Giveaway and Review: "Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels"

"Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels"
 by Helene Boudreau

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Release Date: Feb 1, 2012
Source: sent by publisher

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

The only thing that terrifies Jade more than the ocean is dancing at the Fall Formal. Because Jade has two left feet—er, flippers. Who knew being a high school freshman is even more awkward than being a plus-size aqua-phobic mer-girl? At least her only drama is of the human variety...

Or not.

The Mermish Council has just declared that all land-dwelling mers but return to the ocean. Pronto. But there's no way Jade is going to let her mom, or Luke, her...boyfriend? mer-guy-friend?, disappear into the deep, dark ocean. Again. After all, a girl's got to have a date to her first dance.

If Jade can stop mer-mageddon, finding a plus-size dress that doesn't look like a shower curtain should be a piece of cake.

My Review:

I can't resist books about mermaids, and this middle grade novel was adorable. I was surprised at the amount of world building in this book! The author really set up an entire undersea world with its own set of rules and politics.

However, my favorite part of the book wasn't the alternate universe, but the relationships between the characters. I loved that all of the characters cared about each other so much! You could really see how they joined together and helped each other in order to save the day. Jade's best (human) friend, Cori, was so adorable and encouraging to her friend, their friendship was so sweet and real at the same time. I also liked the addition of Serena, the mermaid who has just found her way onto land. Lainey, the mean girl, was fully fleshed out, and Jade was able to understand why she acted the way she did. It was great to see that dynamic explored instead of just making Lainey into a villain.

I would say this book is for older middle grade readers, or maybe even a younger YA reader. The characters themselves are in the 9th grade. There is nothing objectionable in the book at all, but there is so much detail and action that an older reader would definitely be entertained by this one.

Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Romance: 4/5 (cute and age appropriate to MG readers)
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

Bottom Line: A fun mermaid tale, with great characters and relationships.

Giveaway:

One set of all three books in this series! Including "Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings", "Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath", and "Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels"

GIVEAWAY RULES

The publicist has generously provided a copy of all three books in this series for a lucky follower of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :)

• US/CAN only
• Must be a follower to enter
• Books will be mailed out by the publisher
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends Mar 8

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

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