Lorali
Author:Laura Dockrill
Publication Date: July 2nd 2015
Publisher: Hot Key Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
Colourful, raw, brave, rich and fantastical - this mermaid tale is not for the faint-hearted.
Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn't exactly how Rory had imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.
Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become human.
But along with Lorali's arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory's bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway
Here's the one thing I learned after reading Lorali, it
isn't as sweet, clean or as fluffy as it looks, and I'll be honest, some parts
of Lorali were...weird, and were, well, a little eccentric so it was hard to
follow, but the one thing I absolutely loved about it? It's unique.
Now, if you've read the synopsis, you're probably wondering
how unique can a mermaid story be? I would ask the same question. That lore/fantasy
has never really hooked me, I've read a few mermaid stories but I got off that
train fast because I found them boring and pretty standard with everyone I read
following the same formula. Lorali is anything but boring and while the lore is
the same, it's definitely not following the same formula.
Lorali is written in different perspectives, there's
multiple (and you know how I am with those), so we have Lorali's, Rory's, and,
The Sea. Yup. You heard me. The sea. And well that sounds crazy, it completely
worked because we got a wider view and perspective of things going on. Here's
the thing about the writing, that's where the eccentric came into play,
especially in Lorali's perspective, you're either going to love it or hate it,
and while I didn't hate it, I didn't love love it either, but it did add to its
charm and personality, and it's addictive. The characters were great, I would
have liked more depth to some of the side characters, and one of our key
players (Rory) but the Mer definitely did, and Lorali was especially fun and
such a bubbly character but she has so much more to her than that.
The Mermaid lore in Lorali goes old school, and it was fun
to learn how a few of them were made into a mermaid by their dark pasts, and
believe me, it's not all pretty rainbows, But it's isn't all doom and gloom
either, there's some fun parts (and okay, a little unbelievable) but still fun
parts nonetheless with Opal and how the media played into things.
I didn't really have any issues with Lorali at all, no major
ones, just little niggles, but the main one was party Parents-In-YA-Syndrome,
Rory's parents are split up, so his father is nowhere to be seen and doesn't
think he has a kid and whatever, but his mother is present, but she's not in it
much, and considering her only son completely disappeared for a while, would've
thought there would've been a little more to that, you know?
Lorali is a unique mermaid story, with eccentric characters
and writing that's addictive, it's definitely my favourite mermaid read.
Rating: 3.5/5
