Voice of the Ocean by Kelsey Impicciche

This is such a fun example of two of my worlds colliding. I have been a simmer since the original The Sims released and the author of this book is a famous YouTuber whom I have been following since I discovered there were actually other people who loved The Sims and shared their gameplay and stories online. Needless to say, as a simmer, Impicciche is a master weaver of stories. So when she announced she was writing a book, I had the highest expectations. 

While it started a little slow and there were a few things that stuck out to me as cliche, my thoughts quickly changed once we really got to the heart of the story. This book had everything I wanted in a Little Mermaid inspired read: mermaids and pirates, adventure, twists and turns, and even a little romance. I'd consider this to be a YA novel, as it was super wholesome and no spice at all. 

With Impicciche's love of a little spicy romance novel, I was surprised that there was hardly any romance other than a couple of kisses, a hand brush here, and a stare across the room there. Definitely an EXTREMELY slow burn. These are things I don't typically enjoy, however, there was so much else going on in this story that it didn't really bother me, per say, but I do wish there was maybe a BIT more between them.

To give you a bit more about what the story is, we follow Celeste, one of the siren princesses of Staria. In true Ariel fashion, she longs for something more than the life of a royal. She trains hard to become a member of the Chorus — a group of warrior sirens who use their song to protect the kingdom from danger. However, on her first mission as a trainee, she sees it fit to save the prince, his right hand, and his dog, the Admiral, and goes against the laws and morals of her people by doing so. She is banished until she can return with the prince's head, killed by her own hands. Not sure where else to turn, she pays a visit to the sea witch, who changes her into a human in exchange for a "favor" that can be redeemed as she wishes. Celeste agrees and finds herself in a port where Prince Raiden and his crew are saddling up to take a second try for the treasure they seek. In an effort to acquire information and kill the prince, she joins the crew and the adventure begins. 

I don't want to give too much away, because I do strongly recommend this book. It had so many wonderful things going on and Impicchice's writing was easy to read, but still enjoyable and intricate.

There was one thing that I wish I'd been prepared for — the ending. It was like watching the series finale of the Sopranos. (IYKYK). If you don't — HUGE cliffhanger. Stopped in the middle of the story. I literally would have rather this been a 600 page book than splitting it up, especially now that I had finished it before it was even release, who knows when the next book will come out!

Needless to say, this was a very solid four stars from me. I really, very much enjoyed it and it was really fun to read a book by an author that I feel like I know. Even though I've obviously never met her, I've been watching her videos for years and, as I'm sure we've all experienced, good YouTubers make you feel like you're friends even though they definitely don't know you exist personally, haha. Although she DID like my IG comment, which was super cool and a great end to this review! Can't wait for the next book in the series!

The biggest thank you to Kelsey Impicciche and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to read this early!

Read the author's summary --> HERE

Buy it on Amazon --> HERE