In Deeper Waters

This has serious Little Mermaid vibes but like is different.Tal is a prince who is going on his coming of age tour and gets into a ton of trouble. People are trying to kill him because there are rumors that he has magic like his great great grandfather (and he does). He runs into Athlen (who is a mermaid) and they become quick friends as they keep helping and saving each other.Tal is kidnapped and tortured as a plot unfolds that another country is trying to manipulate his family into starting a war with another country. And this is related to his sister’s intended. He gets messages to his family using magic and they come to save him but crazy things happen and he gets saved by Athlen as he hears more stories about the mysterious sea witch who is obviously the last water mage his great great grandfather drove away in his tyranny.Some of my favorite moments: when Dara tells Tal the truth about the royals needing to understand the normal people. When she and Athlen help Tal heal. When Tal calls to the sea witch to save Athlen and make a deal. I also really love the relationship between Tal and his siblings they’re all very much individuals and a close knit group. I love Shay and Krest too.Some heartbreaking moments: Athlen talking about how he lost his family. But it seems like not all of them died especially given the tales Poppy tells. Mer people still exist elsewhere so I kind of wish we found out if his family was still alive. I choose to believe they are and I want a follow up! Also Tal talking about how he had to be in hiding and what his family member did destroying all the mages and magical creatures and how most of the magical knowledge is gone. Also the scenes of Tal being tortured and his depression and confusion and emotions were SO SAD.Lingering questions: Is Athlen’s family still alive? Are any mermaids? What about the unicorns? Is it possible other mages exist in secret too? Vanessa says the royal family took something from her does that mean his eldest brother killed the cat shifter? It was weird when they went down to interrogate her and he basically disappears and comes back and says never mind and keeps Tal away. Also why did Tal not know about this shifter when the royals know about every shifter in Royal service? Also what is the sea witch gonna do with his blood? I assume either get her form back or gift some magic to someone else and make more mages?Anyway this book is a lot of fun. It’s an adventure. And creative and magical. A joy to read and absolutely recommend it.

What is a genre you keep forgetting you love? For me, it's books about pirates and the sea (probably because irl I am deeply terrified of open water, lol).I knew I had to read In Deeper Waters the moment I saw the cover. Isn't it gorgeous?! I was so happy when it was included in my Rainbow Crate book box.In Deeper Waters is a fairytale, a queer retelling of The Little Mermaid. Tal is a prince exploring his kingdom for the first time and Athlen is a merman saved by Tal early in the story. Their relationship was soft, though Tal became fascinated almost immediately with the mysterious boy who was making his heart skip. Their coming together was sweet, focused on emotions, tenderness, and excitement that comes with first love. I loved how they worked together throughout the story, stepping in to protect the other in every instance.Speaking of strong relationships, Tal's relationship with his siblings was wonderful and I loved it so much! So much of this story was focused on relationships and Lukens did such a great job. There was no scheming or rivalry among the royal family. They were loving and teasing and protective towards each other. So refreshing to see! I would be sorely disappointed if we didn't get more stories about this group in the future.My favorite aspect of the story was definitely the diversity and progressive world. From the start Tal's family is supportive of his bi/pansexuality, teasing him good-naturedly and trying to set him up. In fact, one of my favorite moments in the story was when Tal came out to his mother and she expressed how lucky he was to have so many people to choose from.The whole world was so progressive, especially for a fantasy novel. Casual mentions of polyamory, same-sex relationships, and characters of all kinds in loving relationships and positions of power. Heads of the country? Badass women. Pirate captain? Woman. Fiercest fighter in the kingdom? You guessed it, woman! It was so casually part of the world and I absolutely loved it.The plot was not my favorite part of the story. While it was solid and I liked it, I do think it was a little shallow. It was very obvious what was happening and who was behind it early on, and the journey to reach that point didn't do much for me. The same can be said for the tone and pacing. It felt like the author didn't quite know what tone the story should be.Another thing that I couldn't shake while reading, while it was a sweet relationship between Tal and Athlen not everything felt like it fit. It may have been because there were moments when Athlen was so obviously not human and was unsure, but would be confident and take the lead a short time later. Or it could have been that things would shift between them from soft and tentative, to serious and sure, and back again. Still very sweet, but it was a lingering feeling I had while reading.Despite the faults I found with the story, I really did enjoy In Deeper Waters . It was a solid fairytale with wonderful representation and a host of loving relationships. The characters did so much to bring this story to life and I would absolutely love more in this world, maybe peeking in on the royal family to see how they're doing.I would definitely recommend this to fans of Daughter of the Pirate King (who want something similar but more lighthearted) and The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue .Cover: 4.5 stars | Plot: 3 stars | Characters: 4 stars | Rep: 4 starsFinal rating: 3.75 stars

I enjoyed this one it was well written. It was definitely your typical fairy tail but it was imaginative .

It's so sweet and adore how accepting his family is of him. I would like to know what is going to happen with blood though.

This book is a fun little read. Its a beautiful, colorful world and an enticing lgbt read that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Its comfortable.I would proudly recommend this book to someone younger than myself. It reads a bit tween-age as there isn't a ton of growth in the characters and the plot is a little predictable. If I had to compare it to something it's a lot like a Ghibili movie. Instead of watching Princess Mononoke though, you're watching ponyo. Its simple, endearing, youthful and magical.I'm excited to read more from this author and watch their style of writing grow.

Absolutely heart warming! This has everything I’d want from a book! It was absolutely amazing and funny and told so well I can’t believe I’m just now reading it.

I went into this book really wanting to like it and I just didn’t. But I’m not quite sure why.I was, frankly, kind of expecting a pirate/naval adventure/romance novel. And the romance is there, though it’s of the ‘they fell in love as soon as they saw each other’ kind, rather than a ‘will they/won’t they’ or a ‘they realise their feelings in the middle of a sword fight,’ which I’d personally prefer. In fact there’s not that much action in the whole book. The plot mostly drifted slowly from one place to another, more meandering than anything. It’s not a bad plot, beat by beat, but not what I expected.The characters are also not what I expected. Again, I was expecting pirates. Characters with an edge to them. Both Tal and Athlen are pretty soft as characters go. And that’s fine. But I also found Tal a little insufferable. His back story is that his great grandfather almost conquered the world with magic and his family, the royal family, have been trying to make up for it ever since, through diplomacy, so that the world doesn’t unite and crush them. He has to keep his magic secret and has been hidden from the world at large until now. Which must be hard. But he also seems to ignore the fact that he’s a prince, with the massive amount of privilege that brings with it. He comes across as very spoiled at points.Also…ok, so this complaint will include spoilers so skip this paragraph. But when he’s captured by pirates he’s ‘tortured.’ This is how he describes it and how other members of his family do as well. The torture? He had to scrub the deck for hours and man the bilge pumps. Hard work? Sure. Work he wasn’t used to as a prince. And he might not have been physically well and not being fed all that much. It was a hard experience for him. But torture? And this is used to excuse later actions. It just…it feels like actions that haven’t earned the title of torture. He wasn’t the only one doing it either! The other pirates took their turns.Sorry, that was just a small thing that really frustrated me.Honestly, I think it’s the fairy tale aesthetic and style of writing. Everything just drifts along and events seem to have little impact. It has a lot of the staples of a fairy tale but I’ve seen them used to much better effect elsewhere. In some places it almost seems clumsy.Which is a shame because at the end of this book was the first chapter of ‘So This Is Ever After,’ a previous book by the same author. And I loved it. It had so much more humour and energy in its writing than ‘In Deeper Water.’ I’ll definitely be giving that a read at some point in the future.In the end I have to conclude that this book was an experiment by the author. But it wasn’t one that worked for me.

This MM YA Romance adventure is a kind of fairytale mixture where Prince Tal rescues a handsome boy from the bottom of a sinking ship, by using his secret magic to break the iron chains.The boy is Athlen, and he promptly runs.But on Tal's coming-of-age tour, they meet again just before Tal is kidnapped in a plot to start a war.This is a funny, laugh-out-loud, sweet, romantic, fraught with danger sort-of retelling of The Little Mermaid.It's truly one of the best YA books I've read in a long time and has me bursting to read more of Luken's books.The side characters such as Garrett and Dara, Shay and Lest are wonderful too.

Prince Tal has a secret. He has magical abilities which are forbidden ever since a previous King with powers laid waste to all magical beings and the lands they inhabited. Having spent all his life behind closed doors, as he has now come of age and can finally explore his family's kingdom. Not long after setting sail on a voyager with his older brother they come across a burning derelict ship with only one mysterious survivor. Tasked with caring for and finding out who he is, Tal learns that the boy's name is Athlen. He is charismatic, intriguing and instantly notices that Tal has magical powers. When they get close to each other Tal's magic sparks from the intense connection the two share. Unfortunately Tal trusts too easily and releases Athlen who jumps overboard to his death leaving Tal feeling guilty and heartbroken.When the ship makes land not long after, Tal unexpectedly bumps into Athlen who is perfectly fine and his exuberant self. Their connection remains strong and a closeness builds between them as they share details of their pasts. However, before they can act on their growing feelings, Tal is kidnaped by pirates determined to reveal his magical powers and start a war among all the kingdoms. Athlen has a secret of his own and it may be the only thing that will help locate and rescue Tal from their nefarious clutches before it's too late.A super sweet yet compelling 🌟🌟🌟🌟 story of boy meets boy, secrets are revealed, dastardly forces work against them, tough battles and a daring rescue plan. You know the usual story. I loved the fun and frolics on the high seas together with the wonderfully creative and beautifully described magical abilities and supernatural beings. Tal and Athlen were two of the cutest guys you could ever read, they had difficult childhoods and both were lonely but I loved how together they found the strength to be themselves and were willing to face adversity and struggles to help the other. The world building was imaginative and I'm sad that this is a standalone and not the start of an epic series.

Can we talk about that incredible vintage romance- inspired cover?!This was such a feel good read!This was wonderfully whimsical, with a great balance between an engaging plot and swoon-worthy romantic fluff.Athlen and Tal are the cutest and fleshed out which is not only enhances their romance but also the plot. Lukens doesn’t sacrifice their character development and the story in favour of the romance which is refreshing!I am in love with all of the royal siblings, if this book got the Bridgeton treatment and each of them got their own book I would be obsessed! The sibling banter was hilarious, I caught myself laughing out loud serval times.More people need to talk about this book?!

Para todos que gostam de Piratas do Caribe, que gostam de uma história que mistura aventura, fantasia e romance entre dois garotos, cada um com seus segredos, esse livro é maravilhoso! Tem piratas, tem magia, tem mitologia e tem brigas entre reinos!Tal mostra sua força quando é separado da família, Athlen é cada vez mais adorável à medida que a leitura avança.Uma história que merece uma continuação e uma versão na TV ou no cinema!