Title: The Oyster Thief    

Author: Sonia Faruqi

Genre: YA Fantasy      

Publisher: Pegasus Books  

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 384

Rating:4/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“It took her a journey across the ocean to learn what she knew of love and fear and hate, but the essence of it came to her in an instant, as she succumbed to the churning black depths of the deep sea.”

Coralline is a shy mermaid in the Atlantic Ocean whose idyllic life is ruined by an oil spill that gravely sickens her little brother. Desperate to save him, she embarks on a quest to find a legendary elixir.

She encounters a human man, Izar, who’s left his life on land behind to find a cure for his dying father. He doesn’t tell her that his family runs Ocean Dominion, an enemy corporation whose ships plunder her waters daily.

Fate pushes the two of them together, even though their worlds are at odds. Accompanied by a colorful troupe of animals, Coralline and Izar travel through coral reefs and seabed cities, trailed by murderous adversaries and warring ships. Their secrets threaten to tear them apart, while a growing attraction adds to the danger. Ultimately, each of them faces an impossible choice. Should Coralline remain with the world she knows, including her fiancé, or should she relinquish everything for a stranger who might betray her? And Izar holds a secret of his own—one that might cause him to lose Coralline forever.

Magnificent and moving, set against a breathtaking ocean landscape, The Oyster Thief is an enthralling fantasy destined to become a classic.  

Review:

Thank you to @pegasus_books for sending me a copy of the Oyster Thief for review!

This was a fun book to read! I love mermaids, as Ariel is definitely my favourite mermaid, so I was really excited by the premise of this book.

There are two main characters that we get to follow: Corraline and Izar. Corraline is a young mermaid who seems to have it all. She has the perfect job working in an apothecary in town, and is about to marry the man of her dreams, but then an oil spill threatens her community and she sets of on an adventure to find an elixir to save her brothers life. Izar, on the other hand is a human who works for an oil company, so the complete opposite of Corraline. But through twists and turns he is thrust into Corralines life and the two end up going on the adventure together!

I really liked the characters of Corraline and Izar. Both experienced tremendous growth throughout the book, and that growth happened at a consistent pace that left me feeling connected to their stories.

One thing that I really liked about this book was the animal friends that the mermaids had! Corraline has a giant whale shark as her animal friend, and he is super cute and wants to go on adventures with Corraline. It definitely helped to connect the reader to the story! There was a bit of instant love that was predictable, but overall the story flowed nicely and it was a fun YA fantasy read with mermaids!

Happy reading!