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Black Trans Fairy Tales #2
Mer Made
Erika is transgender. She's known since she was young; being a woman just fit better. She loved to wear her mother's dresses and tight corsets, but that was before the disease took her mother away. Erika's father doesn't see a daughter, he sees a confused son that needs a new start in a new city across the ocean. Erika has no place to go, so with the last of her mother's dresses she packs for months on a sailing ship.
Halfway across the ocean, Erika's life is forever altered. She sneaks on deck in her mother's dress in the dead of night and a superstitious deckhand throws her overboard, dress and all. But drowning at sea isn't how Erika plans to die. She cuts a deal with a sea witch for more than her life--for the first time, she is transformed into the woman she's always known was inside. Her dress becomes a mermaid tail and all it took was her voice.
She should have known living her authentic life wouldn't be so easy, though. The witch wants more than Erika's voice, she's on the hunt for the undersea throne, the seat of power. Ariel, the last daughter of the king must marry in three days or the first place Erika has ever called home will be destroyed. The magic of true love is the only thing that can save them now.
Halfway across the ocean, Erika's life is forever altered. She sneaks on deck in her mother's dress in the dead of night and a superstitious deckhand throws her overboard, dress and all. But drowning at sea isn't how Erika plans to die. She cuts a deal with a sea witch for more than her life--for the first time, she is transformed into the woman she's always known was inside. Her dress becomes a mermaid tail and all it took was her voice.
She should have known living her authentic life wouldn't be so easy, though. The witch wants more than Erika's voice, she's on the hunt for the undersea throne, the seat of power. Ariel, the last daughter of the king must marry in three days or the first place Erika has ever called home will be destroyed. The magic of true love is the only thing that can save them now.
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First published June 5, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 1, 2024
Very sweet novella of a little mermaid retelling with a black trans woman mc, a sapphic romance and sign language.
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July 7, 2024A sweet wish fulfillment fairy tale about a trans girl who falls in love with a mermaid. It’s a little predictable but I enjoyed it!
November 26, 2023
3.5 stars.
Cute queer and trans re-imagining of The Little Mermaid animated movie.
The world building is a little hand-wavey and the plot is slight but it fits with the fairy tale feel. I’d recommend this for fans of the movie who wondered why the heck Ariel wanted to leave her underwater home.
There were some typos and editing issues that took me out of the story.
Cute queer and trans re-imagining of The Little Mermaid animated movie.
The world building is a little hand-wavey and the plot is slight but it fits with the fairy tale feel. I’d recommend this for fans of the movie who wondered why the heck Ariel wanted to leave her underwater home.
There were some typos and editing issues that took me out of the story.
Read
December 22, 2023I had really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one was much more of a mixed bag. I feel like the book didn't really have a clear vision of what it wanted to be -- too jumbled in narrative, structure, form. Kind of like a disorganized fanfic. Whereas the Cinder Ella story felt like an original take on Cinderella, this book borrowed too heavily from Disney's Little Mermaid. It tried to be cute, but it also tried to be serious, and sometimes funny, and it didn't really work. Although the book itself is short it really took me some time to get through, and I'm sad to say I didn't enjoy it. Although I don't think it's necessary to have a full world built for a novella, there needs to be some logic or consistency to the rules and conventions in the world. Why is same-sex marriage not allowed, yet same-sex relationships supposedly openly accepted? Why was such discrimination necessary in the underwater world? It just felt like an unnecessary hurdle for the character, as if to say, it's okay if you're trans, but you can't be queer! Just pretty disappointing overall in terms of character development and the world, and uneven tones throughout the story.
October 4, 2023
I really wanted to like this. The concept of taking The Little Mermaid story and twisting it to focus on a trans version of Eric who becomes a mermaid is so clever. Conceptually, this story is great.
In terms of writing, I found it hard to enjoy this. I didn't feel for the characters nor did I really find Ariel & Erika's live believable because it just didn't have enough time to build up. They were just in love because the story needed them to be - it was more told to the reader than really shown.
I also found the world building disjointed. The beginning where Erika is on the ship with her father, mourning her mother, sets it up to be a historical piece. As does the mention later in the story that the people on land burn witches. That pegs this more as a 1500-1700s inspired sort of setting.
But then Erika describes herself as transgender (a term not coined until fairly recently). This is a term Ariel doesn't recognise yet it's easily recognised that Max is gay? And Max's mum sets him up with guys but the thought of Ariel having any spouse but a husband is unheard of? It just doesn't work consistently - is this mer-world queernormative or not???
Furthermore there's no in-universe reason given for why, if Ariel doesn't get a husband, Ursula will get the throne. Considering King Triton hates Ursula and his presence is enough to scare her off at the end, why would there be some kind of rule that would give the throne over to her??? It just doesn't add up and took away from the story.
Some of the description was nice though. And I did like the detail of difference merfolk have differing tails/lower halves like jellyfish and sharks.
In terms of writing, I found it hard to enjoy this. I didn't feel for the characters nor did I really find Ariel & Erika's live believable because it just didn't have enough time to build up. They were just in love because the story needed them to be - it was more told to the reader than really shown.
I also found the world building disjointed. The beginning where Erika is on the ship with her father, mourning her mother, sets it up to be a historical piece. As does the mention later in the story that the people on land burn witches. That pegs this more as a 1500-1700s inspired sort of setting.
But then Erika describes herself as transgender (a term not coined until fairly recently). This is a term Ariel doesn't recognise yet it's easily recognised that Max is gay? And Max's mum sets him up with guys but the thought of Ariel having any spouse but a husband is unheard of? It just doesn't work consistently - is this mer-world queernormative or not???
Furthermore there's no in-universe reason given for why, if Ariel doesn't get a husband, Ursula will get the throne. Considering King Triton hates Ursula and his presence is enough to scare her off at the end, why would there be some kind of rule that would give the throne over to her??? It just doesn't add up and took away from the story.
Some of the description was nice though. And I did like the detail of difference merfolk have differing tails/lower halves like jellyfish and sharks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2024
This is a very sweet retelling of the Little Mermaid, featuring Erika, a Black transwoman, as the human MC who's changed into a mermaid via a deal with evil witch Ursula, only to meet Ariel and assist her quest to find a husband before Ursula can take over the kingdom. It's got some intense anti-trans violence at the very beginning (explaining how Erika came to be in the ocean...), as well as some recurring moments of dysphoria when Erika is in her human form, but the mermaid gender euphoria she feels truly counterbalances this, and the mer world is mostly queer-normative, which is refreshing and diminishes potential conflict considerably. There are also very sweet, whimsical, Disney-esque flourishes (like the assistant octopus who helps a merman painter they befriend), which ensures that the book never becomes too heavy or high-stakes, even as the MCs try to stop Ursula from her dastardly plans. The ending is a requisite HEA, too, and it's just lovely. It's sapphic, so...no spoilers, but you can guess who ends up with whom, and it's VERY squee-worthy, even if it is very love-at-first-sight (as is fitting, given the source text).
September 29, 2023
So this was an incredible idea for a twist on a favourite fairy tale.
I just wasn't sold on the execution of the story. Erika struggled with human life but I feel we needed more of a chance to see the challenges she faced before we dived into the main story. I then felt that everything became convenient to speed the story along e.g communication and finding friends.
I just felt that this was rushed with no real challenge for Erika overall. Loved the idea but it just lacked in the form of writing for me.
I just wasn't sold on the execution of the story. Erika struggled with human life but I feel we needed more of a chance to see the challenges she faced before we dived into the main story. I then felt that everything became convenient to speed the story along e.g communication and finding friends.
I just felt that this was rushed with no real challenge for Erika overall. Loved the idea but it just lacked in the form of writing for me.
June 24, 2023
Loved this version of the Little Mermaid! Erika is cast overboard and ‘rescued’ by the sea witch. She actually gets her dream of being full female/mermaid but loses her voice. She meets Ariel and discovers sign language, which is very common among the sea folk! It’s a very sweet short story of finding yourself and your soulmate.
June 5, 2023
Yeah this was cute
July 15, 2023
So cute!! I would like to read more books by non binary authors.
August 6, 2023
3 stars. A very cute story but nothing memorable. Just a fun way to pass some time.
November 23, 2023
Not as good as the cinderella retelling but still lovely to have a black, trans and generally queer short fairytale retelling
November 30, 2023
Really cute 🥺
January 9, 2024
If you want a monster-f*cking book with a twist, or love twisted fairy tales, this is the story for you. It's short, sharp, snappily written, and immersive. Very enjoyable.
January 16, 2024
Me gustó el giro que le dieron a la historia original pero siento que todo paso tan rápido que no me di cuenta de cuando se enamoraron, pero me entretuve leyendo. 1/5 de 5
February 5, 2024
3.5
It's rare that I enjoy a little Mermaid retelling that bases itself more on the movie than the Anderson version, but this was cute :)
It's rare that I enjoy a little Mermaid retelling that bases itself more on the movie than the Anderson version, but this was cute :)
August 6, 2024
What a fun original and heartfelt story!
December 31, 2023
grabbed this for stuff your kindle day and was left a bit disappointed, sadly.
the little mermaid is my absolute favorite disney movie and i was SO excited to see a sapphic retelling of the story, but even for a novella, this felt *rushed.* it was very instalove-y and the characters said they loved each other and were each other's soulmate within 4 days. the action was quite melodramatic and there were a fair few spelling/grammar errors that took me out of the story. there was also a lot about scent for a story that takes place underwater lol it just struck me as odd.
still, i really appreciated this queer take on ariel! twisting the story to have erika be a trans girl who becomes a mermaid was very compelling and added some emotional depth. the worldbuilding was done fairly well — though there was some confusion around the magic system and laws (people could be in queer relationships but not queer marriages??? while trans people were so welcome in the community???), the underwater world itself felt v magical. the romance was sweet despite the instalove and i'm always down for a sapphic ariel <3
curious to read more retellings from this author!!
the little mermaid is my absolute favorite disney movie and i was SO excited to see a sapphic retelling of the story, but even for a novella, this felt *rushed.* it was very instalove-y and the characters said they loved each other and were each other's soulmate within 4 days. the action was quite melodramatic and there were a fair few spelling/grammar errors that took me out of the story. there was also a lot about scent for a story that takes place underwater lol it just struck me as odd.
still, i really appreciated this queer take on ariel! twisting the story to have erika be a trans girl who becomes a mermaid was very compelling and added some emotional depth. the worldbuilding was done fairly well — though there was some confusion around the magic system and laws (people could be in queer relationships but not queer marriages??? while trans people were so welcome in the community???), the underwater world itself felt v magical. the romance was sweet despite the instalove and i'm always down for a sapphic ariel <3
curious to read more retellings from this author!!
July 21, 2023
4/5 stars!
This was so sweet! Erika's journey from human to mermaid was so good! I definitely love the author's writing and how they describe everything. I was able to visualize everything, from the underwater palace to other merfolk. Erika and Ariel's romance was so sweet and I just wished we get to see more interactions of them as an actual couple before the book ended. Nonetheless, I still highly recommend!
This was so sweet! Erika's journey from human to mermaid was so good! I definitely love the author's writing and how they describe everything. I was able to visualize everything, from the underwater palace to other merfolk. Erika and Ariel's romance was so sweet and I just wished we get to see more interactions of them as an actual couple before the book ended. Nonetheless, I still highly recommend!
October 20, 2023
Cute and light trans story based on the Little Mermaid fairytale, with a lot of twists and fresh takes on it, especially with respect to the main characters connection to the tale. It's fast paced and enjoyable for what it is, and wraps up well.
April 15, 2024
2.75
I also picked this up in a Stuff Your Kindle Day event and I was worried about it because I was disappointed by Cinder Ella. While I enjoyed this a bit more, I still found it to be too short for my preferences. It's under a 100 pages and there's not enough time to build a connection.
I also picked this up in a Stuff Your Kindle Day event and I was worried about it because I was disappointed by Cinder Ella. While I enjoyed this a bit more, I still found it to be too short for my preferences. It's under a 100 pages and there's not enough time to build a connection.
March 26, 2023
Cute Little Mermaid reimagining with Ariel’s love interest being a trans human turned mermaid. I really enjoyed the storyline and characters in this book, it was a cute and quick read!
July 15, 2023
These books are so cute!!
How cute!!! I loved this one as well. I've never read anything by a non binary author but now that I have, I plan to read more books like this.
How cute!!! I loved this one as well. I've never read anything by a non binary author but now that I have, I plan to read more books like this.
February 29, 2024
I really enjoyed reading Mer Made, and I'd highly recommend checking it out!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews