MICHELLE'S REVIEW: Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsey

Title: Ashes on the Waves
Author: Mary Lindsey
Format Acquired: Hardcover

Publication Date: June 27, 2013

Publishing House: Philomel

ISBN: 9780399159398
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary:


Liam McGregor is cursed. Haunted by the walls of fantastical Bean Sidhes and labeled a demon by the villagers of Dòchas, Liam has accepted that things will never get better for him - until a wealthy heiress named Annabel Leighton arrives on the island and Liam's fate is changed forever.

With Anna, Liam finally finds the happiness he has always been denied, but the violent, mythical Otherworlders, who inhabit the island and the sea around it, have other plans. They make a wager on the couple's love, testing its strength through a series of cruel obstacles. But the tragedies draw Liam and Anna even closer. Frustrated, the creatures put the couple through one last trial - and this time it's not only their love that's in danger of being destroyed.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

Every villager believes that Liam is a monster, a devil who brutally destroyed his mother's body when she gave birth to him. He's so used to being maltreated that he really thinks that he deserves the punishments he gets. When Annabel Leighton, the only girl he's ever loved, comes back to the island, Liam begins to realize that maybe the reason he took it all by stride was because he had nothing to fight for. But now that the two lovers are reunited, it seems that there is opposition from all sides. Liam and Anna can handle being maligned by the villagers and Anna's family and friends, but when Otherworlders take too much of an interest and place a wager on their love, Liam and Anna may face their deadliest obstacle yet.

Right off the bat, let me just say that I love Mary Lindsey's world-building. I've already read - and loved - her earlier work, Shattered Souls, so it was only fitting that I pick up her newest novel as well. Now, Dòchas, the island where are protagonists are moored, just screams "Eerie, fantastical mythical stuff happens here!" Aside from the horrible, paranormal rumors revolving around Liam's birth, there are actual otherworldly creatures that lull and trance some of the people to throw themselves into the ocean. There are also selkies who seem to know more than they let on and one in particular even keeps a watchful eye over Liam. 

Liam appears to be the picture-perfect modern-day Gothic hero - handsome, mysterious, brooding, yet passionate about his lady love, Anna. While I can understand how he can fully love Anna who may have become a different person as compared to her seven-year-old counterpart, I couldn't embrace the idea of Anna quickly falling irrevocably in love with Liam. She's a Page Six favorite - a New York socialite whose goods have already graced countless of tabloids and magazines, all for shock value. I understand that Liam might have a totally fresh personality from what she's normally accustomed to, and maybe that is just what Anna really needs - someone who can see her for herself - but I think she just fell for him a little too quick for my taste. 

I was actually quite fascinated with Muireann, the selkie. Her gentle and innocent ways were simply bewitching and I adored her for it. The only other book I've read with selkies in it was Margo Lanagan's utterly lovely The Brides of Rollrock Island, and while those selkies were demure, they don't really have any distinctive quality - which I presume, stands for a point Lanagan was trying to make. But Muireann was just so alive and child-like, which definitely deviated from the selkies I was accustomed to.

The ball only really started rolling after the first half of the book. The Bean Sidhes (pronounced as ban-shees. Yes, those banshees. I learned it from Mary Lindsey's FAQs.) and the Na Fir Ghorm decided to determine the fate of their territorial wars once and for all by testing the strength of the love of the unlikely couple. While I don't really get why Liam and Anna have to be the unlucky people chosen to be pawns in their little messed up game, I guess it's more entertaining to mess with people who are trying to rise above the hardships as compared to ruining lives of the already miserable villagers. 

If you like reading modern-day adaptations of Gothic novels, or if you fancy yourself in a somber, poetic mood, you might want to try reading Ashes on the Waves. It will also appeal to the romantic at heart who never can resist rooting for star-crossed lovers.

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The Twins on Thursday: Tides by Betsy Cornwell

       

"The Twins on Thursday" is reserved for the Twins' joint reviews. It is a special feature of our blog that discusses books that we either both like, dislike, or have mixed feelings about. This is also the day where we post reviews for books (and ARCs/Galleys) that have been sent to us by authors/galley sites/publishing houses. And because we don't believe much in uniformity, we'll be trying to mix things up a bit by adding random stuff in relation to our review (well, mostly for books we purchased anyway).

Title: Tides
Author: Betsy Cornwell
Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: June 4, 2013

Publishing House: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

ISBN: 9780547927725
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher via NetGalley

Summary:

When high-school senior Noah Gallagher and his adopted teenage sister, Lo, go to live with their grandmother in her island cottage for the summer, they don't expect much in the way of adventure. Noah has landed a marine biology internship, and Lo wants to draw and paint, perhaps even vanquish her struggles with bulimia. But then things take a dramatic turn for both when Noah mistakenly tries to save a mysterious girl from drowning. This dreamlike, suspenseful story - deftly told from multiple points of view - dives deeply into selkie folklore while examining the fluid nature of love and family.

Review:

While staying in their grandmother's house for the summer, Noah and Lo's grandmother tell them stories of selkies. But as enchanting as these stories are, Noah and Lo believe them to be nothing more but stories, mere myth and folklore. Mara, a headstrong young selkie, has been warned against heading onto shore, humans are dangerous and can't be trusted. They're greedy and they want nothing more to get their hands on their precious skins. But when they unwittingly meet, their lives will forever be changed, bound by the intricacies of love and pain and family.

Tides is told in alternating points of view, mostly Noah, Mara and Lo. We're fairly surprised at how well the author managed to shift voices, each character had a distinct voice and there was no trouble getting to know them. Noah is a protective big brother, ambitious and maybe a bit introverted. He loves marine biology and with the opportunity that this summer's internship brings, he's determined to prove himself. Lo is an artist who suffers from bulimia, she thought that her stay in her grandmother's house would be a good thing for her, but it's not really helping and she doesn't really know what to do. Mara is a selkie, she's fascinated by humans and confused by her longing for a friend. She's not supposed to go onto land but she can't help it, the land holds endless curiosities and fascination for her and so when she has free time, she sneaks off towards the shore and she watches. 

The romance was something that caught us off-guard because of how quickly things sped up. As much as Mara found humans interesting, we don't think she was prepared enough when she had a personal encounter with one of them, much less quickly fall for a guy even as sweet and adorkably awkward as Noah. We think the more interesting aspect of the book here was how Cornwell combined different real life issues in the book. Usually, authors only make use of one or two themes to bring the story together. But what Cornwell did was to combine the fresh and unexpected approach to homosexual relationships (which is not as much as falling in love with a gender, as people take it, but just falling for the totality of the person, irregardless of gender), issues centering on body image, unconventional romance. The passion that Noah has for marine biology is truly amazing, and the characters really made us feel like they were actual people, but the problem with Tides is that we felt that there was something lacking about it. 

If you're in a summer resort somewhere or planning your beachside getaway, you might want to check out Tides. It's just in time for the summer vibes because it's light enough for a quick read, and a quick daydream or fantasy about what really lurks beneath the aqua-blue shadows of the deep.

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