Okay, I’ll be the first to admit: I had zero expectations going into YA Fantasy debut Voice of the Ocean. Kelsey Impicciche? The YouTube creator best known for Sims 4 content? The woman who wouldn’t stop bringing up that she was a “PROFESSIONAL AUTHOR” almost every chance she got on her channel when all I wanted was to watch someone age up their sim toddlers without catching on fire? Yeah, that one. I was skeptical. Honestly, borderline annoyed. I was adamant that I wasn’t going to like a book simply because I liked her YouTube Sims 4 content. Let’s be honest, when I see someone start their reviews with ‘I am a devoted follower of Kelsey.’ 5 STARS! I was determined to go into this book and really give a HONEST BOOK REVIEW of the YA Fantasy Romance.

But—plot twist—I was pleasantly surprised after reading Voice of the Ocean.

Voice of the Ocean is a young adult romance books debut and a Little Mermaid retelling for YA readers, and while it leans a little too hard on the original Disney fairy tale in the beginning, it eventually starts to swim in its own direction.

The worldbuilding is light but charming, and the magic system surrounding the sirens had just enough intrigue to keep me invested. That said, the book does read a bit young, even for YA romance

. The writing style leans toward simplicity, but it isn’t unbearable, and for the most part, I found myself enjoying the ride or….swim. So, very low on the spice level  incase you readers are wondering.

Our main character Celeste is a siren or mermaid princess sent to kill Prince Raiden to correct her mistake—or be banished from her family forever. Celeste has always struggled to find her place among the fierce warrior sirens and was constantly seen as too sensitive for the chorus sirens. When she’s sent out with her fellow sirens to take down a human ship, something inside her can’t go through with the slaughter. Instead, she saves the humans—an unforgivable betrayal in siren culture.

To atone for this grave offense, she’s given a final chance: kill the very human she saved.

Here’s where the story gets a bit murky. Celeste decides the best way to get close to the prince is to make a deal with the Sea Witch. While you can piece together her reasoning, the narrative during this section slips into telling instead of showing. It wasn’t entirely clear why this was her only or best option, and I found myself wanting a little more emotional depth or urgency to justify such a drastic move.

Cue the classic inner turmoil. But wow, the repeated internal monologue about whether she should or shouldn’t kill him got so old. Like, girl—if you’re that unsure, why are you even on this assignment? I get that moral dilemmas are a core part of these stories, but the back-and-forth felt like it was on a constant loop.

Still, what truly won me over was the ending. It veered into a direction I didn’t expect—one that actually raised the stakes and left me wanting the next book immediately. For a debut YA fantasy romance novel by a creator best known on YouTube, I was impressed.

Voice of the Ocean is a mermaid fantasy book might not reinvent the genre, but it offers enough heart and surprises to make it a worthwhile read for fans of YA fantasy romance books, especially those who enjoy retellings with magical romance and an oceanic twist. This is not available on Kindle Unlimited to try before you buy, but I can say this is that is worth checking out.

So yes, Kelsey, you win. Your Sims content is great. But this book? It might just be better.