Fathomless (review)

Lo is not sure how long she has been with her sisters under the ocean, but the pull she feels toward the surface makes her believe that perhaps she had a life before— before she was a creature of the sea, before she lost her soul, before her only means of escape was to take the life of a mortal and claim their soul as her own. Meanwhile, on land, Celia is all too aware of every minute she spends with her overbearing, manipulative sisters, and the psychic ability she shares with them is all that remains of their strained relationships. When an accident brings Celia and Lo together, Celia realizes her power to see the past may do some good and help Lo recover her memories. As her visions become increasingly disturbing, however, it becomes clear that Lo's past will put Celia's present and future in danger. Pearce's reimagination of Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" brings a shadowy, underwater world into the mythology of fairy-tale wolves and dark witches she established in Sisters Red (BCCB 9/10) and Sweetly (BCCB 10/11). Familiarity with the two previous books isn't necessary to understand the events here, but it certainly lends some emotional weight to Lo's predicament; it also adds a sense of urgency to the final scene in which the girls narrowly escape the wolfish Fenris and their sadistic partners. Regardless of the specifics of the fairy tale she is adapting, Pearce writes some stunningly poignant dialogue for adolescent girls, and here she offers up her most complicated portrayal yet, giving readers two protagonists who are a blend of selfish, giving, and vulnerable and to whom teen readers will readily relate.