Book Review: Florence by Ciye Cho

Title: Florence

Author: Ciye Cho

Series/Novel:  Florence Waverly Series (Book #1)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 240

Publisher: Studio Amazepop

Year Published: 2012

First Line: “I positioned the rifle against my left shoulder.”

“Seventeen-year-old Florence Waverly is out of her depth. Literally. Kidnapped and taken below the waves to the mer world of Niemela, she is the ultimate gift for merman Prince Kiren: a human familiar tied to his side. But nothing is what it seems amid the beauty and danger of a dark ocean.

Every Niemelan has a role to play, from the mermaids who weave towers out of kelp to the warriors who fight the sea monsters. But in trying to survive, Florence will end up in the middle of a war between the mer and the Darkness. A conflict that will push her between two brothers: Kiren, the charmer inexplicably drawn to both her and the monsters; and Rolan, the loner who has been pushing her away since the day they met. But in order to take a stand and find out where she belongs—Florence will have to risk it all: her life, her heart and her very soul.”

My Rating: 4.5/5

I would like to start with this book was requested by the author for a review. That being said it doesn’t change the fact that this is still an honest and opinion based review. Those who have read frequently know that all my reviews are based on opinion.

Now onto the serious stuff. This book surprised me in many ways. First off the way the setting was described as well as the passing of time. The way that the characters look and were portrayed throughout the book. These two things along with how the plot itself played out.

To start with, the setting in this story is really untouched territory for me. I think I have read one other mermaid based book but that was probably about 7 years ago. It is completely up to the author how the city of Niemela looked and how it was described. It’s up to the reader to envision the authors words. Ciye Cho did a lot of describing in this book and that helped me as a reader to understand the world he was creating. This was a very interesting idea and the idea of how the city was versus the darkness outside of it was both interesting and terrifying. The only thing that made me upset about the setting and timing was the timing itself. The days seemed to long in the book. I realize that this is something that is difficult for authors to use as the characters are made to pass through the days. This reason alone is why the book lost .5 points for me.

The characters were another untouched area. What a mermaid looks like is really up to your imagination. And once I got used to how the author described the mermaids and mermen, I enjoyed the creativity. The colours themselves were at first hard to comprehend but after given time a delight to imagine.

Lastly, the plot. This book had many unexpected twists and turns which I did not anticipate. That’s what I love to read about. At the beginning I was sceptical as I thought this book was on a sure path but as I read I became increasingly intrigued.

THANK YOU CIYE CHO FOR BUILDING A WHOLE NEW WORLD IN SUCH VIVID COLOUR!

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Sidny xoxo