Kira’s Crossing

Kira’s Crossing follows Kira’s Secret and Kira’s Quest and features the adventures of Kira, a merrow, navigating her life between two worlds, living as a human in an adoptive family on land while also being the rightful heir to the throne of her line of merrows. In the world of Kira, young merrows take on full human form while on land and transform into scale-covered sea creatures more closely resembling our traditional idea of a mermaid (though there is no human top-half here – merrows are scaled head to flipper), but, as they reach adulthood, they lose the ability to shift between forms and remain in the form they are in once they reach this milestone. So, on top of standard decisions, like where to go to university, Kira must start considering if she wants to spend the rest of her life on land or in the sea.

All of this is the backdrop for Kira’s more pressing problem – having rescued a large number of merrows held hostage by the evil finfolk (another shape-shifting species and enemy of the merrows) five years ago, Kira’s clan decides it is time to forcefully take back Merhaven (the traditional undersea home of the West Atlantic merrows) currently occupied by the finfolk. This plan is helped by Janus, a mysterious merrow from Northern European seas, and the Spegar, a group of nomadic merrows with unique hunting tools that are just what the merrows will need to defeat the finfolk. As the plan progresses, however, it seems that not all of the newcomers’ motivations are altruistic, and Kira begins to mistrust the outsiders, especially the Spegar. After the attack on the finfolk at Merhaven, Kira ends up on an entirely different, and unexpected, adventure as she is kidnapped by an unknown group of assailants with mysterious motivations.

i>Kira’s Crossing suffers from being a short novel set in a world full of rich lore – readers who have not read the two previous titles (I fall into this camp) may find themselves confused and eager for more information both of the mythology of this world as well as the particulars of the relationships between the merrows and humans we meet. The feeling of being dropped in media res into this world could leave readers feeling as if they are missing important information, some of which is eventually revealed but much of which is left unsaid. Some moments that are intended to elicit emotional responses, therefore, fall flatter than intended as readers do not have the background to understand the gravity of the moments.

There is a lot of plot packed into this book, but the pacing lacks a sense of urgency. As readers go from Kira’s home to her various stops as a kidnap victim to her eventual escape attempts, the stakes never truly feel high – it is by no means a slog, but certainly not an anticipation-packed page-turner. The denouement is light on explanation – while we meet several bad actors along the way, they disappear too quickly for us to learn the extent of their motivations and intentions. This is potentially another result of so much story in such a short book, but it has the effect of making for a frustrating ending; not knowing why the villains do what they do is a disappointing way to end a story that could have been full of intrigue.

Overall, Kira’s Crossing is a fine title and should appeal to readers who enjoy works that straddle the line between fantasy and magical realism. That being said, I suspect this title would be most fully enjoyed by those who have been following Kira since her first appearance since a fuller understanding of this world and the history of merrows and finfolk would likely lead to a more engaging reading experience. As a stand-alone novel, Kira’s Crossing is not the most approachable introduction to Dawydiak’s fantasy world but would still be a welcome addition to a YA collection, especially for those readers who like fantasy but are wary of the longer length that often comes with a fantasy series.