YA Book Review: Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
© 19 May 2010 by Katherine Tegen Books

Goodreads description:

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs.

Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned

Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings...

I'm not going to lie--I've got kind of a "thing" for mermaid stories right now.  So...I really enjoyed this.  Keep that in mind, lol.

This one started off a little slow, but once it started going it didn't stop.  I loved the author's descriptions of the undersea world.  She really made it seem breathtaking. I wanted to be there and I wanted my eyes to sparkle when I cried! (which, by the way, I thought was a really unique idea and such a beautiful image to create)

Lily annoyed me a little bit throughout with her one-track-mind obsession with pretty-boy Brody.  I just wanted to smack her at times!  I understand the obsession--it's a teenage girl stereotype and it drove the story.  You wouldn't have had the story without it.  I know that, but that knowledge didn't stop me from wanting to reach into the story and smack some sense into the girl! (And I'm not saying that I didn't LIKE Lily as a character...just that was a typical boy-crazy 17 year old!) In the end, however annoying I found her before, I felt bad for her and I thought she made the right/hard choice.  I felt heartbroken right alongside her.  She became more and more real to me throughout the book (and less annoying, lol). 

The epilogue that leads into the next book felt a little forced.  It won't stop me from reading the next book because I am so interested in seeing what else happens!  Lily really did a lot of maturing throughout this book, so I hope the next book expounds on that and takes the story to a new level.  Overall, this was an enjoyable read.