Publishers Weekly
Seventeen-year-old Lily is not like the other girls at her high school--indistinguishable from humans in her two-legged form, she’s secretly a half-human, half-mermaid princess from the undersea kingdom of Thalassina. Lily has been obsessed with swimming star Brody for three years, and the time has come to tell him how she feels, reveal her secret, and take him to live with her under the sea as her bonded mermate. Unfortunately, a surprise kiss from her next-door nemesis, Quince, bonds them together instead. There’s only one way out: take Quince to Thalassinia and beg her father to break the attachment before it becomes permanent. But Quince secretly loves Lily and has one week to convince Lily not to let him go. Childs’s (Goddess Boot Camp) effervescent storytelling conveys the delicate tension of first love, and her characters are sympathetic and charming; Lily’s frequent aquatic exclamations (“Speak of the devilfish”) are indicative of the book’s brand of humor. This sweet mix of magic, romance, and teen drama will leave readers satisfied, even as they hope Quince and Lily’s story will continue. Ages 12-up. (June)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
you can’t ask for a much more perfect beach read
Alyson Noël
Tera Lynn Childs has created an enchanting world of romance, magic and endearing characters you can’t help but root for. FORGIVE MY FINS had me hooked from page one, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in its sequel! I simply adored this book!
ALA Booklist
Full of fishy expressions, mermaid lore, and breathless underwater kisses, this lighter-than-air read will charm teens and tween girls who prefer their supernatural romances to be more Meg Cabot than Stephenie Meyer.
Alyson Noel
"Tera Lynn Childs has created an enchanting world of romance, magic and endearing characters you can’t help but root for. FORGIVE MY FINS had me hooked from page one, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in its sequel! I simply adored this book!"
The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books
you can’t ask for a much more perfect beach read
School Library Journal
Gr 6–10—Lily, 17, is a mermaid princess living on land and attending a high school where no one knows her real identity. She needs to find a mate before she turns 18 in order to inherit the throne. Her big crush on Brody is going nowhere until her obnoxious neighbor, Quince, intervenes. A surprise kiss from the wrong boy leads to a tidal wave of unexpected consequences. In this lighthearted and mostly enjoyable novel, Childs stretches the relationship drama out perhaps a little too long for impatient readers, but the end result is sweet and satisfying. The ending hints of more mermaid tales to come.—Kathy Kirchoefer, Prince Georges County Memorial Library System, New Carrollton, MD
Kirkus Reviews
Imaginative sea-mythology elements help perk up the formulaic boy-crazy plot in Childs's bubbly novel. At 17, Thalassinian mermaid Lily has been landlubbing for the last three years at Seaview High School on the Florida coast in an effort to feel more connected to her mother, a "terraped," who died shortly after Lily's birth. Now in line for succession to her father's underwater throne on Thalassinia, Lily first has to "bond" with a life mate before her imminent 18th birthday, yet her unwavering choice, swim-team star Brody Bennett, doesn't notice her. However, Lily's annoying, motorcycle-riding next-door neighbor, Quince Fletcher (who can't even swim), adores her quirkiness, and the novel becomes a rather predicable exercise in convincing the stubborn heroine who's best for her. Quince indulges in some troubling importunate antics (restraining Lily in the bathroom, waylaying her for a forceful kiss in the library), and Lily is drawn as a vacillating, stomping-around character in transition. Still, details delineating the kingdom of Thalassinia and Lily's ability to move gracefully between sea and land are nicely inventive and well worth a plunge. (Fantasy/chick-lit. 12 & up)
