Atana and the Jade Mermaid - Vivian Zhou - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Vivian Zhou

SERIES: Atana Duology, #2

GENRE: Middle-Grade Graphic Novel, Fantasy.

PUBLICATION DATE: May 13, 2025

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade/teen graphic novel about a mermaid and a firebird trying to fix a magical problem from the past. Excellent plot, magic, worldbuilding, and characters. A wonderful conclusion to the Atana duology. Not to be read as a standalone.

Plot Preview:

I won't give any plot details as this is a direct sequel to the first book and I don’t want to go into spoilers. So all you can know for now is that Atana and Ren, along with their companions, try to sort out all issues raised in the first book. Their journey isn't easy, but their friendship and their determination are as strong as ever.

This second book of the Atana duology continues immediately from the ending of the first Atana book: “Atana and the Firebird”. As such, it is not to be read as a standalone.

Book One had impressed me with its magical beings and the plot, but the number of dangling threads and the intricacy of the multiple backstories had left me reluctant to hit the 5-star mark. It was clear that the sequel would need to fill in all the gaps in the plot without making it seem cluttered or convenient. Thankfully, this book does a great job of bringing all the subplots to a neat finish.

Though we know the end goal of this story – to sort out all the unresolved arcs from Book One, especially the part connected to Atana’s backstory – there are still a few surprises awaiting us herein, along with many humorous moments. There are also quite a few memorable quotes connected to self-acceptance and self-confidence. On the whole, this book doesn’t feel as complicated as Book One because it doesn’t introduce many new tangles; it mainly attempts to sort out the knots from the earlier muddle.

Atana, Ren, Cosmos, Celosia, and Suah all return in this story in key roles. There are some new characters as well, connected to Atana and Ren. We don’t get to know these new entrants intimately as the primary focus of the story is on the pending arcs of Book One. However, we learn just enough about them to get a hang of their behaviour. Kudos to the author for providing depth to a character even within a limited page space.

The cast is quite female-dominant, with every single on-page character being female. One of the characters uses the they/them pronouns, and there are a couple of Sapphic relationships hinted at. However, just as in the first book, these are barely elaborated upon.

I wish the title hadn’t mentioned “Jade Mermaid.” In the first book, Atana meets the firebird in the first chapter itself, so there’s no spoiler. However, we don’t get to know even about the existence of the jade mermaid until much, much later in the story, so the surprise is kinda spoilt by the title.

The worldbuilding is much clearer this time as we get to see the entire magic system instead of just bits and pieces of it in passing. Each of the three worlds has a distinct look in terms of both features and characters.

The illustrations are just as beautiful as in the first book. They feel like an ode to Studio Ghibli (without any stupid AI intervention, of course.) I just wish I could figure out why the Witch Queen’s eyes are always hidden.

All in all, this is a worthy conclusion to the duology, and as it satisfied all the doubts and questions I had after reading the first book, I enjoyed it even better.

Definitely recommended, but only to those who have read the first book. Both the stories are lovely, so this set will be a nice addition to your graphic-novel/fantasy-loving teen’s TBR.

My thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and HarperAlley for providing the DRC of “Atana and the Jade Mermaid” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.