Fish or Friend?

Sea Change


Written by: Aimee Friedman

Released: June 1, 2009 by Point

Summary: 16-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science...and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she's happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate.

There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship...and reality.

Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined?

With all the hype that is surrounding this book, I was a little hesitant to go out and read it, which is probably why I waited until it came out in paperback to buy it. However, my love of mermaid fiction surpassed and hesitations that I had and I eventually caved. Now I’m not sure whether that was a good idea or not.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the book. I fell in love with Leo right along with Miranda and even though they were super annoying I started to like the Heirs too. Miranda was an alright character who I could see the conflicting emotions in, which made some of the rather abrupt things that she did a little easier to read while still yelling at her in my head.

It was the ending that did me in though. The book had a nice pace the entire time and then WHAM it’s done. I felt as though there were no resolution for Miranda and Leo (though technically there was enough to warrant an ending) and it made this book feel as though it were part one of at least a two-part story. I would love to see a sequel, though rumour has it that the author doesn’t expect there to be one.

I suppose that I will just have to go on not having my curiosity fully sated and some questions not answered.

Still, I’m giving this book an 8/10. It was well worth the build-up that’s been happening around the book blogging networks.