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Born of Water is a story from The Elemental Origins Series (which does not need to be read in order). It is a young adult fantasy romance with a thread of mystery, nautical history, and prominently features a strong mother/daughter relationship. My own fascination with shipwrecks, as well as my own personal take on what mermaids would be like if they were real played a huge role in the development of this story. How would they live? How would they procreate? How would they behave in freshwater vs saltwater? What would their powers be? How do they fall in love and what does it mean to them?
The Elemental Origins Series chronicles the individual origin stories of a group of friends who each have their own supernatural experience over the same summer, and transform into an elemental. Sometimes I use common mythology to springboard from - such as mermaids and sirens. But just as often I invent a whole new mythology and create a supernatural being the world has never seen before. I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I love writing them!
Reviewed by Sierra Edelen for Readers' Favorite
Targa is almost like any other teenager about to enter the summer before her senior year in high school except for one thing; she is half siren. Being born of a human father and a siren mother, Targa was destined to become a siren like her mother as the gene is passed through the female line. But Targa turned out to be a dud, and as such, since her father died when she was only eight, her mother, Mira, was forced to stay on land and get a job as a diver, searching the Atlantic and recovering lost items from wrecks. When Mira’s company is offered a job in Poland for the summer to recover items from a ship that sank 150 years ago, Targa gets the opportunity of a lifetime, and one that will change hers forever.
Born of Water by A.L. Knorr is only the first in a number of titles in The Elemental Origins Series. It aims to capture the attention of young adults, as it has themes of fantasy, mythology and teenage love. It is beautifully composed and encourages readers to continue reading more books even after this story is finished. It also does well to keep things in perspective, showing not only the particular struggles that Targa is going through due to her siren heritage, but that she is also a teenage girl with normal teenage confusions and that makes her all the more relatable. This book was a joy to read. It is filled with mystery and intrigue and I look forward to finding other books in the series and reading them as well.
