I love Jennifer Donnelly and mermaids, but this wasn't really my jam. It could be that I think it's aimed at an early YA audience. Some of it is as the first part of a series this features a lot of setting up what is to come. Part of it is probably that I could only secure it from the library as an audiobook and I didn't necessarily enjoy the audiobook reading. 
 Still, I love Jennifer Donnelly, and who knows where this series will lead.