Out of the Blue by Jason June

Out of the Blue by Jason June is the story of a merperson named Crest and a human boy named Sean and their respective Journeys.

When a merperson turns 16, they go on a Journey to land, where they must help a human with a problem in order to return to the Blue. Their scaled tails turn into legs, and they choose a human name to try to blend in. Crest’s human name is Ross, and they are not excited about that or any other part of the Journey. They want to help a human and then hurry back home, and they don’t anticipate choosing to stay on land forever.

Enter Sean, a high school junior, a swimmer, and a lifeguard, who just got dumped by his boyfriend Dominic. He is heartbroken and lost, and Crest/Ross immediately determines that they will help Sean win Dominic back—which should complete the Journey and allow Crest/Ross to return home.

Crest/Ross and Sean eagerly plan a series of dates that Dominic will witness, to make him jealous and want Sean back. But as they enact their plan and spend time together, they find themselves falling for each other instead. And Crest must consider whether they want to return to the Blue or stay on land after all.

Out of the Blue is a fun coming-of-age novel and romantic comedy that follows the two teenagers as they get to know each other and themselves and learn what they really want out of life.

Hey, what! I was also once a junior in high school and a swimmer and a lifeguard! Is this a story about my life?

Well, I wasn’t a gay boy, so maybe not.

Out of the Blue by Jason June is his second young adult novel. June comes from the world of children’s books, and it’s evident in some of the worldbuilding of this novel. Vampires, werewolves, and even Santa Claus are real in this world. And some of the magical fixes were a bit too convenient—like how magic helps Crest understand language and human concepts, and how problems they might have (like money) are solved with magic. But those things just made June’s version of The Little Mermaid unique. And I think it’s cool that there is a whole other world of supernatural creatures out there that June could explore even more.

Something I really love about this novel is the way the characters describe Sean’s body. Both Dominic and Crest/Ross are attracted to Sean’s thickness—his big arms, his big belly, his thick thighs. And Sean is a fast swimmer, despite what some people think at first because of his weight, which is realistic because your weight does not determine whether you’ll be a fast swimmer or not. Like Sean says in the novel, it’s all about body position in swimming.

(I will say however, that there is one swimming inaccuracy in this book: Jason June writes that when Sean is doing breaststroke, he does a flip at the wall during a race. You do not flip during a breaststroke swim. You get disqualified for doing so. So with all the rest of the swimming and competing being accurate, that was a bit strange.)

And I loved the mer society’s view of gender. That being, that they don’t have genders. When Crest first arrives and gets assigned male pronouns and a penis, they are uncomfortable with both. Merpeople don’t have sex organs or genders, and they are generally baffled by the human obsession with both. Crest eventually tells Sean to stop gendering them and that they would prefer being referred to as they/them. Trans merpeople! Hell yes!

I was a little thrown by the sex scene in the novel. It’s surprisingly explicit for a young adult novel. They get as far as putting on a condom! Crest/Ross bottoms! I don’t know if it’s just the nature of the young adult novels I usually read, but I don’t quite remember The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, for example, being so explicit. It is a little odd, but it’s also realistic for teenagers. Teenagers have sex! All kinds of sex! And I think the inclusion of condom use is good. I was just surprised.

Overall, I enjoyed Out of the Blue by Jason June. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot and the development of the characters. I love that Crest/Ross got their Journey mark—an indication that they completed the Journey’s goal of helping a human—not when Sean convinces Dominic to get back together with him, but when Sean realizes that he doesn’t need Dominic and only needs to come to love himself.

“I don’t want Dominic… I don’t want anyone else. I don’t need anyone else. I just need me.”

Out of the Blue by Jason June, page 250

Yessss, a journey to self love. We love to see it.

Sparked Joy: 4/5

Out of the Blue was published in 2022. Here is Jason June’s website. Support your local bookstore if you can, or visit your local library!