Celeste is the siren queen's youngest daughter .
She joins the chorus which is a dangerous organisation.

She joins the princes crew on the ship and its definitely fight or flight .
Well sirens are bird like but I think celeste is like a mermaid.
Definitely on the lines of a little mermaid retelling but with a peck and a bite .
Bird reference again celeste is fish like .
Torban was my favourite character but I loved most characters.

A really good book that's found its sea legs and it's way into my heart.

Kelsey Impicciche's Voice of the Ocean swept me away with its breathtaking blend of fantasy, adventure, and forbidden romance. From the moment I met Celeste, the fierce and determined youngest daughter of the Siren queen, I was captivated by her courage, vulnerability, and relentless quest for truth.

The world-building is rich and immersive, plunging readers into the depths of the siren kingdom and the contrasting human world. Celeste's struggle to master her Song and prove herself to the Chorus felt incredibly relatable, and her transformation throughout the book was inspiring. Her moral dilemmas and evolving relationships, especially with Prince Raiden, kept me glued to the pages.

Speaking of Raiden—what a complex, intriguing character! I loved how the story slowly unraveled the layers of his motives, challenging Celeste’s (and our) assumptions. Their chemistry was electric, and their dynamic added so much tension and heart to the story.

Though I didn’t realize this was a duology, the ending left me breathless and desperate for more! I wish I could stay in this world a little longer, but I can't wait to see how the story unfolds in the next installment.

Having followed Kelsey Impicciche for years, it’s been a joy to witness her storytelling talent shine through this novel. She has a gift for weaving emotion and suspense into every scene, and it’s clear how much heart she poured into this book.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. If you love fierce heroines, forbidden love, and high-stakes adventures, Voice of the Ocean is a must-read. Dive into this enchanting tale—you won’t regret it!

2.5 stars.

i had high expectations for this book and was ultimately let down. it was tediously long, so many descriptions for things that weren’t relevant, and then rushed in other parts.

i was intrigued by the siren lore, but found this was few and far between. the main focus was on the little mermaid retelling (switching to focusing on romance in the second half).

the romance itself was horrible. there was no chemistry and then suddenly they couldn’t stop sucking faces. they confessed “i love yous” far too quickly (i could be mistaken, but it was only like 5 days or something???).

the voice of the ocean aspect was interesting but that didn’t come into play until towards the end, and it was very rushed.

both celeste and raidan were interesting and enjoyable characters with complex backstories. i didn’t like the romantic subplot, so i lost interest in them in the second half.

if this was edited down by 100 pages, it likely would’ve been more enjoyable.

This was a great debut - I loved the vibes of this book, I always adore anything with Sirens and this hit the mark. It’s coined to be The Little Mermaid meets Pirates of the Caribbean & I can see why! I think this is a good YA read, but I did struggle with the pacing and found it quite slow at times. It was a little too YA for me to fully enjoy, but if I read this as a teenager I would’ve eaten it up!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book

Sadly I DNF’d this book at 21% I tried but it felt mismatched and so slow. There was so much description and not much happening at all

The main character seemed to just do as she wanted and I don’t know I just didn’t loce

Dnfed at 38%
Liked at first but I've sadly got more and more unengaged and confused in the story as it went on

Stunning cover, but the story itself was just - meh! and lacking anything really to hook me in.
The Pirates of the Caribbean vibe I was promised just disappeared or was more of an afterthought to just try to give the men in the book some kind of character, where as the Siren just felt like a knock off Ariel in all the wrong younger-self ways, there was nothing really making me want to read more to probably have a very unsatisfying ending. Perhaps I am too old for this book and it is intended for a much younger audience than I thought, maybe it is more for my Daughters age (8-10), but the cover drew me in to want to read as well as the promise of Pirates and Little Mermaid - sadly this book did not deliver for me

3.5 stars rounded down

Voice of the Ocean is a well-woven story with surprising twists and turns.

The story follows a young siren, trying to prove herself as something other than the youngest child of the king and queen. Celeste is relatable, her empathy and curiosity set her apart from the rest of Siren society. After failing to follow commands and rescuing the human prince, Celeste is exiled and sent above the waves to the human world to kill the human prince.

Out of the sea, she discovers that what she has been taught about humans might not be entirely true. The adventure that follows has everything you'd want from a pirate story. There is a great cast of side characters, battles at sea, treachery, sword fights, and more.

The pacing in the first part of the book is a little slow and the prose sometimes feels more middle-grade than YA, this does improve as the story gets going. At times, it also felt like I was looking in from a window, kept an arm's length from the story, rather than fully immersed in it.

The ending is a little rushed, but it does leave you wanting to know what will happen next for Celeste. Overall it's a good debut by Kelsey Impicciche.

At first, the comp titles of the book and the beautiful cover led me to believe that I would enjoy this book. Sadly the pacing felt like it was dragging on a little too slowly for my liking and I couldn’t engage with the plot well enough to consider continuing on.

A few of the other characters seemed interesting but again it wasn’t enough to keep me interested in the story as a whole.

Something that’s pitched as a <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> and <i>The Little Mermaid</i> mashup is, in theory, made for me. I was lured in by a pretty cover and the promise of ancient magic and treacherous waters, but should’ve admitted defeat and DNF’d around the 30% mark when I was confident that this book wasn’t for me. And yet I persevered, just in case it delivered on its promises.

I wasn’t fond of the pacing of this book. The first third dragged, then it seemed to rush through significant scenes (for me, it was this book's equivalent of Ariel meeting the sea witch, and I also felt a bit unclear on what their deal was), then the climax of the book felt like it was squeezed into a handful of chapters. There was more description of minor details than some of the plot points. The ancient magic (and also the title of the book) doesn’t become prominent until the final ~30%. There is one (to my memory) treacherous moment in the waters. The romance could’ve been dangerous if I understood either of their intentions.

I did enjoy some of the moments where Celeste is discovering the human world. She has a harder time learning to walk than Ariel, and there’s light humour as she’s copying crab movements until she figures her body out, and once she learns to walk she realises running is a whole other obstacle. I enjoyed her relationship with some of the characters and her sisterhood with Kiyami, although Celeste doesn’t speak but seemingly managed to convey entire understandable sentences with just a tilt of her head.

As a long-time admirer of Kelsey since her "100 Baby Challenge" series on BuzzFeed's YouTube channel, it has been wonderful to witness her progress and success. Her debut novel is truly impressive. It evokes a blend "The Little Mermaid" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," and I am entirely captivated by it. Kelsey's passion for reading is evident; the world-building is meticulous, the characters are diverse and relatable, and the narrative is thoroughly engaging. While I enjoyed all the characters, The Admiral captured my heart.

I eagerly anticipate the next installment.

I extend my gratitude to Kelsey, her team, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this novel. I will certainly be purchasing a physical copy upon its release.

Voice of the Ocean is a masterpiece! I don't have words to express my love for this book! I loved the cover when I first saw it and when I read the story (in a day btw) I fell in love! So so good! 6 stars!

Voice of The Ocean by Kelsey Impicciche
4.5 stars

*before I even get into the review of this book, can we just take a moment to appreciate the art on the cover?! That is absolutely breathtaking and I am in love. And yes, the cover is the only reason I decided to read this book.*

I finished this book in 2 days. 2 Days! What an absolute masterpiece this book is, oh my life. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but here I am in absolute awe of this book. The whole thing, start to finish, is perfection. Now let me tell you why.

The first couple of chapters really get you to use your full attention, making sure to pick up on little pieces and although it may be slow to start with I think it was imperative to the story itself and definitely picks up. And honestly, if you are not here for The Little Mermaid X Pirates if the Caribbean, then this just isn’t for you.

The descriptions were literally spot on, it was so easy to set the scene and imagine the way the author was trying to describe this to us. To be able to picture Celeste and Raiden whilst reading about them and there every move, was brilliant. You get this overall feeling about how they act and behave when your reading about them and that really helped bring the story to life.

Speaking of Celeste and Raiden. Oh my. I instantly felt the pain Celeste felt of not being “good enough” and just no-one understanding how. I felt her on such a deep level which just made me fall head over hells for her. And Raiden, well, he is the MMC we all want after seeing him through Celeste's eyes, honestly, give me him! Both characters were brilliant.

You can truly see the characteristics of The Little Mermaid showing through certain parts of the book, but honestly, this book was fantastic.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and found myself intrigued by it. There were some parts I really liked and few that fell a little flat for me.

From the start the pacing is very slow to only pick up in the last bit which made it feel very rushed which is a shame as I was really looking forward to this book but felt very disconnected by it at times.

I really did love the worldbuilding and the way everything was described and for a debut fantasy I though it was so well done.

Thank you NetGalley and LittleBrownBooks for giving me the chance to read this book for a review

I loved this book so much I devoured it in a few days, I can’t believe I have to wait until April to be able to see everyone else’s reactions. After that ending I need to read more!!! I can’t wait to buy a copy when the book is published to display on my shelf!

I loved the Little Mermaid and Pirates of the Caribbean mash up so much!

The characters were all different and yet worked so well together, I am a sucker for found family and this book delivered!

The worldbuilding is simple but does go into detail, I did wish to of read more about the voice of the ocean earlier on in the book considering it’s the title but I was still shocked at the reveal.

The betrayals, secrets and lies between family, friends and lovers had me hooked, I kept on wanting to know how Cel will react to everything.

I love how this book gives us both a badass fmc and mmc who both aren’t afraid to show their emotions and act upon them, it was so refreshing to see how they both have morals whilst also still holding some of the morally grey we all love to see.

The start was a bit slow to get into and I felt some parts were a bit too descriptive, but the ending was worth it all!