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A review by berodatheelf
Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull
4.0
Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull is about a young woman who used to be a foundling who is desperate to become a natural philosopher and have her own adventures. It takes place during the 18th Century and reads like her memoirs which was enjoyable to read.
Unfortunately, I cannot give this book higher than 3. 5 stars for 2 very minor points. First of all, I was slightly disappointed with what this book actually was about. I thought this book was going to be like A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan but with mermaids and admittedly I was super pumped because I love me some mermaid action. Its not. Mermaids do not feature as a actual creature in the book but as a way to prove Dawnay's theory that folk lore is a way to remember oral history from pre-biblical times. This confusion admittedly is my fault completely as I speed read the blurb, picking out the term 'siren of science' and the title completely convinced me that it was about actual mermaids. Please try not to follow my mistake. Had I not had this confusion, I would have really enjoyed this book because there's a strong female lead who wants to know all of the knowledge in a time when it was frowned upon women knowing anything other than what was necessary for marriage. It was also refreshing to see a flawed female protagonist. Dawnay Price can be stubborn to the point it can actually put herself into danger and this helped to make the plot move along.
The second reason why I cannot give this book a higher rating was because the romance rather annoyed me at times. To me personally, it felt almost as an after thought and just suddenly happened. I understand the reason for it but I personally prefer seeing a romance build up.
Finally, to end on a high point, this book was really well researched and as an ex-student of History, this pleased me immensely. There were no glaringly obvious errors (to my knowledge) which can aggravate historians and she had researched everything from foundling institutes to Portuguese fishing boats. I adored Mascull's decision to write the book as if it would have been published in the 18th century since it is from Dawnay's point of view who lives in the 18th Century and not the modern day. It makes sense to me. Absolutely top notch effort for the research into the book, perhaps some of the best that I have read for a fiction book.
Unfortunately, I cannot give this book higher than 3. 5 stars for 2 very minor points. First of all, I was slightly disappointed with what this book actually was about. I thought this book was going to be like A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan but with mermaids and admittedly I was super pumped because I love me some mermaid action. Its not. Mermaids do not feature as a actual creature in the book but as a way to prove Dawnay's theory that folk lore is a way to remember oral history from pre-biblical times. This confusion admittedly is my fault completely as I speed read the blurb, picking out the term 'siren of science' and the title completely convinced me that it was about actual mermaids. Please try not to follow my mistake. Had I not had this confusion, I would have really enjoyed this book because there's a strong female lead who wants to know all of the knowledge in a time when it was frowned upon women knowing anything other than what was necessary for marriage. It was also refreshing to see a flawed female protagonist. Dawnay Price can be stubborn to the point it can actually put herself into danger and this helped to make the plot move along.
The second reason why I cannot give this book a higher rating was because the romance rather annoyed me at times. To me personally, it felt almost as an after thought and just suddenly happened. I understand the reason for it but I personally prefer seeing a romance build up.
Finally, to end on a high point, this book was really well researched and as an ex-student of History, this pleased me immensely. There were no glaringly obvious errors (to my knowledge) which can aggravate historians and she had researched everything from foundling institutes to Portuguese fishing boats. I adored Mascull's decision to write the book as if it would have been published in the 18th century since it is from Dawnay's point of view who lives in the 18th Century and not the modern day. It makes sense to me. Absolutely top notch effort for the research into the book, perhaps some of the best that I have read for a fiction book.