Sea Witch by Sarah Henning #bookreview #YA #fantasy #retelling

Title: Sea Witch

Author:  Sarah Henning

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: July 31, 2018

Page Count: 368

My rating: 3.5 stars

About the book:

Wicked meets The Little Mermaid in the captivating origin story of the sea’s most iconic villainess, perfect for fans of Heartless and Dorothy Must Die.

Ever since her best friend Anna died, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. Hiding her talents, mourning her loss, drowning in her guilt.

Then a girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears on the shore, and the two girls catch the eyes of two charming princes. Suddenly Evie feels like she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But magic isn’t kind, and her new friend harbors secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad—or on two legs—without Evie’s help. And when Evie reaches deep into the power of her magic to save her friend’s humanity—and her prince’s heart—she discovers, too late, what she’s bargained away.

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning is a young adult fantasy that is loosely based on The Little Mermaid. Being a fan of retellings and new takes on the stories I love this take on the origins of Ursula was right up my alley.

Evie is the daughter of a fisherman but not just any fisherman but the fisherman for the royal family. So while Evie was not upper class herself she had grown up with the royal children and became best friends with Nik, the prince. Nik and Evie had lost another good friend of theirs, Anna to the sea when they were younger.

As Evie, Nik and his cousin are out on a boat celebrating Nik’s birthday a storm hits the group and as they make a run for shore Nik falls overboard. Unable to help her best friend distraught Evie gets the boat to shore and begins the search for Nik where she finds him with a mermaid who looks just like Anna.

While I did enjoy reading Sea Witch and the authors take on Ursula and The Little Mermaid I did think this one had a few issues. The story seem to move rather slowly during the middle of the book with the end feeling a bit rushed after the slower pace. And I also thought this one was a tad predictable for some of the events in the story but overall it was a creative take on these characters that I would rate at 3.5 stars.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Sarah Henning is a journalist who has worked for the Palm Beach Post, the Kansas City Star, and the Associated Press, among others. When not writing, she runs ultramarathons, hits the playground with her two kids, and hangs out with her husband, Justin, who doubles as her long-suffering IT department. Henning now lives in Lawrence, Kansas.