Simi was once a normal girl who prayed to the gods like everyone else. Now she is a Mami Wata, a mermaid, collecting the souls of those who die on the ships carrying people in chains away from their homes. Her only job is to collect the souls so they can have a peaceful journey to the afterlife. She is not supposed to interact with the humans or interfere with them in any way.
One day as she is circling a ship to collect a soul, she discovers a boy who is still alive. She has been warned to stick to her duties, but how can it be right to leave this boy to die alone in the sea after being stolen from his home? She does the only thing that seems right in her heart.
Kola is desperate to return home and confused about who Simi is and why he is still alive. He has secrets of his own, and the two are uneasy with each other. If Kola returns home, the goddess Yemoja will know Simi has disobeyed her, but Kola is unwilling to leave his family behind.
When Yemoja learns the truth, she reveals Simi has broken a godly bargain that jeopardizes the lives of all the Mami Wata. Now she and Kola are on a quest together to save his home and all the Mami Wata. The journey will be perilous, and they must defeat a trickster god to win, but Simi knows success is her only option.
Natasha Bowen's black mermaid story is a truly magical adventure. These mermaids have legs on land and tails in the water, so that solves some potential problems from the beginning. She weaves traditional African tales with the European Little Mermaid story, and wraps it all around a quest adventure. I struggled to get into this one at first, but I'm really glad I stuck with it. This book wins both as a good fantasy and as strong representation. This is much more complex than a middle grade fantasy and would be better suited for readers who enjoy a big juicy complex fantasy.
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