Ingo - Helen Dunmore

Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks; Reprint edition (2 May 2006)

Sapphire's father mysteriously vanishes into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her family has always lived. She misses him terribly, and she longs to hear his spellbinding tales about the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. Perhaps that is why she imagines herself being pulled like a magnet toward the sea. But when her brother, Conor, starts disappearing for hours on end, Sapphy starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean.

First of all just look at this cover! Is this not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen!?
Ingo was a brilliant novel, being the first mermaid fictional novel I have actually ever read! (I know I know.) It was a really refreshing read after much darker novels that seem to sworn the YA department these days. The characters that Helen Dunmore has created are totally believable, and are bursting with personality.

Written in first person was also a nice touch, as we really got to delve deeper into Sapphires emotions throughout the novel.

Ingo is described in such a way which makes it seem enchanting while still having it's darkness within it, which I thought really gave Ingo a sense of danger for these children, which lead to me becoming anxious and excited! Helen has executed this novel with perfectly with just the right amount of suspense and mystery to keep you wanting more.
I must read the next one in the series The Tide Knot!

5/5