I have a confession to make. I have a sort of thing for fictional guys with wings. If this weren’t a YA blog I might even call it a kink. I don’t really know why. I just think guys with wings are better than guys without. You know?
So, when I read the blurb for this book, I got a little excited.
For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren–the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn’t seen since childhood–a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.
Not only does the guy have wings, but the girl is a mermaid. Second confession time. My best friend growing up (*waves at Candace*) had a pool in her backyard and we would spend hours in there pretending to be mermaids. And sometimes dolphins. And sometimes Sailor Moon but that was unrelated to the pool.
So, basically, this book was written for me. Both childhood me and adult me. Between the Sea and Sky is a short, fast read but that in no way dampens the richness of the world it takes place in or the depth of the characters. The world has three different main areas to it. Under the water, on the land, and in the sky. And the story is about how someone from beneath the water and someone from the sky can meet in the middle and find each other on land.
The relationship between Esmerine and Alandare is palpable from the first moment they see each other. They were forbidden childhood friends before this and when they come across one another as adults, it’s perfectly clear that for neither of them was it ever going to be friendship.
Esmerine is on a mission to find her sister and enlists Aandare to help her find her sister fast. Because Alandare can fly. Because he has wings. And we like boys with wings. Yep. Anyways, in their journeys we get too see a lot of different parts of the world and get a true appreciation for the complexity of the different cultures that pepper it. I loved the glimpse we got into the winged people’s lives and how constrained it seemed despite the freedom we, as land bound humans, always seem to associate with flying. I really loved that.
I guess that was what the book was really about. Finding the freedom from one’s culture or society to go after what one really wants. And what Esmerine and Alandare really wanted, since they were children, was each other.
All in all the story was cute and one in which I really cared for the characters and wanted them to be happy. I will say I thought the ending was slightly rushed. Or something. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was, but I wanted something a little more before…well, before that final scene which I enjoyed immensely.
I highly recommend this book for a fun, fast read, with a cute romance, and characters you want to cheer for.