Remember being really interested in this when it first came out, but now I just don't think stories like this are my kind of thing. Would definitely be great for some!

Even though I haven't read the first book in this series I really enjoy Aurabel. I love books with multiple perspectives, that's a win. The book has pretty much what I like in a story, it's fun, a bit of sadness, moments of pain, anger, joy. Prettu much a waterfall of emotions that I really like in a book. I believe this works on its own, you can read it without reading the first one. Anyway, I hope I can read more books frrom this author.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I heard about this book! I absolutely loved Lorali and Aurabel is as good a sequel as you could wish for.

I first picked up Lorali at YALC 2015, and did so because I went to a session that looked at books as performance pieces and heard Laura Dockrill read from Lorali – it was revelatory and, so being back at YALC in 2017, I was thrilled to see Laura back too.

As a book, it’s hard to categorise; part fantasy, part steampunk, part teen romance, part Shakespearean epic it also has some beautifully poetic prose – not surprising as Laura Dockrill also writes poetry. It’s so easy to race through this book as the language has an immediacy to it, it will rattle along and your job as the reader is just to keep up!

Although Lorali was a finished novel, with very few loose ends that needed tying up this book takes those loose ends, adds new characters and some loveable old ones and weaves an entirely different spell over them – I read another review that said exactly what I thought: Lorali was not a book that needed a sequel, but since it has one, I couldn’t have hoped for a better one.

Since reading Lorali and Aurabel, I have been recommending them whenever I can – it’s safe to say I’ve become a Laura Dockrill fan and I’m hugely excited to see what she does next – although I think she’ll be a wee bit busy, as she’s just had a baby!!

Ok, so I didn't read this because I am mad about mermaids. But I got a review copy, and these mermaids are quite cool, in a steampunk kind of way. I had no problem reading to the end, and quite enjoyed it.

I love this book and Aurabel is by far my favourite character♥️. Closely followed by Lorali of course. I absolutely love how the author writes these novels they are just so poetic and perfect.

Some threads are too deep and thick to fray. Some lines, in love, outlive the veins.

Aurabel's growth in this is huge. The things she has to overcome are unbelievable and yet she keeps going and not only that but during all this she also saves Lorali. I loved Rory in the last one so I wasn't sure how I was going to find this book because of how the last one ended. However I was pleasantly surprised.

I can't believe I didn't see the twist at the end coming.. but it was so good.

Aurabel is the titular character whilst we spend our time under the sea. As tensions rise in the mer society, Sienna is rising up to try and take the crown. But she uses dirty tricks and both Aurabel and Lorali have a bone to pick with her by the end. 

I didn't realise this was a second in a series until I was nearly halfway through the book. It's really confusing and definitely isn't able to stand as a standalone book because of this. I struggled to understand terminology, and also the world building wasn't adept enough, which I'm assuming is because it was done in the previous book. 

I spent the majority of the book trying to figure out what a tapestry is for the mermaids. Instead of being captured by the plot, I was thinking 'hmm is it their tails? or the stomach above the tail?' Obviously this meant I was not enchanted by this book at all. I also struggled to imagine what Nevermind looked like - Apparently she's massive and terrifying and huge and terrifying... yeah it didn't describe other than 'big and scary' with better adjectives. When I can't picture things, it just instantly pulls me away from a book.

Another problem I found was that the author was trying way too hard to 'sound' like a teenager. Every so often there's a excerpt of a forum/message board type of thing. This is just full of 'text speak' and was hard to read without cringing. Some of the characters also suffered with trying to sound like a teenager. Obviously, this felt like it would alienate any actual teenagers as they don't speak like that. At all. Please Authors stop doing this.  

Overall it wasn't a complete train wreck, I enjoyed the premise. I just think I needed that first book, and also it needed a fuller plot. So this felt full of filler conversations. There was never really something that drove the book forward for me. So it just wasn't what I wanted. It definitely suffered from second book syndrome.

I can recall picking up Lorali on a whim and being thoroughly surprised by the story. I had no expectations whatsoever as I knew little about the book and I can remember being utterly enthralled by such a unique and fascinating mermaid story. So, you can imagine my excitement when I received an arc copy of Aurabel. And I must say something about the new cover change; they're breathtakingly beautiful.

Starting off, I must admit I was a little disorientated as it's been a while since I finished Lorali. I had to find my feet in a way and remember the events at the end of the first book and once I did remember I felt quite sad and a little heartbroken. That ending was just so tragic. I then continued, eager to uncover more about the Whirl, the Mer, Lorali's fate and the aftermath of Rory's death, in Aurabel. And meet the namesake of the story herself.

Aurabel was a fun, fast paced and action packed story filled with entertaining characters and a magical world. The short chapters really helped me fly through this book and helped the story flow easily. Dockrill has such a poetic writing style. She writes intricate descriptions, giving an in depth look at this magical world she's created and it's cast of characters. She also has a great way of writing scenes of chaos and confusion with her short, jagged sentence and use of different narrative formats. The added chapters of the mermaid forum was fun to read about and helped add a like comedic value to the story and also provide us with some valuable information (the selkies!). These sections made me laugh and snigger really as the author really captured the language of young teenagers and you can really imagine how the world would react to such revelations that mermaids really exist. All of these different narratives really helped make the story an interesting and enjoyable read. I also loved the different perspectives yet again but my favourite chapters just like last time are those written from the perspective of the Sea. It's such a fantastic narrative device and I just love its voice; all knowing, all seeing – the Sea is a character in itself, a witness to everything that goes on below and above the waves, with thoughts, feelings and opinions. It really added that little bit extra to the mysterious and mythical tone of the story. It really is unique.

I find this world that Dockrill has created just as fascinating as I did in Lorali. In Aurabel you definitely get a more in depth glimpse of the Whirl and the thriving world that exists under the sea. The Whirl was depicted as this vibrant, colourful and mesmerising world full of glamour and opulence. But we definitely get to see the strange and dangerous side of the Whirl and the class divide that exists between the different Mer. I loved how such realistic and relevant issues were woven into the story. It really showed that not everything is as magical and perfect as it seems - just like above, in the 'walker' world, our world, poverty and hardship exists. You get the magnificent Whirl, with the grand palace and vibrant flowers and then you get Tippi, a scrapyard of 'walker' rubbish, where cars from above rust below the waves, where desperate Mer make their homes. Dockrill has definitely created a unique and spellbinding world. The petrified forest fascinated me in Lorali and I love the idea of this in between place existing where both Mer and humans could visit.

Aurabel is filled with a whole host of characters, new and old. Aurabel herself is a tough, fierce and smart young mermaid who just wants to escape from Tippi and make a better life for herself and her mate Murray. She was a great character to read about and her determination was just infectious. I was really cheering her on throughout the story and her kind and caring nature just really made her one of my favourite characters. We meet Lorali again, still in Hastings trying to carry on with life as a human whilst heartbroken at Rory's death and hopeful that he's alive, remembering her in his new life as a Mer. 'Walker' life is still new and strange to her; she can't understand how TV's work, doesn't fit in with the other youngsters in the village but she also loves cakes and wine and watching reality tv programmes. I just felt so much for her, as she tries to find her feet in this new world whilst also trying to deal with the loss of the person who helped her and made her feel loved and welcome. The villain of the story was just perfect. Sienna was the perfect villain; ruthless, blood thirsty and power hungry – just like the monstrous beasts that she controls. I really did hate her for the heartless and callous things to did (or didn’t do!) in this book. There's so many other characters from the heartbroken Murray, to Opal, to the mysterious Kai and many other Mer. We also get to see more mythological creatures such as Selkies, which added another layer of magic and myth to the story.

All in all Aurabel was a great read. The ending really made me knock half a star off of my rating though as I felt it was a little rushed. I just wanted that little bit more especially after the longed for reconciliation at the end. I just thought Lorali deserved a little bit more screen time. Also what happened to Opal in the end? Despite this though this duology is a fascinating one that really puts a unique twist on mermaid mythology. I definitely think I'll be rereading both soon so I can immerse myself in this spellbinding world and enjoy both books, one after the other.

I didn't like this as much as Lorali. I think most of that is because I didn't warm to Aurabel as quickly as I did to Lorali. Lorali had all the sweet innocence and Aurabel has an edge to her even before the events of the stories started. I grew to like her more once she became bad-ass, but at first she just wasn't a character I could connect to.

It also was just lacking the innocence and wonder that I really enjoyed about Lorali. Lorali's wonder at discovering everything about the Walkers was one of the best things about Lorali and I just missed it so much. It also had all all the darker elements that were in the second half of Lorali and it quickly became a bit too much for me. It was all dark and gore and not enough lightness to balance it out.

I still think that these are good books, but I just was so unprepared for Aurabel. I think if I reread it now that I like Aurabel as a character and am more prepared for the dark, gritty feel of the book, I'd enjoy it more, but this time it just didn't live up to my hopes.

I will preface this review with two notes:
1. I did not realise that <i>Aurabel</i> is actually a sequel to <i>Lorelai</i> until I was at least two thirds through the book and suddenly understood why some things weren't making sense to me or why the author seemed to be assuming knowledge that I couldn't possibly have.
2. The ebook ARC that I got from NetGalley was <b>very</b> poorly formatted which impacted on my reading experience/enjoyment.

This would probably be a five star review if I had read Dockrill's previous book <i>Lorelai</i> (which I will actually do sometime in the near future) but <i>Aurabel</i> almost stands alone very well and I enjoyed the characters and the plotting a lot. The voices are distinctive and characterised well enough to counteract some very dodgy chapter formatting, which is actually saying a lot. Badass mermaids, dreamy and ethereal sea setting/voices, and a dangerous villain. What's not to love?!

I really tried with this one, but I just don't think I'm up for some mermaid action at the moment. (Plus, the egalley version is a little messed up when read on my phone as compared to how it appears on laptop so that affected my interest.) I hope this book finds the readers it deserves because the plot seems really exciting and the writing is not hard to enjoy.

It was overall a great read. Loved the switch between the different point of views and how everything connected.

Setting! A setting is very important and that is the same case for this book. We have the underwater world of mermaids and we have the human (or walker) world above. It would appear that humans can be made into mermaids and vice versa though, in this book, that process wasn't entirely explained. You get the perspective from both worlds as the writing is multi-perspective. My interests mostly lay in the underwater story, since that had much more of the 'new' plot where the outside world was a continuation of the characters from Lorali. I did like that the connection between the two world and the two beings, however tenuous, was established.

What this plot does magnificently is dramatic irony. At almost every point the reader is completely aware of what is going on (due to the multiple perspectives) while the characters are none the wiser. With a villain like this one that really works as trust and instinct are key themes and key motivators in this story. I think this is an excellent story, it has moments of pain, of sadness, of overcoming hardship, anger, joy, love, unrequited love-you name it, it's there. There is, strangely, a humanity to these non-human characters that shines through in Dockrill's writing.

I adored the character of Aurabel. 'Queer, badass, half metal mermaid' would be a business card I would willingly carry. Lorali wasn't quite as amazing in my eye but that might just be because Aurabel's brashness (she is a mermaid from the 'wrong side of the tracks' after all) was so refreshing given how normally you only ever encounter beautiful, graceful and eloquent mermaids.

My absolute favourite element, and that which made me actually laugh out loud, was the fake facebook group. Dockrill perfectly captures the inane facebook arguments that we all know and love to hate from fan groups all over social media and actually uses it to drive the plot of the book from yet another perspective. It's so simple but it could have so easily felt fake, on the contrary, this makes absolute sense in the context of this book and the internet as it currently is.



I didn't think I'd like it. I certainly didn't think I would like it as much as I did. If I had one critique it's that I don't think all the plots were tied off as neatly as they could have been, but perhaps we are leaving room for another sequel. Who knows?

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Aurabel publishes on the first of June so there's still time to order your copy if the fancy takes you!

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher (Bonnier Zaffre) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mermaids are without doubt underrated creatures and there just aren't all that many stories about them out there. Aurabel sounded like an fun fantasy read with the mermaids as a bonus, but unfortunately this book turned out to be a quite unpleasant experience. First of all I want to make clear that this book should have been classified as a sequel, because after some investigation I found out most of the worldbuilding is taken from a previous publication (Lorali) and it's almost impossible to fully understand Aurabel with out it. A lot of background AND essential information is missing if you don't read Lorali, and I felt a bit cheated on I didn't know that beforehand. This lack of information might have been part of the reason I basically felt like I was reading a story written in a foreign language I could only barely understand. Things just didn't make sense as all and I had a hard time even getting past the first few pages and chapters. Things only got better towards the ending, but I have to be honest and say I probably wouldn't have reached that point if this wouldn't have been an ARC. It sounds harsh, but somehow not telling the truth doesn't feel right either... Another thing that bothered me is the horrible spelling in the forum interactions bit. I get that this is supposed to portray 'superficial' teenage fans talking, but 1. it was really hard to decipher the meaning of their comments and 2. I literally shuddered the whole time every time the dreaded comments made their appearance. As for the characters: I like how their different personalities are refleccted in their respective dialogues and prose, but I do have to see they felt a bit forced and unnatural. Some characters were also starting to get on my nerves... Furthermore, I had a hard time connecting the different chapters and characters; especially in the beginning they seemed random and didn't make a lot of sense. Things did improve slightly towards the ending and the general plot is interesting enough, but all in all I had a really hard time reading Aurabel. Such a shame, because I was really looking forward to it!