Unwritten Future

Published: October 19th, 2011
The Mers
By: Ami Blackwelder
CreateSpace
ISBN-13: 9781466455153


A Mermaid Dystopian
What lies beneath the surface? One hundred years from now, the world has changed and brought with it, new forms of life. Who are the Mers? Who is Mira? Mira always knew she was different. Growing up with Mers, she never quite fit in. When Mira breaks the rules and takes Niren across the border that divides Ellis Island and New Jersey, a border that divides two vastly different worlds, she thought the journey to find out who she really is would be an easy one. But as the world in Jersey proves to be a convoluted mix of Aristocrats who hate the Mers, Pirates who want to sell them, and Magi who want to use them...finding her true identity will be a challenge, especially when her best friend Niren is a Mer willing to fight to the death.

Review

   Mira is a teenage girl living in a shattered world, a world that survived a massive flood and is mostly made up of water now.  Humans have been evolving to adapt to their new environment, some being born with gills and webbed hands/feet.  This has caused wars between the newly evolved humans, named Mers, and the humans who have stayed the same.  The wars are supposedley over, but the races remain separated and pirates steal away unsuspecting Mers to sell their bodies piece by piece to the wealthy humans who use them to try and live forever.  Mira has realized that even though she lives as a Mer, she isn't one.  All she wants is to know where she comes from and who her real parents are.  But all Mira manages to do when she steals away to the human side of the divide is cause major trouble for all the Mers, especially her best friend Nerin and his sister Nerissa.  It sparks the remnants of the war, threatening to blow up the powder keg of resentments lying in wait.  Who will be left standing in the end, humans or Mers?  This was an extremely interesting read and I liked the plotline.  It was like nothing I've ever read before and I can honestly say it's the first Mermaid-dystopian I've ever heard of!  The beauty of the language and the plot couldn't make up for the truly lacking dialogue and the two-dimensional characters who I never really cared about at all.  I read disinterestedley because I was not emotionally connected to Mira enought to care whether she won or not.  And that is a deal-breaker for me.  I would recommend this to curiosity seekers looking for something truly different and younger teens who might be swept up in Mira and Nerin's romance.

VERDICT: 2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the author herself, via LibraryThing. No money was exchanged for this review. The publication date of this book was October 19th, 2011.*