Reviews of Between The Land And The Sea

Between the Land and the Sea by Derrolyn Anderson is an exciting and thrilling young adult mermaid story. Surprisingly, I haven’t read that many books on these particular supernatural creatures, so I was looking forward to diving into the story.


Marina is a strong heroine who prides herself on being independent. Sometimes her closed-off nature gets her into trouble, because she doesn’t want to burden others with her problems. Like all good characters, Marina isn’t perfect. She has flaws, but tries to work through them. I certainly wouldn’t say that she is over her independent streak by the end of Between the Land and the Sea, I expect it is something she will struggle with throughout the whole of the series.


This being a young adult romance book of sorts, Marina’s relationship with Ethan takes up a lot of the book. However, it doesn’t overwhelm the story. There are plenty of other plotlines that keep the romance from taking over things. Plus, their relationship develops at a reasonable pace. Marina doesn’t throw herself at Ethan and Ethan earns her trust over a period of time. They also have ups and downs, which keeps things realistic. After all, these are teenagers – moods swings, hormones and all.


As far as the secondary characters go, there were some I loved and some that were just so-so. Abby, Marina’s aunt felt very familiar to me, she reminded me of a lot of my friend’s mother. She was a bit offbeat and incredibly kind. However, Marina’s cousin and his best friend fell a bit flat for me. I felt like they were one-dimensional and they did not really make a big impression on me. I also felt like at times Cruz’s (Marina’s cousin) storyline pulled the focus off of Marina’s. Cruz’s storyline certainly had a different tone than Marina’s and it disrupted the flow of the book.


Another element of the story that kind of threw me off was the sheer perfection of Marina’s world. At times things were just too difficult to believe – and I don’t mean her aquatic heritage. Marina was just too perfect – she’s a brilliant, beautiful globetrotting teen who has a wildly successful father (he wins a Nobel peace prize) and an unbelievably rich “Aunt” who lives to dote on her with lavish gifts - I am talking about prada, Gucci and sports cars. Then, her cousin, Cruz, is supposedly this undeniably talented teen fashion designer (who Aunt Evie takes under her wing). I just think that Marina’s real world is too far-fetched. These portions of her life are supposed to be rooted in reality and I just can’t say that I bought it. The unrealistic aspects of her life certainly affected the overall feel of the story and I think that to a point, it hindered it.


That being said, I did enjoy the fantastic portion of Marina’s life and things that directly pertained to it. I thought that her relationships with and reactions to the mermaids were incredibly intriguing. I don’t want to give plot points away, but things get dark and dangerous and I thought Anderson did a great job with the pacing. That’s why I had a hard time with the “realistic” portions of the book – they created a light, fluffy tone, when I much preferred the darker feel of the mythical side to the story.


Although I had a few issues with the book, I really did enjoy Between the Land and the Sea. Marina was an interesting character who is forced to deal with some very exciting and complicated challenges. Ethan was a decent love interest and I cannot wait to see their relationship develop further. The book had a few pacing errors, but when it was solely focused on Marina’s storyline the pacing was spot on. I am looking forward reading the sequel, I cannot wait to see where Anderson takes things from here. This was definitely a great start to a series!

RECEIVED FROM: The Author For Review


***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Marina is about to start her senior year of high school in a new school, the first she's ever actually attended, and for the first time without her Dad there to support her. Marina's father is a agronomist who's spending the year in Afghanistan to help them develops ways to feed their country, while Marina is going to Aptos, California to live with her Aunt Abby and her cousin Cruz in their little seaside town. She believes her life is over until she encounters a sexy boy named Ethan and an ethereal mermaid name Lorelei. Soon she's drawn into the little seaside town and the mysteries of the ocean it borders, embarking on a dangerous quest to find out who she is and where she comes from. Will she survive to discover the answers she seeks?

The summary isn't the best description of the book, but lately I seem to find myself staring at a blank screen forever just to try to find the right words to both summarize and review the books I've read. I don't know if it's having a blog that's creating this loss for words in my writing or just some temporary mental block, but hopefully it goes away soon. Anyway back to the review.

This book is really more of a 3.5 stars than 3 but I don't do half ratings since I copy my reviews to my different profiles it's easier to stay with solid stars since that's what the other sites use. I actually only found two things that I think detracted from what is an otherwise well written and interesting story, however one of them was just so big that it dropped my rating considerably.

The first thing that bothered me, and this is actually the smaller one was that the characters seemed to have this inside joke that was never explained to the reader. There's multiple scenes with giggling characters where I didn't really understand what was so funny. To the characters in this novel there's apparently something hilarious about the statement "That's what she said." I didn't get it and there's nothing worse than being on the outside of a joke. Okay well there is, but it still sucks when you're left out.

The thing that I thought was the major flaw with this book was the Mary Sue tendencies of the characters and their lifestyles. They weren't quite perfect but they were darn close, at first I wasn't going to ding this book so hard for this, but it was her father winning the Nobel prize that kind of put it over the top for me. Marina has traveled extensively attending online school because her father is not only a brilliant agronomist (a job that to be honest I'd never heard of before reading this book.) but also holds a faculty position at a prestigious university. Apparently he's powerful enough that Marina can get her own way on all her classes just by mentioning his name to the school guidance counselor.

She herself is brilliant and is only attending high school because her father feels she's too independent and needs to learn to be around her peers. It's pretty apparent that no one really expects her to learn anything new academically there. Let's not forget that's she's beautiful and mystical as well.

Her neighbor, who's pretty much adopted her to the point she's referred to as Aunt Evie, is a retired fashion model who dresses Marina is Prada and other top of the line designers just because she enjoys doing it. If that weren't enough with this flamboyant character she has a basement full of expensive cars that she lets Marina learn to drive on and oh she's the original fashion "it" girl. Not to mention the fabulous Evie spends her time searching out hidden talents in fashion and music and helping them succeed in the business. (I seriously need an Aunt Evie.)

Her cousin Cruz, though a social outcast is a brilliant but as of yet undiscovered fashion designer. His best friend Meghan is a song writer with the most amazing voice. And we can't forget that Evan the boy who falls for Marina is the hottest and most respect guy in school. He's the best surfer on the beach, works all the time to achieve his future and adores the perfect Marina.

I had planned to mention this from about the introduction of Aunt Evie, but I hadn't planned to make as big of a deal of it in my review until Dad won the Nobel prize. That's just what put it over the top for me. The only negative things really in the character's lives is that Ethan doesn't have a lot of money and his mother ran off when he was only a kid. Cruz is a social outcast, and believe his father died in a car crash when he was a baby only to learn later that his father was a married man who tried paying his mother to abort him. Meghan is overweight and also a social outcast. And finishing out the social outcast crew is Marina who's mother died in child birth. It's as if the writer has found a couple flaws she likes and just attributed them to every character.

The book however is extremely well written, fast paced and a quick and enjoyable read. The plot has some interesting twists and turns that keep readers turning the page. The only thing I think the writer needs to learn is that perfect characters may lead wonderful lives, but it's harder for a reader to relate to characters whose lives they envy than a characters who has just as many issues as they do. Overall though I really did enjoy reading this book and I would recommend it to others who enjoy young adult urban fantasy novels. It's an excellent debut novel from a writer I look forward to reading more of. There's an obvious talent in the writing and the ability to weave a page turning story. I only hope that the characters become a little more believable in future works.

I was not impressed with this book. I received a free copy through a book club I joined on goodreads and i'm glad I got it free. The main character was not believeable. She jumped from emotion to emotion unnaturally and I kept waiting for her to have a heart to heart with her father about being a daughter of a mermaud. The characters just never felt developed enough.

** spoiler alert ** Marina is a very lucky girl. She has a renowned scientist as a father, she travels a lot, she has a rich "aunt" who pampers her with high couture clothing, accessories, shoes, etc., she lives with an aunt and cousin who care a lot for her, she meets a handsome surfer who is going to fall in love with her. Besides that, she is part of a mystery, an adventure that envelopes her. This is the story of Marina, a girl who has everything she wants and so easily conferred upon her.

It was far too easy for Marina: meeting Ethan, looking good with all her high-end clothing and shoes, being strong as she is and fending off the "mean beach girls" who bully Cruz and Megan. Marina is the archetype of every teenager's dream: rich, talented, beautiful, mysterious, and the hottest surfer after her. It was sickening...slightly.

I found myself rolling my eyes whenever Marina spoke with such eloquence about what she was wearing and the accessories that came with it. Honestly, I didn't care. The author made Marina seemed like she didn't care about fashion too, but her actions and descriptive words pointed to a different direction. Marina did care and that score a point against her in my eyes.

Ethan, the stereotypical handsome surfer who falls in love with the new girl in town. He is unlike the rest of the surfers he hangs out with and he is deeply concerned about Marina. I just wished there was more dynamics to the romance stories nowadays. This "love" story between Marina and Ethan has been told and regurgitated so many times that is getting old. I just wished the author had come up with something entirely different for both of them. Or have Ethan be something else than a hot surfer. In a sense, I felt the author was also stereotyping California as being the land of hot surfers and beautiful, but bitchy, beach girls with short bikinis. It was all so annoying. I live in California and that is not true.

As I mentioned before, everything came so easy for Marina. It is almost unrealistic.

As for the plot, the mystery was alluring, but I was hoping for more mystery as to Marina keeping the secret for herself instead of telling everybody she knew about it. It just killed the suspense. I got bored when Marina was drowned so many times and rescued as well. I believe that was what I read most of the time. In the last part, when she was pulled into the ocean by the group of mermaids, she got turned into one. But Naida relinquished on Marina giving her a period of 50 moons to decide if she wanted to give up immortality. I think the mermaids let her go way too easily despite the fact that the mermaids wanted to get her into the ocean so vehemently. I just think there are serious inconsistencies in the plot.

I also thought it was all very predictable. I wasn't surprised at the twists (if there were any that is). And wasn't surprised at the characters' attitudes and personalities among each other. I knew those type of characters because they're all stereotypes repeated over and over again in supernatural, young adult fiction!

As for the way the book is structured and where the writing style is concerned... I think the author used way too many words that could've been expressed in less. Translated, that means that this book was unnecessarily long. There were a lot of needless descriptions that only showed me Marina's shallowness. To be honest, I skimmed over some paragraphs of the book and in the end, I felt I understood the essence of the story without reading those paragraphs. The dialogues were what I aimed to read the most because I discovered so much through them. I honestly didn't need to know every single detail of their action. Sometimes you have to let the reader wander off with details.

The mermaids are nice creatures in the book. But mythology says that they lure and drown sailors (like Peter Pan). This wasn't the case. They were nice creatures. I was a bit thrown off by this part because the author twisted the mermaids to make it conform to a typical young adult novel. It was like having a vampire who doesn't die in the sun, but sparkles in it. Utter nonsense. It would have been more thrilling to have the mermaids wanted to threatened Marina's life than being all innocent about it.

Last but not least. The romance. Ugh. I've read this type of romance all over again. Sacrifices? Love beyond everything? To sacrifice eternal life for someone you love? This is a noble act of love, but I've read about it in almost every supernatural, young adult novel. It just doesn't change, does it? And to topple it off, a surfer had to be included in the picture. Not just any kind of surfer, but the "good" type of surfer guy. I found myself hating Ethan rather than loving him for his gentleman-like personality and warm attitudes. Every girl's dream? I don't think so.

I hope all the best for Marina in the second installment.

On a final note, I would not cataloged this as fantasy.

I was super excited to read a fantasy book about Mermaids. Unfortunately this is one of those books which makes you think why on earth did I even start this Book. The topic is good and I was expecting more out of it but unfortunately I was disappointed with the outcome. The story has a good pace and the characters are much much better then the usual YA books or Chic Lit books. Still the way the story was built the end was really disappointing, it actually felt that the author was told to please finish the 1st part asap.
The worst part is there is nothing in this book that will make me read the 2nd part. There is no intrigue at all; the end is the end that's it. I don't think I would have known that there is a 2nd part if it was not mentioned at the start.
Hopefully the 2nd part will be better then this.

(no rating)
When I started this book I was unsure of how to classify it as there are so many different places to place it. Upon finishing it I decided that the best classification to place it in would be Young Adult or Fantasy.

As to the book itself, it is very enjoyable. I liked the main character development as well as the surrounding relationships even though I did feel at times that they where forced into acting the way they did. Marina is at times very troubled and that makes her easy to relate to. I did find her cousin very interesting though I do believe he should have been developed more.

There where only two issues I have had with the book and one I have already mentioned and that is supporting cast development and second would be that the ending seemed rushed. The confrontation with the antagonist at the end seemed almost to easy. This could be because there is more coming in other books though I would consider the end of this one an almost stand alone.

I did like the book and think it deserves to be read by those in their young teens.

(no rating)
Marina normally travels with her Dad as part of his job. This time her Dad has to go to Afghanistan for a year and doesn't feel that it is safe for her to travel with him. So she dejectedly moves in with her aunt and cousin, in a small coastal town.

She goes down to the shore and happens upon a mermaid who calls her "sister". She falls into the water and between the mermaid and popular surfer, Ethan, they rescue her from drowning. Ethan then is asked by Marina's aunt to give Marina swimming lessons and thus the romance starts.

Meeting up with the mermaid again, she comes to find out that her mother was a mermaid. The mermaid wants Marina to follow her to get Marina's birthright, inherited when her mother passed away giving birth to her. Now she has a choice to make that will affect her whole future.

This was a relly good read. It flowed smoothly and was easy to follow. No distracting typos.

(no rating)
Between The Land and The Sea is a romance fantasy book about a girl who discovers her true identity after having to move back to live with her paternal aunt and cousin due to her father leaving for Afghanistan. The author develops the story and characters interestingly enough however I find Marina to be a little annoying and predictable. The book offers a modern fairy tale version of The Little Mermaid with a hint of Cinderella (having a Aunt Evie instead of a Fairy Godmother)and a mix of some asian folklore as well. This is my first YA Mermaid book and was pleased that it was a fun and easy read.