DNF at 15%

I like to go into books blind so whereas I did read the description when I first requested the book, I hadn't re read it when I started reading the book and have read several books since that initial request.

I could pick up on the retelling elements very quickly but became overwhelmed with all of the switching and traveling mentioned. The timeline didn't make sense to me and having a map would be helpful.

I did feel like this was very much a copy/paste story line from what I read from the little mermaid and Atlantis elements.

I was hopeful that I could be drawn in, but I've tried jumping back in several times and it is just not for me.

Thank you netgalley for the arc.

I have to say i was exited to read a little mermaid retelling but when i got into the book it felt a bit incomplete?? There was sp much description in the first part that left the characters little space to develop.
The love triangle was so unnecessary omg why do authors keep doing that ??

Thank you so much Netgalley for the arc

Overall, it’s written well. It needs another round of line editing to clean up some of the sentences. I stopped after chapter 1 (5%).

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC.

Book Review 📚
A Mermaid Tale of The Lost Empire by Lily D - 4/5 ⭐

There's nothing I love more then a retelling that is a completely different kind of story to the original. I can promise you Lily D made this entirely different to what we know as The Little Mermaid. The whole feel from the book gives me SJM vibes also!

The writing style physically sucked me in, it's not overbearing and full on but it's now slow and easy either. It's a really great read. Thankfully it's not to full on "the little mermaid" and has nice features of its own story.

I loved the relationships throughout the book and the little love triangle that was happening. I'm not normally a love triangle person but this one actually really sold me and I couldn't decide on who I wanted to win the heart of Aria.

All in all it was a beautiful read and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion

I would have to say that I gave this book a average/below average rating, because it was advertised as something that SJM fans would love, that it was a Little Mermaid/Atlantis crossover, and while that part is true, I don’t believe it lived up to the hype that it was trying to advertise itself as. I am a huge fan of both the Little Mermaid and Atlantis so I was super excited to read this book. I can definitely see the references of both things in the story, but I think that it went a bit too far into what the original stories were, like using the name Aria for the FMC and Sebastian, as well as the city of Atlantea being run by blue magic energy (exactly like the Atlantis movie). I would’ve hoped that it would’ve been a bit more original than that. I wasn’t super interested in either of the love interests in the love triangle because I felt like neither of them were truly good enough for Aria, seeing as they both had some sort of motive for being with her(even though Bastian turned down the engagement proposition). Besides these things, I was really turned off from the book as soon as I realized that it was a Christian fantasy book. There was so much religious undertones throughout the entire book and it almost felt like I was reading an advertisement for Christianity. The only reason why I have this opinion is because I personally am not religious and don’t usually read religious books, but I have it a chance once I realized it was a Christian fantasy book because I assumed that the story wouldn’t be filled with Christian references since it was about the Little Mermaid/Atlantis. I did enjoy the concept of the book and there were certain parts that I really liked, but overall this book wasn’t for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, and I apologize to you and to the author for my views on the book.

I have read a lot of retellings of old stories like the Little Mermaid, so when I saw this book I jumped at the chance to read it. I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately it didn't live up to them and it was a DNF for me.

This one was so not for me. I love retellings but this one just didn't work out. I didn't like the dialogue and the story itself was just meh. DNF at 15%

This doesn't happen very often for me but this was a DNF. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the story and wasn't compelled by the characters or events. I may try and read it again at a later date but this one was just not for me.

I didn’t see that this was a Christian fantasy until after I’d downloaded it. I was intrigued to see how this might affect the plot overall, knowing that some Christians believe that a lot of fantasy like witchcraft etc to be against their religion.

It took me a while to get round to the book and I couldn’t find any information about it anywhere other than on netgalley which I thought was odd. It doesn’t appear to be for sale anywhere or on goodreads. The author has such a generic name that it’s also not traceable. This made me wonder if it was ai written or something else was going on here.

The story is a little mermaid retelling with Aria, the main character essentially having the same issues as in the Disney film where she is bored in her own kingdom, kept at bay by her father and not allowed to roam.
We later meet Bastain or Sebastian who is appointed as her guard who she is desperate to shake off as she wants to explore the world.

Aria roams to Atlantea in search of the place her deceased mother had visited and told her about.

The story begins to feel like an allergory for modern life by about 35% in and societies movement towards secularism. The book comments on greed and wealth and technological advances in Atlantea being the reason they are bad and no longer peaceful, and have moved away from grace. The themes and storyline were ok in that it was a simplistic romance, easy to follow along and to start with despite the dedication being very clear this was written by a Christian author, I didn’t find it too difficult to read. Yes there were moments where the discussion revolves around darkness and light and God, and also how things related to fortune telling / potential witchcraft were ‘wrong’ but honestly there is often a myriad of religious detail in many fantasy books I’ve read, so I sort of brushed it off although it could be seen as a bit of a sermon if you disliked it.

There were some cliched elements and I guessed what was going to happen, I don’t think this was groundbreaking storytelling.
But I did like the premise of a retelling as well as Atlantis being included.

What I did stop at was what I felt was thinly veiled racism in this book. The author described how Atlantea had been ‘tainted’ by the other kingdoms it had conquered. Going as far as to say that it was like water that had been tainted by ‘dark tea’, false religions and gods. Given that this book felt like allegory to me, this just did not sit right with me and I felt whilst it wasn’t outright saying this was the problem with modern society, I felt the parallels previously made between Atlantea and modern society and the implications of this statement were too much to ignore.

In one way if this book hadn’t have said it was a ‘Christian’ book, I probably wouldn’t have minded but given that it proclaimed to be and also that this book is not for sale anywhere but is essentially been given away for free, I question what the purpose of this is and whether it has been used as a way to share the authors personal feelings about society today behind the guise of a pretty fantasy book.

I’m not clear but I personally wouldn’t recommend this book.

Unfortunately this was one book I had to DNF midway through. I just couldn’t get into the story - the writing was immature, the romance was lackluster, and I found myself not caring about the characters at all

The little amount of the dialogue from this book made me put this book (re:dnf), and maybe i can give it a try later.

However, Thank You Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

DNF at 41%.

It's not a total dnf because I skimmed through the rest of the book. I just couldn't handle it anymore. With the premise of it being a retelling of the Little mermaid & Atlantis the lost empire, this book caught my attention. It even has a beautiful cover and yet this reminds us yet again that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

I thought the mixture of how Aria ''Ariel" could change between being a mermaid and a human. I also immediately recognized certain elements from Atlantis which was fun to puzzle together. A thing that was funny and bizarre to me was that Sebastian, or Bastian as he's known in this version, was also a mermaid. I admit, while it being an original idea, my head struggled because all I could think of was the crab.

The writing wasn't that bad but there were so many long descriptions, I just got bored of it. Aria is also quite stubborn and refuses to listen to her father and escapes time and time again instead of trying to plead her case with arguments. She even escapes a lot from Bastian who's her guardian and at some point you're just like: girl. Stop. The plot also just lost me at some point.

As I said, I skimmed through the rest of the book with reading some bits and pieces and from what I gather, there could be a second book but if there comes one, I won't be reading it.

I do think the author has potential but I think this book could have been a bit more shorter. More show than tell and perhaps speed up the pacing a little bit.

A Mermaid Tale of the Lost Empire by Lily D was not my cup of tea. Normally I love, love, love retellings, but something didn't click for me with this one. The writing seemed clinical and like it was telling me to care instead of actually making me. I was so excited when I found this book on NetGalley. Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me. However, I know that you love a retelling, then you'll probably like this book. It seems that I was in the mood for a coffee.

Whilst the book was mostly well written and an enjoyable read for me it's just didn't quite hit the mark on this occassion. I stuggled somewhat with the retelling aspect in that the main character was called Aria (Ariel) and one of the love interests Bastian (Sebastian) which was just a tiny bit too close for me to really invest myself. Whilst I Loved bastians character and some of the side Characters, I have to admit that I found Aria hard to like as an MC as she came across selfish and a tiny bit woe is me at times unfortunately. Whilst some people have found the religious aspects of this book to be hard to read, I didn't find it super detrimental to my reading experience, however I can see why some people may find it a little bit out of place.

A Mermaid Tale of the Lost Empire was a promising retelling Little Mermaid also first book into fantasy adventure under the blue sea. The story following Princess Aria who yearned for glimpse of freedom and big adventures.

The writing is okay but the POV choice only scrapes top layer information from all the potential this type world building could offer.
I wish more conversations between other characters and real action not only telling.
Although the cover is wellmade, beautiful and eye catching. The plots, the characters, the world and the romance are brimming with potency but felt cliche, underdevelopment and predictable.

Thank you Netgalley and Books Go Social for provided me with this ebook. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you are looking for a a book with mermaids and adventures, and I would definitely pick this hook up. I would recommend this book more for summer than anything else just because of the vibes that he gives but it was a fun adventure. I was a little lost in the beginning, because it almost seemed like there was a lot going on, but as you go through the book, it becomes more clear. So just hold on and keep going!

The idea of the little Mermaid retelling had me wanting to read this book. so when I got approved through net Galley, I eagerly started reading.
by about 25% through the book I was very bored and having a hard time wanting to read this story. the main character is unrelatable and a total brat. and when one thing doesn't go her way, she throws a fit. the only character I SORT of liked was Sebastian, and even he seemed fake. The whole story just seemed all over the place and lacked any depth. i cant even rate this a two star as I had to FORCE myself to finish it. the last 20% i ended up skimming.

If you want to read a book where the main character is a cry baby when things don't go her way, easily manipulated, poor morals and mentally weak. read this book.

I love retellings! Fav part of being reading them is seeing your childhood memories recreated in a new way, it feels like you’re reading the story all over again. And as the little mermaid is a huge fav of mine, I’m all for any retellings, and the cover of this book is a major plus. And as a avid lover of kdramas I’m also in search of a mix of both so seeing this was like my way of reading a retelling that had a feel of the kdramas - Legend of the blue sea which is still my fav little mermaid retelling but in a beautiful way. However, reading the description of what this book is about and seeing people call it a Christian ya was quite interesting. As i was intrigued to see a Christian view of the little mermaid so to say. And after reading this book I don’t know if the two fit quite well.

I’m not particularly a fan of love triangles either, one starts to annoy me then I loose interest in him and start focusing on how the story develops for the other love interest. This book however didn’t weave the love triangle in a way that I could see myself invested in it. But for me I try to give books more leeway as I’m naturally picky about love triangles.
Also the main character’s personality isn’t really one that fits well into what I’d like a main character to act like. Once a main character reads too young/naive I begin to find their decisions frustrating. But this could equate to the character being a mermaid in this case.
These all didn’t take away much from the story for me but the actual story itself and how it unfolded is what lost me. I guess it’s cos I came expecting a fairytale but got a book about other things but a sprinkle of fairytale feels. I do understand how hard it is to write a book and weave it in a direction that completely portrays how you envision the story in your head.

If you're a fan of The Little Mermaid and any stories about Atlantis: The Lost City, then this is definitely your book.
Aria is next in line to rule over the merfolk, but despite being the crown princess, the underwater palace where she resides is more of a prison than a home. Aria craves nothing more than freedom and adventure, and that's when she breaks her father's rules by escaping to Atlantea; The ancient human empire that she always longed to discover alongside her assigned guardian; Bastian. She manages to save the life of Atlantea's prince but as she waves with him and Bastian through the city of her dreams, she discovers that it may or may not be as dreamy as she has been told. Secrets, lies, and betrayals lay in her path and she must uncover them for the sake of love and self-discovery.

I have always enjoyed books about merfolk, I find this particular sub-genre to be fascinating, especially the world-building. So this book did wonderful in that particular aspect, I found myself enjoying the description of the wondrous underwater kingdom.
However, I found it boring because, at some point, we were almost halfway through the book and we were still not close to knowing what the problem was. All we kept reading about was an endless description of Aria's surroundings, every little thing needed to be described in a whole paragraph which was tedious to read. And as much as I appreciate how intricate and detailed it was, it felt kind of repetitive. But then the book started to pick up the pace and we started seeing more action. But towards the last couple of chapters, things felt rushed, I didn't get to understand what took place as things started to happen quickly, which was a huge change from the rest of the book, and I actually couldn't see the logic behind some things at all.

I didn't like the love triangle, I don't know if it was mentioned in the blurb, but the love triangle made me wince. I loved the character of Bastian most; I could never believe how kind, forgiving, and graceful he was. He was the embodiment of perfect, which is the exact opposite of Aria; she was selfish, and immature and did anything and everything in order to get what she wanted no matter what the cost, I think her motto would be; It's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

All in all, I think this book is not for people who are advanced fantasy readers, this would suit anyone who's being introduced to the fantasy genre. I don't expect someone who's read an 11-book fantasy series to like this. This read is something you recommend to someone who's being introduced to Fantasy. They don't have to be overwhelmed with lots of material.

The idea is there, I liked the concept of the book, but the plot wasn't as impressive as the book cover or the summary. I give this 2 stars because this book had the potential to be something wonderful, but too bad it missed the mark.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to provide a review of this book.
#AMermaidTaleoftheLostEmpire
#NetGalley

This book was hard to finish. I found myself captivated in the beginning half and towards the end it became a bit predictable and I was eager for it to end. I’m not exactly sure how to describe it, but even though the author is a good writer, I do think she sacrificed the story in order to make the grand moral she was trying to teach very clear. I like the religious perspective, but the way it was executed made the characters one dimensional into the roles I knew she was trying to portray to get her point across. Which made the story much less interesting. Bastion, the forgiving and unconditional loving type, was too perfect. Aria, portraying the young and foolish type in search of meaning, had a character arc that was so predictable and neat. The scenes with the villain were ones I skimmed. The underwater kingdom was a refreshing setting and I did enjoy the word building! But maybe this type of book is not for me.

**I received a complimentary ARC and all opinions expressed are my own.**