I’m sure many are excited about the upcoming Little Mermaid remake. I’ll admit I’m not as the only interesting thing from the remakes are the new songs and I can find that on youtube. I was excited for this original tale by J. Elle and wow, did it deliver!

Taking place a year before the movie, this novel gives insight to this version of Ariel’s world as the Coral Moon Festival approches. The festival day where Ariel, like her six sisters before her, will receive her own sea to act as Protector. It will also reunite her sisters who’ve been away from home, leading and protecting their own seas. An event, Ariel looks forward to even though the sisters have been estranged since the death of their mother.

But Ariel’s excitment is dashed when King Triton informs her that he will be assigning Sebastian to watch over her first year as Protector, practically babysitting her! So unfair, but the tragedy comes later when Ariel’s oldest sister is kidnapped and will be turned over to Merhunters if King Triton doesn’t abidicate from the throne.

Firstly, it’s clear that Elle has a lot of love for the characters as Ariel is just as readers love her. Optimistic with boundless curiosity and a love for the unknown. She wants to explore and can’t wait to be able to see all her new subjects and hidden areas in Carinea, the sea she had been assigned. Just as Ariel is in-character, Triton is as well showing his gruff hard but butting up against Ariel mroe often than not with his narrow-minded prejudices, hot temper and over-protective ways.

But it’s not just a rehash of everything we know. Elle is able to create a fully formed world (not named Atlantica I noticed) with exposition that is organically woven in. Since this is an adventure as well as a novel about prejudice and family, Elle has Ariel travelling through her sisters’ seas, providing distinct description for each like icy Saithe, the desert-like Fracus, and tropical Chaine. You can easily imagine what each one is like.

There’s also specific cultural details like mermaids rubbing their wrists to indicate sadness; instead of little kid it is little fry; each girl has a MerSong which gives them a special power like Indira can shrink others, Pearla can paralyze etc. There’s also FastFins which is a material draped over the tail that allows them to swim faster than dolphins and make Ariel’s travels to different parts of the ocean more expedient and believable in the six day time frame the novel takes place.

This world is ruled by Triton with each daughter taking over a sea, and while it is populated by mermaids, it is also populated by sea monsters who are distrusted and despised. Long ago, Triton’s forefathers created the Mer-Sea Monster Treaty restructing sea monsters to certain zones, giving them the worst tasks, not acting on their complaints etc.

Sea monsters have Representative that works with each Protector but they have to be thoroughly vetted by Triton who still views them as lesser-than. The only one he trusts is his advisor, Unsengu who is like his brother and an uncle to Ariel.

Nonetheless, the prejudice informs a lot of the characters actions and reactions when Malta is kidnapped, and spreads to the rest of the kingdom which Ariel dispairs as she sees how Triton’s untrusting attitude has made her sisters suspicious and isolated from everyone.

That’s one thing that sets Ariel apart from others as she starts her own investigation over who kidnapped Malta as she doesn’t feel comfortable when Triton starts rounding up Carinea’s sea monsters for interrogation. She wants to protect everyone in her purview, not the few. Besides, the clues aren’t adding up.

The investigation is what leads her to meet Flounder for the first time who readers will enjoy his recognizable cowardly yet sweetly loyal personality to Ariel as they bond over traveling the seas.

Ariel also comes to recognize her own prejudice against sea monsters. Even though she sees herself as open-minded, she still instinctively sees them as dangerous. She becomes self-aware and her experiences interacting with different sea monsters make her more informed that Triton who believes she’s being naive, believing sea monsters can be good just because of the few trustworthy Representatives. She shoots back he is doing the exact same thing judging all sea monsters as bad just becauses of a few.

It’s a complicated situation as the tensions are so fraught and rumors are abounding on both sides. Everyone is complicit even Triton who Ariel knows can be a good king but the unjust, ill-informed views on sea monsters he has encouraged among his people are partly responsible for the revolt he is involved with now. Elle delivers several great lessons on the how trust should not be wielded as a weapon and everyone should be given a chance to show who they are before the world decides for them.

It is also a triumphant moment for Ariel as her investigations have made informed and confident enough to trust her instincts and stand up to her father when he tries to dismiss her voice.

However, the story is not just about prejudice but about sisterhood and grief. I’m an only child so I live vicariously through sibling stories and this one gives character to each of Ariel’s sisters. I loved getting to know each of them and how they each had their own bond with Ariel (including their own nickname). While they are kind to Ariel, they are bitter and jealous of each other, the grief of their mother’s death tearing the family apart. And the guilt each of them feel hardens the rift.
It also makes Ariel feel disconnected as she hardly remembers her mother or her death. Her sisters, when they do get along, are able to share memories and understand that grief, but Ariel can’t relate. So she tries to be the peace-maker and the sunshine for the family that has suffered so much loss. It makes her more determined to find Mala.

But as Ariel inadvertedly helps each sister find some peace with confronting their grief, she also realizes she has to grieve too for the mother she never knew yet wants to make her proud. She may not remember as the others, but she is connected to her mom and wants to honor her. She has the right even though she didn’t realize she had been holding herself back.

Even though I enjoyed getting to know each sister, and each sea they ruled so Ariel visited several, I wanted to know a little more of Indira and Caspia’s jealousy of Mala. Ariel dismisses it as envy for the perfect eldest daughter but I did wonder if maybe they had a slight point and Ariel’s pedestal of Mala was wrong. Also it kept describing Caspia as having purple-tinted hair but couldn’t see it in the advertising posters. Maybe that changed in production.

Oh, and I know African-American readers will enjoy Elle’s mention of Ariel’s locs and hair care as I know that’s an important part of the culture.

Anyway, this was such an enjoyable adventure. In fact, I’d rather have a movie of this instead of another remake. It would be exciting and they can use all the CGI they want on making grotesque sea monsters. Nonetheless, I suggest people read it for its fantastic messaging on prejudice, mistrust and grief with all the family feels and a cliffhanger connected to the movie.