Emily Windsnap and the Falls of Forgotten Island

Mermaids have always been one of my favorite mythical beings, and with summer upon us, I felt the need to dive into a story involving these half-fish people and/or the ocean. After seeing this series constantly pop up in book stores and in my search feeds, I finally decided to give it a look, and after enjoying the previous installments, I couldn't wait to see what was next for our plucky protagonist and her growing group of friends.Emily and her friends and family are exhausted after being thrown into one adventure after another, almost non-stop, for over a year now. The events of "The Ship of Lost Souls" was especially harrowing, and everyone is desperate for a break. Their search for relaxation leads them to Majesty Island and the Forgotten Island Tours---a vacation package that takes people on tours of a recently discovered tropical island with an impenetrable waterfall. Jumping on this prime chance to relax, Emily, her parents, Aaron, Shona, and Millie all plan a week long holiday. Shona is especially determined to relax, to the point of making Emily promise to not go on any adventures and just try to have as normal a good time as possible. But saying is much easier than doing, and soon, Emily finds herself uncovering the long-buried secrets of the island, and getting swept up into an ancient prophecy that predicts the end of the world. Is there truth to this centuries-old story? Or is it all just a strange coincidence? And when Shona and Aaron make it clear that they're tired of Emily's curiosity endangering them again, can Emily fix their friendship before everything they love is destroyed?There's been only one constant negative throughout this series---that being that, for the longest time, it remained very unclear as to the status of how much of humanity knows about mermaids. The people in Brightport clearly know, but there was always little to no mention of how this revelation was impacting the world at all. Considering the age group this is aimed at, I wasn't asking for anything SUPER intricate, but a bit more consistency and impact would've been nice, to the point that I had given up on expecting this story point to go any farther or deeper. Well, it seems the author must've read my mind, because this time around, word FINALLY seems to be spreading about mermaid sightings, since our protagonists are able to book a hotel that can accommodate the mermaids in the group. It wasn't much, but I was a little glad that this grey area was, at last, being addressed in some form or another.And speaking of shedding light on certain plot points, once again, Emily's curiosity gets the best of her, to which Shona, after all this time, finally snaps; getting in a fight with Emily over how our main protagonist has constantly gotten her and her loved ones into trouble and other near-death experiences. It's clear that Shona harbors a sting of jealousy over how Emily always turns out to be the hero, with Shona consistently regulated to being a sidekick. Way back in "Monster of the Deep", the novel had alternating chapters between Emily and her friend, Mandy, and so far, it's the only book in the series to utilize that convention. I think this story could've also benefited from trying that same writing mechanic and had alternating chapters between Emily and Shona, as I really would've appreciated seeing more of her viewpoint. I'm now wondering if Shona has been harboring these resentful feelings toward Emily throughout the previous books, but was just good at hiding it? She rightfully calls out Emily on her recklessness, and eventually Aaron does too, causing Emily to have to work to repair their friendship while also having to convince them that the threat of their impending doom is real.On that note, we're treated to what's arguably the biggest danger that Emily and company have ever encountered---a great calamity that even King Neptune can't stop. The culture that Emily and her friends discover behind the waterfall is interesting and well-developed, with many of them arguing over whether the prophecy is to be believed or not. This leads into discussions of faith vs. science that kids can easily understand. When is something an obvious coincidence, and when should one really pay attention to changes in nature? And without spoiling too much, this same prophecy will wind up connecting to events way back in "Castle in the Mist"; revealing more of Aaron's family history. And what he finds out may change the course of his role in the rest of the series from here on out.This novel was another great installment in the series, teaching that you shouldn't make promises you can't keep, but that you also shouldn't force someone into making a promise that's out of their control of whether they can keep it or not. Time to meet "The Pirate Prince."

My 10 year old granddaughter is in love with this series cannot buy them fast enough!

Really good! Anyway so in this book Millie suggests they go on a healing trip to some wonderful island. Before that Shona makes Emily promise NO ADVENTURE. Then they go on this boat ride to see the Falls of the forgotten island and Em sees eyes behind the fall and to go behind the falls is impossible. Then they go again except Em and Shona (who comes tagging along by the boat) actually go behind the fall and hear voices. Then like on their HUNDRETH visit (exaggeration, I wish not) they get to meet the peeps behind the falls and hear this prophecy with a giant that saves them all. Em tells Aaron and Shona but Shona gets mad and they end up in a fight.Then Em and Aaron meet this guy named Jeras the father of Aurora, Neptune's dead wife. Aaron gets all worked up at that part. They hear the TRUE story and then find out Jeras, wife used to have prophecy powers before dying. And then they find out he could be big and powerful if he shook Neptune's hand. So, a main part of the prophecy was that there would be an earthquake. So during the earthquake Shona leads Neptune to Jeras, which was part of the prophecy.( BTW, Em and Shona also make up at this part and be besties again.) And they realized, A GIANT IS BIG AND POWERFUL!!! JERAS SHAKE HIS HAND NOW BEFORE WE ALL DIE!!!!!! And they shake hands. Then Jeras lies by his wifes grave and peacefully dies.

I bought this for my 10 year old niece and she love all the books/series. But check out context and needs to explain some mature languages and situation that might need guidance and further explanation

Just enough suspense to keep one's attention

I bought the Kindle version of this series 18 months ago to read to my then six-year-old daughter! She will be eight soon and we are just finishing the very last book in the series! We have enjoyed these books so much! We are sad they are coming to an end :-( we are very happy that we found the last book in hardcopy only at the bookstore :-)Highly recommended! Extremely adventurous! Fun until the very last page!

…it's just as "swishy" (Emily's way of saying "great") as the first six stories. You could get by just reading this one but I'd get the series. More for a 12 year old (and more "girly" than a lot of boys would like) this book has a lot of detail and interesting concepts that will appeal to adult readers who wouldn't otherwise touch a girl's book.I've read several Liz Kessler books, wouldn't mind reading more.

I love the book! I've loved all the books in the series! They all have a great plot and capture my attention. I would have given it five stars but I saw a grammar mistake on page 11. On this page, Emily said, "Did something happened to Dad?" This is grammatically incorrect. It should be, "Did something happen to Dad?" You see, the past tense is included in the word, "did" so we don't need a past tense, "happened." It's kind of like a double negative. Otherwise, the book was great!

Great book!

Daughter loved this series of books.

As advertised

This is the seventh book in a series about Emily Windsnap, who looks like a normal girl until she enters the water and becomes a mermaid. Like lots of girls, my daughter loves mermaids and so this was certainly of interest to her and, having read it, we have now purchased the first in the series (as well as some other books by Liz Kessler) as my daughter was so impressed, but felt she needed to start the series from the beginning.Emily goes on a family holiday, along with her best friend Shona and her boyfriend, Aaron, to the tropical paradise of Majesty Island. However, the friends discover a hidden world behind the falls. However, this hidden world is dangerous and Shona doesn’t appreciate the fact that Emily’s curiosity put them there. However, when Emily discovers that those on Forgotten Island and Majesty Island are in danger, she knows that she has to do something about it…This is an exciting story, with an exotic, interesting setting. For those who have followed the series, I am sure this will be even more enjoyable than it was for my daughter, who is looking forward to discovering the history and characters from the beginning. Still, even though she jumped into the series so far ahead, she did enjoy this.

This is the 7th book in the Emily Windsnap series, but the first time we had come across this series! Emily Windsnap, the heroine and main character, is half girl and half mermaid - she transforms when she goes on land and water. In this book she goes on a dangerous mission discovering and exploring the falls of the forgotten island, and their prophecy. A fun and engaging read for children around 8/9+ I think it will generally appeal to girls more