The Mourning Emporium by Michelle Lovric

This book opens not long after the first book in the series, The Undrowned Child, leaves off. Which works very well to keep the momentum from the first book going. Without the fast pace of action, this story would be very slow. Still, I forced my way through and found that in the end I was pleased.

While I liked The Undrowned Child, I just couldn't get into this sequel. The action moves along at the same movie-action-scene way that it did in the first book, which pulled me through the chapters at an accelerated pace. It was fun to be aboard a ship tough, with the atmosphere being a little more cramped and claustrophobic. The budding romance between Teo and Renzo is cute, as they both grow older a little more each day.

And again, I totally loved the super cool power Teo has. Honestly, how cool would it be to see people's handwriting appear in the air above their heads? Seemingly useless info, but Teo manages to pull massive amounts of information about a person from their handwriting. I also like the way the mermaids speak. It's unique and funny and creative.

The ending of this book is pretty solid. I'm not sure if there will be another in the series, but I hope not. With such a sweet finale, I am content to stop right here.

Overall Rating: 3 Stars