Ursula is sick to death of mermaids.
Ready to carve out a name for herself, she uses an ancient spell to become human for the first time. As the vivacious Vanessa ventures on land, she discovers an incredibly powerful curse has hexed an entire village. Determined to find the source of this dark magic and possess it, she gains the trust of the charming boy who unwittingly cast the spell. Together, they must confront the evil creature who created it, but the villain isn’t always clear. As Vanessa struggles with the new feelings of her warm-blooded human heart, she must decide what is more potent—ultimate power or true love.

Like the title implies, this is the backstory to one of Disney’s most iconic villains, and you know whatever romance she might have with Andre Baros is going to end in tragedy. It’s a hard line for an author to walk, trying to get readers invested in the couple when they already know the ending of Ursula’s story. I think Langdon does a decent job of it. The novel switches between Vanessa and Andre’s POV, but one will note there is a preponderance of Andre’s POV in the beginning while Vanessa takes over the ending. It fits since Andre can fill in the gaps of the small seaside village that the story takes place and it breaks up Vanessa’s sometimes selfish idea of love, allowing readers to get more invested in their romance.

Meanwhile Vanessa’s POV takes up more of the second half of the book as we get into the magical action, and we see her more conflicted between love and power.

Honestly, Vanessa’s inner struggle between both is the highlight of the piece. I always dislike the retcon some authors do in that villains weren’t originally power-hungry, and all they want is love until big tragedy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s true for some, but Langdon keeps Vanessa’s core traits here, her fierceness, her viciousness, confidence, jealousy and manipulativeness. She hates to be vulnerable, which is exactly why one of the supporting characters says what she thinks she has with Andre isn’t truly love. It’s a desire to be adored, to be put above all else including his family who she views with a mix of desire for them to love her and jealousy that he’d choose them first.

Even her good actions are driven by selfish desire, rather than what the person wants. To love is to allow someone a chance to hurt you, and it’s what she can’t stand.

It gets even more intriguing as the spell that Andre accidentally cast on the village requires Vanessa to sacrifice what she truly loves. Obviously, with her burgeoning feelings for Andre, you think he is the key, but Langdon pulls off a twist that is satisfyingly resonant with Vanessa’s true character.

It’s easy to think that Vanessa’s softer feelings are due to her transformation as a human just like her uneasiness with her new legs, which is why she initially tries to dismiss her connection to Andre. But Langdon brings plausibility to the sparks. Andre is friendly, and compassionate, but he’s also able to read body language and bring joy to people’s lives with his herbal remedies, befitting his job as a salesman. Yep, a master bargainer like Ursula comes to be, and his kind nature aids him in seeing Vanessa as she wants to be seen, wonderful despite her unique figure and vicious moods. He loves her with her flaws, and it’s the first time anyone has ever cared for her that way. You want to root for them for that reason alone. At least I did.

His sister, Sara, is similarly good at heart and Vanessa first tries to use her naïveté to ingratiate herself into the Baros family, but then shares a genuinely sweet moment with her as a fellow outsiders. Sara, as a cripple, and Vanessa being the only cecaelia among merfolk. Like anyone, a villain isn’t all evil and Langdon tugs out that nuances while keeping Ursula on the path we know she’ll travel in the future.

While the descriptions of the town, and the heat between Andre and Vanessa can turn purple prose at times, Langdon balances it with a mystery fantasy adventure where Andre and Vanessa try to pinpoint the root cause of the curse for their differing reasons.

Unlike other Little Mermaid-based stories, Langdon chooses a Mediterranean setting for the village, not Denmark. Most likely Greece with the inclusion of Greek mythology as a major part of the mystery, tying it with King Triton being ruler of Atlantica, and Triton is one of the sons of sea god, Poseidon. A nice way to tie in real mythology with the Disney retelling, and fits in the bigger picture of Ursula being a sea-witch and trying to gain the powers of other sorceresses.

A very interesting fatal romance for Ursula that adds some more depth to the character while illuminating the flaws that will come to bite her later on.

4 stars.