid.”
Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.
But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.
Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.

My Review:

First off, I would like to point out, that I don't know who constructed this Amazon.com summary, but seriously, this book had nothing to do with The Little Mermaid. And seductive? I think not. Let's review why this book should be taken off your Summer Reading List of 2014.

Before It Went Downhill: The Good Points I Liked:

Although there wasn't much that I liked about this book, I found that Davies did include some interesting elements to her plot. As soon as the teens have a bonfire, you get this reader's intuition that something bad is going to happen, especially when Genevieve, Miranda's friend, starts playing around with tarot cards, and they get skeletons. As sick as it is to say, the book didn't pick up the pace until the boating accident. 

It was also an interesting element that the souls of those who die on the sea, float down to the bottom of the ocean where the evil queen Sephie captures them for her own use. It reminded me of Davie Jones locker. I think the most gut wrenching part of this element is when Christian calls out the name, "Fletcher?" and one of the soul orbs glows for a minute before falling to the bottom of the sea. When I read this, my face looked like:

I also think Davies did a good job of understanding how some people cope with death, especially when it involves family or friends. Miranda doesn't, or cant, process what has happened and how everyone is treating her. She blocks out any feelings she has, and stops herself from crying. Although this did make it difficult for me to connect with her, it made the situation realistic. Death is a common YA theme, and this can help young teens who have lost someone special in their life, and how to adjust to this new lifestyle. At times, I really did feel as if I was grieving for the characters.

Now... let's not be so nice. This book had some major issues.

This Is No Love Story! And What Is With Christian?!

Although Miranda and Christian do have this cute, runaway teen romance, they both annoyed the hell out of me. Miranda seems like the girl who always needs a man in her life. As soon as she says goodbye to her boyfriend, and gets some closure, she immediately rushes into a new "relationship" if you can call it that.

Christian weirds me out. As soon as he sees Miranda, he thinks he is instantly in love with her, and becomes obsessed with her. Hello? You don't even know her! (Is this what the author meant by "a twist on The Little Mermaid?" No. Just No.) Christian does not even mention any deep qualities he loves about Miranda. All he mentions is that she is beautiful, the way she falls asleep on his arm and how mischievous she is. 

This is not love, this is infatuation.

Oh, and Christian seems to have this habit of shushing her! Seriously! Everytime she needed to vent he just said "Sshhh." Can't a girl vent? Christian is also, not a merman. He is a betwixtman. In the book, this is a creature that is basically half human and half Mer. 

Did I mention he sparkles in the sun?.... Oh the Twilight Horror!!!

Too Sad, Too Depressing!

Lastly, a lot of the story has to do with how Miranda is treated like a murderer, and how she is coping with all of the grieving. This got to be a little too much after a while, and the book is also very, very VERY depressing. It got to be uncomfortable after a while.

 Although this book was extremely depressing, it makes you appreciate how fragile life is, and also makes you appreciate the people around you. Overall, I don't think this book worked very well. I give this book (***) 3 stars, and that is being generous compared to other goodreads.com users!

-Sirenita The Selkie