Book Type: New Adult (NA) series
Author: Jasmine Angell
Pages:
Book 1, Luminous- 534
Book 2, Prism - 410
Book 3, Radiant- 337
Summary, Book 1(goodreads.com):
What would you do if the world you loved was taken from you forever? ...and what would you sacrifice to get it back?
Magical, Mythical, Mesmerizing…
A powerful race of beings lives and works among us and we don’t even know it. To us, they are known as mermaids, sirens and water nymphs, but they call themselves the Psyne. They have lived on Earth since ancient times, wield powerful magic and have only one weakness—love.
When Psyne suddenly start disappearing around the globe, the remaining aquatars are evacuated to their home world and a ban is placed on Earth. Ilauria, a devoted servant to the Psyne Council, can’t abide abandoning the missing eight, and with the help of her long-time friend, Shivan, and a subversive member of the Venvian Psyne named Adante, she embarks on a harrowing rescue mission to uncover who or what is powerful enough to subdue her kind.
What Ilauria discovers will cause her to question her loyalties, reexamine her dual nature, and will shake the very foundations of the truths her society holds dear.
My Review:
By now, I've read hundreds of mermaid books, and some of them tend to recycle or "update" older concepts. However, Jasmine Angell's imagination created a truly engaging read! What's different about these mermaids is that they're not the typical singing sirens. In fact, these mermaids come from a planet called Tauri-Psyne. That's right: alien mermaids! Read on to learn more about what I loved and my constructive criticism.
Imaginative Details: What I Loved:
So first, I wanted to go over some details about what makes this particular race of mermaids so different:
The main character, Illauria, is described as 2500 years old (which is why I categorize this as New Adult)
Not only do they have beautiful tails, but they also have the ability to transform into birds of prey, such as an owl or peregrine falcon. Such a cool ability! They can also shapeshift into groups of animals, like a school of fish. This is later explained; The Tauri-Psyne use defensive maneuvers instead of fighting techniques.
They can also manipulate water into different states
Ability to communicate with animals
They're immortal
Lastly, they can create portals across planets. The Psyne are seriously powerful beings!
Now, for the review:
What I enjoyed from the moment I started this series is the prologue really set the tone
and created a face-paced action sequence. It ends on a great cliffhanger that makes the reader want to continue on.
The setting was also described in gorgeous detail, especially with the underwater city, Aquatarius, and the depths of the ocean. The reader feels as if they are swimming alongside these goddesses and watching the drama unfold. The dialogue was also well-written and the exchanges between certain characters had those unforgettable page-turning moments. Another great device that Angell excelled at was characterization; as I mentioned, not only do these mermaids have awesome power, but I pictured everyone clearly since each main character has their own distinct personality and skill set.
Their reproduction is also fascinating and mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy. Each Psyne produces 1 egg in their lifetime and the newborn emerges as a fully grown adult Psyne with a shared knowledge of their culture and history. There's more darker secrets about this that I don't want to give away!
One of the major themes of this novel also caught my attention. AS the novel progresses, we learn more about the Psyne and their flawed half-human nature. This created a truly moving experience.
Constructive Criticism/ Negatives:
Throughout each of the novels, I noticed some formatting and grammar errors, such as misaligned text, missing commas along with comma splices. This detracted from the overall professionalism of the series.
I also thought more information was needed during the first few chapters of the first novel. The reader is introduced to Aquarians, but I wasn't sure what this meant until the middle of the book. Not until much later does Illauria, one of the main protagonists, explain that Aquarians are tasked with educating humans about preserving the oceans and promoting diplomatic relations. Another one of their missions is to spread the message that all life is precious.
Each novel also contained at least four different perspectives, and it was difficult to follow the narration. At times, the novels also had a tendency to "info dump" facts and history in very long paragraphs instead of dispersing these details throughout. This made the novels a bit too exposition-heavy. Some of these characters also fall into the "insta-love" cliche.
Although the Psyne are powerful, sometimes their abilities made life too easy, especially when adapting on land. When they reach Earth for the first time, the Psyne can will clothes onto their bodies. This is way too easy and doesn't present any earthly challenges for the mermaids to overcome. Throughout the novels, their magical abilities help them out of the most difficult circumstances, and it felt like this was relied on to overcome plot issues instead of using their powers as character traits.
As I progressed through the series, I was also a little surprised when everything occurs in just a few days to a week. With the amount of action and change going on the planet, realistically there needed to be more time elapsed.
Concluding thoughts:
The Psyne series was a fascinating mix of science fiction, old myth, and new fantasy with a new spin on a mermaid story. However, the ending of the last book was very open and I wish the story wrapped up. Everything was finally answered and settled, so I'm not sure why Angell plans to continue the series. Also, the newest novel was supposed to come out in the summer of 2016, but it's not available yet.
If there is another book eventually published, I'll update my thoughts. For now, I give the series 3.5 stars.
-Sirenita The Selkie