Isla Emerged

Isla Emerged, Book 1

By: Deidre Sequeira

Narrated by: Talon David

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Anger. Betrayal. Exile. Isla always knew she would be queen. One day. But after the death of her mother, matriarch of the Southern Pacific merfolk kingdom, that day grew much closer than she was prepared for. Worse, to become a mermaid queen, she must marry. It is the only way to protect her kingdom. Forcibly betrothed to her childhood friend and father’s fiercest warrior, Isla is desperate for an escape - no matter the cost. But until she marries, her father is filled with a power his body cannot handle, and his control is steadily slipping. After an explosive fight with her father, Isla flees to the surface, only to find herself in the middle of a violent storm with two choices: Swim to safety or save the human man she sees drowning in the tumultuous waves. Her decision will change her life, as well as her kingdom, forever. A story inspired by The Little Mermaid like you’ve never seen before.

©2019 Deidre Sequeira (P)2022 Deidre Sequeira

REALLY GOOD LITTLE MERMAID FAIRYTALE AND CLEAN

CLEAN AND REFRESHING LITTLE MERMAID FAIRYTALE SET IN MODERN TIMES .
WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

ACCEPTABLE FOR MATURE AUDIENCE, AGES CLOSE TO TEENS, HAS SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS SCENES ON SENTIENT LIFE. STILL IS CLEAN.
SOME TEEN AGE REBELLION AND FAMILY DRAMA.
BUT IT'S FUNNY AND INTRIGUING THROUGHOUT THE STORY.

NARRATOR IS GREAT AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

Fast-Paced Modern Retelling With a Feminist Twist

Isla Emerged is a fast-paced modern retelling of The Little Mermaid with a feminist twist. The writing was a little clunky at times, but the audiobook narrator read everything perfectly. Moreover, the climax and action were exciting, and I was never bored while listening. Alistair was such a sweetheart, and I almost wish <spoiler>Isla liked him and ended up with him</spoiler>! Kaia/Kaya? was vibrant and exciting and contrasted beautifully with Isla's more restrained personality. Anita was the perfect balance of wisdom to the younger women. Baron was a huge <spoiler>brat and such a creative villain</spoiler>. So entertaining! I also immensely appreciated that King Ezekiel didn't end up being a one-dimensional character. His "redemption" and heartfelt words were sad and beautiful to hear, and I wish I as a reader had gotten to see more of his pain and his side of the story. Notes on the audiobook: The narrator was wonderful! Her diction and pronunciation were clear and concise. Each of her characters had a distinct voice. She even narrated different accents for Isla's mermaid people and the humans on land. I'd recommend this one to YA readers who'd like the idea of an unconventional and empowering fairy tale retelling. Content warnings: Recommended for readers 13+. Multiple uses of "damn," "bitch," and variations of "ass" (e.g. "badass" and "asshole"). One character's father is angry and a little abusive. The same character is naked in one scene after being deposited on the shore and attempts to cover herself when discovered. Another character is described as having curves. A mermaid-turned-human wonders at the use of the "extra hair" she has. Many female mermaids are captured, chained, and sedated for experiments. Mermaid-human hybrids are mentioned quite a number of times, and human characters nearly succeed in carrying out a plan to put "specimen" into female mermaids so they will reproduce. Men behave rashly and often have little respect (except for Alistair, of course! Alistair is great.) One man runs his hands over a mermaid's tail and pulls on her hair before requesting that his specimen be used for her specifically. Another man is shot from behind by a protagonist after she speaks with him. A pool of blood is mentioned. More people are shot and killed. One protagonist is shot in the abdomen. Two people are stabbed, one in the neck and the other in the heart. Another person is slashed across the stomach, and more people die as battle rages. One character attempts to choke another. Another character is shot and dies, and the blood is mentioned with moderate detail. One final character drowns. Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book via Storyorigin for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are completely my own, and I was not required to leave a positive review.

Wonderful book

Narrator did an amazing job with this book. I got caught up quickly with this amazing story.

Isla Emerged

This was not your typical little mermaid story.

The stage is set for Isla to become Queen of her people, but that would mean she’d have to marry. Not wanting to enter into an arranged marriage, Isla makes some decisions that could ultimately lead to the end of her kingdom.

I thoroughly enjoyed Deidre Sequeira’s spin on a classic tale. It was great to see Isla grow into the strong female character she was always meant to be.

Talon David’s narration was very well done. The characters personalities shown through and the story was brought to life.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Little Mermaid with a twist

A gritty sort of retelling of The Little Mermaid. There were characters to cheer for, like Alasdair, and others to boo at, like Baron. It was a coming of age story for Isla. She had a lot of growing up to do quickly after she was too trusting, and learned the cost of betrayal.
There's a high creepy factor involved, as far as what the humans plans for the mermaids, but it's implied rather than depicted on page.
Talon David did a great job of bringing the story to life, and her voices for all the different characters were consistent throughout.

Very Good Story

This is a Mermaid type story about a Very Stubborn young woman who will Not marry unless for true Love. I would love to be living in Isla's world instead of this one. I highly recommend this Audible book, Narrator does an Excellent job with the various characters and the Entire Storyline of this Book.

Fantastic Middle Grade & Up Re-Imagined Tale

This is another retelling of The Little Mermaid, and in my opinion, this is one of the better versions. The author does a great job with the character development and world building. As it starts Isla is just 17 years old, her mother/queen passed away a few months ago and father is forcing her into a marriage with her friend. The female mermaids carry the magic and receive it upon the consummation of their marriages. When the queen died her magic transferred temporarily to the king and it is very unstable causing more pressure to a quick marriage for Isla. Although her betrothed is her friend and they do not love each other... Isla starts out quite immature but quickly is forged to grow up and becomes a very strong character. This is not a predictable version, shows teenage rebellion with choices and consequences, with very little romance involved. I do recommend this to those who like the fairytale retellings, it was a really fun and new twist to a beloved classic!

Parents- PG13 good for middle grade readers to adults
Language- not a lot, much less then Harry Potter and no f-bombs
Violence- normal to genre, laboratory testing on mermaids -> plans for them were disturbing but not super detailed, does show teenage rebellion and parental conflicts
Sexual Content- forced marriage-> magic passes upon consummation of marriage, allusions to men giving sperm samples, no real romantic interactions, not even kissing scenes and there were also no bedroom scenes, it's really pretty clean other then a few alluded to discussions.

The narrator did a fantastic job with the differentiation and acting skills. I did like it better at 1.25x speed but I do tend to listen to many books a bit faster.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Isla and her friends

I loved listening to this story! The content was awesome (merpeople, gah!) and the narrator was excellent! I recommend this book in any form to the readers and listeners that love mer.
I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

FANTASTICAL BOOK!

This book was amazing from start to finish, just a whimsical change on a mermaid story. There were characters I fell head over heels for, and ones I absolutely despised. If there is ever a book you want to read with a twist on an old mythology, this is definitely it!

Ariel becomes independent and her own person

I chose this book mainly because I love mermaids, but I am super-impressed with how the story turned out. What I loved most is that this is a coming-of-age story, but without a romance thrown in. It's the perfect story about how to figure out duty and personal desires and learning to deal with consequences. The twists and turns were nice, it is definitely not predictable. And the narrator was quite good, she easily immersed me in the story.

I enjoyed it enough that I don't know if I can wait until the next book in the series will be out in audio. I'll most likely get the ebook. (But you don't have to; there is no cliff hanger and it can be read/listened to as a stand-alone).