Out of the Blue by Jason June

Out of the Blue by Jason June is the queer rom-com I didn’t know I needed. It follows the stories of  Sean, a recently dumped lifeguard who loves making movies, and Crest, a young merperson who is about to go on THE JOURNEY to explore what lies beyond the water.

The Journey is something all merfolk must undertake in their life to access their magic. Crest is not happy about having to give up his watery home to go live on land for a whole moon cycle. Living on land is just the beginning, the merfolk must also help a human with their problems by the time of the next Blue Moon. When Crest washes up on the beach near where Sean is stationed, he doesn’t realise that it is not going to be plain sailing to get back in the water.

Sean had this picture in his head of what life was going to be like. He was going to become a bigtime movie director and his boyfriend Dominic would be by his side all the way. Cue the twist… One sunny afternoon in LA, Dominic breaks up with Sean…in front of everyone at the beach club. Mortifying. Just like that, the picture-perfect romantic epic in Sean’s head is shattered, burnt in the jammed projector that is now his life. While trying to reconcile with the demise of his love life, Sean is called into action. Someone has washed up on the beach and needs his help. Springing into action, Sean is about to dive headfirst into someone that is going to change his life forever.

Out of the Blue is a whirlwind story of revenge, acceptance and discovery wrapped up in a cute rom-com. Crest (or Ross when on land) struggles to understand the human world. Their preconceptions of what humans are like; filthy polluters who do not care for the world, are challenged when they meet Sean. Sean is nothing like what he was told humans were like while they were in the Blue. Sean is focused on winning Dominic back, using any means necessary to do it (even using Crest to make him jealous). But what neither of them envisioned at the start of this journey was falling in love. What are they willing to sacrifice to be together?

In my opinion, Out of the Blue is a great story because it has been written as just that: a story about two people who find each other at a time when they are both growing as people. There is no forced agenda in Out of the Blue. Sexuality is in not the driving force behind the characters. Crest is non-binary, which is explored through them commenting on how humans have put gender labels on themselves and things like clothes. Merfolk are just that, merfolk. No male, no female. They are just Mer. Crest dresses in what they want and present themselves how they want. It is effortless. On the other hand, Sean is gay, but this is not his whole self. He wants Dominic back; not because he is gay but because he was in love. The overall theme in Out of the Blue is love is love, no matter what form it takes and I really like that.

Another theme that is present in Out of the Blue is sacrifice. Sean and Crest meet someone that has straddled both worlds and chose to sacrifice their home to be with the one they love. Meeting this character puts doubts in Crest’s mind about what they want from the Journey. Spending time with Sean has altered their views on humans, what home is and whether they would leave behind the world they have lived in all their life to embark into the unknown.

I really enjoyed Out of the Blue and was surprised with how invested I felt reading it. It was an impulse buy from the Kindle Store so I went in with zero expectations but came out the other side thoroughly bowled over. The best books in the world are the ones that come out of nowhere but leave an impact on you and Out of the Blue did that.