Review: Needs Higher Stakes
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 8, 2011
I just wasn't sold on this book. I was expecting it to be a bit better than the first one, now that she knows who she is and some of what she's capable of, but The Moon and the Tide just didn't do it for me.The main thing that I didn't like was that the conflict was never fully developed, and much of it seemed forced. She and Ethan have a fight that goes on much longer than the cause of the fight warrants -- it doesn't help that Marina doesn't even attempt to talk to Ethan about it. Yes, she's going through a lot, but this is a guy she supposedly loves more than anything, so you'd think she'd take the time to talk about her feelings. The other main conflict has to do with her secret getting out -- I won't say how, but some people find out she can change into a mermaid. For me, this was huge. I thought that she was getting into really dangerous territory, and in the novel, it says it's dangerous, but I think it was half-done. The climax resolves within a few chapters and it isn't very scary. Nothing bad really happens to Marina, even though she's supposedly in a life-or-death situation. Mostly, it's just her freaking out and then turning into some sort of highly skilled special agent who can manipulate people and fight off huge security men.However, there are things that I liked about this book. I really liked how Marina's powers are finally explained. It helps much of the first novel and this one make more sense. A lot of pieces fall into place, and everything just came together for me after the explanation came. Shayla gets a bigger part in this novel, which I thought was awesome. There was a lot of unexplored stuff about her left from book one, so I'm glad that we got to know more about her. The theme of friendship and loyalty is brought from Between the Land and the Sea into this novel as well, which I really liked. I think it's one of the best themes to have for a young adult novel, since it's a universal concept, so that was great.The Moon and the Tide is a decent story, and I'm sure that others will like it. If you really liked the first novel, you'll probably like this one as well. I just couldn't get in this one because I wanted deeper conflict from the story.*I was provided with a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.*