Review: “Fury’s Fire (Siren’s Storm #2)” by Lisa Papademetriou

Title: “Fury’s Fire (Siren’s Storm #2)”

Author: Lisa Papademetriou

Genre: YA, mermaids, fantasy

Publication Date: July 10, 2012 (North America – Random House)

Summary: At the end of Siren’s Storm, the Sirens were defeated, and now the town of Walfang is once again a peaceful beach community.

Or is it? Gretchen and Will are still haunted by the memories of the night the Sirens were destroyed—Gretchen because she can’t remember what happened and Will because he doesn’t know how to tell Gretchen what he saw. He doesn’t even understand what he saw, but he does know now that Gretchen is more than what she seems, more than a human girl. And at the same time, he is more in love with her than ever.

Gretchen knows there’s something wrong, too. She feels like an alien in her own body, but she doesn’t know why. And she feels a presence stalking her at every turn. Have the Sirens returned to Walfang? Or has some other force come to claim her?

☆: 2.5/5 stars – a big improvement over book 1, but still has a long way to go as a series.

Review: Definitely better than the first book, I can say that for sure. But at the same time, this was still lacking a great deal. While the author has grown a lot in certain departments, she still has a lot to learn in others. “Fury’s Fire” is a pretty quick read, so I didn’t lose much time over this one. Still, I had high hopes for this one and while what I was given was adequate, it was barely just.

The area the author improved in the most from book 1 was worldbuilding. I won’t give anyone spoilers, but her ability to work in the more arcane area of Greek myths concerning sirens was GREAT – but at the same time, it wasn’t enough. I needed more. Unlike the fire mentioned in the book, this flame burned much too shortly. We were only given hints, and not the full story that we should have been getting in this area of worldbuilding (and plot, since this is a very plot-driven series) at this point in the series. The character journey arcs – well, at least Gretchen did undergo SOME transformation during her arc (which takes up most of the book), but like the previously mentioned elements, just wasn’t enough information to make it real and tangible in its brevity. No one else really seems to change in this book, and I think that’s what also really bothered me.

The pace, while better this time, went too much in the other direction – it was too fast. I wasn’t able to linger in areas I wanted to linger in, and found myself lingering in areas I just didn’t care about. I wanted more of the worldbuilding and less of Will and Gretchen bickering about how he’s overprotective (but not really). The revelations we did get in the character department were far too short-lived – and some of it wasn’t even explained.

Final verdict? Not the best mermaid/siren book I’ve read, and I don’t think that I’ll be finishing this series. I just don’t have the time, and the development is just too slow for me for me to keep waiting on. I can’t really recommend it, but I can’t completely shoot it down, either. I guess you could say I feel very “meh” about it. And I wish I didn’t.

Those who enjoyed the first novel will probably enjoy this one too. Those who didn’t – well, give it a try, anyway, and see how you feel about it. “Fury’s Fire” is out from Random House Children’s July 10th, 2012 in North America, so be sure to check it out then!