Deep Blue – Book Review

February 26, 2016June 4, 2019 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 1 Comment

“For the first time in her life, she didn’t look like royalty. She looked fierce, edgy, and troublesome. A merl not to be messed with. And she liked it.”

The ocean has always been one of Earth’s greatest mysteries. After all these years, not even half of the oceans have been discovered, the dark depths teaming with creatures that remain nameless. Who’s to say that there aren’t kingdoms under the sea, filled with mermaids and mermen? In this case, there are, and Serafina is the future Queen of her very own Queendom named Miromara. We first meet her getting ready for her coronation where she has to pass three specific tests before she can be crowned the next Queen of Miromara. Everything seems to be mostly going well until Serafina’s life turns upside down, and her queendom was attacked. In one fell swoop, Sera lost everything, and to this point the fate of her mother is still unknown, making Sera want to give up hope completely.

The attack on Miromara wasn’t what it seemed, and while Sera and her best friend Neela was able to escape capture from their attackers, they find out that the humans are behind it all, and that their main goal is to release an ancient evil in order to destroy the world. Not only is this evil going to destroy their homes, but Sera, Neela, and four other girls are part of an ancient prophecy that has foretold that they are the only ones that can stop it from happening, as each of the six girls are direct descendants of the founding members of Atlantis. Yes, that’s right. This goes all the way back to Atlantis, and what really made the treasured city sink to the depths of the ocean. These six are the most powerful mermaids in the world thanks to their ancestors, and somehow they are going to have to come together in order to save everyone, even if it means putting aside their differences.

This book was honestly one of the best books I have read this year so far. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. I have not come across many mermaid books that have caught my attention, and I’m so glad that I found this one. It may have been the cover that made me pick it up initially, but after reading the synopsis, I had to buy it. I love mermaids, and I’ve always wanted to be one, so this one was such a wonderful addition to the mythology. Each of the six girls has their own personalities that make them one to root for, and while we still have a lot to learn about the rest of them, it’s a journey that I look forward to hearing about. Each of the girls come from a different realm within the world, and the diversity in and of itself is very interesting to me. One of the girls is even blind, and yet she is able to function as well as any of the others, something that is so important for me. They don’t show her disability as a weakness, or something that needs special attention in order for her to do her daily tasks. In fact, her blindness is an important part of the prophecy.

I can’t wait to finish the rest of the series, and I really hope that the rest of the books delve deeper into the rest of the girls.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

The Exiled Queen – Book Review

February 26, 2016 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It is the second book in this series and Raisa is forced to be alone on her journey of trying to save her queendom. Rather than being forced to marry the High Wizard’s son, who is being sorely manipulated by his own father, she runs away to live with her father’s clan. But before she could get to her clan, her family, she and her best friend (possible lover) and his guard go to Oden’s Ford. Not only do Raisa and her new companions go to Oden’s Ford in order to train to be the new royal guard, but she ends up running into Han Alister, where he and other wizards in training are learning how to hone their skills. It is from there that the real journey will take place, and while this book only touched upon their meeting towards the end of the book, the rest of their time at Oden’s Ford is not completely void of mystery.

Han may still not be completely accepting of his heritage, the one that we learned from the previous book, but he has no choice in the matter. Being the direct descendant of the Demon King means that he has a responsibility of either saving the world, or destroying it. He can learn how to hone his magic all he wants, but whether he uses it for good or evil will depend on him, and the direction that he takes. It doesn’t help that he isn’t sure of the type of man who is mentoring him during this journey, or if the man who is helping him get better at his magic has any ulterior motives. Will he be able to see the truth before it’s too late?

And what about Raisa? She’s undercover in this school, where she goes through such a physical and mental transformation that makes her so much stronger than when she started. It might have been better for her that she didn’t end up staying with her father’s clan, because now she can fend for herself if the occasion ever arose. She is growing into herself, becoming the kind of woman that she needs to be by the time she becomes Queen. With the help of Han, by the time they have to leave Oden’s Ford, they will have the opportunity to set things right in their world, and hopefully work together in order to restore balance.

This book I felt was so much better than the first one, which is always great to hear. I love it when the series just get better and better, rather than stay the same or get worse in quality. Sometimes it’s hard for sequels to keep up the momentum of the first book and so on, but this one just gets better as it goes on. I took a break from this series to read other books but I can’t wait to get back in to this one and finish the last two books.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks – New Plot Lines in my Genre of Choice

February 23, 2016June 4, 2019 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 1 Comment

Hey everyone!

Welcome to this week’s addition of Tuesday Talks. Man I’m actually really proud of myself for keeping up for the most part this year. Sure, it’s only February but that’s already two months of the year down and that’s a feat in and of itself. Don’t forget, if you are interested in joining the GoodReads group and weighing in on our weekly discussions, please check out the group and tell us what you think.

What new plot lines would you like to see in your genre of choice?

First, I think it’s important to actually tell you my genre of choice. That would definitely be YA all around. I do tend to lean towards Paranormal YA books, dealing with vampires, werewolves, witches, anything supernatural. YA books have always been my favorite and I don’t think that will ever change. It’s not really a plot line that I’m interested in but I would really love to read more mermaid books, like Deep Blue, one of the books that I’ve read recently and still need to write up my review. Mermaids are so underrated and there is so much potential in writing a really good mermaid book. Deep Blue was definitely one of them.

Another thing I want to see when it comes to YA books is more books dealing with female leads working together rather than the whole mean girl thing. It’s not very prevalent in so much of the books that I’ve read so far, but it was really prominent in Deep Blue and it actually becomes very important in the rest of the saga. I don’t like always reading about girls fighting with one another, whether it’s for the affections of the same boy or some other trivial thing. When girls take their differences and actually work together to fight the bigger picture, that’s something worth reading, and that’s something worth supporting.

I think I can list another thing that I would love to see. It’s probably because I haven’t really read as much books throughout my life that I would like, but I would love to read more books about dragon mythology. I’ve only read Eragon so far, and while I still need to reread it and finish the rest of the series, I think there need to be more dragon books. Dragons are some of the coolest creatures ever, and they need a lot more attention.

As you can see, I live for the supernatural world. I would rather read those than YA contemporary books. It’s a nice break from the real world where I still haven’t found proof that mermaids and dragons exist. Maybe if that proof comes to light, then I’ll be fine living in this reality, but for now, I need more of these books.

I feel like this post was all over the place, and I deeply apologize for this. Are there any specific plot lines or general topics in your personal genre of choice that you would like to see? Let me know in the comments below.