The Surface Breaks Audiobook By Louise O'Neill cover art

The Surface Breaks

A Reimagining of The Little Mermaid

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The Surface Breaks

By: Louise O'Neill
Narrated by: Amy Shiels
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About this listen

A dark and beautiful reimagining of The Little Mermaid.

Deep beneath the sea, off the cold Irish coast, Gaia is a young mermaid who dreams of freedom from her controlling father. On her first swim to the surface, she is drawn towards a human boy. She longs to join his carefree world, but how much will she have to sacrifice? What will it take for the little mermaid to find her voice?

Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale is reimagined through a searing feminist lens, with the stunning, scalpel-sharp writing and world building that has won Louise her legions of devoted fans in the UK. A book with the darkest of undercurrents, full of rage and rallying cries: storytelling at its most spellbinding.

©2019 Louise O’Neill (P)2019 Scholastic Inc.
Fantasy Magical Realism Science Fiction & Fantasy
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If you like The Little Mermaid you will definitely like this retelling, it's absolutely grabbing and beautifully narrated. I finished it in a couple of days.

A wonderful retelling!

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I love the original tragic Hans story of the little mermaid, so I really enjoyed this. Beautifully written with an empowering twist at the end. What I DIDN’T like, is the rape. This book referenced reoccurring sexual assault with a detailed scene at the end. I didn’t find it needed. There is also language and suggestive elements that didn’t bother me, but I kept thinking, this cannot be a child’s book. The description was misleading about the recommended audience age.

Not a children’s book, but a well written reimagine

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Very much like Drown by Esther Dalseno it is a great young adult read, far from the unfortunate trend of saccharine teenage romance novels. Beautifully written, brutally honest and very relevant to issues still faced by many women and minorities today, mainly not having a voice to defend yourself against prejudice, bigotry and violence. I HIGHLY recommend it to fans of the original fairytale who wish to read an honest ADULT version of the story without romantic fluff.

ONE OF THE BEST RETELLINGS OF THE LITTLE MERMAID

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Subpar at most…frustratingly crude writing and pacing with few plot twists and a severely lacking ending.

Subpar

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