Iloray

A Mermaid Story

By: Mary Jane Capps

Narrated by: Giselle M. Chatelain

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

The sea keeps secrets.

Gryshen’s never belonged. She’s always been...odd. And she’s never wanted her role as chieftain’s daughter.

There are too many expectations. She’s expected to lead a pod of iloray who don’t seem to trust her. To be the responsible sibling, while her charming kid brother jokes, hunts, and woos. To marry her father’s unbearably dependable aide, Bravis.

Life in the water has always moved too fast. And now, it’s speeding up.

Gryshen’s beloved father is dying, leaving her to take the throne and guard her pod’s sacred pearl, a magical gem that gives life to all iloray.

When she meets the remarkable Coss, son of the most ruthless chieftain in Oceas, she finally finds a way out. But her dreams come undone as her father’s health collapses, the sacred pearl goes missing, and an ancient test reveals just how much of a stranger she is.

Now, Gryshen - who’s never led anything - must lead warriors from pods around the sea in a battle to save their kind. Will she discover what she is along the way?

The sea is full of secrets, and it’s time for them to surface.

©2017 Mary Jane Capps (P)2019 Mary Jane Capps

Amazingly fresh, and unexpected.

The narrator's sounds really young but it didn't detract from the story for me. I found myself completely delighted at this brand new unexpected world that the author created, as well as the depth of the characters and storyline. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, for a change the story actually stays in the water which is what I was hoping for. I have found that most mermaid stories only dive into the water here and there but manage to pull the story onto land and freely humanize it. So this fresh take and the amount of detail that she had to go into to create a whole new world was awesome and inspired. I was actually hoping that there would be a sequel but no dice so hopefully the author does another mermaid story and keeps it in the water or maybe a spin-off of this one. My consensus is give it a try and if you can handle the narrator and all of the voices being so youthful and a bit childish at times you'll find this book well worth the listen. Have fun!

Unique

The cover caught my attention and I am always interested in a mermaid tale. This story was very unique from the normal princess mermaid stories. Which made for a great and interesting read. The story was a clean read with just the right balance between romance and war. The heroine was hard to relate to in the beginning but of course she came about in the end, thankfully. The narrator did a good job bringing the story to life.