A Mer-tale 
Jan M. Goldie
Self-published
Pub. 2014

October 21, 2021

A Mer-tale by Jan Goldie is the story of a land-trapped mermaid, Thala, who has the power to transform into a human when she wants to.

Thala has been confined to living on land by her uncle and only transforming into her mer-form every now and then. This is so they are protected from the sprats, her family’s lifelong enemies who are threatening to take all she has left. She is rebelling against her uncle and wants to destroy the sprats once and for all, but her uncle won’t let her endanger herself.

My first impression was that the prologue didn’t make much sense until I had read most of the book. I think Goldie could have taken a different approach when writing the prologue.

I found Goldie’s style of writing to be very intriguing. She gave a lot of detail to the story. I really liked the fillers (the parts that aren’t really related to the plot but are still important to the story). They made the story more interesting and fun. The plot on its own was a bit cliched but the extra story was really detailed and had loads of action.

I liked how there was a tiny bit of romance, just enough to give the story a nice balance. I won’t spoil it for you but it’s really good, trust me.

I also liked how it changed between the perspectives of two of the main characters who had very different views and were enemies. It gave you a better understanding of the story and where everyone was coming from. I did find that the story took a while to unfold in the beginning, but it starts getting interesting about halfway through. Before that you just get to know the characters and set the scene.

Some parts of the book were a little bit weird, such as when Thala didn’t know how to use her mesmerising skills, and it was weird even when she used them.

I think that anyone aged 15 or older would enjoy this book. I enjoyed this book but you will have to get past the boring chapters to get to the action. I do think this is a good book; just some parts of it are drawn out.

I think this is targeted for older people and kids wouldn’t really enjoy it as much. I read this when I was fourteen, I am fifteen now and I think I didn’t quite understand the book completely then, and some parts that I am rereading make way more sense now.

• Zaria is fifteen and lives in Hamilton.