Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want to thank NetGalley and Disney Book Group for the ebook, Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly. This is an engrossing novel about Princess Serafina, a mermaid, about to be betrothed to Prince Mahdi, in a Dokimi ceremony. Sera must be perfect in the Dokimi, and declared a true Daughter of Merrow, or be killed. On this fateful day, Sera finds out from her mother, Isabella (The Ruler of Miromara) there have been raids carried out by unknowns villains in the mer kingdom for over a year where entire villages have vanished. Sera’s mother stresses how important this alliance with Mahdi’s kingdom is to ensure their survival and might. As the Dokimi proceeds, Miromara is attacked and Sera’s mother is poisoned by an arrow and her father is killed. Sera and Princess Neela (her best friend) must flee with protectors. When they meet up with the River Witch, Baba Vraja, she tells the two princesses that there is an ancient evil monster, Abbadon who is going to destroy all the Mer kingdoms. Both Sera and Neela have been having these same bad dreams of terror and ruin being brought to bear on their families and kingdoms. Baba Vraja tells Serafina she is the chosen one who must find the five other brave mermaids and form an unbreakable bond to save their kingdoms. Can Sera and the five princesses keep hope alive and stop the destruction of their Mer nations? Jennifer Donnelly uses beautiful words and language to evoke the magic of the undersea worlds and their memorable characters. Readers will keep turning the pages as the tension mounts for the mermaids and you will root for their victory in the deep blue oceans. This will be enjoyed by middle school/junior high readers.

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