Customer Reviews

Daughters of the Sea #1: Hannah

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hannah (Daughters of the Sea, Book 1) could be summarized thus: Hannah Albury, a 15 year old orphaned girl with an inexplicable attraction to the sea, becomes the scullery maid for a prestigious Bostonian family and through her travels with them, discovers that she's a mermaid.

The writing was good and the book was a quick read, but nothing substantial happens. Hannah borders on being a Mary Sue and her problems are all resolved too easily. For instance, in the first two chapters, Hannah is sent to Kansas by a headmistress that finds her unsuitable for societal work. In Kansas she becomes gravely ill and is sent back to Boston, where the original headmistress is gone, replaced by a kinder headmistress who sees the potential in Hannah and sets her up with a prominent Bostonian family. A tad too convenient, and dare I say unnecessary.

Also, the introduction of Lila, the eldest Hawley daughter, and her vicious feline Jade was great. In fact, I found Lila to be more interesting than Hannah. She and her cat added a creepy element that kept me on edge, but when they became too problematic, rather than having Hannah resolve the problem or learn to cope on her own, they were disappeared just like the original headmistress, and so on it went.

Aside from the deus ex machinas throughout the story, the relationship with Stannish Wheeler, the handsome portraitist, came across as melodramatic. After a couple flirtatious glances and clandestine two-sentence conversations, Hannah fell into his arms like they were longtime lovers torn asunder by feuding families or something. She was willing to risk her entire existence to be with him--despite knowing next to nothing about him, except that he knew more about her than she did. Nothing about it rang true, and I wanted something more consequential to develop between them, mainly to redeem Hannah and cement their relationship.

These two aspects of the story (crazy Lila and handsome Stannish) gave the impression that they would be revisited in future installments of the series. But while those elements were placed on the back-burner of the story, I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, and the most exciting thing was Hannah discovering she was a mermaid. I relied on Hannah to draw me into her quest on an emotional level--make me feel the tension and excitement she felt as the mystery unraveled, but she didn't.

On a more positive note, it was an interesting and educational look at nineteenth century aristocracy--it made me wish that I lived in a mansion with a fleet of servants while summering on the Maine coast. Plus, I enjoyed learning how servants had their own autonomous government to keep the house running smoothly. Other than that, it was just an easy read to pass an afternoon with.

I would say this book is for young readers (age 9-12), but some of the vocabulary words might be on the advanced side, and I'm not certain too many older teens would get into this story because of its simplicity. Also, this is more "historical fiction with a few fantasy elements" than "fantasy fiction with historical elements".

I gifted a copy of Hannah to my friend's twelve year old daughter. She's an insatiable reader who enjoys everything, but leans toward the mystical, supernatural, preternatural or otherwise unexplainable, which is why I thought Hannah would be a good fit for her. After she finished, I asked if she'd mind answering a few questions for review and she was game. So, here are her answers.
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1. In a sentence or two, tell me about the storyline: A girl named Hannah finds out that she's a mermaid.

2. On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being "hated it" and 5 being "loved it", how would you rate this book? 3. It's OK.

3. In a few sentences, explain why you liked or disliked the story: Just to set the record straight, I didn't hate the book. It was OK and I don't regret reading it. I don't think I can find the right words to describe why, but it felt like there was too much missing from it. In the books I like, the characters make mistakes and learn from them and they grow, but Hannah was too straight. She made mistakes, she broke the rules, but she didn't seem to learn or grow from them because her problems were taken care of for her. The only big thing that happened was discovering she was a mermaid and that didn't even make a splash for me because I knew what she was just by looking at the cover and reading the first two chapters. Then when the story, the *real* story is about to start, the book ends. It just didn't *feel* right.

4. What lessons did you learn from reading the book? Nothing really, except maybe that it's OK to break the rules as long as you don't get caught and that it's OK to sneak around with creepy older guys. (Just kidding.)

5. Would you recommend this book to your friends? Why or why not? Probably not. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't that great either. Most of my friends would think it's superficial and boring.

* After reading her answer to question 4, I was a bit put off and asked her to elaborate. This is her response [Her answer contains SPOILERS]:

When Hannah's working, she's told that she's not to go upstairs unless specifically told to, but she sneaks around at night to check out the large vases with mysterious paintings on them. She never gets caught or gets in trouble for it though. Then she meets this guy who's painting the picture of the three daughters and suddenly she's in love. Just like that. To make it worse, he's creepy. He doesn't tell Hannah who he is or explains his attraction to her. They really don't say much of anything to each other. Again she doesn't get caught or in trouble for that either. It's like everything is handed to Hannah without her having to try or work for it. Her only problem is Lila and Jade, but Lila's shipped away to a mental institution and Jade is killed by Lila's kid sister. I said I was just kidding because I know that this is fiction and breaking the rules will get you in trouble and that you shouldn't talk to creepy strange men, but as far as lessons go there were none that jumped out at me.

THREE QUICK POINTS
*Point 1: There's a happy coincidence around every corner. At least, that's the case for Hannah Albury.

*Point 2: The intended audience must be precocious children or idyllic teens. It was, in general, too superficial for an audience over 12 with words too laborious for an audience under 15.

*Point 3: It's the book equivalent of Chinese food.

SHORT SYNOPSIS
After becoming a scullery made for a prominent Bostonian family, Hannah Albury discovers a secret about herself: she's a mermaid.

MY THOUGHTS
I wanted very much to love this book, but I couldn't help noticing a few gaping problems. The main ones being all the happy coincidences that seemed to happen to Hannah, deciphering who the intended audience is, and that this book is an incomplete story.

First, all the challenges that Hannah faces are handled for her, from the headmistress at her orphanage to the Hawley daughter who's trying to make her life miserable. It would have been nice to see Hannah work her way out of these problems or simply deal with them instead of having them--poof--disappear. Or when Hannah broke a couple of rules, it would have been nice to see her get caught and watch how she handled the situation and learned from it.

Then, there was the audacious use of vocabulary--words such as lugubrious, conflagration, chiaroscuro, and gewgaw to name only a few--which gave me some pause. These are words one is more likely to find handed out to high school sophomores and juniors; it felt incongruous with the simple storyline. This was another reason that I had a difficult time pinning down the intended audience.

I'd have believed the older teen/young adult target audience if the story had more depth of emotion and more developed sub-plots. For instance, the profound affection that Hannah and Stannish Wheeler have for one another stretches the imagination when all they've shared were a few flirtatious glances and even fewer full-blown discussions. It hinted that Hannah and Stannish were possibly connected in another life together, but it was never elaborated in the story and resulted in the emotional impact falling flat.

Finally, the story ended at the high point. It seems to be a trend with some series that are coming out--the first book amounting to a prequel, devoid of a fully fleshed out story, serving to drive readers into the subsequent books. A trend possibly due to the success of Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, and others.

With those particular series, however, each book was a complete self-contained story with a strong plot set up, climax, and conclusion with a lead in to the next story. I didn't get that with Hannah. The main storyline of this book (Hannah learning that she's a mermaid) simply wasn't strong enough to stand on its own. Even pegging it as a coming of age story is difficult because Hannah doesn't seem to grow much.

Overall though, the writing is good and gave a nice overview of nineteenth century aristocracy, but was the book equivalent of Chinese food--tastes good going down, but an hour later, you're hungry again.

It seems vampires have taken over the teen, tween and young adult book market but who says mermaids don't have a place? Hannah, the first book in the daughters of the sea series is comparable to an American Girl tale- historical fiction for young adults...with a splash (no pun!) of fantasy.

Young Hannah is an orphan who now works as a scullery maid for a wealthy family in nineteenth century Boston. Although she is sweet, friendly and open minded and does her job well she continuously feels out of place.When the family relocates to the coast of Maine, Hannah suddenly feels closer to home than she could ever imagine. Here she meets a wise old painter who has a knack for reading people and knows Hannah's secret, which Hannah has yet to discover for herself: She's a mermaid!

Hannah loves the sea and although its the most "at home" she's ever felt, she has grown best friends with the youngest daughter of household. Thus, she's faced with a tough choice: to stay on land as a human and give up her freedom in the sea or to return to her existence as a mermaid forever.

Hannah on the service helps young girls explore the fantasy of what it is like to be a mermaid and could dive deeper as a tale of self discovery, friendship, and finding where we belong.

I enjoy children's fiction and I am a big fan of Lasky's Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, so I was looking forward to this book quite a bit. I'm sad to say I was disappointed.

Unlike many of the other girls at the Boston Home for Little Wanderers, Hannah does not harbor any illusions that her parents are royalty or rich or famous or any other such fancy. She only hopes to get a position somewhere near the ocean. Unfortunately, she is not thought to be suitable for anything and is sent to Kansas on an Orphan Train. She is taken in by a couple and begins to immediately get sick. Eventually, she is sent back to Boston where she starts to improve and a suitable position is found for her. It is there that she discovers the truth about herself and who she really is.

I think that Lasky spent too much time on the build up and not enough time on the mermaid part of the story. Perhaps it's going to be a series and we'll find out more about Hannah in upcoming books. Also, there seemed to be a great deal of the storyline focusing on Lila and it seemed somehow superfluous. There were other parts of the story that were emphasized that simply seemed out of place.

On a positive note, I do love stories about girls who are strong. Hannah has the classic Good Girl Attributes of the time and place of this book: hard working, eager to please, wanting to be successful. She also is true to herself, honest and forthright. That's an excellent combination for a girl to aspire to be. I hope that Lasky does have more books about The Daughters of the Sea and we find out more about what life is like for a merperson.

This first installment of the Daughters of the Sea series is about Hannah, an orphan girl who gets a job as a scullery maid for a rich family. There is something odd about her though: she cries tiny scales, the bathtub is ringed with salt after she bathes, she can play the harp though she's never seen one before . . . and she is powerfully drawn to the ocean. A painter hired to paint the portrait of her employers' daughters seems to know her secret. And she become the target of the high-strung daughter Lila and her creepy cat.

While it was a fast read and written well, a lot of the story seemed contrived and just too convenient. The orphanage head who thought Hannah was unsuitable for service, is conveniently replaced when Hannah returns from her disastrous trip to the midwest -- and places her in a job. Then at the job, the family just happens to have vases with mermaids on them and a harp that Hannah is drawn to. They just happen to hire a painter who knows what Hannah is.

Also -- nothing really seemed to happen very much. Everyone is so nice and understanding to Hannah but we are told that before the book began it seemed she had trouble fitting in with people and was deemed unsuitable for service. But when she is placed, her employes and the rest of the staff all think she's wonderful. Even when she has problems with Lila, you'd think Hannah would be blamed by no, her employers see that the problem is there own daughter.

The language and most of the content seemed to fit for a middle grade novel but the romantic scenes with the painter were a little much for a 9-12 year old, I thought. I was also surprised by this intense love Hannah feels for the painter. I really didn't see the build up for that and it didn't seem believable that she would give up everything just for someone she's barely spoken to.

I think middle grade/jr. high girls would enjoy this book to get a glimpse into the a different time and what it was like for girls in service, as well as the mermaid aspect.

This book seemed very much like a prelude to another story... I more or less enjoyed it, but by the end I felt like there was a bigger, better story waiting to be told. Since this is the first in a series of three, I'm sure the author intends to tell it, and I look forward to it. But this first installment only merits 3 stars in my opinion.

What I liked best about the book was seeing into the "upstairs/downstairs" world of Hannah's life as a scullery maid for a wealthy Boston family. This was interesting and somewhat unique.

Unfortunately, the magical elements of the story felt clumsy, forced, and not satisfactorily explained. I don't have a clear picture of what "being Mer" means. My guess is that over the course of the three books the author intends to flesh it out fully, but weaving in a little more explanation in this first book wouldn't have hurt, just to get the reader hooked on the author's interpretation of the Mer-world rather than relying on a general interest in mermaids to get readers to pick up the second book.

Overall, an OK book, but I withold my final recommendation until the whole series is published and I find out if the author tells the bigger, better story that this first book alludes to.

Until I realized this was the first book in the series, I wouldn't have rated this book three stars based on the somewhat predictable plot.

Hannah is a scullery maid in Boston at the turn of the 19th century for a very elite family. Her past is clouded in fog, having grown up in an orphanage near the sea. She reaches the age where she is too old for adoption, and is trained to become a domestic servant.

Sent to Kansas, she is already beginning to feel sick. Even though she does not seem to know herself at this point, being so far from the sea begins to open her mind to possibilities that she is no ordinary young woman. Small salt crystals begin to fall off her skin like snowflakes, and she is immediately sent back to her orphanage in Boston.

Now a scullery maid, she begins to discover which rules to obey, and subsequently which ones to ignore. During her new life, she meets a painter who knows more about her than he admits. Their relationship revolves around a portrait of the family's three daughters, only two of which are ever really introduced.

Etta, or Henrietta, is the youngest and instantly warms up to Hannah. Lila, the middle daughter, is the chief antagonist of the novel. The eldest is a bookworm and has no influence on the novel in any way.

Without saying too much, I felt the novel was very open-ended and left few feelings of closure. Had there not been a second novel, I would wonder where the characters are when the story closes. I was left wanting more.

In all, the book is a fine introduction to a historically relevant world with more under the surface than presented. But the absence of a story arch suggests that a larger story is taking place, and the complete story can only be found through other volumes. A fine read as a stand alone, but not without a feeling of enjoyment or accomplishment.

Mr. Delzer is the author of The Buccaneer of Nemaris. The Buccaneer of Nemaris

This book was both mysterious and sweet, as Hannah very slowly discovers what she is and where she truly comes from. Even though I found the whole process of discovery rather drawn out, I didn't mind the slow pace because of the age of the girl and setting that she lived in, at a time in which women were never even given the opportunity to go to college and the wage of a few dollars was considered good income. How the orphans were handled, some even being "adopted" into households in the midwest, had me wondering just how common this practice was at the time and how it played into geneologies. The intricacies of how the household is run that Hannah works in is enlightening, as I had no idea there was such a heirarchy among the servant class of that time period.
Hannah is only 14 when she goes through these changes to become a mermaid, but if that had happened to me at that age, I don't think I would have had the courage to abandon what security I could find for the great unknown of the vast ocean. What I found greatly disappointing was how her budding romance with the painter was just left hanging, with no resolution or explanation of what he was and why he left the ocean. I can only assume that since this is the first of three books, that his character will be further explored in future books. I also worried for the household that Hannah had been working in and what happened to them in the impending storm, but that loose end was not resolved either. The nuances of Hannah's revelation that give me clues as to what she is are interesting, such as the changing nature of Hannah's hair, her ability with the harp, and the way she sheds salt and scales. I always love when the author gives such attention to details. I look forward to reading about Hannah's two long-lost sisters and their own revelations.

I kept reading this book in the hopes of something "more" would be coming. It's like eating salsa without salt--there's something missing, but you keep eating to try and figure out what it is. Hannah was a good character, but she deserved to have more depth. There were areas of the book (like the Chinese vases) that could have had more explanation--why were the paintings on the vases so compelling to Hannah. What was the history of the vases--besides the fact that the family carts them from house to house.

Also,in the beginning of the story Hannah was shipped off to the West she was "adopted" by a preacher and his wife. Hannah became very ill with odd symptoms. She was so sick from being without the ocean air that she was confined to her bed and the doctor that came to see her was confused when he saw all the "crystals" that her skin was shedding. Suddenly, they all decided to send her back where she came from. It was too easy to put Hannah back east where the main story was to take place.

With this all said, keep in mind that this book is written for teenagers. However, after reading Twilight and other teenage books I still think that the author could have done a better job with the story--