Silence: Little Mermaid Retold

I loved it. I discovered an addictive style of writing which made me finish the book in two nights. It was a fairytale for adults, with a slight twist in the ending, which came too soon for me. I recommend it as a fun, light read. And I will definitely read more of this author's books.

This is a creative retelling of The Little Mermaid. Margareta is a siren, but even her father doesn't know it. After she rescues a squire, Erik (you know the story), her brothers do something terrible and are cursed by a witch. There are two options for them. First, they can find women who will fall in love with each of them. Apparently there is little chance of that, so their father appeals to his daughter for the second option, one woman who loves all of them can choose to go without speaking until the witch deems the woman has earned their freedom from the curse. Of course Margareta agrees. Margareta also has the magical ability to control the waters due to her siren heritage. It's a fun twist on the sea witch part of the story.

The show more problem with this book is that it isn't sure what it is. While I know that there is a niche market for dirty adult fairy tales, this reads like a YA novel except for the scenes where both Erik and Margareta think about and ultimately act out their more primal urges. It's not even the actions that are bothersome, it's the way they're described. For two naive and inexperienced individuals, it feels dirty. Margareta's friend is also a bit explicit, although perhaps that can be overlooked since she was happily married until her husband died. It's unfortunate, because otherwise I enjoyed the originality of the tale and it could have been a fun addition to the growing archive of YA fairy tale retellings.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Story Origin and have reviewed it willingly. show less

I love The Little Mermaid so was excited to listen to the retelling by Demelza Carlton.
Margareta was on a ship that sinks and apart from her there was only one other survivor Prince Eric, she has to turn into a mermaid to save him and brings him back to her father.
Years go by during that time and she breaks a curse of the Master of Beacon Isle’s sons y staying silent for six years, she is now a silent Siren.
Prince Eric comes looking for before the six years is up, how will she communicate with him without a voice?
This was a beautiful tale and very similar to the original but with extra twists and a small link to the previous book in the series.
Mary Sarah’s narration was brilliant, I liked her voice changes for the characters, it show more made it easy to listen to and she has a smooth, enjoyable voice.
I really enjoyed it. show less

This is a very interesting adaptation of the Little Mermaid that has some reference to the six swans with Margareta taking a vow of silence to break the curse that turned her brothers into birds although here it's twelve brothers into ravens instead of six into swans and her brothers deserved to be cursed rather than being victims. I liked the characters of Erik and Margareta as well as Penelope and look forward to reading more about them in future stories.

Series Character & Story Connections for Silence: Little Mermaid Retold (Book #05)
To read about where Margareta's brothers went and how Corbin broke his wing during their attempts to break the curse, their story is told in Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold (Book #04)
To read show more about Rosamond, whose story starts at Margareta and Erik's coronation, it's in Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold (Book #06)
If you'd like to read Melitta's tale, when she's all grown up, it's in Embellish: Brave Little Tailor Retold (Book #07)
If you’re looking for Penelope and Godfrey’s story, it’s in Float: Enchanted Horse Retold (Book #19) show less