Stefanie's Thoughts: Atlantia by Ally Condie

Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

Hi everyone,

Mermaids. I love them (Little Mermaid movie/musical, Tera Lynn Child's series Forgive My Fins is possible my second favorite series ever). Sirens, even better because not a lot gets written about them (the last book I recall reading about sirens was Ripple by Mandy Hubbard).

I have never read a book by Ally Condie before (dystopian isn't my genre), so when I saw this one I knew I should give it a try. I waited a couple years to read it (not sure why) but look at that cover; that shell is so pretty!

I really got into this book once I got reading. The first couple chapters had me hooked. I felt like I was in Atlantia swimming around. I was picturing being in The Little Mermaid while reading. I don't think I've actually ever enjoyed descriptions this much in a while, to just fully allow yourself to go into the world and feel like you yourself are right there watching Rio.

Then after the fourth chapter I grew bored to tears. I have no idea what happened, but the story was moving along swimmingly (see what I did there) and then it felt like I was getting some fairy-tale ripoff shoved at me. I put the book down and left it for a day just to see if I could get back into it, but I just couldn't do it. It was like two different authors wrote this book, the one with all the beautiful descriptions and the initial world/ plot set up and then the author that finished up the book. I will admit though I don't think I've ever read a more enticing first chapter before.

While I didn't read the whole book I did finish it. Even after skipping whole chapters, I knew this book wasn't for me, mermaids or not. I think it's possible that maybe I didn't like this because it had a slight dystopian feel to me, maybe it's a dystopian story the entire time and I assumed it would be a fantasy since it involved sirens.

What I did like about the book was the big concept of family. I loved how close Rio was with her family. Sure I felt the reason Bay went above and left Rio below was a tad weak (almost to the point I wondered why I hadn't thought of it myself) but the fact Bay did what she did was because of family you can't fault her for that (excuse me for being sentimental there).

All in all this wasn't the book I thought it would be going in and glad I waited a bit and picked it up from the library. I still won't get over that amazing cover. How was it not about sirens! I can't say if I'll pick up another book by Ally Condie in the future. 1 1/2 stars.

Until my next review,
Stefanie