It arrived on a Friday, usually the busiest day of my week, so I had to wait until the Sunday before I started reading, but once I did, I was instantly intrigued about the fate of our young protagonist - Didi.
What started off as a Finnish TV series (starring Finnish people that I have never heard of), based on greek mythology and set in Helsinki, Nymphs has become an international phenomenon and has now been adapted into a book series. The UK picked up the translation rights soon after it's initial release in August 2013 and will be released in January 2016
What is it about?
Didi's boyfriend dies, whilst she is having sex with him. She later on discovers that she has been lied to her entire life and that she isn't as human as she once thought. She's a Nymph, and in order to survive she has to leave her life behind. Didi must now learn what it means to be a Nymph, and do what is asked of her on the next full moon, or she could find herself in grave danger.
"The Night of reckoning is coming and the choice is hers. Reject her fate. Or accept her destiny and embrace her power..."
My Thoughts
I don't want to say that I dislike this book because there is so much about it that I do like, but it definitely isn't what I expected. It is quite obvious that it has been adapted from a TV show, as the chapters are slightly jarring and jump-cutty, but once you get past that, it is actually a very interesting read. I am now intrigued and want to watch the TV show, as I feel that the novel closely follows the plot/ is a scene by scene play of the show, and this would help to create a sense of location as although the reader is told that it is set in Helsinki, (Finland), nothing else has been used to help establish this - no culture, food, items of geographic interest - it could be almost anywhere.
Although the story was very much gripping, I had a personal issue with the language that was used. This may be due to a bad translation, but for me some of the sentences did not flow as well as I would have liked them to, and there possibly could have been better English equivalents to some of the original text.
Think of extreme softcore True Blood - The Nymphs are magical creatures, they are different, and with the difference comes intolerance. The existence of the Nymphs isn't as well known as the vampires in True Blood, but out of those who do, hate groups have formed, and they will stop at nothing to defeat them.
Should you read it?
I can imagine that this would make a great read for fans of the show, but as someone who has not watched it I couldn't help but feel a little lost. If you have watched the TV show then I would definitely recommend it to you, but if you haven't, I strongly advise watching that first to gain some sort of context.
For fans of, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, and House of Night
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