Review | Forsaken (Daughters of the Sea #1) by Kristen Day

Author: Kristen Day
Published: January 27, 2015 (2012)
Publisher: Mark My Words Book Publicity
Format: PDF ebook ARC
Pages: 242
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Mythology, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…

Abandoned by her parents as an infant; seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until being adopted by the Whitmans three years ago. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah…or the strange events that plague her. Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and a dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity. Sent to live at The House of Lorelei on Bald Head Island, NC for ‘kids like her’, Hannah quickly realizes things are not what they seem. Her fellow ‘disturbed’ teens are actually the descendants of mythical Sea Gods and Goddesses. And so is she. But when Finn, the ghost from her dreams, appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love. She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesized to be a part of. The fate of all the descendants will forever depend upon it. (from NetGalley)

Review
I received this book in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

Forsaken turned out to be fantastic. Way better than I was expecting. I am surprised more people do not know about this series especially with how popular the Percy Jackson series has become. The cover caught my attention immediately and after reading the summary, I thought it would be something I would like to give a try. I love mythology especially when incorporated in a contemporary fashion. That it is a mermaid-esque story also intrigued me. I've never really read a lot of mermaid novels, and the ones I have read really didn't thrill me, however this one definitely exceeded my expectations, and I will be reading the second book.

Plot
The idea behind the story was pretty original. It is somewhat similar to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but other than these two series, I cannot think of a series or novel that takes this kind of take on ancient Greek mythology. In both series, the main characters do not know the legacy left for them, they go to a meeting place of people similar to them, and they face difficulties because of who they are and grow because of it. However, what I like about Daughters of the Sea is that it is from a girl's point of view. Just having that makes this story entirely different from Percy Jackson. Many stories like this seem male dominated. It is great to have these two stories from different perspectives.

I also liked that the focus was on mermaids and sirens instead of a different type of Greek Goddess. The whole idea is very romantic and mysterious--a lighter side of the current vampire craze.

The story was very well put together and thought out. The beginning had a bit of a style issue, but the content was great.

There was a lot more mystery involved than I thought there would be. I was hanging on every word wanting to know what would happen next. Some things were somewhat predictable, but that happens. For the most part though, the mysteries were very well thought out, and I did not know what would happen until everything came out. Once I got into the story, I could not put it down until I finished.

The ending was amazing. It definitely concluded the focus of the first book but left you wanting to know what is going to happen next so that you rush out for the second one (which I definitely will be doing).

Cosmetics
As I said, I loved the cover. From a distance, it captured my attention. The colors were beautiful and it looked interesting. Looking at the image blown up though and after having read the book, I am not sure why she is floating as if she is magically hanging in the air. It does not really look like she is drifting in the water, which is what I suspect they were going for. I also had an issue with the font used in the legends. I liked the grunge idea, but all the flourishes were annoying. I was extremely happy to see that it did not continue throughout the book. Then there was the campus map. I like the idea of maps, but this one was very bare bones making it rather unnecessary.

Scene switching was very smooth and easy to see. I hate when there are time jumps and no notice. It was very easy to tell when scenes or days changed.

POV was also consistently Stasia. I liked that there was only one POV for this story. I think things might have gotten a little too complicated with this story if there were too many POVs. There was already a lot of mystery and learning going on without needing to be in so many heads every few pages.

Style
The first 50 pages of the book were a bit choppy. It was as if the story at the school was what the author really enjoyed, and she only wrote the beginning out of necessity, which made it a little harder for it to come together. Time jumped a bit and there were a few small chronology errors within scenes. The biggest one that jumped out was in the first half of the first page: "She took a small step back from the front door of the town police station with what seemed to be a great deal of effort." Small things like this that screw with the sequence of your imagination are what make a book hard to read. My expectations plummeted after reading this, and I feared what the rest of the book would be like. I was extremely happy to discover things took a sudden change for the better and became captivated.

Once Stasia got to school and met her new roommates, the writing became much better. It was smoother and more descriptive/imaginative. I was completely swept up in the story and the next thing I knew it was four in the morning, and the book came to a close with an awesome closing line that left me wanting more.

Final Thoughts
I loved this book. Just looking at it invited me to come and read it. The style was a little lacking in the beginning but got much better once the actual story started. The events built on each other building up the anticipation and thrill of what was happening. I really hope book two is as good as or better than book one. I can see where this is going to be an amazing series.