Blog Tour Review: TEMPEST RISING by Tracy Deebs

TEMPEST RISING
by Tracy Deebs
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published May 10th 2011 by Walker Books for Young Readers

Placement in the Pile: Reaching New Heights

Summary:
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.

Review:
I was really excited about this one. I have never read a mermaid book even though there have been several in the YA world in the last few years. I have to say TEMPEST RISING whet my appetite for more of them. It is a fun change of pace from your everyday paranormals, something a bit more unique with an underwater world foreign yet compelling.

Tempest's character lives up to her name in many ways. She is fairly emotional, but for me it worked with the situation. Tempest deals with abandonment and anger issues, fear of becoming a mermaid, and normal teenage hormones and problems at school. I felt her to be genuine.

One of the things I loved the most about this book was how it took me back to high school. I grew up in Southern California and her descriptions of the High School, the neighborhood and the beach and ocean were things I could draw from my memory. The surf team from my high school did just as Tempest and her friends did, they went surfing very early in the morning before school every day. I could picture it clearly, and it was nice to have that personal connection to the story.

My biggest complaint, why it didn't get 5 stars it the story did feel a little slow at times and then the climax went very quickly. I would have liked to have seen more of the underwater world, and to have more face time with her mother in the book.

What I loved? Kai. Tempest has truly found her other half in Kai, and yet she already has someone she deeply cares for Mark. Normally I am not a fan of both guys in the love triangle thing, but this time, although I definitely was rooting for Kai, I could see why she felt so attracted to Mark as well.

This is the first of a series -- I assume from the ending of the book, that finishes well, but leaves open a LOT -- but this is one series I will definitely look to find out more.

Be sure to check in tomorrow for your change to win a copy of TEMPEST RISING so you can read it for yourself!