Atlantis Bay’s father refuses to expose her to anything aquatic, claiming trauma from her mother’s tragic death at sea. After ruining one of her trips, he finally tells her the truth: Her mother Allura is a mermaid, and she’s living in a “mer-city” in the Pacific Ocean. He doesn’t explain why they’re apart, but warns Bay that the water is dangerous. Like any teenager with a rebellious streak, Bay sneaks off to the ocean; but someone’s already after her when she gets there. After unknowingly using mer-magic, she escapes their notice and stumbles into a charming village where she learns that Allura is a Queen and reaching her will take weeks. Fortunately, she meets twins Cyrus and Catalina—who have a boat and agree to help her. High-stakes escapades ensue, involving a boat chase, mer-magic, and a brush with the infamous Sea Witch. All the while, Bay’s mind and body transform in ways she never thought possible. A darkness from within demands she embrace its power while the voice inside her (which she calls “Light-Voice”) tries to pull her back. Is her dad right about the dangers of the ocean, or is he hiding a darker secret?

Freya Aguiar’s WATER WISHES: Bound By Tides makes sure that this looming danger and the uncertainty of Bay’s journey are vividly imagined through her surroundings. When she finds the bridge that will take her to a mer-city, she talks about how the “mist curled around the bridge like a live creature, and even with the moonlight overhead, she couldn’t see where it led.” This style of descriptive writing carries throughout the novel, describing the beauty of the setting while hinting at the dark underbelly of Bay’s circumstances. In fact, when she walks into a “glowing” glass shop in a mer-city, she’s nearly entranced by a creepy shopkeeper trying to take her through a door by the furnace with a “false sea. A lie wrapped in heat.”

While she escapes using mer-magic, this incident shows how reckless Bay really is. Light-Voice repeatedly tells her not to walk into the shop, but she ignores it. Bay constantly falling into sticky situations despite knowing the risks gets repetitive and slows the story’s pacing. One has to suspend their disbelief when reading how she miraculously escapes unscathed almost every time. Her daring approach to life seems due to growing up sheltered and not having the power of choice. “Somewhere in the tide, in the hush between waves, she hoped to hear the truth she was never told…No matter how it might hurt her dad, Bay had to know,” she thinks in the beginning. It’s a good reminder that despite the enormous task she has set out to complete, she’s still a teenager wanting to carve her own path instead of being told what to do and yearning for her mother’s love.

We hear from different characters throughout WATER WISHES, but it doesn’t interrupt the story’s flow because the switch happens during pivotal moments. With the story told in third person, readers get a bird’s-eye view of how high the stakes are and whose motives might be questionable. We hear from Cyrus as they’re sailing towards the Queen’s village, when he and Catalina vow to protect Bay. We also hear from Queen Allura, who’s aware of Bay’s presence in her world and desperate to track her down. The reasons come to light later, whirlpooling into a twist that will have readers frantically flipping the pages.

Freya Aguiar’s WATER WISHES: Bound By Tides ebbs and flows with tension and immersive emotional storytelling. Its prose is as enchanting as the universe it built, embodying the extent people can go to choose their own path.

~ K. Nesa for IndieReader