{Book Review]: Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

Title: Tempest Rising
Author: Tracy Deebs Website | Facebook
Stand Alone or Series: (Tempest, #1)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (May, 2011)
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN: 9780802722317
Source: Purchased
Available On: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository | Kindle | Nook

Description from GoodReads:

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her-and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

My Review

First Impressions: Based on the description from GoodReads this sounds like the story of the daughter of the little mermaid. If the little mermaid had a daughter with a surfer guy and left her daughter. (It does to me!) 


Plot & Characters: Tempest for most of the story struggles between what she wants and what she needs. She wants to stay on land with her family, yet her body longs for the sea. This seems to me like a problem she creates. Why can't she spend time in both places? I know she says she doesn't want to abandon her family but it just doesn't seem like that big of a problem.


Tempest has a boyfriend on land but introduce a dose of instant love and a few pages later she is attracted to another. I usually don't have a big problem with instant love but in this story it just seemed wrong. She threw away a relationship and years of memories and suddenly all she could think of was this new guy. Not cool. 


The mythology was interesting. I enjoyed learning about mermaids and the other sea creatures. The evil witch was great and terrifying. The missing mother added a very interesting element to the story. I was anticipating the moment when I would finally meet her and learn why she abandoned her children. When she finally appears I felt ripped off. I was not given the reunion I wanted. 


Final Thoughts: I enjoyed Tempest but was not able to connect with the main character. I recommend it if you enjoy mermaid stories and are not bothered by instant love.


Buy, Borrow or Skip: Borrow. I enjoyed Tempest and will read the next in the series but for now it doesn't stand out enough for me to say buy.


My Rating:

{Review} Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White Website | Twitter
Genre: YA Fiction/ Paranormal
Publisher: HarperTeen
Hardcover: 335 pages
ISBN: 9780061985843
Source: Library
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:
Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal. 

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. 

So much for normal.


My Review:
I heard great things prior to reading this book so I had high expectations. Did it meet them? Definitely!


Kiersten White does a great job in creating Evie's world. The characters were very well developed and the story line keeps you engaged. I cannot begin to express how fun it was to read Paranormalcy. Evie was an amazing and fun character. Even when her world was crumbling she still managed to keep her sense of humor and think positively. It was great to see a character that has lived most of her life surrounded by paranormal that she craved a normal life. 


You can imagine that a girl that makes a living capturing paranormals would not be dazzled by a vampire or a werewolf. That her love interest would be fantastic and it definitely was.


Lend is a breath of fresh air in the world of "dark and mysterious/me loving you puts you in danger" YA paranormal guys. He has powers and is definitely not your average guy but is more like a normal guy than you would think. It was also nice that he had a little faery competition. I hope we see more of Reth in the next book. 


The story was fast paced and entertaining from start to finish. I cannot wait to read more about Evie and figure out more about her past.


Overall, this was a "beeping'' good book. 

My Rating: 

Book Trailer:

{Review}: ARC Between the Sea and Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore

Title: Between the Sea and Sky
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore Website | Twitter
Genre: Fantasy/YA Fiction
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Hardcover:  240 pages
ISBN: 9781599904344
Source: Good Choice Reading Book Tour
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:
For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.


My Review:
Mermaids are slowly becoming my favorite paranormal creature. Jaclyn Dolamore does a great job at creating a magical world where not only do mermaids exist but so does a race of winged people and they interact with humans on a daily basis. I would have liked to see more of the winged people's traditions like we see with the mer-people. 


Between the Sea and Sky takes us on a journey to find Dosinia (Esmerine's sister), and discover if the love Esmerine and Alandare share is strong enough to keep them together. 


Esmerine is a strong determined girl that will go through a lot including physical pain ( it hurts her to walk on land) to assure that her sister is well. She is also in a constant struggle with what she feels like doing and what she should do. She wants to be on land and read and be with Alandare but at the same time she loves the sea and cannot imagine not being able to go back. It made me feel a bit sad because I could not imagine how they would be able to be together.


I absolutely loved the idea that Esmerine and Alandare's love for books brings them together. I like that Jaclyn made them childhood friends because the story does not allow them to really get to each other but it makes sense if they already did and are just rekindle-ling that friendship and turning it into love. 


An entertaining and different take on a mermaid fairy tale. The ending was not much of surprise. You can see how it is going to end but that does not deter it from being quite enjoyable. 


Recommended for those who enjoy fairy tales. 

"Waiting On" Wednesday (7): Everblue by Brenda Pandos

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Title: Everblue (Mer Tales, #1)
Author: Brenda Pandos
Genre: YA Fiction/Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Expected Publication Date: July 31st 2011
ISBN: 9780982903391

Description from GoodReads:

Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

What are you waiting on?

{Review}: Mermaid: A twist on the classic tale

Title: Mermaid: A twist on the classic tale
Author: Carolyn Turgeon
Genre: Fairy Tale
Publisher: Crown Publishing (March, 2011)
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN: 9780307589972
Source: Borrowed from Library
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

My Rating: 3/5

Description from GoodReads: 

The story of two very different women, one mortal, one mermaid, and the clash between worlds best kept apart... It is a cold day at the end of the world when a young woman, a princess in hiding, looks out across a Northern sea and sees something she could not have seen. It looks...it can't be. It looks like a mermaid's tail. And, as she looks more closely, she sees that the mermaid is dragging a drowning sailor in her arms. Because, only hours before, another princess, the daughter of the sea queen, has decided to risk everything and take a look at the world above the sea: the world of mortals. And there she finds a storm, a shipwreck, a sailor, and sets in train events which will change both women's worlds forever.

My Review:


I grew up loving the Disney version of the Little Mermaid. I remember when I was young I came across a different version where the little mermaid suffered and disliked it because the prince ended up marrying the princess not the mermaid. Well this story is more like the one I came across in my childhood than the Disney version.

Carolyn Turgeon's version of The Little Mermaid is full of pain, suffering and sacrifice. What I enjoyed the most is that we get to see the princess's point of view in this version. The princess believes that the mermaid brought her the prince so she can marry him and ensure peace in their kingdoms. As we all know, that is not the case. The mermaid goes to the sea witch and trades her voice for legs so she can be with the prince. Then the trouble begins as both girls try to win the prince and live their happily ever after.

I like the story but I didn't like the main characters. The mermaid just lets the prince do as he pleased with her and sacrificed everything for him. I never understood why the princess liked him, I think for her it was more duty than love. The Prince, (uhg!) he was my least favorite character. He was more like a typical medieval womanizer than Prince Charming.

Overall, I enjoyed this story because I love Fairy Tales but I would be a little hesitant to recommend it. Read this book if you love Fairy Tales or if you want a different take on Hans Christian Anderson's version of The Little Mermaid.