danielle paige

Mera: Tidebreaker

Author: Danielle Paige (Illustrated by Stephen Byrne)

Published by: DC INK on April 2nd, 2019

Rating: ★★★★

Genre: Young Adult // Graphic Novel – Comic

Similar Books I’ve Read: Deep Blue, The Siren

Disclosure: I received this book from the Publisher/Author in exchange for an impartial review. This is an unpaid/unsponsored post.

From Danielle Paige, the New York Times best-selling author of Stealing Snow, comes a Mera and Aquaman origin story that explores Mera’s first steps on land as well as her first steps as a hero or a villain, forcing her to choose to follow her heart or her mission to kill.
Mera is teenage royalty, heir to the throne of Xebel, the other not-so-lost colony under the sea. But Mera is destined to wear a different crown, that of Atlantis. When the inhabitants of Xebel plot to overthrow their homeland of Atlantis, Mera is sent to kill the heir to the throne, Arthur Curry. As the unrest between their colonies grows, Mera and Arthur unexpectedly fall in love…will Arthur Curry be the king at Mera’s side in Atlantis, or will he die under her blade?
Mera by Danielle Paige is an astonishing story that explores themes of duty, love, heroism and freedom, all through the eyes of readers’ favorite undersea royalty.

First Thoughts

If you know me well, you’ll know I’ve devoured all of Danielle Paige’s novels to date. Her Dorothy Must Die series and Stealing Snow books have always held a special place in my heart (and bookshelf). So it’s no surprise I jumped on the Blog Tour for Mera: Tidebreaker. I’ve always been a huge DC Fan (sorry Marvel fans!) and I have a few Comics (The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, etc) so getting to add a Graphic novel to my TBR was so refreshing!

My Review

If you’re familiar with Aquaman, you might know of Mera. I sadly didn’t know who she was until around a year ago when they brought her to the big screen with the DC Franchise. I’m all about Girl Power™, so getting to see Mera shine in her own light and not underneath the shadow of Aquaman (although this is a sort of origin of them both) in her own Graphic Novel was amazing.

Mera is a teenager (around sixteen I believe) and already royalty, an heir to the throne of Xebel, a colony underwater. But her destiny isn’t so straight forward under the sea, and now on land. Mera is thrown when the people of Xebel want her to wreck havoc in the homeland of Atlantis (I’ve always associated this with The Little Mermaid, somehow) and kill the heir to the throne, one Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman as we’ll come to know him. But between the colonies, a different kind of feeling brews: love. Mera and Arthur fall head over heels for each other, quite quickly inside the pages. But the question of whether he’ll come to demise under her demands to have him killed, or rule alongside him, begs the ultimate finale of under-the-sea war, love and stripping free.

Overall, I’m surprised at how much I utterly loved Mera. Whether it was her strikingly red hair that vividly gathered my eye-line every page, the fast-paced action-meets-backstory or underlying love aspect, it blew me away with every turn of the page. The colours and palettes of Mera are cool, blues, greens and reds, unique in every way. Although I did feel that the plot moved very quickly, sometimes too quickly, I know this is the way that comic books tend to reel on as they’re differently written and planned out to regular novels. Despite this, I was still blown away with how much I completely loved Mera. Danielle Paige has outdone herself with the captivating story and brilliance behind Mera’s and Arthur’s backstory. Four amazing stars!

About the Author

Danielle Paige is the author of the New York Times bestseller Stealing Snow and its prequel novellas Before the Snow and Queen Rising, as well as the New York Times best-selling Dorothy Must Die series: Dorothy Must Die, The Wicked Will Rise, Yellow Brick War, The End of Oz, and seven prequel novellas. Before turning to young adult literature, she worked in the television industry, where she received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and currently lives in New York City. Visit her online at www.daniellepaigebooks.com and on Twitter at @daniellempaige.

Have you read Mera: Tidebreaker?

What are your thoughts on Graphic Novels?

Let me know in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs using the tag #MERATidebreaker! Don’t forget to check out the other Blog Dates above on the tour!

happy reading!

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Title: Yellow Brick War

Author: Danielle Paige

Published: March 15th, 2016

Publisher: HarperCollins

Find the Author: Goodreads

I received this book for review! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

In this dark, action-packed third book in the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series, Amy Gumm—the new girl from Kansas—must do everything in her power to save Kansas, kill Dorothy, and make Oz a free land once more.

Amy Gumm’s mission to take down Dorothy Gale is not going according to plan. Dorothy has found a way to bridge the worlds of Oz and Kansas, and if the power-hungry dictator of Oz has her way, Kansas will be destroyed forever. Now, Amy has to team up with the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to save her home, restore the balance between the magic and nonmagic worlds, maybe get the guy—and kill that not-so-sweet Kansas farm girl once and for all.

In the third installment of the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series, Danielle Paige’s twisted versions of beloved Oz characters are back, including the biggest, baddest, most famous of all: the Wicked Witch of the West.

Welcome to the other side of the rainbow. Here there’s danger around every corner, and magic shoes won’t be able to save you.

I’ve been such a big fan of this series ever since I laid eyes on Dorothy Must Die. Something about the unique spin on Oz and Dorothy being the villain just rang all the right bookish bells for me.

This series is a rollercoaster of ups and downs that include a huge variety of villains, witches and good girls gone bad, but Amy Gumm isn’t one of them. She’s the other girl from Kansas who was sent to kill Dorothy. See, Dorothy found a way back from Kansas to Oz and the power went to her head. Good is bad, bad is good and you never know who you can trust. Now, Amy is back and ready for more action, but the plan to kill Dorothy isn’t running as smooth as it should be. If Dorothy has her way, Kansas will be obliterated forever and Amy can’t let that happen. She needs to end Dorothy, even if that means teaming up with the biggest and baddest, fighting with magic and along the way maybe even find a little happiness.

All they’ve got to do is follow the yellow brick road, right? Wrong – this Yellow Brick Road isn’t like the one you remember. It’s crumbling. Now Amy has to team up with the revolution and stop Dorothy once and for all.

Danielle never fails to disappoint with this series. It’s been a favourite since I can remember and the storyline never fails to be entertaining with action, excitement and a unique spin on Oz. Amy’s character building was perfect in the third instalment and I can’t wait to see her evolve further into the last instalment when it comes out. Danielle paints a picture of Oz so effortlessly and it’s never predictable- she leads us in a lot of different directions as to where the story can go and that way, I’m always turning the pages faster. Overall, Yellow Brick War is another brilliantly written, epic adventure in a distorted version of Oz. I’m always in awe book after book in this series with the edge-of-your-seat storyline and new revelations. If you haven’t picked up the series yet, this is your calling! You don’t want to miss this amazing series. I can just picture it becoming movies – it’s on my list of favourites that would be perfect for the big screen. Can’t you just picture Amy kicking butt on screen with Dorothy as the enemy?