Forgive My Fins

This is a really nice book few people have heard about. I was browsing a list of books my friend recently read and the title intrigued me enough to go out and get it. The book is really one of a kind, an amazing read with a quirky likable main character. The book is filled with amusing sea vocabulary that draws you into the world the author has created. The cover is beautiful and completely appropriate for the mermaid romance.

Blurb from Goodreads.com:


Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush. 

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life. 

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

My Review:


I loved this book so much! The Protagonist, Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia (or Lily for short ;P), is a half human, half mermaid who goes to a regular highschool. She has a crush on Brody Bennet, the popular swim team champion at her school. Quince Fletcher is her annoying neighbor who's been making her life miserable for the three years she's lived on land. When she accidentally kisses Quince (thinking he was Brody) they both get more than they bargained for since the kiss instigates a "bond" between them. Lily takes Quince on an underwater journey trying to get the bond severed before its too late and they're joined for life.

This book is amazingly detailed, with lovable characters, and beautiful descriptions. The only thing I didn't like about the book is the way the author describes Lily. She's really bad at schoolwork, she's shallow, and she's stubborn, and blind to what's right in front of her. She actually describes her using those words. Its one thing to perceive a character as being less than bright, but its another thing completely to have the author describe her as a love-sick fool, drooling over Brody instead of doing homework, Gossiping with her best friend Shannen for hours on the phone instead of studying. I'm not saying she should describe the studying in detail, but she mentions that Lily is bad at everything school related, and she's in a few extra-curriculars, but only the ones Brody is in. And then she's acts like a blind idiot. All in all, despite the fact that she's a very nice character, I was not impressed by Lily at all. I kept wanting to bang my head against the wall at her obliviousness. Quince is another thing altogether, he lives with his mother who struggles to make ends meet. Quince goes to school and has a part-time job to help his mother, he's also unfailingly polite to everyone but Lily, who he take great pleasure in annoying. Because of the bond, Lily gets to know Quince better, as they are finally forced to have a few real conversations. I spent the entire book getting anxious whenever their bond was in danger of being severed because as the book progresses you can see that they are perfect for each other.

The Second book "Fins are Forever" came out last June. Planning to read that soon.

As an added tidbit, This is how I imagined Quince looking like:

Brody, but he should have longer darker hair:

I couldn't find one I liked for Lily, but she has crazy untamable curly blonde hair and big brown eyes. I imagined her as really skinny and of medium/short height

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all