Katherine Tegen Books, 368 pp.
Published July 31, 2018
DISCLAIMER: I received a free physical ARC of this title from the publisher for review consideration. This did not inform or influence my opinion in any way.
Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch.
A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.
But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain.
The rise of Hans Christian Andersen’s iconic villainess is a heart-wrenching story of friendship, betrayal, and a girl pushed beyond her limits—to become a monster.
Villains have enjoyed a bright and extended spotlight for quite some time now. There are only so many ways to repurpose a familiar fairy tale before even re-tellings become old and worn. Why not approach it from the perspective of the character who caused so much strife, rather than the one who suffered from it? Exploring the drives and desires of antagonists can give much-needed texture to simple fables with straightforward morals. Sea Witch sets out to do just that with one of the most iconic villains in Western literature, now cast as the mortal witch Evie, who lives in a Denmark tinged with magic.
Evie often acts with the best intentions, yet both her knowledge and her powers fail to keep pace with her plans. While she is the focus of the story, she often gets upstaged by Annemette, the mysterious girl who comes ashore just days before the anniversary of her friend's death. Both girls become enmeshed in a plot not dissimilar from H.C. Andersen's original fairy tale involving love, betrayal, and magic. Because it simultaneously mimics The Little Mermaid and establishes a backstory for one of its central figures, Sea Witch finds itself in an awkward middle ground. Rather than provide a modern update or interesting twist on a time-worn story, it just regurgitates what the reader already knows.
Despite her destiny as the fearsome sea witch, Evie was the wrong choice for a protagonist. Loyal and quiet, always careful not to invite more ill will from the townspeople who believe she takes advantage of her childhood friendship with the prince, she exerts very little influence on the story's direction until the finale. The majority of that momentum comes from Annemette instead, an engaging and dynamic young woman. By the end I found myself ambivalent towards Evie and her story arc. An epilogue does directly connect the events in Sea Witch to The Little Mermaid, but any emotional punch has long since vanished into sea foam.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given its inspiration, Sea Witch indulges in a number of common genre tropes. Any reader who has dabbled in YA fantasy will recognize them. Revelations late in the story are completely expected without adding anything new to the characters or situation.
Although Sea Witch does contain darker elements they all originate from a supporting character, rather than the one we're meant to believe transforms into an iconic villain. The few chapters that take place beneath the waves sparkle with imaginative language, yet they're sparsely scattered throughout the prevailing drama unfolding on land. Re-tellings from the villain's perspective should add texture and nuance to the fables we heard as children. When they choose instead to closely follow the path set by their inspiration, it's difficult to pick out what new elements they bring to readers. As yet another homage to Andersen's beloved tale Sea Witch works just fine, but as a re-imagining it suffers from a disappointing lack of ideas.
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