Skin of the Sea

Natasha Bowen

Nov 2021 · Of Mermaids and Orisa Book 1 · Sold by Random House Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The must-read Black mermaid fantasy series that #1 NYT bestselling author Nicola Yoon calls “epic and original,” in which one mermaid takes on the gods themselves. Perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and anyone who can't wait for the live-action The Little Mermaid.

“Riveting.” —NPR
“Evocative.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Remarkable.” —Buzzfeed

A way to survive.
A way to serve.
A way to save.

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable—she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.

To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There's the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail . . .

Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she fails, she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

Ratings and reviews

'Skin of the Sea' by Natasha Bowen is one of those books I was obsessed with reading from the moment I saw it announced. The cover is beautiful, the topic is a favorite of mine, and it boasts inspiration from West African mythology. From a technical side, everything is where it should be. Major plot points, reveals, and dramatic moments are spread along at a solid pace. Simi is kind and likable. She tries hard to do the right thing and has a lot of potential to be a deeply interesting character, as does Kola and the small found family he's surrounded himself with. The gods we get to see her interact with, have intriguing origins and I would have loved to see a bit more of them in particular. In fact, I feel that's the book's biggest strength.. great elements.. be they mythological, magical, or otherwise. What each of these things really lack is depth. There's so much room to develop them for the reader and that never really happens. The author attempts it here and there, but ultimately those forays are a handful of pages buried within many more that feel unnecessarily long. It's definitely a quick read, as I made my way through it in about 3 hours.. but I feel in part this is due to the book being largely filled with fluff. Little things like using the characters names seemingly every sentence or two at times, the drawn out semi-formal sentence structure more likely to be found in high school essays than novels, and scenes that are a bit of a waste dragging through multiple pages as characters engage in repetitive conversations or too much focus is put on peripheral events like the traveling or meals, rather than using those moments to really build connections. As debut's go, this one is decent. Bowen has the pieces, she just needs the experience using them to build a robust story.. and I do think she could have a bright future in the genre of her choice if she shifts her attention to the meatier parts. (I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)

Kcc

About the author

Natasha Bowen is a New York Times bestselling author, a teacher, and a mother of three children. She is of Nigerian and Welsh descent and lives in Cambridge, England, where she grew up. Natasha studied English and creative writing at Bath Spa University before moving to East London, where she taught for nearly ten years. Skin of the Sea is her debut novel and the start of an epic series born out of her passion for mermaids and African history. Natasha is obsessed with Japanese and German stationery and spends stupid amounts on notebooks, which she then features on her secret Instagram. When she's not writing, she's reading, watched over carefully by Milk and Honey, her cat and dog. Follow her on Twitter at @skinofthesea.