Whispers of the Deep

I INHALED this book, such a good story! I especially loved that they weren't able to understand each other at first and had to slowly learn about the other. Loooove this concept! Big recommendation.

Summary: The story is set on Earth in the future after humans were forced to abandon the surface due to catastrophic climate change. Around a 160 years ago, therefore, humans began constructing underwater cities. As humankind thrives and expands its population, it destroys underwater life in the process. This angers the merfolk. Neither species knows much about the other, and living in harmony is impossible. An ongoing war now rages between the two species as they battle for supremacy and try to outdo each other. Mira is an unimportant human engineer living in one of these cities. While trying to repair an abandoned underwater section, she comes face-to-face with an undine for the first time in her life. Undines are said to be brutish and unintelligent creatures, but Mira quickly realizes that this one is very smart and impressive. Following an incident in which they end up saving each other’s lives, Mira shows no fear of Arges, a respected merman warrior. This is very unusual for a human. The eldest of his kind assigns Arges to befriend Mira and learn as much as possible about humankind from her. Eventually, he captures her, and the more they get to know each other, the better they understand each other. They both question whether the bond they are slowly forming has a future. Opinion: I’d like to begin with the author’s foreword: “Please suspend your disbelief for this monster f*cker book. It’s about f***ing mermen. Let’s not get into a scientific conversation about whether the bends would happen or if she could die doing half the stuff she does. K? K . *smooches*” This made me giggle, and it’s also very true. There are certainly scenarios where the logical mind says, “That is impossible,” or “This doesn’t make much sense,” but if you can put logic aside and just enjoy this love story, you won’t be disappointed. The world-building wasn’t extensive, but it was well-done. I could picture many of scenes perfectly. My favorite was the scene in the underwater grotto with all the bioluminescent flowers and creatures surrounding Mira. The plot centers on the romance between our main characters and how they eventually learn to communicate with each other. This communication is also centered around a cute, kind of adorable side character named Byte. Byte brings smiles and lightheartedness to the story. The main tropes are “enemies to lovers” and “captor / captive”, and it’s a slow-burn romance with a dash of interesting spice. Essentially, it’s about two species from totally different worlds making a relationship work against all odds. The first 90% of the book was fantastic, but the pacing picks up speed towards the end. So much so that it felt rushed. The author could have easily filled another 100 pages, but chose to cram everything into much less. She rushed to set up the premise for the sequel. I listened to the audiobook, and I think it’s stunning. Using two narrators with very different accents made the listening experience even more authentic, and they did a fantastic job. Will M. Watts’s voice acting as Arges was top notch. I will definitely continue this series, and I’ll make sure to get a version with sprayed edges for my trophy shelf when the book is released in German at the end of January 2026. Story: 4.5 ⭐️ Spice: 3