Search - Swimming Without a Net (Fred the Mermaid, Bk 2)

After having read both Fred the Mermaid books, I've come to the conclusion that I won't be reading any more of Ms. Davidson's books. This series is poorly written - in her acknowledgements the author herself writes, "As I explained to my editor, 'I got nothin'.' I got to the end, it was done, the story was told, and I was on page 200." The main character, Fred, is impossible to relate to (regardless of her being a mermaid) and equally impossible to like. The entire cast of characters is like a parade of stereotypes: the workaholic sexually repressed boss, the metrosexual best friend who everyone believes to be gay, the geeky co-worker who also happens to be a millionaire from writing romance novels, the testosterone-laden suitor who wants to make Fred his princess, and the hippy-dippy mom who's stuck in the '70s. The dialogue is forced and the story line weak. This was my opinion after reading Book 1, and now after giving the series and author a 2nd chance with Book 2 - my opinion has only been reinforced. Don't waste your money or your PBS book credits.

I think that MJD is spreading herself too thin. This was a very, very, very light read, and I'm not even sure I much *like* Fred. I will not be in such a rush to get the next book... because of COURSE there's going to be another book. I enjoyed her Alaska series more than this one, and I adore the Queen Betsey Books.

This book was very good! Didn't end at all as I expected it to but at least I didn't throw it against the wall as I have some!

When I first read "Sleeping with the Fishes," the first book in the "Fred the mermaid" Trilogy I thought it was very cute and was in love with the characters Davidson had created.

"Swimming without a net" however, lacked a lot of the previous charm of its older sister. I was excited to learn from the back cover that Fred was going to meet more of her fellow Undersea Folk, but I was kind of disappointed. "Swimming's" biggest downfall was its lack of a solid plot. Essentially, Fred meets a lot of other merpeople, debates her relationships with Artur and Thomas endlessly, and... that's about it.

The major theme of the book was that all the merfolk came together to vote on if they were going to reveal themselves to the "bipeds" or humans.

Without going into too much detail, the ending was predictable and just as corny as the reader was led to expect.

Plus, I didn't get the title. Not once was there a "net" mentioned. Literal or figurative. The characters were still cute, and it was a superfast read to be sure, but I dunno it just didn't make the leap into the four-star range for me.

Haven't read the first book but this second was, interesting...missed a lot of the goings on in the first book but the author tired to give u the gist.

This one was even better than the first. I loved the whole craziness of it. It was extra silly. I just love the absurdness of the story line on this one. Having the mermaid king quoting a rather over the top HBO series always got a giggle out of me. The end will leave you going OMG I NEED THE THIRD BOOK NOW!