Book Type: Novel/Series Author: Jenn Reese Pages:
Book 1 (365)
Book 2 (368)
Book 3 (400) Summary(first book, goodreads.com): Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony’s survival is in doubt. The Kampii’s breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna’s warrior spirit and Hoku’s tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt—growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains—here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true
My Review: Introduction: At first glance, dystopian/futuristic society books will either intrigue people, or turn people away because of the harsh reality of the way things are now in the world, especially when it comes to the booming human population. Will we run out of space? Food? Air? This is what Jenn Reese explores in Above World, but she makes it amazingly awesome! Humans have run out of living options. Some humans fled to space, while others genetically altered themselves to adapt to different environments. Mermaids, Winged Women, Snake and Horse people; there are so many possibilities! Such Cool Concepts! What I Loved: What I loved most about this book was the originality of the concept. Reese has fused science fiction with classic mythology to give us... A Mermaid Dystopian series! :) From the start, I was immediately sucked into Aluna and Hoku's adventure and it was really hard to put down. In addition, the book is really emotional! The reader will hate and feel disgusted by some characters, but feel love and compassion for others. I also love how descriptive this series is. Every time I was reading, I felt as if I was right there with Hoku, Aluna, Dash and Calli. Aluna is my favorite character in this series and she is such a positive role model for girls! She's strong, defiant and a total bad ass! So Many Questions! What I Didn't Like: I have to admit, as much as I loved this series, this last book didnt impress me as much as the other first two books. It was much slower than the first two, and I was craving more action for about three quarters of the book. I wont spoil the ending, but all I'm going to say is that it annoyed me. There was a very anticlimactic battle that made me say, THAT'S IT? Also, there was a lot of unanswered questions at the end. I was really dissapointed with this last book in the series. However, the first two books were really good, and it was very interesting! I couldnt put any of these books down as soon as I began to read them. I give this series (****) 4 stars. -Sirenita The Selkie