Summer’s coming so …. it’s time for mermaids. While mermaids are definitely not the most popular YA paranormal, there are fans of young adult fiction set under the sea. What do I think about mermaid books? Which ones should you read? Check out my list of Best YA Books About Mermaids! Plus two adult mermaid books, one a dark romance mermaid fantasy.
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Best YA Books About Mermaids
I have nothing against mermaids. I love the ocean. But here’s what I said about YA Mermaid books on my YA site, YA All Day:
My problem with YA mermaid books is that they usually follow a very similar pattern: a girl, who has only one parent and is either a very good swimmer or has been kept out of the water by her family, suddenly discovers that OMG! she is a mermaid.
She is shown the (barnacled) ropes under the sea by someone (often some hot mer-dude) and she has to choose: life on land, or life under the sea. Often, there’s a love triangle: land guy vs. sea guy. What should she do?
Then, of course, there’s the whole “give up your voice for a man” theme. It’s 2023!
Did I find books that break that mold? Why, yes! And a TV show recommended by a family member!
New in 2025!
The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Two mermaid sisters, separated by centuries but rejoined by the sea!
With a magical realism feel and a feminist empowerment theme, this is a mermaid story for the 2020s!
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata–a mermaid–collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.
But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable–she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.
To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail . . .
Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she fails, she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.
Mermaids Never Drown Edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker (Sept 2023!)
Mermaids Never Drown features short stories by Darcie Little Badger, Kalynn Bayron, Preeti Chhibber, Rebecca Coffindaffer, Julie C. Dao, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Adriana Herrera, June Hur, Katherine Locke, Kerri Maniscalco, Julie Murphy, Gretchen Schreiber, and Julian Winters.
A Vietnamese mermaid caught between two worlds. A siren who falls for Poseidon’s son. A boy secretly pining for the merboy who saved him years ago. A storm that brings humans and mermaids together. Generations of family secrets and pain.
Our Vengeful Souls Kristi McManus
When magical mermaid Sereia saves her little sister and overshadows brother and rightful heir, Triton, the position of next ruler of the sea is in question.
Determined to keep his throne, Triton curses Sereia, transforming her into a human and stripping her of magic. Banishing her from their underwater kingdom, he gives her a final warning: if you should ever return, you will become a monster.
Sereia washes up on the shores of Atlantis, discovered by a kind merchant with a tragic past.He helps her build a life on land. Sereia is forced to keep her true identity a secret, even as her feelings for her savior deepen.
Channeling her skill with a blade, she finds a place within the ranks of the Atlantean army, finally giving her the chance to become the respected warrior she always desired. During her training, however, she discovers the legend of a trident of equal power to her father’s exists, and is within her grasp in Atlantis.
With a way back to the sea in her grasp, she wavers between the pull of revenge and the possibility of love on land, all under the hateful eye of a vengeful enemy within her ranks. But when the fate of a friend is in the balance, she must make the hardest decision of all: be burned at the stake as a witch, or turn into a monster should she return to the sea.
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.
Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.
She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body.
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
Book two: Sea Witch Rising
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.
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.
Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs
Book Two: Tempest Unleashed
Tempest Maguire loves her California coastline home. Surfing the killer waves. Taking care of her brothers and dad. Loving her longtime boyfriend, Mark. But the weight of her secret is pulling her under, toward the ocean’s ever-growing call.
Tempest’s secret? She is half mermaid, a legacy left by her absent mother, who returned to the ocean many years ago. And now Tempest has her own choice to make. Complicating matters is Kona, an enigmatic newcomer whose otherworldly abilities hint at a shared passion and common secrets.
But there is more at stake besides Tempest’s heart and her identity – her life may be in danger too. Because the waters hide a mysterious and dark secret world of their own, one full of sweeping romance and thrilling adventure – but one where nobody, least of all Tempest, is safe.
I read Tempest Rising and thought that Tracy Deebs did a fantastic job of describing what life under the water might actually feel like. I wasn’t crazy about the love triangle in this book and the way it was resolved. But if you love mermaids, you should definitely read it!
Wake by Amanda Hocking
Book Two: Lullaby
Book Three: Tidal
Book Four: Elegy
They’re the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone’s attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.
Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back.
Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.
Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.
Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him.
For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse?
With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
Book Two: Of Triton
Book Three: Of Neptune
Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach.
When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection.
But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom…
Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
Book Two: Rogue Wave
Book Three: Dark Tide
Book Four: Sea Spell
Serafina, daughter of Isabella, Queen of Miromara, has been raised with the expectation – and burden – that she will someday become ruler of the oldest civilization of the merfolk.
On the eve of the Dokimí ceremony, which will determine if she is worthy of the crown, Sera is haunted by a strange dream that foretells the return of an ancient evil.
But her nightmare is forgotten the next day as she diligently practices her songspell and anxiously worries about the crown prince of Matali, and whether his feelings toward her and their future betrothal have changed. Most of all, she worries about not living up to her mother’s hopes.
The Dokimí proceeds, a dazzling display of majesty and might, until a shocking turn of events interrupts it: an assassin’s arrow wounds Isabella.
The realm falls into chaos, and Serafina’s darkest premonitions are confirmed. Now she and Neela must embark on a quest to find the assassin’s master and prevent a war between the mer nations. Their search will lead them to other mermaid heriones scattered across the six seas. Together they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world’s very existence.
Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman
Hailey and Claire are spending their last summer together when they discover something at the bottom of the murky pool at the Capri Beach Club.
There in the depths is a mysterious and beautiful creature with a sharp tongue and a broken heart: a mermaid named Aquamarine who has left her six sisters to search for love on land. Now, as this mythological yet very real being starts to fade in the burning August sun, a rescue is begun.
This was made into a 2006 movie starring Emma Roberts and Jojo!
Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
Book Two: Deep Betrayal
Book Three: Promise Bound
Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother’s death.
It’s going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder’s job is to gain Hancock’s trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock’s daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love – just as Lily starts to suspect there’s more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.
Check out my review of Deep Betrayal, book two in the series, on YA All Day!
Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant — until Celia meets Lo.
Lo doesn’t know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea — a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid — all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she’s becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she’s tempted to embrace her dark immortality.
When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude’s affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there’s only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul.
Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova
Book Two: Savage Blue
Book Three: A Vast and Brutal Sea
For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.
He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.
His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.
Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.
Adult Books Featuring Mermaids
Ship of Bones and Teeth by Karina Halle
When Princess Maren was just 16-years old, she sold her soul to the sea witch Edonia, giving up a life underwater in exchange for the love of Prince Aerik on land.
But after a decade of abuse and misery inflicted by the cruel prince, Maren wants nothing more than to leave him and her royal role behind and find Edonia to reverse the spell.
An opportunity for escape presents itself when the prince and princess are traveling and taken hostage by a band of notorious pirates, led by the fearsome Captain Ramsay “Bones” Battista. Maren has heard the sordid stories about the infamous pirate–not only is his ship supposedly haunted and crewed by the damned, but that no prisoners ever survive.
Fortunately for Maren, she learns that the captain also has a score to settle with the sea witch. With any luck, Maren may be able to get her old life back, even if it’s being held in the captain’s wicked hands.
But Ramsay gets more than he bargained for when he learns who–and what–Maren is, and that her appetite for revenge, freedom, and bloodlust rivals his.
Meanwhile Maren finds herself falling for the pirate’s dark nature, even as she discovers that Ramsay has a secret more deadly than her own.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by almost everyone.
As the historian, Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.
There are a few mermaid movies. The Little Mermaid, obviously. Splash, with Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks.
H20 Just Add Water is on Netflix. It’s an Australian mermaid series.
Do you have favorite teen (or adult) mermaid books that are not on my list? Tell me in comments!
Rolling in the deep by Mira grant!
Thanks – will check it out!