Waterfell (The Aquarathi #1) by Amalie Howard
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: October 29th 2013
Buy Links:
Amazon *I received a copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
Book Description:
Nerissa Marin hides among teens in her human form, waiting for the day she can claim her birthright—the undersea kingdom stolen from her the day her father was murdered.
Blending in is her best weapon—until her father's betrayer confronts Nerissa and challenges her to a battle to the death on Nerissa's upcoming birthday—the day she comes of age.
Amid danger and the heartbreak of her missing mother, falling for a human boy is the last thing Nerissa should do. But Lo Seavon breaches her defenses and somehow becomes the only person she can count on to help her desperate search for her mother, a prisoner of Nerissa's mortal enemy.
Is Lo the linchpin that might win Nerissa back her crown? Or will this mortal boy become the weakness that destroys her?
So,
when I first decided to read Waterfell
by Amalie Howard I was expecting something totally different than what I
actually got. Waterfall follows Nerissa
Marin, heir to an underwater kingdom as she hides among humans determined to
live as a human after her Father’s death.
She
doesn’t want to be a queen, she doesn’t want to fight the war brewing, a war
she doesn’t even understand. With her guardians help Nerissa has to decide
whether or not she’s ready to avenge her Father and rule a kingdom while
staying true to who she is.
I
was incredibly excited about this book when I first saw it on Netgalley. Not
only is the cover gorgeous, but it’s about mermaids! Well, sort of. I’ve got to
give Howard props on her plot. It was well thought out and masterfully executed.
While the main character is what we’d think of as a mermaid, really she is part
of an aquatic species from another planet called Aquarathi.
I
really enjoyed the history behind the Aquarathi people. That was probably one
of the most interesting parts of the book for me. I liked Howard’s take and how
she sort of mixed mermaids and aliens with magic. I mean aliens and mermaids
how awesome is that?
My
two favorite characters in the book believe it or not were Lo and Jenna. They
were both snarky and kick ass in their own ways and while I’m not really a fan
of the instalove that happened between Lo and Nerissa I do like romance. I just
wish they had taken time to go from that ‘you’re annoying I hate you phase’ to
the ‘oh my god I’d give up everything for you phase’. I need the development,
sometimes that’s the best part of the relationship. Seeing it develop and
become this connection that draws you in.
While
I enjoyed the plot I didn’t actually love Nerissa. She was a good heroine, but
for some reason I couldn’t really connect with her character. While she was
strong and brave eventually, throughout most of the book she was mean and
wishy-washy. Her decisions always contradicted each other and she snapped at
people for no reason. She was rude and judgmental and she lacked positive
characteristics to make me understand why she was the way she was. So I had
this dragging sensation while reading a good portion of the book because I
couldn’t really care about her.
But
toward the end of the book Nerissa changed and realized how selfish she’d been.
She fought for the people she loved and for her subjects and that was when I
liked her. The last few chapters of the book flew by and I couldn’t take my
eyes away from the page. The fight scene at the end was emotional and touching
and I loved it.
I
wish this had been more mermaid-y I have yet to find a really amazing mermaid
book, but I plan to keep on searching because there’s pretty much nothing more
I love than mermaids. I’m iffy about recommending this book because I honestly
feel like it’s hit or miss with this book. If you’re a mermaid fan, take a
chance on it some of the things that annoyed me might not annoy you.
AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. Traveling the globe, she has worked as a research assistant, marketing representative, teen speaker and global sales executive. In between writing novels and indulging her love of reading, Amalie is also a books review editor for TheLoopNY, and blogs at amaliehoward.com. She is represented by the Liza Royce Agency.
Her debut novel, BLOODSPELL, was selected as a Seventeen Magazine Summer Club Read. She is also the author of The AQUARATHI series from Harlequin TEEN (WATERFELL Nov 2013 and OCEANBORN Aug 2014), THE ALMOST GIRL from Strange Chemistry Jan 2014, and ALPHA GODDESS from Skyhorse/Sky Pony Press Mar 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment
We always love to hear from readers so share your thoughts with us!