I was totally sucked in by the cover and the mermaid angle. A few chapters in I was questioning my choice. But then I decidedly shrugged off my cynical old lady mentality and made myself open to the drama of young adult fantasy. 

Nami is your typical impetuous, unthinking young water dragon who gets "banished" to the capital city for trying to steal her unborn siblings manifest as a dragon pearl, the symbol of the fathomfolk's subjugation to the humans. In Tiankawi, she gets drawn into the wrong crowd by a man, of course, and finds out the hard way, that thinking first is the better option. 

Nami is balanced by the straight-edged Mira who happens to be her older brother's girlfriend. The world building isn't super detailed, but detailed enough for me and easy to understand right away, important in this sort of book where you want to get stuck into the action and drama straight away without having to wonder who's fighting who and why. 

It's not the most sophisticated writing, but it is good and not annoying with those repeated phrases that YA writers love to employ. There isn't a lot of spice, but that's ok for me. I also liked how the end was complete enough to give satisfaction with just a few hints of what is to come.