Review: Well Written Story, Intriguing Plot
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 26, 2011
RECEIVED FROM: The Author For Review***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***Marina is about to start her senior year of high school in a new school, the first she's ever actually attended, and for the first time without her Dad there to support her.  Marina's father is a agronomist who's spending the year in Afghanistan to help them develops ways to feed their country, while Marina is going to Aptos, California to live with her Aunt Abby and her cousin Cruz in their little seaside town.  She believes her life is over until she encounters a sexy boy named Ethan and an ethereal mermaid name Lorelei.  Soon she's drawn into the little seaside town and the mysteries of the ocean it borders, embarking on a dangerous quest to find out who she is and where she comes from.  Will she survive to discover the answers she seeks?The summary isn't the best description of the book, but lately I seem to find myself staring at a blank screen forever just to try to find the right words to both summarize and review the books I've read.  I don't know if it's having a blog that's creating this loss for words in my writing or just some temporary mental block, but hopefully it goes away soon.  Anyway back to the review.This book is really more of a 3.5 stars than 3 but I don't do half ratings since I copy my reviews to my different profiles it's easier to stay with solid stars since that's what the other sites use.  I actually only found two things that I think detracted from what is an otherwise well written and interesting story, however one of them was just so big that it dropped my rating considerably.The first thing that bothered me, and this is actually the smaller one was that the characters seemed to have this inside joke that was never explained to the reader.  There's multiple scenes with giggling characters where I didn't really understand what was so funny.  To the characters in this novel there's apparently something hilarious about the statement "That's what she said."  I didn't get it and there's nothing worse than being on the outside of a joke. Okay well there is, but it still sucks when you're left out.The thing that I thought was the major flaw with this book was the Mary Sue tendencies of the characters and their lifestyles.  They weren't quite perfect but they were darn close, at first I wasn't going to ding this book so hard for this, but it was her father winning the Nobel prize that kind of put it over the top for me.  Marina has traveled extensively attending online school because her father is not only a brilliant agronomist (a job that to be honest I'd never heard of before reading this book.) but also holds a faculty position at a prestigious university.  Apparently he's powerful enough that Marina can get her own way on all her classes just by mentioning his name to the school guidance counselor.She herself is brilliant and is only attending high school because her father feels she's too independent and needs to learn to be around her peers. It's pretty apparent that no one really expects her to learn anything new academically there.  Let's not forget that's she's beautiful and mystical as well.Her neighbor, who's pretty much adopted her to the point she's referred to as Aunt Evie, is a retired fashion model who dresses Marina is Prada and other top of the line designers just because she enjoys doing it.  If that weren't enough with this flamboyant character she has a basement full of expensive cars that she lets Marina learn to drive on and oh she's the original fashion "it" girl.  Not to mention the fabulous Evie spends her time searching out hidden talents in fashion and music and helping them succeed in the business.  (I seriously need an Aunt Evie.)Her cousin Cruz, though a social outcast is a brilliant but as of yet undiscovered fashion designer.  His best friend Meghan is a song writer with the most amazing voice.  And we can't forget that Evan the boy who falls for Marina is the hottest and most respect guy in school.  He's the best surfer on the beach, works all the time to achieve his future and adores the perfect Marina.I had planned to mention this from about the introduction of Aunt Evie, but I hadn't planned to make as big of a deal of it in my review until Dad won the Nobel prize.  That's just what put it over the top for me.  The only negative things really in the character's lives is that Ethan doesn't have a lot of money and his mother ran off when he was only a kid.  Cruz is a social outcast, and believe his father died in a car crash when he was a baby only to learn later that his father was a married man who tried paying his mother to abort him.  Meghan is overweight and also a social outcast.  And finishing out the social outcast crew is Marina who's mother died in child birth. It's as if the writer has found a couple flaws she likes and just attributed them to every character.The book however is extremely well written, fast paced and a quick and enjoyable read.  The plot has some interesting twists and turns that keep readers turning the page.  The only thing I think the writer needs to learn is that perfect characters may lead wonderful lives, but it's harder for a reader to relate to characters whose lives they envy than a characters who has just as many issues as they do.  Overall though I really did enjoy reading this book and I would recommend it to others who enjoy young adult urban fantasy novels.  It's an excellent debut novel from a writer I look forward to reading more of.  There's an obvious talent in the writing and the ability to weave a page turning story.  I only hope that the characters become a little more believable in future works.