Neela

The Blue Pearl

What if the unbelievable stories we grow up with turn out to be true?

Eighteen-year-old Neela has always felt different. She lost her sight as a child and learned to navigate the world through sound, scent, and instinct, finding comfort in the rhythms of the sea and the stories passed down by her grandfather, a fisherman with a scarred past and a heart full of legends.

Most days, Neela is content to perform handmade fairy tales for the children at the resort where she works. But everything shifts the night she meets Cheveyo, a mysterious traveler with a voice like the tide and secrets he refuses to share.

Drawn together by something neither of them can explain, Neela and Cheveyo begin to uncover truths buried deep in the island and hidden in Neela’s own past. As the lines between memory and myth begin to blur, she finds herself caught in a tide she cannot resist and a story much bigger than her own.

She always believed her grandfather’s tales were just that: tales. But sometimes the most unbelievable things turn out to be true.

Neela: The Blue Pearl is a heartfelt, atmospheric YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen with a touch of Laini Taylor. It blends slow-burn romance, magical realism, and a heroine with quiet strength that lingers long after the final page.

If you are drawn to island magic, long-lost secrets, and stories that feel like a whispered promise on the wind, this beautifully written debut is calling your name.