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Review: Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning

Sea Witch Rising
Sarah Henning
Kathering Tegen Books
Published August 6, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Sea Witch Rising

“The Little Mermaid” takes a twisted turn in this thrilling sequel to villainess origin story Sea Witch, as the forces of land and sea clash in an epic battle for freedom, redemption, and true love. 

Runa will not let her twin sister die. Alia traded her voice to the Sea Witch for a shot at happiness with a prince who doesn’t love her. And his rejection will literally kill her—unless Runa intervenes.

Under the sea, Evie craves her own freedom—but liberation from her role as Sea Witch will require an exchange she may not be willing to make. With their hearts’ desires at odds, what will Runa and Evie be willing to sacrifice to save their worlds? 

Told from alternating perspectives, this epic fairy tale retelling is a romantic and heart-wrenching story about the complications of sisterhood, the uncompromising nature of magic, and the cost of redemption.

My Review

I forgot how much I like the way Sarah Henning writes. Her characters are compelling and complex. They’re the kind of characters who are somehow both hero and villain. You don’t agree with all their choices, in fact, some of them you wildly disagree with, but you understand the desperation and the love behind them.

The story world is also rich and imaginative. The magical system feels well-developed, too. I liked the cross-generational element to the story, where Evie, the protagonist from Henning’s first book, SEA WITCH, is now the age of Runa’s grandmother. Runa’s sister becomes human because she’s in love with the grandson of Evie’s best friend. It gives the story an interesting circular feel.

I think I expected the Little Mermaid retelling to be the whole story. (Spoiler: it isn’t. It’s about 25% of the book.) On the one hand, I liked that SEA WITCH RISING went much broader into this political conflict and the collision of merpeople and humans. On the other hand, sometimes the story felt rushed because so much was crammed into the pages.

A few elements challenged my willing suspension of disbelief. I’ll try not to include spoilers. At one point Runa takes a serious action that I felt didn’t get the proper horror from her new allies. They kind of face-palmed, told her she did a stupid thing, and sort of moved on.

They had other, more pressing issues, so in some ways it made sense that they put Runa’s actions aside, but it didn’t seem like she paid a social cost for her behavior, if that makes sense.

I kind of also wanted SEA WITCH RISING to have a little more of a nod to true love toward the end of the book. The story definitely isn’t about romantic love. It’s about sisterhood and also the kind of love you have for your people. But it would have been really cool to juxtapose the part of the story which is the retelling of the Little Mermaid against Runa’s own journey toward love.

On the whole, I still really enjoyed the book. Like I said, I love the way Sarah Henning writes and I love her complex characters. I’m a huge fan of the duology, and I hope Henning writes more fantasy in the future.

If you like twisted fairy tales, also check out the duology SPINDLE FIRE and WINTER GLASS by Lexa Hillyer, which are kind of a Sleeping Beauty/Alice in Wonderland/Cinderella mashup. Also, if you’re fans of those books, you definitely want to read SEA WITCH and SEA WITCH RISING!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Runa and her sisters have blond hair and pale skin. The humans in the story are from Denmark.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to the sea goddess, Urda. Use of magic.

Violent Content
The sea king uses a violent magic to harm the sea witch. In an intense scene, a someone stabs another person. Witches use magic to incapacitate and burn enemy soldiers.

Drug Content
The sea king uses nectar from a rare flower to amass magical power. He’s become addicted and withdrawals from the nectar may kill him.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of SEA WITCH RISING in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Sea Witch
Sarah Henning
Katherine Tegen Books
Published on July 31, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Sea Witch
Everyone knows what happens in the end. A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss. But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends. One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch.

A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain.

My Review
Even though the description kind of tells where this story is headed, I felt like so many things about it took me completely by surprise. I liked the fact that it was set in Denmark and really felt anchored in the setting, from the village’s dependence on fishing to the climate to some of the cultural elements. I thought the way beliefs about the goddess of the sea were woven into the story was great, too.

At first I wasn’t sure if the characters would really draw me in. Something about Evie didn’t immediately hook me. I think I felt like she was well-intentioned but a little bit oblivious to the feelings of the people around her. She really grew on me, though, the more I read. I loved that her good intentions ended up being a huge driving force in the story, but not always for good. I don’t know if that makes sense. Sometimes she did things meaning to help but they backfired. Every time that happened, I felt myself only get more deeply invested in the story.

I think Sea Witch is perfect for fans of the movie Maleficent or really any fairytale origin story. I enjoyed it and found it to be a pretty quick read.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white. The story takes place in Denmark.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
The town celebrates rituals honoring the goddess of the sea, Urdu. When someone dies, everyone considers it because Udru takes what she will. A king some years ago burned witches, and public feeling is very strongly against them, so Evie and her family keep their power secret. Evie uses her power to try to bring more fish to the fisherman so the people in her village don’t go hungry. Evie befriends a mermaid who has been transformed into a human girl.
Magic always demands a price, such as a life taken for one saved. This means when someone’s life is saved, someone must die instead. In one instance, the sacrifice is willing. In another, the life is unwillingly given.

Violent Content
A woman gives her life for a spell to save her child. A child drowns in the ocean while her friends try to rescue her. A man is speared through the chest. A boy and later a young woman are injured in the water. Violent storms threaten the lives of those at sea.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol at a festival.