Inland

Today's post is on Inland by Kat Rosenfield. It is a standalone novel. It is 382 pages long and is published by Dutton Books. The cover is grey with the main character on it backed into a corner with waves rushing towards her. The intended reader is young adult, someone who likes horror, and old stories about mermaids. There is no sex, some mild language, and no violence in this novel. The story is told by the main character Callie. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- There was a shadow in the water and when it moved beneath out boat, the Sea opened its yawning blue mouth and swallowed my mother whole.

After nine years spent suffocating in the arid expanses of the Midwest, far from the sea where her mother drowned, Callie Morgan and her father are returning to the coast. And miraculously, Callie can finally breathe easily. No more sudden, clawing attacks, and weeklong hospital stays.
But something is calling to her from the river behind their house and from the ocean miles away. Just as her life begins to feel like her own, and the potential for romance is blossoming, the intoxicating pull of the dark water seeps into her mind, filling her with doubt and revealing family secrets. Is it madness, or is there a voice, beckoning her to come to the sea? To answer the call of the dark waves.
To Come Home.

Review- This was a great read. The mythology of older mermaids is very present. The pull towards the ocean and away from land is very strong. I liked that the reader could decide for themselves if what Callie was experiencing was real or not. To me it felt very real but if you wanted to, it could be easily read as not. Callie is a very unreliable narrator and that makes the odd things in this book even odder. She does not know if what she is seeing or feeling is real either. She believes but sometimes there is a thread of doubt. The story is very compelling with a young woman who does not know who she is but wants to so badly. I think that Rosenfield did a good job making Callie believable and pitiable. The world does not believe in mermaids, only in drowning; it does not listen to very sick girls, even when they are telling the truth. Rosenfield makes the reader feel how Callie feels. Pushed aside, forgotten, and no one wants to change that. But Callie does try to fit into humanity but she cannot. As I said this can be read as a horror story about real mermaids or a story about a girl losing her mind. I, personally, pull for mermaids.
 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.