The Mermaid’s Madness, by Jim C. Hines, is the sequel to The Stepsister Scheme.
When the princesses travel by ship to the kingdom of the mermen and mermaids, the Queen is attacked by a mermaid princess. The Queen’s body is badly wounded, but her soul has left. As Danielle, Snow, and Talia rush to save their beloved Queen, they must hunt down the mermaid and recover her magical knife that has somehow captured the soul of the Queen. But the little mermaid has a story of her own, and it’s quite different than what the storybooks say.
In the The Stepsister Scheme, we are introduced to Danielle Whiteshore (Cinderella), Talia (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow (White). The three princesses have a much darker history than the stories say. They aren’t princesses that need rescuing. Each has their own gifts and abilities to save themselves, and those they love. When their mother-figure, the Queen, is in mortal peril, the princesses once again show sterner stuff.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even more than the first. With a huge twist on the Little Mermaid story, the princesses stand up against the dangers of the sea as well as odd magic from a legendary sea witch. Steeped in adventure and danger, this dark fairytale is like no other. And a huge twist in the story had me at the edge of my seat until the very end. Fantasy and fairytale fans beware; you’ll be hooked on this mermaid’s tale.
I love Jim Hines. 🙂