fuonlyknew

The Massacre is supposed to bring peace to Eriana Kwai. Every year, the
island sends its warriors to battle these hostile sea demons. Every
year, the warriors fail to return. Desperate for survival, the island
must decide on a new strategy. Now, the fate of Eriana Kwai lies in
the hands of twenty battle-trained girls and their resistance to a
mermaid’s allure.

Eighteen-year-old
Meela has already lost her brother to the Massacre, and she has lived
with a secret that’s haunted her since childhood. For any hope of
survival, she must overcome the demons of her past and become a
ruthless mermaid killer.

For the first time, Eriana Kwai’s Massacre warriors are female, and Meela
must fight for her people’s freedom on the Pacific Ocean’s deadliest
battleground.

~~~~~

How could I resist a book about mermaids, especially some deadly ones.

This isn’t a whimsical, romantic tale of beautiful mermaids. Yes, they can be beautiful, but when they  change to feed, their true nature is unmasked and they become monsters with red eyes, scaly skin, and teeth like pointed daggers.

No one knows why the mermaids came to the island of Eriana Kwai or why they started to attack the sailors. For many years now, the islanders have sent out ships filled with warriors to try to destroy the mermaids. Year after year the ships don’t return and the mermaids continue to rule the seas, cutting them off from the bounties of the deep, forcing them into poverty and desperation.

No matter what they tried, even training the men to fight blind to resist the hypnotic eyes of the sirens, fails.  Then, what was tossed out as a futile suggestion was implemented and a new ship set sail, armed with twenty young girls, maiden warriors that will not fall to the sirens call of the mermaids.

All hope rests on these maidens. Hope they will succeed. Hope the fishermen can return to the seas. Hope for freedom once again.

I read this book in one evening, completely captured by the characters and action.

A young girl, defying the edicts of her people, ventures to the beach and rescues a young female mermaid. The two become secret friends until a betrayal brings Meela back to earth. These creatures killed her brother, killed so many brave young men. They are a parasite that must be destroyed.

Meela is wise for her years and becomes a fierce warrior. When they maidens set sail to the the mermaids nest, I was confident they would succeed. Until the first encounter.

These mermaids are smart, working together and using the seas resources to battle the humans, and they are relentless.

Some of the descriptions of their change from alluring to lethal really chilled me and the battles were bloody and cold-hearted on both sides, the seas red with blood There’s no room for mercy or humanity against them.

There’s emotional conflict too. Meela isn’t heartless and is torn between protecting her people and what she can do to change things.

As the girls battle the mermaids, they also battle each other. Being trapped on a ship together in the vast ocean, they are bound to clash and leaderships will be challenged.

Girls become women become warriors in a bloody battle for survival.

The war is ongoing and I’m looking forward to more high seas action.

From award-winning author Tiana Warner comes the sequel to Ice Massacre,
the #1 Amazon Kindle Best Seller.

*

Meela has just returned from the Massacre—the annual attempt to wipe out
the mermaids threatening her people’s survival. After forming an
unlikely connection with Lysi, a mermaid she was trained to kill,
Meela is determined to stop the war between humans and merpeople for
good. She knows of a legendary weapon that could bring peace if she
uses it against King Adaro, ruler of the Pacific Ocean. But her
people have plans for future Massacres and refuse to help her uncover it.

While Meela works in secret to unearth the Host of Eriana, Lysi is held
captive under Adaro’s tyranny. Sent to the battlefront, Lysi joins
forces with a band of rebels that could either bring her freedom—or
have her executed for treason.

Separated by the vast Pacific Ocean, Meela and Lysi must find a way to defeat
King Adaro and end the war that has been keeping them apart.