Book Review #30: Meraki: A Syren Story by Naomi Kelly

Hello Dear Reader!

I have another book review for you this week, and it’s another mermaid read! If that alone catches your attention, stay tuned, because I really enjoyed reading this one. Plus, it’s an indie read! This book is by @naomikellywriting, and there’s a sequel to Meraki called Kairos, and the cover looks absolutely beautiful!

Anyway, Meraki by Naomi Kelly is a unique blend of fantasy, mythological, and romance elements, tying them all together into a unique story with even more unique characters and a whole new twist on your typical mermaid. I’ll get into that later. For now, here is the back-cover summary (From Amazon):

"Keep an eye on her," he says loud enough for me to hear across the deck, "Make sure she doesn't try to fling herself overboard again. I have no intention of letting her slip away."

Her song is a gift bestowed by the gods; so why does it feel like a curse? Seventeen-year-old Wren thinks she has just swum away from the greatest threat in the sea. That's until she finds herself being hauled upon a warlord's boat. With her life at the mercy of a young, temperamental King, Wren must decide who is her ultimate enemy. Can Fate be altered? What do gods have planned?

Syrens are bound to tell the truth, but that doesn’t mean their lives cannot be riddled with lies.

Synopsis end. Review time!

Main character, syren, and narrator of the story Wren is a strong-headed ball of sass with a hot temper and a kind, loving heart. She’s definitely one of the stronger female leads I’ve encountered in a book, and seeing that she’s a determined fighter is refreshing to me. I loved her sass and attitude throughout the entire book, and sometimes her internal dialogue made me laugh, which is kind of rare for me. She’s also pretty smart and is able to come up with plans under high-stress situations, which I also admire. I also love the depth of her character. While she is a strong character, she also has her own weaknesses and troubles, making her a well-rounded and realistic character.

The main supporting cast of characters in Meraki are also characters that have a bit of depth to them, especially her main love interest, Kellan. Able to resist syren song because of a detail I won’t spoil, Kellan is introduced as someone who is rather ruthless, likes having control, and will do anything to get what he wants; however, throughout the book, the author plops in scenes that show more of his kind, caring, and soft side, which put me in this weird limbo of liking and disliking him for a while. Also, I would like to mention there is a gay couple in this novel, and this couple is treated with the utmost respect and kindness. Same-sex relationships are pretty much normalized in this world, and it was a nice detail. Not to mention one of the people in said couple is a royal, so seeing their townspeople approve of his relationship was also really refreshing to see.

The world of Meraki is a really beautiful blend of fantasy and mythology. Throughout the book, there are mentions of different Greek gods, mainly Poseidon and Ares. In addition to the syrens, there are other mentions of mythological creatures, such as harpies, centaurs, hippocampi, goblins, and Hydra.

Yes, Hydra.

There’s a lot of lore in this story, which I absolutely love! There’s a lot of mythological elements in it, and I loved every reference I found and understood. Because there’s so much going on in this world, I feel like there’s a lot of background information about this world that hasn’t even been touched on yet, let alone expanded upon, and I’m really looking forward to reading more about it in the sequel.

Even though there’s a lot I loved about this book, there were a few things that pulled at me while reading it. One main thing that stuck out to me was how fast-paced this story was. Towards the beginning, I felt as if it were paced just fine, but the more I read, the more the story felt like it rushed, and I felt like it hindered a couple aspects of it, such as the romance in the book and the ending. The enemies-to-lovers trope is very much present in this book, and I feel because of its fast pace, the relationship building between Wren and Kellan suffered a bit. It jumped into romance rather than grew into it in my opinion. While they were cute, I did wish the romance was more gradual. I won’t get into the ending for spoilers’ sake, but I will touch on the action scenes. They didn’t really hit that hard for me. I was stuck between feeling a rush and feeling neutral about them. Despite these things that stuck out, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I absolutely love Wren!

So, Meraki: A Syren Story rating:

7/10 and definitely recommend, especially if you like a good twist on your typical mermaid, especially if that twist incorporates Greek mythology. I’m definitely really looking forward to reading the sequel, Kairos.

That’s all for this book review! I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, go check out @naomikellywriting on Instagram! She does some pretty amazing things on her page.

Thanks for reading!