The Silent Princess A Little Mermaid Retelling by Mira Crest Review

rWhen I choose to review a book on my blog my main goal is to encourage my viewers to read it. That is why you won't see a lot of negative reviews on this blog. I want to spread the word on fairy tale retellings that may not be as well-known as Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine or A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. There are so many self-published books out there who's authors deserve more attention. Sadly, Mira Crest does not seem to be one of them. Her book The Silent Princess a Little Mermaid retelling (part of the Princess League series) started out promising and wasn't a bad book overall but suffered as the story neared its conclusion. It went from an intriguing and mysterious journey of discovery to an action-packed novel where death and destruction loomed everywhere. 

The story introduces the reader to Marina a mute young woman with no memory of who she is who is likely to die within the year. Living under the roof of an evil man named Pratt, Marina and the other orphan girls spend their days begging for money. All that they earn goes to Pratt and he physically abuses them for any little mistake. It is a miserable life, but where else could they go? One day Pratt goes too far when he attempts to hit the weakest girl with a heated fire poker. In order to save her friend Marina takes the blow. However instead of the hot iron burning her flesh it freezes over and does no damage. Stunned to learn she has ice magic and not being able to take any more of Pratt's abuse Marina runs away. Escaping to the next town Marina meets a kind elderly women named Emma who takes her in. Despite being deeply grateful to Emma and enjoying her new life Marina can't stop longing to regain her lost memories. Her only clue to her identity is the mysterious man that appears in her dreams. And when she discovers the man is Prince Dominic she knows she must speak with him even if means sneaking aboard his ship to do so. 

Prince Dominic is determined to uncover a mystery of his own. Every ship his father sends out has been reported missing leaving whispers of a curse looming. King Friedrich has sent out an investigation ship hoping to find answers. Disregarding his father's orders Dominic joins the crew and discovers he is not the only stowaway. A mysterious mute young woman has snuck onto his ship with hopes that he knows the secrets of her past. He does not remember ever meeting her though. However, when the crew is forced to abandon ship, she saves his life and soon find they must work together to save their kingdom. During their journey Marina will learn the truth of who she is and discover the family she had lost only to be torn from them again. She and Dominic will be betrayed by those they trusted and must come together to unite the kingdoms of sea and land all while trying to stop a bloody war from continuing. Will they succeed in their endeavors? Or will the two sides destroy each other completely?

I feel very conflicted about this book. For the first three quarters it was quite enjoyable. I was excited to learn more about Marina's mysterious past and discover how Dominic was connected to it. While it is fairly easy to guess her true identity it was still interesting to discover her hidden secrets as she begins to remember her forgotten past. The romance was really sweet too even if it was left a little open ended by the story's conclusion. Despite Marina's and Dominic's optimism that they can make it as a couple I was still doubtful given their circumstances.

My main problem with The Silent Princess is that the plot changes abruptly so late into the book. The story goes from mysterious and intriguing to an action-packed novel full of betrayal, death, and destruction. If this happened earlier in the story, I wouldn't be so hard on it. Another issue I have is that there is a severe lack of foreshadowing. There is one character betrayal in particular that I wish had not been so out of the blue. If there had been more leading up to make the reader suspect their treachery, I wouldn't be so annoyed but as it is there is very little reason to suspect them of any evil intentions.

Overall, this book wasn't my favorite. While it had enjoyable protagonists the plot suffered and felt choppy. If you are looking for a really good Little Mermaid retelling, I would recommend A Song of Sea and Shore by Katherine Macdonald, or Princess of Mermaids by A. G. Marhsall. I rate this book 2.5 stars out of five.