Book Details:
- Published Date: November 9, 2021
- Author: Natasha Bowen
- Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings
- Format: Hardcover
- Length: 336 pages
A way to serve.
A way to save.
Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.
But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable—she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.
To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail . . .
Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she fails, she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.
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This book started off really slow for me. It’s one of the reasons why it took me a while to actually finish the book. This book is almost a retelling of The Little Mermaid, but West African edition.
Simidele is a mermaid. She has a task to collect souls of the people who die at sea. However, Simidele has a hard time completing this because memories from when she was human continue to hunt her. It hunts her so much that she finds herself reverting back to her human self more often than she should.
This book is well written and very fast paced. In the beginning you will have to familiarize yourself with the world and who Simidele is. The ending is honestly what made me change my rating from a 3 to a 4 star review.
I am excited to see how the next book will turn out, but for a debut, this was pretty good.
My Rating:
Have you read Skin of the Sea? What were your thoughts?
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