The Mermaid's Sister

This is a review for The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble.
I give this book ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 4 stars, I liked it a lot.

Carrie Anne Noble has had a variety of jobs in her life including theatre student, restaurant hostess, nurses aide and newspaper writer.  This is her first published novel.  She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, children and pets.

There is no cure for being who you truly are...

The Mermaid's Sister is a charming tale of two sisters raised together by their adoptive mother "Auntie."  Clara is sixteen years old and contented with her life, she wishes to remain in her happy family forever but "wishing gets you nothing."  Clara's sister Maren is a mermaid and every passing day changes her more and makes her increasingly unsuited to life on land.  Clara wants to change her back into a human but there is no cure for being who you truly are.  Auntie found Maren in a conch shell on her doorstep one night.  Clara was delivered by a stork a few days later.  Clara realizes that her sister can't stay in their mountain home forever and she must be taken to the ocean if she is going to live.  Auntie can't leave the mountain so Clara must do it.  Clara has help from O'Neill who is the adopted son of a traveling merchant.  They load Maren up in the gypsy wagon and head for the ocean.  The road holds many perils for them and they will have to use all of their wits, bravery and strength to get Maren to the ocean before it is too late.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot.  The story is interesting, there are no major plot holes, the grammar is good.  The pacing could use work, some places it is very fast and others it is quite slow.  The characters are likeable or detestable as the case may be.  The hint of magic running throughout the story and the deeply interwoven relationships are wonderful additions.  Many things appear to be coincidences but are not at all merely chance.  I am not especially fond of first person narration but this story pulls it off nicely.

Overall I would recommend this book to fans of magical stories.  It teaches a useful lesson about accepting yourself for who and what you are.  If you have a teenager struggling with self-identity this wold be a good book for them.  I found no objectionable content, no sex, no cursing, no drugs.

I received this book free from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.