Book Review #21: Mermaid Eclipse by N.E. Carlisle

Hello Dear Reader!

A little fun fact about this book: I was contacted by someone who asked if I could read it, which is always a super cool thing, because I never imagined that people would be asking me to read their book. Ever since I started Instagram, people have been reaching out to me randomly asking about things. While it doesn’t happen a lot, it does happen enough to the point where I feel kind of proud of myself. It’s definitely grown my confidence in my own abilities, and it’s made talking to people on the internet less scary.

ANYWAY! This book review is on Mermaid Eclipse by N.E. Carlisle. It’s a YA fiction book that explores the mysterious and special twin connection while weaving it together with lore about mermaids and other mythical creatures.

Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I read a book with mermaids in them, and I don’t know if I actually have read a book with mermaids in them, so it’s probably safe to say this is the first book I’ve ever read about mermaids… that isn’t The Little Mermaid.

Before I get into the review, here is the synopsis! (from Amazon):

Aunt Mallory dies in a mysterious boating accident, revealing a family curse…

The twins set out to uncover the truth about their family and what really happened to their aunt. They learn that everything they believe to be reality is just an illusion, and they must rely on each other and their faith to keep their family together. The one constant is their twin connection and the ocean…

With Mermaid Eclipse, N. E. Carlisle has written an exciting adventure about mermaids, perfect for any young adult interested in mythical creatures and the lore of the sea.

End synopsis. Review time!

The story is told through the eyes of main character, Muriel Lutey, twin sister of her older brother by a few minutes Morgan, and daughter of her artistic father Mitch and musically talented mother Lorelei. Muriel, or Muri for short, is a quirky fifteen-year-old girl who’s an introvert at heart, loves art, and hates the feel of sand on her feet. She does like the water though, which is great because a lot of this book takes place in the water. Muriel is also a very detailed note-taker, jotting down notes in her notebook whenever she thinks something is important enough to be written down, which also happens quite a bit in this book.

Surrounding Muriel is a cast of a wide variety of characters, including her good-looking brother Morgan, childhood friend Spencer, surfer cousin Brooke, her narcistic artist father, and her chronically ill mother who has a heart of gold and continues to see the bright side of things despite her illness. Her mother and brother are easily my favorite characters of the book right after Muriel because of how great they are as characters. It’s very clear that the twins love their mother very much, which comes at no surprise. She is an absolute angel and sweetheart, and she loves her children and husband with all of her heart.

Also, when I say her father is narcistic, he really is narcistic. I won’t spoil anything, but I really hated him for the good first half to two-thirds of the book.

Mermaid Eclipse takes place in the real world, mainly in various cities and towns in California, so I guess that would make this book a contemporary fantasy of some sort. It was pretty fascinating, how detailed the descriptions of these towns were. I could tell the author did her research on these places, because Muriel provided extensive knowledge of each of them, which made a lot of sense because these were places she had either been to before or had researched before traveling there. There was so much information revealed about them, that I actually felt myself wanting to travel there in the future.

Not much is revealed about the mermaid society and other mythical creatures in the book, which makes a lot of sense to me. It also continues to give them this mysterious air around them, which I love. The descriptions of the mermaids and other mythical creatures were beautiful, though. They reminded me of what I thought mermaids would look like when I was a kid, and they seriously took me back.

While there were a lot of things I really loved in Mermaid Eclipse, there were a few things that stood out to me a little bit. There are a few instances where Muriel turns into an encyclopedia of some sort, so those times where she reveals information about places in the book felt like a bit of an info dump. The reason why I don’t call them full-on info dumps is because the author ends up connecting what Muriel shares in the story itself, which is great! There were also times where the pacing was off for me personally. It started off slow, and the ending was pretty abrupt. Even though it ended quickly, I liked how the ending made me feel. It made me feel super frustrated, but in a good way. It made me want more, which is something I haven’t felt from a book in a while, so if the author is writing a sequel to this book, I’m probably going to read it, because that ending provides closure while also being a cliffhanger, which I love and hate.

So, Mermaid Eclipse rating:

8/10 and really wanting a sequel because I want to put an end to my frustrations. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It took me back to when I was in elementary school, reading books about fairies and other mythical creatures. If you like mermaid books or would like to start reading books about mermaids, check this one out!

That is all for this book review!

Thanks for reading!