Book Review: Antara

Antara
Antara #1
Author: Marilena Mexi
Pages: 146 pgs
Reading Level: YA
Published: March 22nd 2011
Review Source: Author
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Summary: (from goodreads) Peace and tranquility on the island of Aster, home to both humans and 'merfolk', has long been broken by a devastating phenomenon, recurring every five years. A storm including gusting winds and huge waves mysteriously appeared and eradicated much of the population. The misunderstandings, suspicion and hate born of this disaster have torn the two races apart, and the peace loving merfolk are now in a never-ending struggle to prove their innocence and restore peace to the island. On the human side, things are even worse; under the tyranny of cruel king Orestis, the people suffer and all their king cares for is vengeance against the “fish”, as he spitefully calls them, executing merfolk after merfolk for just being near his lands.
Secrets, intense emotions and strange phenomena will upset their lives forever.

This is really the first book I have read, as an adult that had pictures. I have to say that Ms. Mexi is an incredible illustrator. The pictures of the Mermaids and the Hidden Forest were simply amazing. With that aside, I honestly have to say that I was a little disappointed with the book. Although I truly enjoy the plot for its uniqueness, the typos were a bit distracting and it felt rushed a bit childish to me. Other than that, the book was pretty good and I did enjoy looking at the beautiful illustrations.

The Merfolks and humans have always lived together on a small island called Aster. The Merfolks live on the shore and in the water as they are mermaids. Every 5 years a huge storm with enormous waves hits Aster and many lives are lost both human and Merfolks. No one really knows why this happens, but the humans blame the Merfolks for the devastating waves, even though the Merfolks have always denied it. King Orestis, the humans’ king, has declared war on the Merfolks and has ordered all Merfolks killed if they come close to his land. Now it’s a month away from the 5 year anniversary of the last storm and the Merfolks want to warn King Orestis about it, but it’s impossible since he won’t let any Merfolks to come onto his land. So the Queen of the Merfolks, Asteria, has decided that she is going to go and try to change the evil and cold hearted King Orestis’ mind, but things don’t go according to Asteria’s plan. So will the Merfolks be able to warn the humans about the next storm before it’s too late? You will just have to read this book to find out.