Title: Wrecked
Author: Anna Davies
Release date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 321
Source: ALA
Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.
But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.
Wrecked is probably the worst mermaid book I’ve read and not for the reasons you would expect. The book had so much potential and it let me down so much. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t like Anna Davies’ debut novel more.
The biggest issue with Wrecked as a mermaid book? For most of the book I couldn’t even tell it was about mermaids. The chapters alternated between Miranda and Christian’s points-of-view but Christian’s chapters were only a few pages so there was almost no time spent Down Below and no development of the creatures that lived there. Most of the book Christian was actually Up Above and so readers never get to see him as a paranormal creature of the sea. Really, this book could have been a contemporary if a few things were switched around.
As for the characters, they all lacked depth and character. Miranda was depressed, that was pretty easy to see, but even before the accident she had no personality. After the accident she just felt sorry for herself. She hated that everyone blamed her for the accident but did she do anything to stand up for herself? No. She was a very weak main character as was Christian. Christian was supposed to be mysterious and brooding but really he just came across as creepy and stalkerish. His behavior was so dang odd. And let me just tell you, the relationship between the two would definitely be classified as insta-love. As for the supporting characters, Eleanor was the worst grandma ever, Teddy was pretty sweet, and the rest weren’t noteworthy. Eleanor was always forcing Miranda to do things to make herself look better. Teddy was the only good character. He’s Miranda’s little brother and it’s clear to see how much he cares about her. He was pretty much the only likable character.
The plot went nowhere for the first half of the book and then things ended all too abruptly. The first half of the book really could have been a contemporary. It was all about the accident and Miranda going back to school. It was rather slow and predictable but not quite as bad as the second half. Everything just came out of nowhere and was resolved within one chapter. I think my favorite part of the book was the epilogue. The ending didn’t seem great at first but the epilogue actually tied everything up and gave the book a good end.
Overall, Wrecked is not one I would recommend. Mermaids seem to be the new trend in YA but what I’m noticing about these books is that there is no middle ground. They are either amazing or seriously disappointing. Sadly Wrecked is one of the latter.
Looking for more reviews of Wrecked?
365 Days Of Reading’s review
Bewitched Bookworms’ review
Sorry you didn’t like Wrecked. I love mermaid books, but it’s too bad that this is barely about mermaids.
Lately, the mermaid books have been becoming worse. There have been so many released this year. I’ve found The Vicious Deep, Lies Beneath and Of Poseidon all somewhat of let downs. Lies Beneath was the biggest. They all seemed to lack the right elements to make an amazing mermaid book or story.
I guess I shouldn’t try out Wrecked.
Its to bad you didn’t like the book, I have been on the fence with this one because I have heard so many mixed reviews I think that I will skip it!!!
Admittedly, I’ve really wanted to read this book because I have been really interested in mermaids lately. But most of the reviews I have seen for this book have been 3 star reviews, so I am beginning to shy away from it. I can’t stand books that have plots that go absolutely nowhere. And if the author spends half of the book dragging us in circles that are unimportant to the overall plot of the book I’d probably have trouble getting through it.
Thank you for the honest review!
I can tell the character underdevelopment and the lack of time in the mermaid life really detracted from your enjoyment of this book.
Glad you liked Lies Beneath in terms of a mermaid book.
Have you read Of Poseidon? It’s hilarious!
Lovely review 🙂