A Princess of Wind and Wave: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid

Melanie Cellier, you have done it yet again.I have to admit, A Captive of Wing and Feather, despite being one of my top anticipated releases of 2019, left me kind of disappointed. Thus, I had my doubts upon opening this book.I'm so pleased to say that this book totally crushed every single one of those doubts.I was worried the worldbuilding would be kinda all over the place, because this is the last book of this series and suddenly there's a mermaid kingdom out of the blue? How was she going to pull that off? And yet she did, beautifully-- it felt perfectly natural, as though this mermaid kingdom had been there all along, just waiting to be discovered. And I love how she presented it and how she made it her own.I was worried I was going to hate Isla from the very start. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the same cookie-cutter type of impulsive, determined, dramatic girl YA protagonist. And yet, Isla wasn't like that. In fact, unlike these impulsive determined dramatic YA girls, she actually had a character arc... and it was a freaking awesome arc, one that I bet Ariel sure would benefit from.I was worried that I wouldn't be invested in the romance. Granted, that's a concern I have in any book that includes romance, but Cellier totally blew me away. Isla and Teddy were the sweetest and their relationship SO GOOD. I love how realistic and imperfect it is, and what the author did about the whole "ocean-girl" thing.Worries aside, this book was chock-full of other amazing surprises. Ray, oh my word, RAY. He's got to be one of my favorite Melanie Cellier characters ever. His loyalty and friendship with Isla was just... *all the love* And Millie was WONDERFUL. Just as wonderful as she was in A Dance of Silver and Shadow! RAY x MILLIE = MY HEART.(And the uncle thing was, like, the best thing ever.)The ACTION. No joke, all my favorite Melanie Cellier books are the action-packed ones. The action in this one is, of course, far from the awesomeness that is in The Princess Fugitive, but it was still really great. (And Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray...)I cannot wait for Return to the Four Kingdoms. The epilogue of this book made me long for it even more-- all the characters! Together again! (And more uncle jokes xD) I'm just hoping Gabe's brother might actually feature in that series, because he is the only royal we've never ever met in either of these previous series. *shrugs* Can't blame a girl for being curious.All in all, this was an EPIC finale to this second series. Melanie Cellier never ceases to amaze ;)

Like most "Little Mermaid" protagonists, Princess Isla is not your average mermaid princess. She doesn't want to stay safe and sound in her sunken kingdom and would rather spread her fins and practice fighting alongside the palace guards in the ocean beyond the barrier. On one such adventure, she rescues a golden-haired boy from drowning and hasn't been able to stop thinking about him ever since. When her father refuses to restore their kingdom to its rightful place on land two years later, she vows never to sing again until her kingdom is safe and ventures to the surface world with her young uncle where she encounters the boy she rescued once again. After she forms a bond with Prince Teddy and his sisters, Millie and Daisy, Isla realizes that many of the things her father told her about life on the surface were exaggerated or false. Now, she must team up with her new friends to uncover the source of the conspiracy and spread the truth to her people.This book followed the traditional format of Melanie Cellier's Four Kingdoms and Beyond the Four Kingdoms series in which a fairy tale princess must uncover a royal scandal on her kingdom and defeat the traitor before it's too late. Isla is very much your average warrior princess who knows how to defend herself but is still capable of falling in love. Unfortunately, by making her character more independent than her Hans Christian Andersen counterpart, this book significantly lowered the stakes from the original fairy tale. Instead of permanently giving up the life she knows to become human and risking everything to win Teddy's love, Isla already has the ability to shapeshift. The kingdom Merrita is unique in that it exists within a giant bubble, and everyone within it takes on human form and their lives just like ordinary people. They shift into merfolk when they cross the edge of the barrier into the ocean, but that is a journey that is only considered necessary for palace guards when they go on scouting missions, which is Isla prefers to train alongside them than take on her regular princess duties.Above all else, "The Little Mermaid" is a cautionary tale about the tribulations of love. This book places its own spin on that as well. Isla and Teddy thought that they fell in love with each other at first sight, but it isn't until they take the time to get to know each other that they understand what true love really is. They must then cast aside the ideals that exist in their imaginations in favor of the reality that they share together. As someone who is prone to crushes on fictional characters, this is something that I relate to all too well. Real love and fantasy love are different, but the passion behind both can feel just as powerful. I liked the overall message that love takes time to grow even though it seemed a little too convenient that Isla was able to find Teddy again so easily.A Princess of Wind and Wave was an improvement over its predecessor, A Captive of Wing and Feather, but it lacked many of the sacrifices and stakes that made the original fairy tale so alluring. It was a good princess book with a strong protagonist that fits well into Melanie Cellier's godmother-centric world. However, if you are a fan of mermaid stories seeking a new fantastical underwater kingdom to explore, the sunken island of Merrita will be sure to disappoint as it is no different from any other mainland kingdom aside from the barrier around it that leads to the ocean. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Melanie Cellier's other work or stories about strong empowered princesses.

This book is amazing and might just take top spot for favorite Little Mermaid retelling. Yes, the Little Mermaid character was impetuous and rebellious. But she also had good reason, even if she went about it the wrong way. And, she learns from her impetuous mistakes and learns to be less rebellious and more thoughtful and the character development was well done.This book is also a mash up of Little Mermaid meets Atlantis, so that made it super cool. There is danger and the stakes in this book could mean the downfall of both Trione and the underwater kingdom of Merrita. That made is such a page turner that I literally couldn't put it down.The love story was also really well done, focusing on the theme of falling in love with a real person instead of just a dream person based on an infatuation. So very well done!And, then there's Ray. Ray seriously stole my heart. I was so happy that he got his own happy ending in the book since he is simply adorable.I loved this book and I can't wait to step back into this world with the next inter-connected series whenever this author writes it!