The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Córdova Review

The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Córdova
(The Vicious Deep, #1)
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire; 384 pages

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.

He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.

Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

The Vicious Deep is the beginning of what I hope to be an amazing series. Definitely one of my favorite mermaid books. If we still did half stars, I would definitely give this book a 4.5 rating. I also would like to thank the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for providing me with a copy to review (via netgalley) in exchange for an honest review. I also want to thank goodreads and the author, Zoraida Córdova, for the autographed copy I won from the giveaway.

This story is told from Tristan Hart's point of view and boy do I like him, a lot! The author did an amazing job getting in the head of a teenage boy. He talked like the teenage boys I get the pleasure (please note sarcasm) of working with on a daily basis and his priorities, if you will, are a bit wack, like a lot of teenagers. Tristan seems so real, which is so hard to come by in YA literature, especially from a female author. I really felt like I was taken back to high school, which is not some place I'd want to return to but for the sake for this story, I was happy to be there! I admire Zoraida so much for this, so thank you for making him seem like an every day teenager we all knew at some point in our lovely teenage years.

Mermaids are the new thing in YA and this time, I really enjoyed this take on them. As a whole, they're not vicious monsters, however, there are exceptions, as there are always exceptions to everything. They mermaids and merman are such beautiful creatures in The Vicious Deep. They sparkle, in a sense (and no, don't you dare sit there and compare them to Edward Cullen) but they're all such beautiful, different colors. I could only imagine coming across a group of them and being struck speechless. I also adore the idea of when a mermaid/merman changes to human form, their scales then turn to sand. Genius!

One of the things I loved most was how the reader finds out about Tristan being a merman. I can't really go in to details because I'm not going to spoil this for the readers but it's very interesting and absolutely not what I was expecting. I love surprises like this and hopefully, you will too!

The releationship between Tristan and his best friend, Layla is so real and actually extremely common, especially for teenagers. Best friends through childhood and suddenly, he's seeing her in a different light. His feelings for her grows throughout the book but things become more difficult and tense between them. You can't help root for him, for them...and just wish they'd more honest but it's easier said than done, right?

Kurt and Thalia are a great addition to the mix especially Kurt. I just don't know if I really trust him - and I really hope I'm not alone in thinking this way. There's just something about him that seems...fishy (pun intended).  I am eager, however, to see more of him (along with his sister, Thalia, and a mermaid princess we recently got acquainted with, Gwen) in the next installment. Hopefully it'll help me figure out if I was right or not in being hesitant to trust him.

I would recommend this book to any and all mermaid fans out there. If you're not a big mermaid fan but are willing to give something new a chance, I would make sure it's this book you give that chance to. If you're into supernatural/paranormal books, you should give this book a shot. The characters are fantastic, story is great and unique, the world building is strong and it's just an all around fun read!