Whatever After Sink Or Swim — What It Actually Is and Whether Your Kid Will Like It
The eighth book in Sarah M. Bomer's Whatever After series is called Sink or Swim. It follows twelve-year-old Abby and her six-year-old brother Felix as they get pulled into the world of The Little Mermaid again, except this time things go sideways faster than you'd expect. Felix lands inside the story as a sea horse, which is apparently a thing that happens to him every time they visit a fairy tale. Abby has to figure out how to rescue him before the plot of the original Andersen tale eats them both alive. I've read through the entire Whatever After series with my kid, and Sink or Swim sits right in the middle tier — not the strongest entry, but not a total miss either. The pacing is a little uneven here. The first half drags while Abby wanders around the underwater kingdom trying to locate Felix. By the time the third act picks up, the story actually gets interesting.
What Happens in Whatever After Sink Or Swim
Abby and Felix use the magic cherry pit from their grandmother's garden to jump into fairy tales, same as always. This time they land in The Little Mermaid's ocean world. Felix gets transformed into a sea horse almost immediately. Abby meets the merfolk and discovers that the Prince from the original story is already engaged to another princess — the Sea Witch's daughter, which is a detail the book plays with more than the original tale does. Abby bonds with a young mermaid named Selina who becomes an unlikely ally. Together they navigate court politics, avoid the Sea Witch's schemes, and try to free Felix from his horse form. The climax involves a race against time because the Sea Witch is planning something that would trap both kids permanently underwater. Abby uses her knowledge of the original story structure to manipulate events and eventually rescue Felix before the cherry pit runs out of magic. The ending is satisfying enough. Felix returns to normal, they escape back to their grandmother's house, and there's a tiny hook at the end teasing the next adventure.
Who This Book Is Actually For
This series targets readers roughly between eight and twelve years old. The writing level is accessible — short chapters, fast dialogue, minimal description. If your kid struggles with longer chapter books, this format works because each chapter is usually three to five pages max. That said, Sink or Swim is one of the slightly more complex entries in the series. The underwater politics subplot adds a layer that younger readers might gloss over. The humor lands pretty consistently throughout, which is why the series stays popular. Abby has a sarcastic voice that feels deliberate rather than accidental, and Felix's panic responses as a sea horse are genuinely funny in a way that doesn't feel forced. These are the elements that make kids want to keep reading past bedtime.
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The Actual Downsides You Should Know About
I need to be straight about a couple of things here. First, the book relies heavily on the reader already knowing The Little Mermaid story pretty well. If your kid has never encountered the Andersen tale or any Disney adaptation, they might miss why certain plot moves matter. The book doesn't do a great job of explaining context on its own. Second, the Sea Witch as antagonist feels underdeveloped compared to earlier entries in the series. In books like Apple Turned or Frog and Toad, the fairy tale villains had more presence. Here she's basically just a plot device that happens to be evil because the story needs her to be. That's a weakness I noticed going in, and it doesn't really improve. There's also a continuity quirk I want to flag. In previous books, Felix sometimes retains memories from the fairy tale world when he returns, and sometimes he doesn't. The rule isn't consistent, and Sink or Swim doesn't clarify it either. If you're tracking canon across the whole series, this one will bug you.
How It Compares to the Rest of the Series
Ranked against the other books, Sink or Swim lands somewhere around fifth or sixth out of eight. It's above the weakest entries but below the stronger ones like Apple Turned and Frog and Toad. The underwater setting gives it visual flair that some of the more generic fairy tale entries lack. The pacing issue in the middle section is the main thing holding it back. If your kid is specifically a fan of mermaid stories or underwater adventures, this one hits different for them even if it's not the best book in the series. I'd recommend reading the earlier books first if you haven't, because the character dynamics between Abby and Felix improve noticeably as the series progresses, and Sink or Swim shows some of that growth already happening.
Where to Get It
The book is widely available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. Amazon carries it in all formats. Libraries usually have it in stock for checkout. The audiobook version is narrated by the same voice actors across the series, which keeps consistency if your kid listens to those. The ebook version is fine if your child reads on a Kindle or tablet — no special formatting issues I noticed. If you're looking to buy directly from the publisher or support independent bookstores, many regional stores can special order it. It's been in print since 2015 so supply issues are rare. Pricing runs about eight to eleven dollars for paperback depending on the retailer.
A Practical Reading Strategy That Actually Works
My kid and I have found that reading this book in order with the rest of the series matters more than people admit. The character relationships build across entries, and Sink or Swim references earlier events without explicit explanation. If you drop a kid into this one cold, they'll still follow the plot, but they'll miss some of the quieter moments that make the series worth revisiting. Start with Book 1, Apple Turned, and work through sequentially. If your kid skips ahead to Sink or Swim out of curiosity, just be prepared to fill in backstory about the cherry pit mechanism and how Felix and Abby's dynamic developed. The book itself doesn't do heavy exposition dumps, so don't expect a recap chapter. For the best experience, read it aloud together if the child is on the younger side of the target range. The dialogue carries a lot of the weight in this book, and hearing the banter between Abby and Selina lands differently when someone reads it out loud. I noticed my kid catching humor references I'd completely missed on first read-through.
The Bottom Line
Sink or Swim is a solid middle-of-the-road entry in the Whatever After series. It has a fun premise, decent humor, and an underwater setting that breaks up the visual monotony of some of the other fairy tale worlds. The pacing drag in the middle is real, and the Sea Witch storyline could have been tighter. But it's not a book I'd tell someone to avoid. If your kid is in the target age range and enjoys fairy tale retellings with a comedic edge, this one earns its place.
