I would definitely recommend reading The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan if you are interested in selkie folklore, this book was an excellent YA read that I absolutely loved. While I enjoyed the selkie mythology, I found the story predictable, and the characters difficult to engage with. It was just something to read and then set aside.

Overall this book was okay it didn’t offend me in anyway but it didn’t really grab my attention either. The setting is beautiful and has a very dreamy summer feel to it. There were some very beautiful descriptions throughout the book as well. The writing was easy to read and the story wrapped up nicely. There were no twists and turns, the story was very simple and linear. Right from the beginning you can tell what is going on and what will happen.

Mara is searching for one of the lost Younglings and Noah is working with a marine biologist. I thought the story was a bit predictable and boring as well. The story ends up being fractured by all of the points of view and I feel like as soon as you start to engage with a character then suddenly you are reading from someone else’s POV. The point of view bounces from Noah, to Lo, to Mara (the young selkie), to Mara’s mom, to Noah’s professor, etc. I had a lot of trouble engaging with the characters though. None of the issues are explored in great depth, Lo’s bulimia does play a large role in the story though. Noah’s adopted sister Lo suffers from bulimia, so there is discussion about how Lo is fighting this horrible disease. For example Noah’s grandmother and her female friend are lifetime partners, so there is some brief discussion on how hard to was to be a lesbian back in the day. The book also explores some social issues but not in much depth.

Selkie mythology from various parts of the world is discussed and it was really interesting. This was the best part of the story for me. I really enjoyed the selkie mythology throughout the story. Things get even weirder when Noah finds out the beautiful girl he is drawn to is a selkie. Once there they notice something strange about their grandmother’s friend. Noah is working on a marine biologist internship there and Lo hopes to escape to a place where she can draw in peace. Noah and Lo are a brother and sister who go to live with their grandmother in her island home for the summer. There is a lot of interesting selkie mythology in here but I didn’t find the characters to be all that engaging. It was a decent book but not spectacular. I am always interested in selkie mythology and was curious and interested in reading this book. I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program.

Tides by betsy cornwell