When I flipped through the book, I must confess, I wasn't "wowed" like I was with her other two, especially for me, Enchanted Forest. The gasping, "Oh my gosh" wow factor just wasn't there for me looking at the illustrations. Too many mandala-esque and patterned "wallpaper" type pages, which literally makes up a majority of the book. Some of the pages even gave me that Millie Marotta feel, like I was looking in Animal Kingdom, the way the pictures were drawn. It didn't feel like Basford's style. I'm missing out on her notorious two page scenery spreads too. There are a few, but not like her other two books. She could've taken advantage of coral reefs, or gave us a sneak peak inside the shipwreck, underwater caves, grottos with mermaids or showcased more marine animals on their own like she did with her forest animals. The details are also extremely miniscule, a ploy (a great one at that however lol) I feel since her partnership with Staedtler to get people to buy their fineliners because let's be honest, who wants to continuously sharpen their precious pencils over and over to get in those tiny little crevices. Some images seriously warrant a magnifying glass. She does note that this is her most complex book yet...maybe too complex?
To me, the book just feels....cheap. I feel as though it was all about profit and quantity this time around and no longer about the quality, which is what we got with Laurence King. Yeah most people had top wait ages to get a book because printing was an issue since they were a smaller publisher. But that was the beauity of it all. It felt, quaint and personal to get a book by her. I'm praying that her 4th book, whatever the theme may be, doesn't disappoint like this book did, however, after having it for a couple weeks, it has started to grow on me. Many people do like this book, while many don't. It's up to you to decide!
If you want to purchase the UK version, which I fully recommend you do, order off of Book Depository, here.