Lorali, Laura Dockrill

Pages: 337

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Release Date: 2^nd July 2015

Edition: UK signed proof, review copy

Other Titles by this Author: Darcy Burdock, Hi So Much, Sorry About Me, Oh Obviously

Colourful, raw, brave, rich and fantastical - this mermaid tale is not for the faint-hearted.

Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn’t exactly how Rory imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.

Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become a human.

But along with Lorali’s arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory’s bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway?

Lorali is easily one of the most beautiful and original books I’ve read this year. I loved it.

With chapters from the perspectives of Rory, Lorali and The Sea and a blend of prose and poetry, Laura Dockrill has really created something unique. There are mermaids, sirens, pirates, particularly evil pirates and complicated families. I loved the world that began off the coast of Hastings. The Mer of the Whirl and their world are described in the most wonderful way; the palace at the bottom of the ocean, the salvaging of worthy humans who meet a watery grave, the Mer’s tapestries, the interference of the sea in the lives of everyone. I fell head over heels in love with The Sea’s chapters – they blew me away.

I also really loved the way that the secret world of Lorali and her family was brought into 2015. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the Whirl suddenly becomes general knowledge to the walkers (humans) and it changes. The power and influence of the media on trends and fads and the effect on teenagers was blunt and open, but it also wasn’t shocking. The negative effects of the media are just taken in our stride now and that’s scary.

Lorali is a beautiful, beautiful novel about love, life and identity. You should all go out and buy a copy as soon as it’s released.

Thanks to Hot Key Books for the review copy.

Sophie