Audiobook Review: Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs

Fins are Forever
Fins #2
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Reader: Emily Bauer
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Fantasy/Mermaids
Run-Time: 6 hrs 50 Mins
Released: July 10th 2012 (audio)
Review Source: Harper Audio
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mergirl, true, but signing the renunciation will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being-human thing once and for all.

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, the waves start to get rough. Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?

The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up—Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?

Lily is happy on land and spending time with her love Quince, while getting ready to celebrate her 18thbirthday in Thalassinia. The thing is, by Thalassinia law, if Lily is not bonded by her 18th birthday she must give up her title as Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia. She is ready to do just that when she gets a visit from her trouble making cousin Dosinia. Doe shows up at Aunt Rachel’s with a note from Daddy letting her know that she has been tasked with keeping an eye on Doe and keeping her out of trouble. Problem is Doe hates humans and is now exiled from Thalassinia and has to stay on land.

This is an adventure that will take you through the struggles of a teenage mer-girl who feels that she has been wronged by the very species she is now forced to live with. As if Lily didn’t have enough to deal with, she is trying to find out what Doe did that was bad enough to get her exiled and trying to get ready to make a life altering decision. All the while, Doe is getting really friendly with Brody, Lily’s former crush. One thing leads to another and before you know it, Lily is rushing back to Thalassina to fix Docinia’s latest mistake which will bring Lily face to face with an old friend and the need to re-evaluate her decision to give up her future seat on the throne. Will Lily stay on land with the boy she loves or help out her old friend and possibly the entire mer-world?

Narrator Emily Bauer brings the characters to life in a bright and fun way. She is easy to listen to and makes the characters easy to love. She does really well with the female voices but at first I found it hard to tell when she was reading Quince and when she was reading Brody.

All in all I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to any young girl that loves mermaids. The audio is crisp and easy to fall into. If you don’t have time to sit down and read the book, Audio is the way to go.