MerMapps Top Ten Mermaid Novels of 2024

All the Murmuring Bones is a Dark Fantasy about what might happen to you should you make a deal with the creatures of the deep. It may seem like a good idea at first, but as Miren’s family has discovered over the generations: it may come back to bite you. This one is a dark, almost horror-like gothic told from first-person to really immerse you in the gruesome realities of Miren O’Malley’s struggles.

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

10. All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter

For a lighter, far more hilarious pick: every mer should read the graphic novel Thirsty Mermaids! Tooth, Pearl, and Eez the mers climb out of the sea after discovering a devastating truth: they’re out of booze! Now stuck in the human world while they figure out how to turn back into mers (and get rid of their hangovers), we follow their hilarious and well illustrated quest to get back to the sea: with all the booze they can carry in tow!

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

9. Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh (LGBT)

Another graphic novel following Morgan, a girl from a rich, separated family planning on starting boat tours on a small Canadian island, and the keltie… Keltie, who saved her from drowning. For those who need a dose of friendship, family, and love, The Girl From the Sea should be swimming right onto your TBR list!

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

8. The Girl From the Sea by Molly Ostertag (LGBT)

For those who want some more feminist storytelling in their life, you can pick up The Folk Keeper to follow the journal entries of Corinna (no, not our founder): the only Folk Keeper in Rhysbridge, and thus, the only one keeping the Folk (mysterious) at bay. Corinna’s life is interrupted when she is summoned to be the Folk Keeper at the wealthy seaside manor of Marblehaugh Park, where she’ll discover something that will change her life forever.

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

7. The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley

A Song Below Water is an exploration of being a black girl in America, explored through the lense of mermaid mythology. Tavia and Effie are two girls exploring their magical identities, while a Siren murder trial rocks the nation. But when Tavia lets her magical voice out at just the wrong moment, the two best friends will have more to worry about then their next English test.

Available on Amazon.

6. A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

If you need some more romance, look no further than The Oyster Thief. Sonia Faruqi paints a both fantastical and immersive picture of a world so like our own, with companies plundering the seas for wealth; while at the same time, magic hovers just under the waves. A star-crossed romance blossoms between Coralline, a mermaid looking for an elixir to cure her brother from a sickness caused by an oil spill, and Izar, the heir of Ocean Dominion, who is searching to cure his father. With pirates, rivals, and secrets threatening to tear them apart; it will be a wonder if they manage to stay together.

Available on Amazon.

5. The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi

In this mermaid novel: Flora, or as she’s known to the world, the dread (and male) pirate Florian of the ship Dove, lives by just three rules; don’t attract attention, don’t trust anyone, and don’t feel. It’s really too bad she breaks all her own rules when she meets Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, a wealthy captive on the Dove, and helps her and their new pal, a mermaid desired for her blood, escape. With the Pirate Supreme and many more unsavory characters on their tails, it’s up to Flora to maintain her cover as Florian, even as affection for Evelyn threatens to tear her cover apart.

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

4. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (LGBT)

During the time of the Trans-Antlantic Slave Trade, many African women were thrown overboard if they were found to be pregnant by their new owners. Instead of drowning, however, these women would change: them and their children surviving to form an underwater society of merpeople. Of their descendants, Yetu is tasked with being the one who remembers the trauma of her entire people, their memories stored in just one person. In an effort to escape her role of Historian, Yetu swims up to the surface; and discovers a world her people haven’t been part of for a very long time.

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

3. The Deep by Rivers Solomon (LGBT)

When Prince Tal sets out to sea with a palace-approved crew, he certainly isn’t expecting to get tangled up with the mysterious Athlen; a boy they came across in the middle of the sea, in the debris of a sinking ship. When Athlen dives off Tal’s boat, he assumes he’s dead - only for Athlen to appear on land, days later, and completely unharmed! Follow a swashbuckling tale of pirates, princes, and mermen, and of romance.

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

2. In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens (LGBT)

And to round out our list with one of our absolute favorites, Simidele is thrown overboard by a contemptuous slave owner, only to be saved by the goddess Yemoja and turned into a Mami Wata; or a mermaid. Simi’s sole task is to help others like her pass peacefully by sending their souls home: but Simi doesn’t want to forget where she came from, and has never been good at following the rules. The first still-breathing soul she comes across, she saves; and for saving Kola, Simi faces punishment, or perhaps, the extinction of her species.

Available on Amazon and Goodreads.

1. Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

Let us know which of these you decide to pick up, and what you think of our list. And as always, happy swimming!