Last month, during the mermaid readathon that I participated in I came across a post for an ARC of C.W. Rose’s debut novel, Oceansong. I sent in my application and was kindly sent an ARC of Oceansong. It took me longer than I expected to read this novel as I’ve been going through reading fatigue but I recently completed Oceansong and wanted to share my thoughts of this book with you all. Today is also Oceansong’s publication day so congratulations to C.W. Rose! If you’re reading this, thank you for letting me read an early copy of Oceansong and I cannot wait to see what you do next!
C.W. Rose is a fantasy and romance author who writes about ordinary Asian women in extraordinary situations. She is also a certified scuba diver and lifeguard with a deep love for the world and animals. Outside of writing, you can find her buried in a great book, learning to sing in different languages, and finding any excuse to spend time outdoors. She’s also a third culture kid who grew up in Singapore, and currently lives in New York City with her family, working as a Physical Therapist. Oceansong is her debut novel.
DISCLAIMER: I was provided with an advance reader copy of this book for free. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Links included in this post might be affiliate links. I may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.
DESCRIPTION
Fish are mysteriously disappearing, starving the people in Angie Song’s Alaskan hometown. Angie, an aspiring marine biologist and dock worker, enthusiastically joins the hunt to find out where the fish are gathering. When her family and the villagers discover that merfolk are responsible, they vow to destroy every last one. In the midst of the conflict, Angie faces off with a merman and fails to pull the trigger.
Inquisitive Mer-Prince Kaden is just as snarky as Angie, but he’s willing to talk and stop the brutal massacring of his people. The two form a cautious alliance to broker peace between the humans and mer before any more of them die.
As tensions clash between the two races fighting to control the sea’s resources, Angie and Kaden’s forbidden relationship ignites. And as she learns about the mer’s mysterious world and the reason why the fish are gone, Angie starts to question who the true monster is, and where her loyalties lie. Taking the wrong side means choosing between family and her job, or the man she’s fallen for and the merfolk she’s come to respect-or losing it all.
WHAT I LOVED
Oceansong is a beautifully written modern-day adult contemporary Asian Romeo & Juliet meets The Little Mermaid novel. The prose of certain sentences and paragraphs was just a joy to read! The way C.W. Rose described the ocean and underwater scenery was gorgeous to read. Reading Oceansong was like a breath of fresh ocean air in a cool icy Alaskan sea.
I read a lot of mermaid books this summer but I believe Oceansong might be the only one where a merman was the main character, I found it delightful to read about his underwater life. This was also the only fictional book that I read that revolved around an Asian protagonist. There are so many mermaid books out there but unfortunately, not as many of those books have diverse main characters but the thing is stories about mermaid-like creatures have existed for years and these stories come from around the world so I’m glad more POC are writing books about people who look and think they do because I for one would love to read a more diverse mermaid book.
One of the reasons that I signed up to read Oceansong was because it’s set in Alaska and I have a strange fascination with Alaska setting and a mermaid book based in Alaska seemed like the perfect match for me! I enjoyed reading about the colder climate and how the ocean took place in this region.
There is a war in Oceansong and as a result, there is a lot of mention about death and blood, more than I expected which I appreciated because I feel like most authors don’t go too much into battle scenes and I think C.W. Rose did a fantastic job at imagining the underwater and on-land war scenes.
WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE
Rushed romance always leaves a bad taste in my mouth especially when it involves turning against your family and I felt the two main charaters were more interested in their forbidden love life rather than trying to end a vicious war against their people, many of whom died! To be fair, they did attempt a few times but I felt they didn’t try hard enough and ran away from their issues instead of trying to find a solution. I didn’t think either of the main charaters were heroic enough and I thought this may end up going the Romeo & Juliet route.
In my opinion, the ending was a bit of a letdown, There was so much built-up just for everything to be quickly resolved, it just felt too rushed. I have a big problem with books spending too much time on the main plot and not spending as much time explaining the ending in a satisfying way. On the cover of Oceansong, it does say ‘Book One’ so maybe C.W. Rose will be expanding the story and releasing a follow-up in the future. Time will tell.
OTHER THINGS TO NOTE
I’m not into romance novels and Oceansong was pretty safe compared to what is out on the book market right now. However, there are a few sex scenes but it doesn’t distract from the main plot of this novel just something to take note of. I know some people enjoy reading sexy scenes so if you’re into that type of stuff then there are some scenes involving mermaids in Oceansong.
Most of the plot of Oceansong revolves around war and as a result, there is a lot of violence, blood, imprisonment, and torture of mythical creatures. Other possible trigger warnings include mentions of parental death, suicide, and assault.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I enjoyed Oceansong and highly recommend this novel if you’re intrigued after reading my review. I love supporting emerging authors and C.W. Rose has so much potential and I can’t wait to see what other novels she releases in the future! Go and follow C.W. Rose on Instagram and all her other social media to stay updated on her work.
You can purchase Oceansong here
What’s your favorite mermaid book?
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