Alabaster Island

The Mermaid Curse

By: M.S. Kaminsky

Narrated by: Amelia Mendez

Winner of the 2021 New York Author Project contest in the YA fiction category.

Seventeen-year-old Marei lives on Alabaster Island, a remote tropical isle inhabited by 21 families. Nobody under the age of 18 has ever left to visit the mainland. The island and its strange customs are all that Marei and her friends know.

For years, Marei dreaded the Binding. On that day, each teen must write his or her choice of life mate. But with her childhood sweetheart having drowned long ago, Marei has no boy in mind, so she leaves her paper blank. This sets off a chain of events that ruptures the bedrock of her life and leads her to question the only home she’s ever had.

She encounters a mermaid, beings thought to have gone extinct. The mermaid tells Marei to leave the island and offers to help. When a handsome teen from the mainland becomes stranded after a supply drop, Marei falls in love. Her secret plan to flee becomes an obsession.

But the mermaid has a hidden agenda of her own. Now, Marei must confront the shocking reality that lies beneath island life. The choices she makes threaten to upend her fate and that of her island community forever…but only if she can escape alive.

If you like Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, Cassandra Clare, Dylan Farrow, Melissa Albert, Michelle Madow, Maggie Stiefvater, Shannon Hale, Kiera Cass, Kami Garcia, Carrie Anne Noble, or Adrienne Young, you won't be able to put down the wildly addictive Mermaid Curse Series.

©2017 Open Pollinated Productions LLC (P)2023 Open Pollinated Productions LLC

Mermaid Agenda

Teens might enjoy this book more than I did. The narration was good on Audio. What will Marai do when the boy she has crushed on dies and she has to write her loves name on a paper. When Marai goes to discover herself, but finds the secrets she should not know What will happen? When she meetss a new boy what will happen?.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Great premise

It’s got a good story line and characters are fairly believable other than one very agressive boy. the adults have been keeping secrets, especially Marai’s mom. When her crush dies and she has to pick the name of a boy to be bound with, will she live happily ever after - or will other options present themselves.

Hauntingly Beautiful

I loved this story! It was very poetic and full of intrigue. It read differently than a lot of YA. Like I wasn't sure where it was going. I didn't know if it was more dystopian or what was actually happening and it really kept me on my toes. It felt very genre defying and I liked that a lot. I really felt like I got to know the main character, Marei. I really want to know what else happens to her but it sounds like she isn't the protagonist in the rest of the series. Hopefully, we still get to find out what happens to her! My one criticism is that I wanted to know more! I wanted to know what happens to everyone on the island and how they got there in the first place. This a prequel though so I'm guessing I'll just need to keep reading.

I loved the narration! It starts with the main character whispering into a seashell and it really transported me into the story. I felt like I was the one who found the seashell and was listening to it instead of an audiobook. That feeling carried throughout the experience. That overall feeling never went away but faded into the background as the scenes played out. I could picture each of the characters so clearly and I knew who was talking instantly. There was also so much emotion. It was like the narrator was living it. She sounded so sad that I was wondering if we should check on her. Fantastic acting and performance!

I think you would enjoy this book if you like YA and are looking for something a little different than the current mainstream books.

Such a fun story!

What a fun book this was, and the narrator really brought the characters to life. I particularly appreciated how she handled the dialogue- she really drew me into the story. I'm recommending this to students!

Well Written

This is the first book I've listened to by this author. The story was interesting and well-written.

Interesting Concept

This was a very unique coming-of-age story. I liked the premise behind it- and the suspense of the pressures and constraints these teens are going through and the underlying danger of not following as told. This was the first I'd read/listened to by this author.

I listened to this as an audiobook narrated by Amelia Mendez. I liked her voice and the voices she did of the different characters. At times, strangely the audio sounded read to- like a person sitting in a room with me reading out loud from a book rather than the feeling like the characters are speaking and things being acted out. It's hard to describe if that makes sense, because audiobooks are literally people reading books to you, but I can't recall ever feeling like I was being read to before.

Overall: 3 stars
Performance: 3 stars
Story: 3 stars

enjoyable

great story kept me riveted lots of backstory and detail.i can't wait to read more