Hey, don’t judge me. I like a fun low stakes YA summer fun novel just as much as the next guy. And like! It IS fun. This made for a fun morning, a month-long fling between some guy and a nonbinary merperson.
There are some quotes here that got my eyebrows up. Probably the most egregious offense was a moment where a character blows up at another for ‘not listening’ when said character never bothered to communicate in the first place.
But like. It’s cheesy. It’s silly. The mer culture is butter on bread surface level. But that’s the fun of it. I had fun!
Maybe that’s why the club has a two-lifeguards-at-a-time rule, in case one of us collapses from heartache.
OMG, what have I just read 😂
I mean, well. This was a really quick and easy read! And a good way to pass a few hours of annoying insomnia. And there were plenty of fun moments that were vivid and hilarious in isolation, and I guess if you just go with the flow and take this for a slapstick comedy where stuff just keeps happening and who cares how it all fits together, it can be... pretty enjoyable, probably? Also, some of the merfolk lore was rather interesting, and diversity is always good.
But, honestly, the amount of drama and cheesiness was simply through the roof, and I'm kinda offended on the behalf of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas for that comparison to it in the blurb. Because Cemetery Boys is actually …
Maybe that’s why the club has a two-lifeguards-at-a-time rule, in case one of us collapses from heartache.
OMG, what have I just read 😂
I mean, well. This was a really quick and easy read! And a good way to pass a few hours of annoying insomnia. And there were plenty of fun moments that were vivid and hilarious in isolation, and I guess if you just go with the flow and take this for a slapstick comedy where stuff just keeps happening and who cares how it all fits together, it can be... pretty enjoyable, probably? Also, some of the merfolk lore was rather interesting, and diversity is always good.
But, honestly, the amount of drama and cheesiness was simply through the roof, and I'm kinda offended on the behalf of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas for that comparison to it in the blurb. Because Cemetery Boys is actually coherent. And has three-dimensional characters, consistent development, and reasonable arcs. As well as a plot that makes sense. All of those things are tragically absent here, and the book doesn't even have the decency to go fully into the "so bad it's good" territory. Every character is a hot mess with no indication of ever hoping to sort themselves out, and they all have like a couple of personality traits that feel like gimmicks. As for the plot, random dramatic stuff just keeps happening until it culminates in an ending that feels like it's from a whole different version of the story because of how sharply it steers away from all those romcom tropes that have been helpfully highlighted throughout the novel.
I feel kind of bad for being this disappointed and frustrated, but... I'm this disappointed and frustrated.
