by Susann Cokal
First published 2020
Sanna grows up as an outsider among her mermaid kin. Born half-seavish, she never quite belongs in the underwater matriarchy that raised her. A sea-witch's spell erased all memory of her birth, including from her landish mother who vanished sixteen years ago. Sanna apprentices herself to this same witch, learning the dangerous arts of making and unmaking. She trades her tail for human legs and ventures onto the Thirty-Seven Dark Islands, following the only clue to her mother's whereabouts. Her fellow mermaids wait in the waters below as Sanna encounters blood-hungry white roses and desperate islanders who crave miracles. She must navigate the schemes of an immortality-obsessed baroness while completing her witch-teacher's mysterious quest. Caught between two worlds, Sanna discovers that finding her mother means confronting questions of identity, belonging, and what she's willing to sacrifice for the truth.
Genres: coming-of-age, fantasy, magical-realism, fairy-tale-retellings
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Thirty-Seven Dark Islands
Audio CD · Candlewick on Brilliance Audio