The Feed by C.M. Stunich

Goodreads Summary:
"The fate of an entire people rests on my shoulders. I am heir to a dying throne, daughter of a dead city. I have made hard choices to get this far … ”

Mermaids have never been scarier …

The Feed is upon me and my destiny is laid out before me like a map. There are no detours, no hidden whirlpools that descend into the unknown. Everything I do must be carefully planned or else my choices could come crashing down around me. To change the hearts of my people, I must find the courage to surpass their expectations, to defy tradition and forge my own destiny.

This is it, my last chance at redemption

The Huntswomen, sirens of the sea, have one real purpose in life: on their sixteenth birthdays, they must travel ashore and find a human male, mate with him, and consume his flesh. Only then can they return to the sea and become the last bastion against the violet ocean, warriors for their weaker brethren, the fishtailed merighean.


Natalie is the heir to the throne of the last merighean city still standing, but there's something about the Feed that doesn't sit right with her. When she meets Seth, the man with the strange tattoos, she knows that she must forge her own destiny, even if it means breaking the rules and risking her mother's wrath. Because sometimes, to choose your own path, you must make hard choices.

My Review:
I love mermaid books! This one sounded different from everything I have read in the past and wow, was I right. Everything you think you know and chuck it because this one is different. Natalie is not your typical mermaid. She is more of a siren. She has two legs and no fin. Although she is beautiful, she is also extremely dangerous. She is a Huntswomen and the Princess of her people. Her purpose is to keep balance between the sea and land. To do this she must kill. On her 16th birthday she travels to land and finds a man to mate with. Great right? Well she then has to eat them to bring his essence back to the sea to maintain balance...O_o This is known as The Feed. Natalie has always known she must do this but, she doesn't want to kill an innocent man. She knows if she doesn't then she will be killed but, she wants to change the way things are done. Will she be able to change the way of life or is she destined to continue down the same road as the many Huntswomen before her? 

Natalie struggles with what she should do a lot. She is the Princess and therefore has an obligation to continue the traditions. Her mother, the Queen, is also pretty hardcore. She is cold towards Natalie and has tortured her before. Luckily for Natalie she does have some pretty great support from others. Her sister for one was great. There is definitely more going on with her. With the way she talks and "predicts" things. I am curious to see where her character goes. Yuri is also great. He is Natalie's friend and Mer lover. The Huntswomen are expected to marry a Mer when they return from The Feed and Yuri is perfect. He loves Natalie for her and agrees with how she thinks. Will Natalie return from The Feed a different person?

When Natalie goes sets out for The Feed she decides she isn't going to kill anyone. Which is much harder then she knows. Then she finds Seth. Seth is a good looking human who lives by a lake, which is great for Natalie. Since living on land is difficult when you are built for the sea. They are suppose to spend their time having sex to conceive a child during The Feed. For Natalie she refuses to do this. Despite the pull to do so. It was so great to see how Seth resisted too, considering the Siren's pull. To see how Natalie discovered humans and life on land was wonderful. Everything was new to her, almost like a child discovering a book. Just great. As the deadline gets closer for her to return to the sea, a decision must be made. What will Natalie do? She can't return without a child in her. 

This was a great book. So different from others I have read. I loved it! There were a lot of tense moments like when Natalie returns to the sea. Especially when The Hunt is started! I loved it! So many twists and turns. Then ending left me hanging so I am dying for book 2!! 

And a fun GIF :)