Something that’s pitched as a <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> and <i>The Little Mermaid</i> mashup is, in theory, made for me. I was lured in by a pretty cover and the promise of ancient magic and treacherous waters, but should’ve admitted defeat and DNF’d around the 30% mark when I was confident that this book wasn’t for me. And yet I persevered, just in case it delivered on its promises.

I wasn’t fond of the pacing of this book. The first third dragged, then it seemed to rush through significant scenes (for me, it was this book's equivalent of Ariel meeting the sea witch, and I also felt a bit unclear on what their deal was), then the climax of the book felt like it was squeezed into a handful of chapters. There was more description of minor details than some of the plot points. The ancient magic (and also the title of the book) doesn’t become prominent until the final ~30%. There is one (to my memory) treacherous moment in the waters. The romance could’ve been dangerous if I understood either of their intentions.

I did enjoy some of the moments where Celeste is discovering the human world. She has a harder time learning to walk than Ariel, and there’s light humour as she’s copying crab movements until she figures her body out, and once she learns to walk she realises running is a whole other obstacle. I enjoyed her relationship with some of the characters and her sisterhood with Kiyami, although Celeste doesn’t speak but seemingly managed to convey entire understandable sentences with just a tilt of her head.

As a long-time admirer of Kelsey since her "100 Baby Challenge" series on BuzzFeed's YouTube channel, it has been wonderful to witness her progress and success. Her debut novel is truly impressive. It evokes a blend "The Little Mermaid" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," and I am entirely captivated by it. Kelsey's passion for reading is evident; the world-building is meticulous, the characters are diverse and relatable, and the narrative is thoroughly engaging. While I enjoyed all the characters, The Admiral captured my heart.

I eagerly anticipate the next installment.

I extend my gratitude to Kelsey, her team, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this novel. I will certainly be purchasing a physical copy upon its release.

Voice of the Ocean is a masterpiece! I don't have words to express my love for this book! I loved the cover when I first saw it and when I read the story (in a day btw) I fell in love! So so good! 6 stars!

Voice of The Ocean by Kelsey Impicciche
4.5 stars

*before I even get into the review of this book, can we just take a moment to appreciate the art on the cover?! That is absolutely breathtaking and I am in love. And yes, the cover is the only reason I decided to read this book.*

I finished this book in 2 days. 2 Days! What an absolute masterpiece this book is, oh my life. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but here I am in absolute awe of this book. The whole thing, start to finish, is perfection. Now let me tell you why.

The first couple of chapters really get you to use your full attention, making sure to pick up on little pieces and although it may be slow to start with I think it was imperative to the story itself and definitely picks up. And honestly, if you are not here for The Little Mermaid X Pirates if the Caribbean, then this just isn’t for you.

The descriptions were literally spot on, it was so easy to set the scene and imagine the way the author was trying to describe this to us. To be able to picture Celeste and Raiden whilst reading about them and there every move, was brilliant. You get this overall feeling about how they act and behave when your reading about them and that really helped bring the story to life.

Speaking of Celeste and Raiden. Oh my. I instantly felt the pain Celeste felt of not being “good enough” and just no-one understanding how. I felt her on such a deep level which just made me fall head over hells for her. And Raiden, well, he is the MMC we all want after seeing him through Celeste's eyes, honestly, give me him! Both characters were brilliant.

You can truly see the characteristics of The Little Mermaid showing through certain parts of the book, but honestly, this book was fantastic.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and found myself intrigued by it. There were some parts I really liked and few that fell a little flat for me.

From the start the pacing is very slow to only pick up in the last bit which made it feel very rushed which is a shame as I was really looking forward to this book but felt very disconnected by it at times.

I really did love the worldbuilding and the way everything was described and for a debut fantasy I though it was so well done.

Thank you NetGalley and LittleBrownBooks for giving me the chance to read this book for a review

I loved this book so much I devoured it in a few days, I can’t believe I have to wait until April to be able to see everyone else’s reactions. After that ending I need to read more!!! I can’t wait to buy a copy when the book is published to display on my shelf!

I loved the Little Mermaid and Pirates of the Caribbean mash up so much!

The characters were all different and yet worked so well together, I am a sucker for found family and this book delivered!

The worldbuilding is simple but does go into detail, I did wish to of read more about the voice of the ocean earlier on in the book considering it’s the title but I was still shocked at the reveal.

The betrayals, secrets and lies between family, friends and lovers had me hooked, I kept on wanting to know how Cel will react to everything.

I love how this book gives us both a badass fmc and mmc who both aren’t afraid to show their emotions and act upon them, it was so refreshing to see how they both have morals whilst also still holding some of the morally grey we all love to see.

The start was a bit slow to get into and I felt some parts were a bit too descriptive, but the ending was worth it all!