This book is the third in the Viridian Deep series by Terry Brooks. If you haven’t read the other books, you should start with Child of Light. It’s a much better book.
Overall, I gave this book 3 stars. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s about average. It won’t make my recommended reads list. I’ve been a huge fan of Terry Brooks, so there’s no hating on him. This book just fell flat for me. The main character Char wasn’t very relatable, the idea of a Merrow (essentially a mermaid) is interesting but not explored enough to hook me, and the key turning point in the plot hindered on a…not so good dialogue sequence.
Char starts off as an interesting lead character, but quickly falls flat, often repeating the same inner dialogue throughout the book. It’s difficult to say why I feel so caught up in some characters and not in others. In Char’s case, her character wasn’t relatable and she essentially went through the same journey as Auris from book one of the series. Although she was in great danger at times, it never felt life threatening. She bounced in and out of trouble, with every escape or capture telegraphed.
The plot hinged on Char discovering who she really was, what happened to her mother, and a balance of connecting with the Merrow and reconnecting with her fae side. Although all of those points are resolved in the end, I didn’t feel satisfied with the ending. I won’t spoil the ending, but it isn’t Brook’s finest.
You can buy this book locally in Ottawa here or you can purchase it online from Amazon Canada here. More by Terry Brooks here.