Book Review :: Sea Witch, by Sarah Henning

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
ISBN: 0008300852
on 31 July 2018
Genres: Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Source: HarperCollins NZ
Find at Harper Collins NZ
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Everyone knows what happens in the end. A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss. But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends. One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

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.

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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What is Sea Witch, by Sarah Henning about?

Sea Witch, by Sarah Henning, begins four years ago, Evie and Nik’s best friend, Anna, drowned.

Now, in the present (19th century Denmark), Evie keeps seeing a blonde girl by the ocean who looks remarkably like Anna. This Anna look-alike ends up saving Nik from near drowning, but it’s only when Evie meets her in person that she realises just how much the stranger is like Anna. The girl’s name is Annemette, and eventually, it comes to light that she is a mermaid.  Annemette has three days on land as a human to get her true love (Nik) to fall in love with her and kiss her so she can remain human forever. While Evie is hesitant at first, her friendship with Annemette grows, and Evie wants her to stay and she begins to help Annemette on her quest.

The story follows Evie as she tries to bring Annemette and Nik together before time is out, all the while dealing with her deepening feelings for Prince Nik’s cousin Iker, continuing to hide the fact that she’s actually a witch, and trying to cope with the frequent occurrence of disapproving locals who aren’t too happy with a fisherman’s daughter and prince being so close. There’s a lot going on for Evie.

“Though magic can shape life and death, love is the one thing it cannot control”

As the events play out, we learn the truth about Annemette’s past and the secrets she might be hiding. Is she connected to Anna? Are her feelings for Nik true? When it all comes down to it, who will Evie be loyal to in the end?

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My thoughts on Sea Witch

When I saw that Sea Witch was an origin story of sorts for the character resembling Ursula in The Little Mermaid, I was definitely intrigued. I love me some fairy tale retellings, especially if they lean more towards the original tales from writers such as Hans Christian Anderson (as this one does) or the Brothers Grim.

While there was a lot happening in Sea Witch, not a lot happened. A contradiction? Perhaps. Let me explain.

What I was expecting in this book was a little more Ursula-character a little less Little Mermaid. The story was pretty slow going, and it wasn’t until the last third that things really started to kick into gear for me. The first two-thirds are very much a gentle amble along the setting-the-scene path, towards what can only be described as a full on throw-you-in-the-deep-end series of events over the course of the final chapters. It was a long stroll of ‘let’s try and get Nik to fall in love with Annemette, and steal a kiss or two (or three or four) from Iker while we do it’ to get to the ‘this is how the sea witch came to be’.

Having said that, this book did surprise me. Interspersed with Evie’s first-person storytelling of the present events, every few chapters we jump back to a third-person perspective from the past, starting at 4 years ago when Anna drowned, and eventually leading up to the present day as the stories collide. While the change in tense was a little jarring at first, I did really enjoy the fact we were getting some of the untold story and light is shed on some of the questions Evie herself asks.

Character-wise, Annemette irked me a little, and Evie was far too trusting of someone she’d literally just met, despite the fact she looked like her deceased friend. Iker was … suave, I guess, but a little pushy, and more than a bit of a player. Nik was the best. 100%. I really liked how he was one of the leading males in the story, but also one of the most romantic characters. He’s sweet and kind, and you were definitely cheering for him to win the book (whatever that means; you get it).

Overall, I’ve given Sea Witch 3.5 stars. I’m not giving it any higher due to the lack of ‘sea witch’ scenes (I definitely wanted more of that!), but I did enjoy the story and love how history, culture and myth wove so effortlessly together.

Pick up Sea Witch if you like fairy tale retellings, Young Adult, or fantasy.

Have you read Sea Witch? What did you think! Let me know in the comments! 

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I received this book for free from HarperCollins NZ in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.