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Ingo #1
Ingo
I wish I was away in Ingo, Far across the sea, Sailing over the deepest waters, Where love nor care can trouble me...
Sapphire's father mysteriously vanishes into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her family has always lived. She misses him terribly, and she longs to hear his spellbinding tales about the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. Perhaps that is why she imagines herself being pulled like a magnet toward the sea. But when her brother, Conor, starts disappearing for hours on end, Sapphy starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean.
Sapphire's father mysteriously vanishes into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her family has always lived. She misses him terribly, and she longs to hear his spellbinding tales about the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. Perhaps that is why she imagines herself being pulled like a magnet toward the sea. But when her brother, Conor, starts disappearing for hours on end, Sapphy starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean.
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2005
221 people are currently reading
10.1k people want to read
About the author
Helen Dunmore
111books943followersI was born in December 1952, in Yorkshire, the second of four children. My father was the eldest of twelve, and this extended family has no doubt had a strong influence on my life, as have my own children. In a large family you hear a great many stories. You also come to understand very early that stories hold quite different meanings for different listeners, and can be recast from many viewpoints.
Poetry was very important to me from childhood. I began by listening to and learning by heart all kinds of rhymes and hymns and ballads, and then went on to make up my own poems, using the forms I’d heard. Writing these down came a little later.
I studied English at the University of York, and after graduation taught English as a foreign language in Finland.
At around this time I began to write the poems which formed my first poetry collection, The Apple Fall, and to publish these in magazines. I also completed two novels; fortunately neither survives, and it was more than ten years before I wrote another novel.
During this time I published several collections of poems, and wrote some of the short stories which were later collected in Love of Fat Men. I began to travel a great deal within the UK and around the world, for poetry tours and writing residences. This experience of working in many different countries and cultures has been very important to my work. I reviewed poetry for Stand and Poetry Review and later for The Observer, and subsequently reviewed fiction for The Observer, The Times and The Guardian. My critical work includes introductions to the poems of Emily Brontë, the short stories of D H Lawrence and F Scott Fitzgerald, a study of Virginia Woolf’s relationships with women and Introductions to the Folio Society's edition of Anna Karenina and to the new Penguin Classics edition of Tolstoy's My Confession.
During the 1980s and early 1990s I taught poetry and creative writing, tutored residential writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and took part in the Poetry Society's Writer in Schools scheme, as well as giving readings and workshops in schools, hospitals, prisons and every other kind of place where a poem could conceivably be welcome. I also taught at the University of Glamorgan, the University of Bristol's Continuing Education Department and for the Open College of the Arts.
In the late 1980s I began to publish short stories, and these were the beginning of a breakthrough into fiction. What I had learned of prose technique through the short story gave me the impetus to start writing novels. My first novel for children was Going to Egypt, published in 1992, and my first novel for adults was Zennor in Darkness, published in 1993, which won the McKitterick Prize. This was also my first researched novel, set in the First World War and dealing with the period when D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda lived in Zennor in Cornwall, and came under suspicion as German spies.
My third novel, A Spell of Winter, won the inaugural Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996, and since then I have published a number of novels, short story collections and books for children. Full details of all these books are available on this website. The last of The Ingo Quartet, The Crossing of Ingo, was published in paperback in Spring 2009.
My seventh novel, The Siege (2001) was shortlisted both for the Whitbread Novel Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. This was another researched novel, which grew from a lifelong love of Russian history, culture and literature. It is is set in Leningrad during the first year of the siege of the city by German forces, which lasted for 880 days from the fall of Mga on 30th August 1941. The Siege has been translated into Russian by Tatyana Averchina, and extracts have been broadcast on radio in St Petersburg. House of Orphans was published in 2006, and in 2008 Counting the Stars. Its central characters are the Roman poet Catullus, who lived during the last years of the Republic,
Poetry was very important to me from childhood. I began by listening to and learning by heart all kinds of rhymes and hymns and ballads, and then went on to make up my own poems, using the forms I’d heard. Writing these down came a little later.
I studied English at the University of York, and after graduation taught English as a foreign language in Finland.
At around this time I began to write the poems which formed my first poetry collection, The Apple Fall, and to publish these in magazines. I also completed two novels; fortunately neither survives, and it was more than ten years before I wrote another novel.
During this time I published several collections of poems, and wrote some of the short stories which were later collected in Love of Fat Men. I began to travel a great deal within the UK and around the world, for poetry tours and writing residences. This experience of working in many different countries and cultures has been very important to my work. I reviewed poetry for Stand and Poetry Review and later for The Observer, and subsequently reviewed fiction for The Observer, The Times and The Guardian. My critical work includes introductions to the poems of Emily Brontë, the short stories of D H Lawrence and F Scott Fitzgerald, a study of Virginia Woolf’s relationships with women and Introductions to the Folio Society's edition of Anna Karenina and to the new Penguin Classics edition of Tolstoy's My Confession.
During the 1980s and early 1990s I taught poetry and creative writing, tutored residential writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and took part in the Poetry Society's Writer in Schools scheme, as well as giving readings and workshops in schools, hospitals, prisons and every other kind of place where a poem could conceivably be welcome. I also taught at the University of Glamorgan, the University of Bristol's Continuing Education Department and for the Open College of the Arts.
In the late 1980s I began to publish short stories, and these were the beginning of a breakthrough into fiction. What I had learned of prose technique through the short story gave me the impetus to start writing novels. My first novel for children was Going to Egypt, published in 1992, and my first novel for adults was Zennor in Darkness, published in 1993, which won the McKitterick Prize. This was also my first researched novel, set in the First World War and dealing with the period when D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda lived in Zennor in Cornwall, and came under suspicion as German spies.
My third novel, A Spell of Winter, won the inaugural Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996, and since then I have published a number of novels, short story collections and books for children. Full details of all these books are available on this website. The last of The Ingo Quartet, The Crossing of Ingo, was published in paperback in Spring 2009.
My seventh novel, The Siege (2001) was shortlisted both for the Whitbread Novel Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. This was another researched novel, which grew from a lifelong love of Russian history, culture and literature. It is is set in Leningrad during the first year of the siege of the city by German forces, which lasted for 880 days from the fall of Mga on 30th August 1941. The Siege has been translated into Russian by Tatyana Averchina, and extracts have been broadcast on radio in St Petersburg. House of Orphans was published in 2006, and in 2008 Counting the Stars. Its central characters are the Roman poet Catullus, who lived during the last years of the Republic,
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 863 reviews
July 5, 2023
I am so impressed.
I first read this book as a young teen because it happened to turn up at my local library. Though I forgot all detail about plot and characters, something about the story has stuck with me for over a decade. I’m so glad I finally decided to revisit this series.
Ingo is permeated by themes of grief, longing, and natural balance that are accessible to the children’s audience it was written for, but reading this as an adult, I’m in awe of how much meaning Helen Dunmore has fit into these pages. This is so much more than an adventure into a strange and wondrous realm.
Now I just have to figure out how in the world I’m going to fit the rest of the series into my insane BR schedule this month. (Why did I do this to myself???)
I first read this book as a young teen because it happened to turn up at my local library. Though I forgot all detail about plot and characters, something about the story has stuck with me for over a decade. I’m so glad I finally decided to revisit this series.
Ingo is permeated by themes of grief, longing, and natural balance that are accessible to the children’s audience it was written for, but reading this as an adult, I’m in awe of how much meaning Helen Dunmore has fit into these pages. This is so much more than an adventure into a strange and wondrous realm.
Now I just have to figure out how in the world I’m going to fit the rest of the series into my insane BR schedule this month. (Why did I do this to myself???)
May 30, 2018
Ingo is a delightful story full of beautiful and serene imagery as well as magic. It’s a children’s book, yes, but it captured my attention and I’m very glad to have come across it.
It’s about an eleven-year-old girl and her older brother who lose their father one day when he takes out his boat and disappears. The children are the only two people in town (with the exception of Granny Carne) who believe that he is still alive. They discover an underwater world called Ingo, where they meet Faro and Elvira, who are mer. Sapphire becomes extremely connected to Ingo, far more than her brother Connor, and soon finds out that, though it is a beautiful, interesting place to be, there are dangers there too.
The storyline is a bit old—loss of parent, introduction of other parent’s boyfriend/girlfriend, child coping with the loss of parent and dislike of the new family member—but the fact that Sapphire’s dad might not really be gone keeps it interesting.
Sapphire’s absolute obsession with Ingo becomes a tad irritating. She disregards her family and manages to stay in Ingo for over 24 hours, not caring about how her mother would feel if she were to find Sapphire gone. You almost want to reach into the book and give her a good shake everytime she talks about her life on Earth being fuzzy and far away, but she always comes back to it, and realizes the danger and importance of Ingo vs. Earth.
It’s a really nice book, probably not for everyone, but anyone who likes a bit of fantasy and a good story.
It’s about an eleven-year-old girl and her older brother who lose their father one day when he takes out his boat and disappears. The children are the only two people in town (with the exception of Granny Carne) who believe that he is still alive. They discover an underwater world called Ingo, where they meet Faro and Elvira, who are mer. Sapphire becomes extremely connected to Ingo, far more than her brother Connor, and soon finds out that, though it is a beautiful, interesting place to be, there are dangers there too.
The storyline is a bit old—loss of parent, introduction of other parent’s boyfriend/girlfriend, child coping with the loss of parent and dislike of the new family member—but the fact that Sapphire’s dad might not really be gone keeps it interesting.
Sapphire’s absolute obsession with Ingo becomes a tad irritating. She disregards her family and manages to stay in Ingo for over 24 hours, not caring about how her mother would feel if she were to find Sapphire gone. You almost want to reach into the book and give her a good shake everytime she talks about her life on Earth being fuzzy and far away, but she always comes back to it, and realizes the danger and importance of Ingo vs. Earth.
It’s a really nice book, probably not for everyone, but anyone who likes a bit of fantasy and a good story.
January 19, 2020
I always feel so honoured when someone tells me about one of their favourite books. Books have been such an integral part of my life and I know without a doubt that my experiences, hopes, dreams and pain, all mingled together, make certain books more personally significant than others. If I learn about a book that was important to someone in their childhood then I’m likely to want to dive straight in.
That’s what happened with this book. I was 8 pages into my next read when I learned of this book’s existence. Within the hour I had found a copy at my library (I love my library!) and begun reading. Sorry, other read.
I wish this book had been available when I was a child. I was also a child of the water and would always answer ‘dolphin� when asked what animal I would be if I had any choice in the matter. I would have loved getting a glimpse of the world beneath the waves. Adult me got excited when I learned there would be Mer, wanting to learn all about their way of life and whether I could visit them.
Being an only child I envied Sapphire and Conor’s bond. I wanted to like Faro but found him quite obnoxious. I have high hopes for Elvira, his sister, who I met but didn’t get to know during this book. I’m hoping to get to know her in later books in the series. Maybe Faro will also grow on me in time.
One person that doesn’t need to grow on me is Granny Carne. I need an entire book devoted to her story.
That’s what happened with this book. I was 8 pages into my next read when I learned of this book’s existence. Within the hour I had found a copy at my library (I love my library!) and begun reading. Sorry, other read.
There’s a track that runs from their cottage to the cove. The beach disappears at high tide but Sapphire and her older brother, Conor, know the tides and spend a lot of their time exploring and swimming there. Their father, Mathew, often takes his boat (the Peggy Gordon) out, fishing and taking photos, but their mother, Jennie, is afraid of the sea. It’s always been the four of them. Until the day Mathew doesn’t come home.
I wish this book had been available when I was a child. I was also a child of the water and would always answer ‘dolphin� when asked what animal I would be if I had any choice in the matter. I would have loved getting a glimpse of the world beneath the waves. Adult me got excited when I learned there would be Mer, wanting to learn all about their way of life and whether I could visit them.
I wish I was away in IngoThe only thing that deterred me from wanting to find a way to Ingo myself was learning that Mer don’t have books. Even if the learning curve required to survive under water didn’t kill me, not having access to books would.
Far across the briny sea,
Sailing over deepest waters
Where love nor care never trouble me -
Being an only child I envied Sapphire and Conor’s bond. I wanted to like Faro but found him quite obnoxious. I have high hopes for Elvira, his sister, who I met but didn’t get to know during this book. I’m hoping to get to know her in later books in the series. Maybe Faro will also grow on me in time.
One person that doesn’t need to grow on me is Granny Carne. I need an entire book devoted to her story.
“Some say she’s a witch�While there’s an underlying message about marine conservation, what really hit home for me was how authentic Sapphire’s loss felt.
You know how the sea grinds down stones into sand, over years and years and years? Nobody ever sees it, it happens so slowly. And then at last the sand is so fine you can sift it in your fingers. Losing Dad is like being worn away by a force that’s so powerful nothing could resist it. We are like stones, being changed into something completely different.Difficult topics can sometimes be watered down in children’s books and I loved that it wasn’t here.
The thought of Dad is always in my mind somewhere, like a bruise.The impacts of this loss were evident throughout the story but none captured the effects of Sapphire’s pain to me as simply and clearly as this:
Mum thinks I go and see Katie, or one of my other friends, but I don’t. I feel cut off from them, because their lives are going on the same as ever, but mine has completely changed.Although I haven’t experienced loss in the specific way that Sapphire and her family do in this book I could easily relate to Sapphire’s need to protect herself from additional pain:
“You’re like a - like a sea anemone. If anyone comes close, you shut yourself up tight.�The way the author described scenes and emotions continually activated my senses:
“That’s how sea anemones survive,� I point out.
Sometimes I think that if adult quarrels had a smell, they would smell like burned food.It’s strange how characters you’ve only just met can get under your skin. Two days ago I’d never heard of Sapphire. Today I’m going to be asking my library to buy the rest of her story.
“Magic’s wild. You can’t put a harness on it, or make it do what you want. Even the best magic can be dangerous.�
July 9, 2011
I've never read a book that painted a picture as well as Ingo did. I read it several years ago, but Cornwall, England has stuck in my mind ever since. The story centers on the life of twelve-year old Sapphire and her older brother, Conor, and how they find an underwater world in their town's cove. The book was part of a four-story series, but it was definitely the strongest novel of the bunch. I'd reccomend it to anyone who knows how to read.
Sapphire and Conor live in a small beachside house, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Atlantic Ocean. On one normal summer morning, the two wake up to find their father has dissapeared. And that just begins their journey to find him- whether it's above ground or underwater. And that's how brother and sister find Ingo, an ocean world with mermaids and mermen and dolphins and seals. It's not your typical mermaid story either- don't be decepted from the cover or the short blurb written on the back. It's a fierce battle between Land and Water. It questions anything you've ever read or seen or heard.
Helen Dunmore is probably the most descriptive author ever. Everything she writes comes out with a natural grace, so easy and tireless you think she was born into the story. Even though it was a fantasy story, Sapphire and Conor seemed so real they could have lived down the street from me. Read this book- you won't regret it, I promise.
Sapphire and Conor live in a small beachside house, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Atlantic Ocean. On one normal summer morning, the two wake up to find their father has dissapeared. And that just begins their journey to find him- whether it's above ground or underwater. And that's how brother and sister find Ingo, an ocean world with mermaids and mermen and dolphins and seals. It's not your typical mermaid story either- don't be decepted from the cover or the short blurb written on the back. It's a fierce battle between Land and Water. It questions anything you've ever read or seen or heard.
Helen Dunmore is probably the most descriptive author ever. Everything she writes comes out with a natural grace, so easy and tireless you think she was born into the story. Even though it was a fantasy story, Sapphire and Conor seemed so real they could have lived down the street from me. Read this book- you won't regret it, I promise.
November 28, 2011
I love mermaids, but I'm having some trouble finding a really good mermaid book. This one was especially disappointing since a friend and fellow mermaid fan recommended it to me. Sadly, it just didn't work, although it's really not a bad book.
I'll do the good first. The basic plotline itself was interesting, and could have been really engaging. The short version: Sapphire and Conor's father disappears. (The book is written in Saph's POV) They are convinced that he's still alive, just vanished. Eventually, they both meet Mer people (Elvira and Faro) who introduce them to life under the sea. There's quite a bit to work with there, and it's really a very good idea. The writing itself is, for the most part, quite good. It's very natural, and there's a floating, dreamlike quality to much of the narration that really suits the subject.
But there were a few roadblocks for me. First of all, Faro is very preachy when showing Sapphire around underwater. He's actually kind of unbearable. I think I'd hesitate to read any of the other books in the series just because of him. Sapphire herself is a very difficult character to get behind. She's so spacey that, in a single, brief conversation with her mother, she daydreams to the point that her mother has to yell to get her attention two or three times. There's dreamy, and then there's on another planet. I can deal with the former, and not so much with the latter.
But maybe the biggest thing that bothered me was how Saph and Conor dealt with their father's disappearance. To me, there was no emotional truth to their reactions, or at least to Saph's. She has, for reasons that are never fully made clear, totally bought into the idea that her father isn't dead, he just left them without a trace. I never felt like she genuinely struggled with doubt that he was still alive, or felt true grief for his absence, or even anger at him for leaving them. There's just not enough depth to her.
In the end, it simply didn't resonate with me. I doubt I'll be reading the rest of the series, because I don't think I care enough about the characters to bother.
I'll do the good first. The basic plotline itself was interesting, and could have been really engaging. The short version: Sapphire and Conor's father disappears. (The book is written in Saph's POV) They are convinced that he's still alive, just vanished. Eventually, they both meet Mer people (Elvira and Faro) who introduce them to life under the sea. There's quite a bit to work with there, and it's really a very good idea. The writing itself is, for the most part, quite good. It's very natural, and there's a floating, dreamlike quality to much of the narration that really suits the subject.
But there were a few roadblocks for me. First of all, Faro is very preachy when showing Sapphire around underwater. He's actually kind of unbearable. I think I'd hesitate to read any of the other books in the series just because of him. Sapphire herself is a very difficult character to get behind. She's so spacey that, in a single, brief conversation with her mother, she daydreams to the point that her mother has to yell to get her attention two or three times. There's dreamy, and then there's on another planet. I can deal with the former, and not so much with the latter.
But maybe the biggest thing that bothered me was how Saph and Conor dealt with their father's disappearance. To me, there was no emotional truth to their reactions, or at least to Saph's. She has, for reasons that are never fully made clear, totally bought into the idea that her father isn't dead, he just left them without a trace. I never felt like she genuinely struggled with doubt that he was still alive, or felt true grief for his absence, or even anger at him for leaving them. There's just not enough depth to her.
In the end, it simply didn't resonate with me. I doubt I'll be reading the rest of the series, because I don't think I care enough about the characters to bother.
September 30, 2008
SUMMARY
When Sapphire's father disappears, most people say he's been drowned, although the more vicious of the townspeople say he ran off with another woman. But neither Sapphy or her brother Conor believe either story. Raised on the coast of Cornwall, they have an intimate connection to the sea and her mysteries. Neither of them realizes quite how intimate. When Sapphire feels an irresistible call to the ocean, she must choose where her loyalties lie - to her Air family and the brother whom she adores, or to Ingo, whose power thrums in her veins.
MY OPINION
When I stumbled upon it in a Paperback Swap, the premise of Ingo appealed to my YA-fantasy-genes. Unfortunately, the execution is a little weak. The characters are not fully described, so that when one of them (Sapphy, frequently) does something that shows a complexity of heart and mind, I wasn't quite sure how we'd gotten to that place. There are some really lovely moments, like Sapphire mentally connecting to a dolphin while riding it, or a conversation her brother Conor has with honeybees. There are also some awkward moments. Sapphire, frankly, drones on and on about her connection to the ocean, but when her mother's new boyfriend suggests Sapphire should have the dog she's always wanted, Sapphire rethinks her loyalty to Ingo.
Overall, this is a more mature and vivid, almost mystical, view of merpeople than, for example, The Tale of Emily Windsnap." It has the poignant sadness of the original version of "A Little Mermaid," and it reflects Dunmore's deep, abiding love and respect for the sea.
By the way, I found a particularly vile on Amazon, and had to respond to it. The reviewer (from Georgia) warns that the contents of the book are junk and will cause the reader to go straight to hell. Why she's letting her children read books at all is beyond me, but in my response, I used the word "villipend"!!
When Sapphire's father disappears, most people say he's been drowned, although the more vicious of the townspeople say he ran off with another woman. But neither Sapphy or her brother Conor believe either story. Raised on the coast of Cornwall, they have an intimate connection to the sea and her mysteries. Neither of them realizes quite how intimate. When Sapphire feels an irresistible call to the ocean, she must choose where her loyalties lie - to her Air family and the brother whom she adores, or to Ingo, whose power thrums in her veins.
MY OPINION
When I stumbled upon it in a Paperback Swap, the premise of Ingo appealed to my YA-fantasy-genes. Unfortunately, the execution is a little weak. The characters are not fully described, so that when one of them (Sapphy, frequently) does something that shows a complexity of heart and mind, I wasn't quite sure how we'd gotten to that place. There are some really lovely moments, like Sapphire mentally connecting to a dolphin while riding it, or a conversation her brother Conor has with honeybees. There are also some awkward moments. Sapphire, frankly, drones on and on about her connection to the ocean, but when her mother's new boyfriend suggests Sapphire should have the dog she's always wanted, Sapphire rethinks her loyalty to Ingo.
Overall, this is a more mature and vivid, almost mystical, view of merpeople than, for example, The Tale of Emily Windsnap." It has the poignant sadness of the original version of "A Little Mermaid," and it reflects Dunmore's deep, abiding love and respect for the sea.
By the way, I found a particularly vile on Amazon, and had to respond to it. The reviewer (from Georgia) warns that the contents of the book are junk and will cause the reader to go straight to hell. Why she's letting her children read books at all is beyond me, but in my response, I used the word "villipend"!!
April 16, 2008
This book didn't feel like fantasy: it felt more like your typical girl-dealing-with-loss-of-a-parent story, only with a mermaid or two thrown in. I realized that the loss-of-parent thing is very relevant today, what with divorce rates being what they are, but the formula gets irritatingly predictable. Here it is in a nutshell: 1)parent dies or leaves 2) remaining parent starts dating someone new 3) child hates the "replacement" parent 4) over time, child starts to accept both the loss of the first parent & the new person.
Mashed in with that typical coming-of-age fare is an attempt at a fantasy plot: the girl is irresistibly drawn to the sea and the Mer people. She is literally under some kind of spell, and must work hard to resist it. The problem for me as a reader is that the book is written from the girl's point of view, but I can't relate to being under a magical enchantment that is so all-encompassing. So instead, I was just irritated that the girl would so blatantly disregard her family and loved ones to fulfill her own selfish desire for the sea.
There's also a subplot of how the girl wants a dog. As with the sea enchantment, this desire is all-encompassing to the point of ridiculousness.
Another puzzling thing is that the author tries to elevate the sea the Mer live in to a different, almost spiritual, plane. "Ingo" is only accessible by the mermaids, so you can be in the sea without being in Ingo. If that sounds confusing, it's because it is.
On the positive side, I liked the girl's relationship with her brother, and the descriptions of swimming in the ocean made me want to break out my snorkel & fins.
And lastly, without spoiling anything, let me say that the ending is the typical 1st-book-in-a-trilogy ending, in as much as it sucked. No resolution, no answers, no sense of closure, and no payoff. I won't be reading books 2 & 3.
Mashed in with that typical coming-of-age fare is an attempt at a fantasy plot: the girl is irresistibly drawn to the sea and the Mer people. She is literally under some kind of spell, and must work hard to resist it. The problem for me as a reader is that the book is written from the girl's point of view, but I can't relate to being under a magical enchantment that is so all-encompassing. So instead, I was just irritated that the girl would so blatantly disregard her family and loved ones to fulfill her own selfish desire for the sea.
There's also a subplot of how the girl wants a dog. As with the sea enchantment, this desire is all-encompassing to the point of ridiculousness.
Another puzzling thing is that the author tries to elevate the sea the Mer live in to a different, almost spiritual, plane. "Ingo" is only accessible by the mermaids, so you can be in the sea without being in Ingo. If that sounds confusing, it's because it is.
On the positive side, I liked the girl's relationship with her brother, and the descriptions of swimming in the ocean made me want to break out my snorkel & fins.
And lastly, without spoiling anything, let me say that the ending is the typical 1st-book-in-a-trilogy ending, in as much as it sucked. No resolution, no answers, no sense of closure, and no payoff. I won't be reading books 2 & 3.
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July 12, 2021It's so nice to go back to a childhood book and find that it's just as good as the first time you read it.
April 12, 2020
I feel bad about giving this book such a low rating but oh well. There were some aspects that I enjoyed but overall this was a disappointment.
August 19, 2012
This revolutionizes the entire idea of mermaids. Not fishy, scaked creatures, but sleek, half-seal hybrids. No, they do not comb thair hair while sitting on the rocks in the sun all day. Judging from Faro alone, they are a majestic people.And this has more depth than any mermaid story I have ever read. The idea that going into Ingo can hurt, that it can call you and suck you up in it forever, that it can make you part of itself...that is so much more mature than any other mermaid book I have read. The imagery is beautiful, told like a poet. Some people complain how it "drags," but even the "slow" parts (i.e. conversation with Granny Carne) are filled with mystery and keep you reading. The action at the end is amazing: emotional decisions, blah blah blah, but not told like an overdose of philosophy because it's from Sapphy's point of view; these emotions don't interfere with the real action, just give the whole thing more depth; you're tearing through the pages, hardly reading the words you see, because Roger is such a likable guy and you're wondering IF HE'LL SURVIVE, and the odds aren't lookin' too good; it's always nice to see how our heroine reacts under pressure (heroically, as is expected) because that's the moment of truth, learning WHO our main character IS--and Helen Dunmore did that part really well. Now. This next element is a big issue for a lot of people, and it is...
characters.
Some people say Sapphy is shallow, self-absorbed, and annoying. I say she's realistcally flawed and spunky. Are you looking for a perfect character? Most good books don't have a single one. Others say Saph is dreamy to the point of no tolerance. But what do you expect? She has, after all, been swimming with mermaids every afternoon for a while. Others say Conor is annoying (along with Sapphy, in many cases). He's a typically laid-back, sweet and kind brother who loves his sister so much, he's angry beyond belief his sister keeps on hanging out with people of Ingo rather than those of Air. No one says anything about Roger because he's too nice and all. No one says anything about Granny Carne because, well, she's awesome. Everyone likes the wise, tough, erratic old woman, and that's what Granny Carne is--enough said. People say Faro is even more than just plain annoying, and that's because he is. But you need him to argue with in your mind. Characters you secretly argue with? The author has done a masterful job if s/he has created characters you argue with. (Interactive book!) Oh, yeah: you also need him to help save Roger. That too. And the dad? You can't touch him. He's just an amazing character, almost more so than Sapphy herself.
characters.
Some people say Sapphy is shallow, self-absorbed, and annoying. I say she's realistcally flawed and spunky. Are you looking for a perfect character? Most good books don't have a single one. Others say Saph is dreamy to the point of no tolerance. But what do you expect? She has, after all, been swimming with mermaids every afternoon for a while. Others say Conor is annoying (along with Sapphy, in many cases). He's a typically laid-back, sweet and kind brother who loves his sister so much, he's angry beyond belief his sister keeps on hanging out with people of Ingo rather than those of Air. No one says anything about Roger because he's too nice and all. No one says anything about Granny Carne because, well, she's awesome. Everyone likes the wise, tough, erratic old woman, and that's what Granny Carne is--enough said. People say Faro is even more than just plain annoying, and that's because he is. But you need him to argue with in your mind. Characters you secretly argue with? The author has done a masterful job if s/he has created characters you argue with. (Interactive book!) Oh, yeah: you also need him to help save Roger. That too. And the dad? You can't touch him. He's just an amazing character, almost more so than Sapphy herself.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2012
Short-form review: Meh-maid story.
Long-form: On the positive side, Dunmore does an excellent job of conveying some beautiful and poetic visions of undersea life while keeping Sapphire's breathless voice, a girl of about eleven/twelve, rather young for her age. Sapphire is convincingly imperfect - she's impulsive, tells fibs, misses her father and has a flawed but positive relationship with her older brother and with her mother.
On the negative side, I found this book very slow, and only rarely gripping. Sapphire, like a real child, has to tell the reader every thought that goes through her head and every step she takes through the day, sometimes more than once. I got impatient with her. In particular
*spoilers*
given how she misses her father and vows to keep searching for him, I lost considerable sympathy each time she went underwater with Faro the seal-boy and FAILED TO ASK HIM ABOUT HER FATHER, even though she firmly believes that her father is underwater somewhere and alive. She says she'll never stop searching, but when she's underwater 'in Ingo', she doesn't search.
*/spoilers*
A minor thing that didn't work for me - the author combines mermaid and selkie lore, and has her mer-folk not half-fish but half-seal. So my mental picture is of not of the sleek elongated fishtailed creature on the cover, but of a plump, squatty short-tailed beastie:
Long-form: On the positive side, Dunmore does an excellent job of conveying some beautiful and poetic visions of undersea life while keeping Sapphire's breathless voice, a girl of about eleven/twelve, rather young for her age. Sapphire is convincingly imperfect - she's impulsive, tells fibs, misses her father and has a flawed but positive relationship with her older brother and with her mother.
On the negative side, I found this book very slow, and only rarely gripping. Sapphire, like a real child, has to tell the reader every thought that goes through her head and every step she takes through the day, sometimes more than once. I got impatient with her. In particular
*spoilers*
given how she misses her father and vows to keep searching for him, I lost considerable sympathy each time she went underwater with Faro the seal-boy and FAILED TO ASK HIM ABOUT HER FATHER, even though she firmly believes that her father is underwater somewhere and alive. She says she'll never stop searching, but when she's underwater 'in Ingo', she doesn't search.
*/spoilers*
A minor thing that didn't work for me - the author combines mermaid and selkie lore, and has her mer-folk not half-fish but half-seal. So my mental picture is of not of the sleek elongated fishtailed creature on the cover, but of a plump, squatty short-tailed beastie:
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2022
“But I don’t think you can do that. I think that everything that happens to you stays in you, even if it stays in a part of your mind where you can’t find it. That’s why you should never try to forget when people urge you to.�
I discovered this book by pure luck. I found the second hand book on a table in a charity shop. The cover drew me in as it was shiny and turquoise so I picked it up and glanced at the synopsis. The words “sea� and “Cornwall� drew me in immediately as I had loved Deep Water by Malorie Blackman so much, a story inspired by Cornish sea-lore, myths, folklore, witchcraft and ancient beliefs. Both of these books successfully managed to weave contemporary tales filled with eccentric and interesting characters, caught up in legacies, legends, tales and family secrets.
Ingo and Deep Water were both curious reads for me. As they change the way that we viewed mermaids as children. Not beautiful creatures that comb their hair on the rocks and lure sailors to their deaths, but rather sleek, half-seal beings.
This story is about a girl, named Sapphire. When her father mysteriously disappears into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her and her family lives. She misses him terribly and fails to believe that he drowned as her father knew the Cornish coastlines like the back of his hand. She longs for him to come back and tell her tales of the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. This may be why she imagines that she hears the ocean calling out to her, but when Conor, her older brother starts disappearing for hours on end without so much as an explanation, Sapphire starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean. The call of Ingo.
The writing in this novel was incredibly descriptive, it drew you into the world of Ingo and the mysteries that lay both underwater and in the air, so much so that you could see the colours of the ocean, feel the gentle breeze of the earth blowing around you and smell the salt of the sea. You could hear the waves crashing and the ocean calling out your name, calling you to Ingo.
These type of books will always have a special place in my heart as I have loved the ocean and it’s secrets since I was a little girl, and have always been as my mom would call it, “a water baby.�
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has a love for the ocean and folklore, it will transport you to a new world full of mystery and magic, with the power both to captivate and destroy.
“I wish I was away in Ingo
far across the briny sea
sailing over deepest waters
where neither care nor worry trouble me.�
I discovered this book by pure luck. I found the second hand book on a table in a charity shop. The cover drew me in as it was shiny and turquoise so I picked it up and glanced at the synopsis. The words “sea� and “Cornwall� drew me in immediately as I had loved Deep Water by Malorie Blackman so much, a story inspired by Cornish sea-lore, myths, folklore, witchcraft and ancient beliefs. Both of these books successfully managed to weave contemporary tales filled with eccentric and interesting characters, caught up in legacies, legends, tales and family secrets.
Ingo and Deep Water were both curious reads for me. As they change the way that we viewed mermaids as children. Not beautiful creatures that comb their hair on the rocks and lure sailors to their deaths, but rather sleek, half-seal beings.
This story is about a girl, named Sapphire. When her father mysteriously disappears into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her and her family lives. She misses him terribly and fails to believe that he drowned as her father knew the Cornish coastlines like the back of his hand. She longs for him to come back and tell her tales of the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. This may be why she imagines that she hears the ocean calling out to her, but when Conor, her older brother starts disappearing for hours on end without so much as an explanation, Sapphire starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean. The call of Ingo.
The writing in this novel was incredibly descriptive, it drew you into the world of Ingo and the mysteries that lay both underwater and in the air, so much so that you could see the colours of the ocean, feel the gentle breeze of the earth blowing around you and smell the salt of the sea. You could hear the waves crashing and the ocean calling out your name, calling you to Ingo.
These type of books will always have a special place in my heart as I have loved the ocean and it’s secrets since I was a little girl, and have always been as my mom would call it, “a water baby.�
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has a love for the ocean and folklore, it will transport you to a new world full of mystery and magic, with the power both to captivate and destroy.
“I wish I was away in Ingo
far across the briny sea
sailing over deepest waters
where neither care nor worry trouble me.�
June 5, 2024
libro sirenas divertido tendré que leerme toda la saga y mudarme a cornualles
October 14, 2015
This book... the best way to describe it, I think, is that despite predating , it wants to be AMC - a lyrical, mythical, semi-allegorical exploration of death and coping mechanisms. The problem is that Ingo also wants to be an adventure book about exciting fun times under the ocean, and you really can't have those themes co-exist in one novel.
It starts out as a story about Sapphire's strained family, culminating in her dad going for a late night jaunt in his boat and never returning. Her mother concludes relatively quickly that he's dead or otherwise gone for good; Sapphire and her brother Conner hold onto the belief that he's alive and will return to them. There's a bit of exploration of grief, but it feels like a pulled punch: the writing is too flat, skimming over events and staying bluntly descriptive so the emotion of this traumatic time ends up muffled. I know the writer's maxim is 'show, don't tell', but as a reader I've always felt that it stops one exhortation short: don't just tell me or show me, sometimes, but make me feel it. Ingo gets pretty well to 'show' - I can tell the siblings are grieving - but never moves on to 'feel'.
The supernatural plot line, too, doesn't really work. Blah blah wonder of the ocean, blah blah Faro spouts some canned dialogue about hating humans, blah blah nothing has any depth to it. Ocean ecology is my jam! It shouldn't be this easy to lose me! But alas, lose me Ingo did. Also: perhaps this is clarified in sequels, but in this book Dunmore seems to vacillate a lot between casting Ingo as a dangerous fae kingdom and a comfortable magical wonderland. There's a bit of unreliable narrator going on here - not subtle stuff, really - but the ending of the book seems to come down on both sides simultaneously, so it's not just that.
Initially, I read this book because I have an ancient galley of the third on my shelf from a conference years back... but now I'm thinking I'll never make it that far in the series. This was an easy enough read, but my TR list is long enough that even cutting the fluff helps.
It starts out as a story about Sapphire's strained family, culminating in her dad going for a late night jaunt in his boat and never returning. Her mother concludes relatively quickly that he's dead or otherwise gone for good; Sapphire and her brother Conner hold onto the belief that he's alive and will return to them. There's a bit of exploration of grief, but it feels like a pulled punch: the writing is too flat, skimming over events and staying bluntly descriptive so the emotion of this traumatic time ends up muffled. I know the writer's maxim is 'show, don't tell', but as a reader I've always felt that it stops one exhortation short: don't just tell me or show me, sometimes, but make me feel it. Ingo gets pretty well to 'show' - I can tell the siblings are grieving - but never moves on to 'feel'.
The supernatural plot line, too, doesn't really work. Blah blah wonder of the ocean, blah blah Faro spouts some canned dialogue about hating humans, blah blah nothing has any depth to it. Ocean ecology is my jam! It shouldn't be this easy to lose me! But alas, lose me Ingo did. Also: perhaps this is clarified in sequels, but in this book Dunmore seems to vacillate a lot between casting Ingo as a dangerous fae kingdom and a comfortable magical wonderland. There's a bit of unreliable narrator going on here - not subtle stuff, really - but the ending of the book seems to come down on both sides simultaneously, so it's not just that.
Initially, I read this book because I have an ancient galley of the third on my shelf from a conference years back... but now I'm thinking I'll never make it that far in the series. This was an easy enough read, but my TR list is long enough that even cutting the fluff helps.
June 24, 2018
Allgemeines:
Titel: Nixenblut
Autor: Helen Dunmore
Verlag: cbj (28. März 2011)
Genre: Fantasy
Seitenzahl: 320 Seiten
ISBN-10: 3570400360
ISBN-13: 978-3570400364
Preis: 7,99� (Taschenbuch)
Weitere Bände: Nixenmagier; Nixenfluch
Inhalt:
Als Sapphy an der Küste Cornwalls auf den Meerjungen Faro trifft, der sie in die Tiefen des Meeres mitnimmt, spürt sie: Derselbe Sog, der ihren Vater ein Jahr zuvor in die Welt der Nixen und Wassermagier gelockt hat, zieht auch sie dorthin. Denn in ihr fließt das Blut der Nixen � sie gehört der Welt der Meerwesen ebenso an wie der der Menschen. Als eine Gruppe von Tauchern die heiligen Gefilde der Meermenschen zu zerstören droht, muss Sapphy sich entscheiden, zu welcher Welt sie gehören will�
Bewertung:
Geschichten über das Meer, Schiffe und Abenteuer, die alle Grenzen sprengen haben schon immer eine besondere Faszination für mich gehabt. So musste ich natürlich auch Helen Dunmores fantastische Meerestrilogie lesen, welche vor ein paar Jahren ja durch alle Welt gegeistert ist. Und auch wenn ich aufgrund des Covers eine etwas andere Geschichte erwartet hätte, war ich doch positiv überrascht von dieser kraftvollen Geschichte, die ich geboten bekommen habe.
Erster Satz: "Man findet die Meerfrau von Zennor in der Zennor Church, wenn man weiß, wo man nachschauen muss."
Band 1 und 2 der Reihe erschienen schon einmal unter dem Titel "Indigo - Im Sog des Meeres", Band 3 ist jedoch nur in der neuen Auflage zu haben. Das finde ich sehr schade, da mir die kreativen und definitiv aufmerksamkeitserregenden Covermotive der ersten Ausgabe deutlich besser gefallen, als das Bild meiner Ausgabe. Mit dem angedeuteten Mädchengesicht mit dem blauen Lippenstift und vor allem mit den dunklen Ränder wirkt es für mich einfach nur billig und nicht der süßen Kinder-Geschichte entsprechend, die uns im Inneren erwartet. Außerdem würde ich diese Geschichte auch unbedingt Jungs empfehlen, weshalb ich die Aufmachung hier wirklich übertrieben finde. Den Titel finde ich zwar durchaus passend, unter dem alten Titel konnte ich mir jedoch mehr vorstellen!
"Die Dornbüsche ähneln gekrümmten Gestalten. Die weißen Handtücher an der Wäscheleine, gleichen Gespenstern. Der Mond scheint so hell, dass man ohne weiteres den Pfad finden könnte, der zur Bucht hinunterführt. Manchmal bildet der Mond selbst einen Pfad auf dem Meer, der so echt aussieht, als könne man auf ihm bis zum Horizont laufen..."
Die Geschichte beginnt mit dem Verschwinden von Sapphys Vater, der eines Tages von einer Fischtour nicht mehr zurückkehrt. Er sei ertrunken, wird ihr und ihrem älteren Bruder Conor gesagt, doch die beiden können das nicht glauben. So kannte ihr Dad doch alle Strömungen des umliegenden Meeres auswendig und manövrierte noch durch den wildesten Sturm. Als die beiden dann eines Tages in ihrer Lieblingsbucht auf zwei geheimnisvolle Meerwesen treffen, die sich Mer nennen und anstatt von Beinen eine robbenähnliche Flosse haben, fühlen sie sich in ihrer Annahme bestätigt. Bald spürt Sapphy denselben Sog, gegen den auch ihr Vater Tag für Tag hat ankämpfen müssen. Immer mehr gerät sie zwischen die Fronten von Indigo und der Erde, die einen ewigen Kampf um die Vorherrschaft austragen und muss sich schließlich entscheiden, wo sie hingehören will...
"Muss ich mich auch entscheiden? Die Frage rauscht in meinem Kopf wie das Geräusch der Wellen, die an den Strand schlagen und sich wieder zurückziehen. Dad hat einmal gesagt: "Ist es nicht ein wunderbarer Gedanken, Saph, dass die Wellen unser ganzes Leben lang an den Strand schlagen, genau wie die Herzen in unseren Körpern? Es hört nie auf. Und wenn unsere Herzen aufhören zu schlagen, dann werden die Wellen weiter kommen und gehen, wie sie es immer getan haben, bis zum Ende der Welt."
Das Buch beginnt viel ruhiger, als ich es jemals gedacht hätte. Wir stürzen uns nicht Hals über Kopf in ein Abenteuer sondern werden ganz langsam in das Familienleben der Trewhellas eingeführt, dass so grausam auseinander gerissen wird. Mit unglaublich einfühlsamer Stimme beschreibt Helen Dunmore die Emotionen eines Mädchens, deren ganze Welt auseinanderbricht, als ihr Vater verschwindet, ihr Mutter in Arbeit versinkt und ihr Bruder sich immer mehr von ihr abzugrenzen scheint. Erst durch die Entdeckung der neuen Welt - Indigo - findet sie wieder Antrieb und etwas, in dem sie ganz in ihrem Element ist. Wundervoll zu sehen ist dabei, wie sich die liebevolle Beziehung zwischen Conor und Sapphy entwickelt und wie viel Wahrheit und Authentizität in der anrührenden Familiengeschichte steckt.
"Wenn jemand dich plötzlich verlässt, hast du das Gefühl, ein Riss ginge durch dich hindurch oder dir würde etwas fehlen. Seit Dad weg ist, bin ich unvollständig, und auch er ist unvollständig. Doch ich frage mich, ob die beiden Teile noch zusammenpassen, wenn ich ihn gefunden habe. Und ich werde ihn finden. Das ist mehr als ein Versprechen. Es ist ein Schwur!"
Auch wenn die Protagonisten viel jünger als ich waren, konnte ich viele ihrer Probleme wunderbar nachempfinden. Sehr intelligent hat die Autorin hier Themen verpackt, mit denen wohl jeder etwas anfangen kann: zwischen den Welten stehen, nicht wissen, wo man hingehört, mit dem Verlust eines Familienmitglieds fertig werden, sich von der Familie abgrenzen, über sich hinauswachsen - all diese Dinge fließen in das ruhige Abenteuer ein und machen es so besonders!
"Das Meer brüllt wie ein Löwe direkt unter deinen Füßen, währen du spürst, wie der Granit unter den Wellen erbebt. Conor hat Recht. Die Luft und Indigo sind beide sehr nah. Und an diesem Strand treffen sie aufeinander. Conor und ich befinden uns an der Grenze zwischen den beiden Welten."
Dabei wird die magische Anziehungskraft des wilden, wunderschönen und quietschlebendigen Ozeans auf wundervolle Art und Weise verkörpert. Sehr bald spüren auch wir Leser den Sog von Indigo, was weniger durch komplizierte oder besondere Sprache - der Schreibstil ist hier in der Tat eher einfach gehalten - sondern einfach durch die kraftvolle, durchdringende Atmosphäre erreicht wird. Dabei kommt die Geschichte ganz ohne die typischen Liebesprobleme aus. Es gibt auch kein Mord, kein Totschlag, keine Gier, kein Hass - wir erleben einfach nur das ungewöhnliche Abenteuer eines besonderen Geschwisterpaares, das in eine neue, wunderschöne, aber auch beängstigende Welt eintaucht. Auch die typischen Meerjungfrauen-Klischees werden gar nicht erst aufgerollt. Wir treffen hier keine singenden Schönheiten mit Kämmen und glitzernden Fischschwänzen an sondern werden von einem Meerjungen in ein komplexes Ökosystem eingeführt, das unter dem Missbrauch der Menschen sehr zu leiden hat.
"Ach wäre ich doch in Indigo
und teilte die salzige See
in den tiefsten Fluten�"
Vielleicht ist es dort, wo Dad sich jetzt aufhält: in den tiefsten Fluten. Er ist in Indigo und dort werde ich ihn finden!"
Fazit:
Durch die dunkle, mystische aber wunderschöne Atmosphäre wird ein starker Sog ausgebildet, sodass wir in der Strömung dieses einfühlsamen Abenteuers ins wundervolle Indigo mitgerissen werden. Ein Abenteuer für alte und junge Leser, für Mädchen und Jungen, der Lust auf mehr macht.
Titel: Nixenblut
Autor: Helen Dunmore
Verlag: cbj (28. März 2011)
Genre: Fantasy
Seitenzahl: 320 Seiten
ISBN-10: 3570400360
ISBN-13: 978-3570400364
Preis: 7,99� (Taschenbuch)
Weitere Bände: Nixenmagier; Nixenfluch
Inhalt:
Als Sapphy an der Küste Cornwalls auf den Meerjungen Faro trifft, der sie in die Tiefen des Meeres mitnimmt, spürt sie: Derselbe Sog, der ihren Vater ein Jahr zuvor in die Welt der Nixen und Wassermagier gelockt hat, zieht auch sie dorthin. Denn in ihr fließt das Blut der Nixen � sie gehört der Welt der Meerwesen ebenso an wie der der Menschen. Als eine Gruppe von Tauchern die heiligen Gefilde der Meermenschen zu zerstören droht, muss Sapphy sich entscheiden, zu welcher Welt sie gehören will�
Bewertung:
Geschichten über das Meer, Schiffe und Abenteuer, die alle Grenzen sprengen haben schon immer eine besondere Faszination für mich gehabt. So musste ich natürlich auch Helen Dunmores fantastische Meerestrilogie lesen, welche vor ein paar Jahren ja durch alle Welt gegeistert ist. Und auch wenn ich aufgrund des Covers eine etwas andere Geschichte erwartet hätte, war ich doch positiv überrascht von dieser kraftvollen Geschichte, die ich geboten bekommen habe.
Erster Satz: "Man findet die Meerfrau von Zennor in der Zennor Church, wenn man weiß, wo man nachschauen muss."
Band 1 und 2 der Reihe erschienen schon einmal unter dem Titel "Indigo - Im Sog des Meeres", Band 3 ist jedoch nur in der neuen Auflage zu haben. Das finde ich sehr schade, da mir die kreativen und definitiv aufmerksamkeitserregenden Covermotive der ersten Ausgabe deutlich besser gefallen, als das Bild meiner Ausgabe. Mit dem angedeuteten Mädchengesicht mit dem blauen Lippenstift und vor allem mit den dunklen Ränder wirkt es für mich einfach nur billig und nicht der süßen Kinder-Geschichte entsprechend, die uns im Inneren erwartet. Außerdem würde ich diese Geschichte auch unbedingt Jungs empfehlen, weshalb ich die Aufmachung hier wirklich übertrieben finde. Den Titel finde ich zwar durchaus passend, unter dem alten Titel konnte ich mir jedoch mehr vorstellen!
"Die Dornbüsche ähneln gekrümmten Gestalten. Die weißen Handtücher an der Wäscheleine, gleichen Gespenstern. Der Mond scheint so hell, dass man ohne weiteres den Pfad finden könnte, der zur Bucht hinunterführt. Manchmal bildet der Mond selbst einen Pfad auf dem Meer, der so echt aussieht, als könne man auf ihm bis zum Horizont laufen..."
Die Geschichte beginnt mit dem Verschwinden von Sapphys Vater, der eines Tages von einer Fischtour nicht mehr zurückkehrt. Er sei ertrunken, wird ihr und ihrem älteren Bruder Conor gesagt, doch die beiden können das nicht glauben. So kannte ihr Dad doch alle Strömungen des umliegenden Meeres auswendig und manövrierte noch durch den wildesten Sturm. Als die beiden dann eines Tages in ihrer Lieblingsbucht auf zwei geheimnisvolle Meerwesen treffen, die sich Mer nennen und anstatt von Beinen eine robbenähnliche Flosse haben, fühlen sie sich in ihrer Annahme bestätigt. Bald spürt Sapphy denselben Sog, gegen den auch ihr Vater Tag für Tag hat ankämpfen müssen. Immer mehr gerät sie zwischen die Fronten von Indigo und der Erde, die einen ewigen Kampf um die Vorherrschaft austragen und muss sich schließlich entscheiden, wo sie hingehören will...
"Muss ich mich auch entscheiden? Die Frage rauscht in meinem Kopf wie das Geräusch der Wellen, die an den Strand schlagen und sich wieder zurückziehen. Dad hat einmal gesagt: "Ist es nicht ein wunderbarer Gedanken, Saph, dass die Wellen unser ganzes Leben lang an den Strand schlagen, genau wie die Herzen in unseren Körpern? Es hört nie auf. Und wenn unsere Herzen aufhören zu schlagen, dann werden die Wellen weiter kommen und gehen, wie sie es immer getan haben, bis zum Ende der Welt."
Das Buch beginnt viel ruhiger, als ich es jemals gedacht hätte. Wir stürzen uns nicht Hals über Kopf in ein Abenteuer sondern werden ganz langsam in das Familienleben der Trewhellas eingeführt, dass so grausam auseinander gerissen wird. Mit unglaublich einfühlsamer Stimme beschreibt Helen Dunmore die Emotionen eines Mädchens, deren ganze Welt auseinanderbricht, als ihr Vater verschwindet, ihr Mutter in Arbeit versinkt und ihr Bruder sich immer mehr von ihr abzugrenzen scheint. Erst durch die Entdeckung der neuen Welt - Indigo - findet sie wieder Antrieb und etwas, in dem sie ganz in ihrem Element ist. Wundervoll zu sehen ist dabei, wie sich die liebevolle Beziehung zwischen Conor und Sapphy entwickelt und wie viel Wahrheit und Authentizität in der anrührenden Familiengeschichte steckt.
"Wenn jemand dich plötzlich verlässt, hast du das Gefühl, ein Riss ginge durch dich hindurch oder dir würde etwas fehlen. Seit Dad weg ist, bin ich unvollständig, und auch er ist unvollständig. Doch ich frage mich, ob die beiden Teile noch zusammenpassen, wenn ich ihn gefunden habe. Und ich werde ihn finden. Das ist mehr als ein Versprechen. Es ist ein Schwur!"
Auch wenn die Protagonisten viel jünger als ich waren, konnte ich viele ihrer Probleme wunderbar nachempfinden. Sehr intelligent hat die Autorin hier Themen verpackt, mit denen wohl jeder etwas anfangen kann: zwischen den Welten stehen, nicht wissen, wo man hingehört, mit dem Verlust eines Familienmitglieds fertig werden, sich von der Familie abgrenzen, über sich hinauswachsen - all diese Dinge fließen in das ruhige Abenteuer ein und machen es so besonders!
"Das Meer brüllt wie ein Löwe direkt unter deinen Füßen, währen du spürst, wie der Granit unter den Wellen erbebt. Conor hat Recht. Die Luft und Indigo sind beide sehr nah. Und an diesem Strand treffen sie aufeinander. Conor und ich befinden uns an der Grenze zwischen den beiden Welten."
Dabei wird die magische Anziehungskraft des wilden, wunderschönen und quietschlebendigen Ozeans auf wundervolle Art und Weise verkörpert. Sehr bald spüren auch wir Leser den Sog von Indigo, was weniger durch komplizierte oder besondere Sprache - der Schreibstil ist hier in der Tat eher einfach gehalten - sondern einfach durch die kraftvolle, durchdringende Atmosphäre erreicht wird. Dabei kommt die Geschichte ganz ohne die typischen Liebesprobleme aus. Es gibt auch kein Mord, kein Totschlag, keine Gier, kein Hass - wir erleben einfach nur das ungewöhnliche Abenteuer eines besonderen Geschwisterpaares, das in eine neue, wunderschöne, aber auch beängstigende Welt eintaucht. Auch die typischen Meerjungfrauen-Klischees werden gar nicht erst aufgerollt. Wir treffen hier keine singenden Schönheiten mit Kämmen und glitzernden Fischschwänzen an sondern werden von einem Meerjungen in ein komplexes Ökosystem eingeführt, das unter dem Missbrauch der Menschen sehr zu leiden hat.
"Ach wäre ich doch in Indigo
und teilte die salzige See
in den tiefsten Fluten�"
Vielleicht ist es dort, wo Dad sich jetzt aufhält: in den tiefsten Fluten. Er ist in Indigo und dort werde ich ihn finden!"
Fazit:
Durch die dunkle, mystische aber wunderschöne Atmosphäre wird ein starker Sog ausgebildet, sodass wir in der Strömung dieses einfühlsamen Abenteuers ins wundervolle Indigo mitgerissen werden. Ein Abenteuer für alte und junge Leser, für Mädchen und Jungen, der Lust auf mehr macht.
October 7, 2015
Ingo follows the life and secrets revolving around a girl named Sapphire and her love for the sea. Her father had gone missing, supposedly taken by the ocean. A year after his disappearance, her mother began dating a new man, which dismayed Sapphire and her brother.
Her dad was mysteriously named after a local man who was believed to have drowned years ago and was captured by mermaids. The townfolks believed this same fate befell her dad. Against their mother's orders, she and her brother Connor spent most of their time swimming in the deep blue. Until Connor also went missing for a certain period of time and eventually, the two of them got pulled by the water and discovered a world beyond the beach.
A place called Ingo, powerful and mysterious.
There, they met a couple of mermaids and they realized that the time spent underwater differed from their time above the earth. Sapphire and Connor also discovered their own earthly powers that saved them during crisis.
Mermaids are next to dragons when it came to my favorite mythological characters. While Disney's Arielle remained the best mermaid I’ve ever met, I think Ingo’s mermaids are somewhat okay, if not intimidating. The story may not be the best underwater story ever but it is cute nonetheless; clean enough for kids. The thing that irked me, however, was Sapphire's evil thoughts - and that involved a murder plot against her soon-to-be stepfather. Granted that this stepfather was anything but charismatic, still, it bothered me to think that this young girl would talk to the sea creatures and ask them to make him "gone".
Part one of a trilogy. I’m not that excited to read the rest of the series because of the uncanny vibes I felt while reading Ingo, but I guess I’ll give it a try. I still wonder about Sapphire’s mom’s fear of the ocean and how their father would return to the land, that is if he still had intentions to return. Also, there's witchcraft involved in the story, which, in my opinion, made this fantasy series more exciting.
Her dad was mysteriously named after a local man who was believed to have drowned years ago and was captured by mermaids. The townfolks believed this same fate befell her dad. Against their mother's orders, she and her brother Connor spent most of their time swimming in the deep blue. Until Connor also went missing for a certain period of time and eventually, the two of them got pulled by the water and discovered a world beyond the beach.
A place called Ingo, powerful and mysterious.
There, they met a couple of mermaids and they realized that the time spent underwater differed from their time above the earth. Sapphire and Connor also discovered their own earthly powers that saved them during crisis.
Mermaids are next to dragons when it came to my favorite mythological characters. While Disney's Arielle remained the best mermaid I’ve ever met, I think Ingo’s mermaids are somewhat okay, if not intimidating. The story may not be the best underwater story ever but it is cute nonetheless; clean enough for kids. The thing that irked me, however, was Sapphire's evil thoughts - and that involved a murder plot against her soon-to-be stepfather. Granted that this stepfather was anything but charismatic, still, it bothered me to think that this young girl would talk to the sea creatures and ask them to make him "gone".
Part one of a trilogy. I’m not that excited to read the rest of the series because of the uncanny vibes I felt while reading Ingo, but I guess I’ll give it a try. I still wonder about Sapphire’s mom’s fear of the ocean and how their father would return to the land, that is if he still had intentions to return. Also, there's witchcraft involved in the story, which, in my opinion, made this fantasy series more exciting.
July 14, 2012
I discovered this series by pure luck. I found the second book on one of the tables in the YA section of chapters. It was all colourful and shiny so I picked it up (wow...I'm such a bird). I Bought the book that day not realizing it was the second book. So I went back and got the first one, which was rather difficult because as it turns out-the series is suppose to be in the 9-12 section. ANyways...This book is by a british woman (Just another piece of proof that they are the best writers) and it is about the Mer. Sapphire's father goes missing one night and everyone believes he has drowned while out on his boat. Saph and her brother connor do not accept this to be true. They know he would never let his boat (the Peggy Gordon) crash into the rocks. He knows the sea too well.
Sapphire's brother starts acting oddly; he goes down to the cove for hours and hours by himself. Sapphire follows him one day to find out what he's doing-only to discover a whole new world that she never knew existed. Ingo.
I know this book is a childrens book, but hey! So is Harry potter! I could not put this book down. The writing is so descriptive you can also see the colours of the Ocean, feel the gently breeze blowing through your hair, smell the sea as if you are right there on the beach. You can almost hear the waves crashing on the sand-calling your name. Calling you to Ingo.
"I wish I was away in Ingo
far across the briny sea
sailing over deepest waters"
These books will always be dear to my heart, and I do not care that no one else knows about them. It just makes them feel that more special to me. My own little discovery!
Sapphire's brother starts acting oddly; he goes down to the cove for hours and hours by himself. Sapphire follows him one day to find out what he's doing-only to discover a whole new world that she never knew existed. Ingo.
I know this book is a childrens book, but hey! So is Harry potter! I could not put this book down. The writing is so descriptive you can also see the colours of the Ocean, feel the gently breeze blowing through your hair, smell the sea as if you are right there on the beach. You can almost hear the waves crashing on the sand-calling your name. Calling you to Ingo.
"I wish I was away in Ingo
far across the briny sea
sailing over deepest waters"
These books will always be dear to my heart, and I do not care that no one else knows about them. It just makes them feel that more special to me. My own little discovery!
September 3, 2011
I hated this book. As soon as I was finished reading it, I sent it to my library's used book store.
The main characters were frustrating right down to Saphire's name, and by the time the merpeople were finally revealed, it was too little too late for my taste. I also think this falls victim to series cliches of not exposing enough of the "mysteries" to keep me satisfied with the intent of saving it for later books. It definitely
spins its wheels" to where not enough happens. I skimmed through the last third of the book, so maybe I missed more explanations? Also, seals, or at least the kind in this book, don't attack people. Vicious harbor seals? I think the author needed to research marine wildlife more, because it was riddled with similar biological stupidities. I guess I was the wrong audience for this book: too old, and too well learned about the oceans.
The main characters were frustrating right down to Saphire's name, and by the time the merpeople were finally revealed, it was too little too late for my taste. I also think this falls victim to series cliches of not exposing enough of the "mysteries" to keep me satisfied with the intent of saving it for later books. It definitely
spins its wheels" to where not enough happens. I skimmed through the last third of the book, so maybe I missed more explanations? Also, seals, or at least the kind in this book, don't attack people. Vicious harbor seals? I think the author needed to research marine wildlife more, because it was riddled with similar biological stupidities. I guess I was the wrong audience for this book: too old, and too well learned about the oceans.
Read
March 22, 2022I read this as a kid over and over. Such a delightful series!
April 2, 2025
my favourite book ever of all time!!!!
i read another person’s review that said after reading ingo, they couldn’t get cornwall, england out of their head, and i feel the exact same way. whenever im asked what my dream place to travel to is, i say zennor, specifically. and when asked why, i explain that it’s because of ingo.
i first read this book when i was maybe 10? and i never stopped thinking about it. it’s the reason i painted my walls blue and put fish stickers all over them when i was a kid, to make it feel like i was underwater. it’s why i bought a mermaid tail, it’s why i used to put salt in my water before drinking it (soooo insane fjdjdjs), it’s why i named my pet fish sapphire and peggy gordon, why i got a wave tattoo, etc. this book is so deeply intertwined into who i am, that i don’t even know if it’s what sparked such a love of mermaids and the ocean for me, or if it was an already existing love for those things that had me so drawn to this series. since reading it for the first time 18??? years ago, ive tried to consume all the mermaid content possible, but nothing has ever come close to being as magical as ingo for me.
helen dumore did a beautiful job creating a world based off of the legend of the mermaid of zennor. there’s literally magic in these pages; she wrote up a world so enchanting that i genuinely believe ingo exists, and feel like its calling to me the same way it called for sapphire! no other book has made me want to jump into the pages and exist in its fictional world the way this one has. literally wish i was away in ingo far across the briny sea <333
i can’t wait to visit zennor oneday and read ingo again on the beach at pendour cove <3
i read another person’s review that said after reading ingo, they couldn’t get cornwall, england out of their head, and i feel the exact same way. whenever im asked what my dream place to travel to is, i say zennor, specifically. and when asked why, i explain that it’s because of ingo.
i first read this book when i was maybe 10? and i never stopped thinking about it. it’s the reason i painted my walls blue and put fish stickers all over them when i was a kid, to make it feel like i was underwater. it’s why i bought a mermaid tail, it’s why i used to put salt in my water before drinking it (soooo insane fjdjdjs), it’s why i named my pet fish sapphire and peggy gordon, why i got a wave tattoo, etc. this book is so deeply intertwined into who i am, that i don’t even know if it’s what sparked such a love of mermaids and the ocean for me, or if it was an already existing love for those things that had me so drawn to this series. since reading it for the first time 18??? years ago, ive tried to consume all the mermaid content possible, but nothing has ever come close to being as magical as ingo for me.
helen dumore did a beautiful job creating a world based off of the legend of the mermaid of zennor. there’s literally magic in these pages; she wrote up a world so enchanting that i genuinely believe ingo exists, and feel like its calling to me the same way it called for sapphire! no other book has made me want to jump into the pages and exist in its fictional world the way this one has. literally wish i was away in ingo far across the briny sea <333
i can’t wait to visit zennor oneday and read ingo again on the beach at pendour cove <3
August 16, 2024
Completely different to what I thought! My mum bought this book for me as a child and I never read it. Years later I found this book in a second hand book shop and knew I had to read it. It's not so much about mermaids as it is about how the earth and sea clash. The main character feels a pull from the sea and feels like she has to choose between the two. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
June 7, 2021
Uncharitable thought: all the time I was reading Ingo, I thought of Scott Pilgrim and his empty head that was used by the couriers because it was so vacant. That's what Sapphire felt like. But unlike Scott Pilgrim this girl has no likable quality. It was tedious to read about her. I'm tempted to abandon this series altogether. But then I started it and I have the finish the book/series I started curse, and at times and series like these I really hate it.
November 3, 2014
“Ingo’s a place that has many names, � says Granny Carne. “You can call it Mer, Mare, or Meor…Earth and Ingo don’t mix, even though we live side by side. Earth and Ingo aren’t always friends…�
Despite Granny Carne’s words, in Helen Dunmore’s fantastic fantasy Earth and Ingo do mix–with consequences. Ingo is set partially above ground in modern day Cornwall and partially below the surface of the water in Ingo.
Ingo features Sapphire Trewhella (also known as Saph or Sapphy). Sapphy takes after her father, Matthew Trewhella, in that she has always been drawn to the sea. She recalls, “Dad used to say that the sea doesn’t hate you and it doesn’t love you. It’s up to you to learn its ways and keep yourself safe.�
It’s “Dad used to say� because her father has disappeared. His boat, the Peggy Gordon, was found without him in it, and he is presumed drowned. Sapphy, however, suspects her father’s disappearance has something to do with Ingo. She recalls her father singing, “I wish I was away in Ingo; Far across the briny sea, Sailing over deepest waters; Where love nor care never trouble me…�
Her father’s disappearance certainly troubles her and causes trouble for her family. Her mother is forced to work all the time at her waitressing job and, consequently, her older brother Conor and Sapphy spend much time by themselves.
When one day Sapphy cannot find Conor, she fears that he has disappeared just like her father. She heads out to the cove to look for him, and she finds him talking to Elvira the mermaid. This leads to her encounter with Faro the merman who takes her on a journey under the sea. On this journey, she lets go of Earth completely and becomes a part of Ingo.
Sapphy and Conor are welcomed into Ingo because they each have a little Mer in them (long story that goes into family lore about the disappearance of a previous Matthew Trewhella), but Sapphy seems to have even a little more than her brother. Her draw to the sea becomes increasingly strong after she’s been a part of it. Not-too-subtle warning signals such as a new found taste for salting her water and consuming anchovies begin to alarm Conor while her mother appears largely ignorant of all goings on. With Conor’s help, Sapphy struggles to resist the pull of Ingo.
Yet, despite her resistance, Sapphy continues to find Ingo and Faro seductive. When she’s in Ingo, nothing else seems to matter–not time, not Conor, not Earth, not humanity in general. When she’s not in Ingo but back on Earth, she finds so many troubles weighing her down–she feels in her bones that her father is still alive but he’s made no attempt to contact her, her mother has given up on her father coming back and is becoming romantically involved with a diver named Roger (a diver who’s getting increasingly close to encroaching upon Ingo), and her mother is dead set against her getting a dog (when Sapphy already has the perfect one picked out!).
Ingo takes on the struggle between two worlds, between two types of people, between two ways of life. The struggle between Ingo and Earth has its parallel struggle within Sapphy’s family where the impetuousness of Sapphy and her father frequently clashes with the practical nature of Conor and her mother. This struggle comes to the fore in the latter part of Ingo when Roger decides he wants to dive in areas where, unbeknownst to him, he is not welcomed.
Dunmore’s characters are flawed yet still developing and changing just as the world is flawed yet still developing and changing (the latter we have the privilege to participate in changing). Ingo is top-notch fantasy while also speaking to family dynamics, individual choices, willpower, self-discovery, and imagination.
Ingo–with its tagline “In a world without air all you breathe is adventure”–will likely be popular with middle grade fantasy fans of both genders. Ingo is Book One in a planned tetralogy–Ingo, The Tide Knot, The Deep, and The Crossing of Ingo (the final two are more difficult to attain from within the US since HarperCollins just published the US edition of The Tide Knot in January 2008). For more on the series immediately, visit Helen Dunmore’s site or Harper Collin’s Ingo site (including a video book trailer). The pull of Ingo is strong, who can resist?
Despite Granny Carne’s words, in Helen Dunmore’s fantastic fantasy Earth and Ingo do mix–with consequences. Ingo is set partially above ground in modern day Cornwall and partially below the surface of the water in Ingo.
Ingo features Sapphire Trewhella (also known as Saph or Sapphy). Sapphy takes after her father, Matthew Trewhella, in that she has always been drawn to the sea. She recalls, “Dad used to say that the sea doesn’t hate you and it doesn’t love you. It’s up to you to learn its ways and keep yourself safe.�
It’s “Dad used to say� because her father has disappeared. His boat, the Peggy Gordon, was found without him in it, and he is presumed drowned. Sapphy, however, suspects her father’s disappearance has something to do with Ingo. She recalls her father singing, “I wish I was away in Ingo; Far across the briny sea, Sailing over deepest waters; Where love nor care never trouble me…�
Her father’s disappearance certainly troubles her and causes trouble for her family. Her mother is forced to work all the time at her waitressing job and, consequently, her older brother Conor and Sapphy spend much time by themselves.
When one day Sapphy cannot find Conor, she fears that he has disappeared just like her father. She heads out to the cove to look for him, and she finds him talking to Elvira the mermaid. This leads to her encounter with Faro the merman who takes her on a journey under the sea. On this journey, she lets go of Earth completely and becomes a part of Ingo.
Sapphy and Conor are welcomed into Ingo because they each have a little Mer in them (long story that goes into family lore about the disappearance of a previous Matthew Trewhella), but Sapphy seems to have even a little more than her brother. Her draw to the sea becomes increasingly strong after she’s been a part of it. Not-too-subtle warning signals such as a new found taste for salting her water and consuming anchovies begin to alarm Conor while her mother appears largely ignorant of all goings on. With Conor’s help, Sapphy struggles to resist the pull of Ingo.
Yet, despite her resistance, Sapphy continues to find Ingo and Faro seductive. When she’s in Ingo, nothing else seems to matter–not time, not Conor, not Earth, not humanity in general. When she’s not in Ingo but back on Earth, she finds so many troubles weighing her down–she feels in her bones that her father is still alive but he’s made no attempt to contact her, her mother has given up on her father coming back and is becoming romantically involved with a diver named Roger (a diver who’s getting increasingly close to encroaching upon Ingo), and her mother is dead set against her getting a dog (when Sapphy already has the perfect one picked out!).
Ingo takes on the struggle between two worlds, between two types of people, between two ways of life. The struggle between Ingo and Earth has its parallel struggle within Sapphy’s family where the impetuousness of Sapphy and her father frequently clashes with the practical nature of Conor and her mother. This struggle comes to the fore in the latter part of Ingo when Roger decides he wants to dive in areas where, unbeknownst to him, he is not welcomed.
Dunmore’s characters are flawed yet still developing and changing just as the world is flawed yet still developing and changing (the latter we have the privilege to participate in changing). Ingo is top-notch fantasy while also speaking to family dynamics, individual choices, willpower, self-discovery, and imagination.
Ingo–with its tagline “In a world without air all you breathe is adventure”–will likely be popular with middle grade fantasy fans of both genders. Ingo is Book One in a planned tetralogy–Ingo, The Tide Knot, The Deep, and The Crossing of Ingo (the final two are more difficult to attain from within the US since HarperCollins just published the US edition of The Tide Knot in January 2008). For more on the series immediately, visit Helen Dunmore’s site or Harper Collin’s Ingo site (including a video book trailer). The pull of Ingo is strong, who can resist?
March 9, 2011
REVIEW
I love reading mermaid books. There are not very many of them, so I cherish the few that I can get my hands (and eyes) on. Ingo is no exception.
Ingo is the name of the magical underwater world where the mermaids (and mermen) live. You don’t see much of it in the book, but the descriptions that are in there, are amazing. I am betting there is more detail about this amazing world in the next book.
This book is told from Sapphire’s point of view. She is spunky and loyal to her brother, Conor. I was also really happy about her decision near the end of the book � but I’m going to spoil it for you.
The merpeople were not very fond of humans � even humans who had a bit of mer in their history. At first the merpeople seem really mean. But then, when I realized it was because the humans were ruining the merpeople’s underwater world, I sort of took their side in the struggle.
If you are a mermaid fan like I am, then you will enjoy Ingo.
RATING
4 Plot
3 Characters
4 Attention Grabbing
4 Girlie Meter
4 Ending
19 TOTAL
4 STARS
March 2, 2008
Just don't read this. It's that cliche you'll find in the Disney store.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2014
It was a great book. Although the end was a bit sad. Other than that, the character had many great adventures.
March 3, 2025
Noice
Interesting way to describe how children cope and handle trauma imo under the guise of a fantasy mermaid world
Interesting way to describe how children cope and handle trauma imo under the guise of a fantasy mermaid world
July 1, 2017
3.5 stars. I feel like this book started out strong, and then kind of petered out later on. I liked Sapphy's voice for the most part (although sometimes her thought processes and decisions irritated me � probably more a reflection of her young age than anything else), and I thought the way that she was losing herself to Ingo was unsettling and kind of creepy. Ingo itself was mysterious and a little unnerving, and the main character we meet from Ingo, Faro, was an interesting mix of helper and...foe?
However, midway through the plot started to drag and feel repetitive. The main problem had been set up as this unusual disappearance of Sapphy's and Conor's father, and they were determined to venture into Ingo to find him. But then that all changed and took a seat on the backburner for what felt kind of like a minute, trumped-up storyline about a character we didn't care much about (Roger). Sapphy's change of attitude towards Roger () seemed forced and unrealistic, and the whole climax had nothing to do with the original problem that was set up at all. The very end there's a teaser about her dad, but I'm left feeling a little bit like I got shortchanged in this story, and that it's getting stretched out for the series instead of resolving it in a single book (or at least taking steps towards resolving it!).
However, midway through the plot started to drag and feel repetitive. The main problem had been set up as this unusual disappearance of Sapphy's and Conor's father, and they were determined to venture into Ingo to find him. But then that all changed and took a seat on the backburner for what felt kind of like a minute, trumped-up storyline about a character we didn't care much about (Roger). Sapphy's change of attitude towards Roger () seemed forced and unrealistic, and the whole climax had nothing to do with the original problem that was set up at all. The very end there's a teaser about her dad, but I'm left feeling a little bit like I got shortchanged in this story, and that it's getting stretched out for the series instead of resolving it in a single book (or at least taking steps towards resolving it!).
May 29, 2019
Ladies and Gentlemen, I almost lost the will to live.
Now, I understand that this book is aimed at children/teens, so I naturally assumed there was going to be a small amount of childishness to it. Surprisingly, there isnt. The imagery is beautiful and some of the character backgrounds and situations are more along the adult scale than expected. These things are not what caused an issue with me.
What made me want to chuck it all in was the storyline and events that just dragged and dragged and dragged. It felt very stilted and unnessesarily mysterious at certain points and it made me want to hit the speedometer to the max. I felt like I was drifiting in slow motion reading this book and it was not until the LAST TWO CHAPTERS that I thought, oh, well now it get's good.
I was determined not to throw this headlong into my DNF pile as a very lovely friend of mine purchased the second book for me in a bookswap, so I want to be able to read it an understand what's going on. But I shan't read the first one again that's for certain.
Such a shame as the concept and like I said earlier, the imagery, is really quite something. I just think the batteries needed replacing as the story felt like it was slowing down to a stop.
Now, I understand that this book is aimed at children/teens, so I naturally assumed there was going to be a small amount of childishness to it. Surprisingly, there isnt. The imagery is beautiful and some of the character backgrounds and situations are more along the adult scale than expected. These things are not what caused an issue with me.
What made me want to chuck it all in was the storyline and events that just dragged and dragged and dragged. It felt very stilted and unnessesarily mysterious at certain points and it made me want to hit the speedometer to the max. I felt like I was drifiting in slow motion reading this book and it was not until the LAST TWO CHAPTERS that I thought, oh, well now it get's good.
I was determined not to throw this headlong into my DNF pile as a very lovely friend of mine purchased the second book for me in a bookswap, so I want to be able to read it an understand what's going on. But I shan't read the first one again that's for certain.
Such a shame as the concept and like I said earlier, the imagery, is really quite something. I just think the batteries needed replacing as the story felt like it was slowing down to a stop.
November 16, 2022
"Semua kejadian yang menimpa seseorang pasti tetap terkenang, sekalipun tersembunyi di sudut-sudut benak. Itulah sebabnya kau tidak boleh berusaha melupakan, walaupun orang-orang mendesakmu untuk melakukan itu." -hal. 298
Di sela-sela kesibukan bertubi-tubi karena aku udah mulai masuk ke fase ujian-ujian, aku tetap mencoba menyelesaikan novel ini. Dulu banget pernah lihat review untuk novel ini dan sepengetahuanku cukup banyak juga yang bilang novel ini bagus, dan kebetulan banget aku nemu di perpustakaan sekolah, jadi langsung kupinjam dan kubaca.
Memang bacaan ini cukup memikat bahkan dari halaman pertamanya. Aku suka dengan bagaimana penulisnya merangkai kata-katanya, yang mungkin juga pengaruh terjemahannya yang luwes banget. Setting tempat yang digambarkan di dalam sini juga cukup detail dan karena tempat tinggal para tokoh di sini di dekat laut, deskripsi pantainya tuh juga cukup indah namun di satu sisi bikin merinding.
Balutan novel fantasi dengan sedikit bumbu misteri yang kayaknya cocok buat kamu yang lagi pengen cari bacaan yang menggugah dan memain-mainkan pikiran.
Di sela-sela kesibukan bertubi-tubi karena aku udah mulai masuk ke fase ujian-ujian, aku tetap mencoba menyelesaikan novel ini. Dulu banget pernah lihat review untuk novel ini dan sepengetahuanku cukup banyak juga yang bilang novel ini bagus, dan kebetulan banget aku nemu di perpustakaan sekolah, jadi langsung kupinjam dan kubaca.
Memang bacaan ini cukup memikat bahkan dari halaman pertamanya. Aku suka dengan bagaimana penulisnya merangkai kata-katanya, yang mungkin juga pengaruh terjemahannya yang luwes banget. Setting tempat yang digambarkan di dalam sini juga cukup detail dan karena tempat tinggal para tokoh di sini di dekat laut, deskripsi pantainya tuh juga cukup indah namun di satu sisi bikin merinding.
Balutan novel fantasi dengan sedikit bumbu misteri yang kayaknya cocok buat kamu yang lagi pengen cari bacaan yang menggugah dan memain-mainkan pikiran.
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