Fathomless
Author: Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-20778-2

Another interesting twist on a fairy tale by Jackson.  The first book I reviewed, Sweetly, was a take on Hansel and Gretal (Gretchen and Ansel) and the Candy House in the woods.  A very gripping and dark take on an already dark story.  Fathomless continues this trend.  This is based on The Little Mermaid, but definitely NOT a Disney version. (There is one other story that the Dew has not reviewed, Sisters Red, that carries the same theme along with Little Red Riding Hood.)

Lo is a mermaid......perhaps.  She's not actually quite sure what she is or how she came to be under the ocean with a lot of other mermaids.  She vaguely remembers her past as a human, walking on land.   The problem is that the longer she's under the water, the more she forgets.

She has been told that if she can find a human boy that loves her, she can steal his soul (meaning: drown him) and become human again. She tried it once and the end results were not what she was hoping for.

On the land side of the story, Celia is the least talented of her sisters.  They're triplets, living on their own at school and each possesses  a mental talent.  To read minds, see the future or in Celia's case - see the past.  She doesn't consider that much of a talent.......until she sees a boy fall of the pier and get saved by a "mermaid".  When she accidentally touches the mermaid, she and Lo both see Lo's past.

The girls come together to try to figure out how Lo ended up living in the ocean and what they can do to save her before the "Angels" take her.  At the same time, they both become very fond of the boy they saved.

I will say that the plot itself, when you find out what really happened to Lo, is not very clear.  Why she was chucked into the ocean - and by what - makes very little sense.  The reason for being in the ocean, on the course of what she's becoming - the two actions don't really seem to mesh at all.

But after saying that, the characters are completely and instantly engaging and I was sucked into the story immediately.  I think Young Adults that read this will not only enjoy it, but head toward the other two books also.

Again, as with most YA books these days, these are on the higher end of the age group and contain hints of sexuality, but also violence and thoughts that a reader needs to be mature enough to understand and absorb.