For What It's Worth


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Review: Wavecrossed by Andrea Colt


18246873A young-adult paranormal novel about selkies, tasers, kissing and secrets.To Cassandra Kelleher, trust is a dirty word. 
A teenage selkie who grew up on land, all she wants is to free her family from the man who stole their sealskins long ago. With her twin brother Brennan losing hope and her window of opportunity disappearing like the beach at high tide, she’ll try anything. 
Before long, however, Cassandra can’t tell whether her biggest threat is the man holding her family captive, a classmate who’s discovered her secret, or her own paranoia. Battling broken friendships and alarming romantic entanglements, Cassandra finds that trust could be the key to winning her family’s freedom … or losing her own.  
Goodreads | Author | Amazon

Source: E-copy provided by the author for my honest review

Review:I have never read about selkies before, so that was the main reason I wanted to read Wavecrossed, as well as loving Colt’s debut contemporary YA, Torched.

The selkie aspect of the story was fascinating and my favorite part of Wavecrossed. Cassandra’s parents and older brother’s sealskins have been stolen by a man who uses that power to manipulate and control all of them. You can really feel the compelling need to leave land and go back to the ocean where they belong and how painful it is to lose their sealskin. It was a more ….animalistic…and realistic portrayal than the I’m used to in paranormal. In particular YA that would typically be yay! I’m a seal but I want to stay on land with hot boy!

For a selkie primer – check out Selkies 101 by Andrea Colt

Even human attachments can’t break the lure to the sea and their kind. That was very interesting to see how it all played out as they explore their seal nature vs. their humanity.

I felt the tone of Wavecrossed fluctuated a bit between very young YA in the beginning and then older (but not graphic) YA towards the second half. Cass is maturing but it was kind of abrupt, especially when it came to the romance aspect. (Also – NICE guy alert!)

Cass was also incredibly selfish towards others needs and feelings. Let me clarify – she’s incredibly devoted to her family and will do ANYTHING to save them. I really admired her for that but she also refused to see what might truly make THEM happy at times & could be kind of coldhearted to friends. To be fair, she does grow throughout the book and some of this can be attributed to her selkie nature but it was difficult to like her at times.

The ending was a bit unconventional and I loved it. The only thing that kept me from truly loving this book was Cass and I originally gave it 3 stars on Goodreads because of that. Then I saw there was going to be a sequel and that changes everything, especially when I read the summary. I can see now that Cass is in for some changes and I need to be mindful that she’s still learning and growing. I’m usually down on sequels these days but I’m looking forward to this one because it promises to fill in a few things that I felt were missing here. 

Final thoughts: If you’re looking for something a little different in the paranormal YA world – check out Wavecrossed. After reading two books by Colt, I can see that her stories go a little left of center and aren’t predictable and I like that. I wish the overall tone was more even – either younger YA or older and that Cassandra was a tad more likable earlier on but still a fun read and I’ll be looking out for the sequel.

19 comments:

  1. I hadn't heard of this before reading your review. My first experience with reading Selkies was the Jane True series, and that was definitely adult. I will have to go check this out because you have me all kinds of intrigued with telling me it's unconventional.

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    1. I remember reading about one in the Merry Gentry series by Laurel k Hamilton but it was a very minor part of the story so I didn't know much about them.

      I have found with both of Colt's books that they reflect a more realistic teenage experience rather than what I typically find in YA.

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  2. I am really curious about the ending now ;)

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  3. oh !! Never have heard of this book. Goes and adds it to the review pile :) Great review and love that it has a good guy.

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  4. I saw when the author was talking about the cover design and its evolution, so I've heard of the book but yours is the first review of it. Selkies definitely aren't seen much in the YA world -- mermaids, we've got tons of them. But not seal folks!

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    1. Oh - interesting. I would like to read that. I'll have to look it up

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  5. Hmmm...a characetr that is really difficult to like can completely throw off the reading of a story....

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    1. It did put me off for awhile to be honest but some of her behavior is her selkie nature and I feel the author has a plan for her now that I know there will be a sequel. Knowing that changed my opinion of her.

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  6. Selkies are new to me, as well. I like Colt's writing, but haven't been feeling paranormal YA in a while. I'm glad this mostly worked for you, Karen!

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    1. This doesn't even really feel paranormal. It's hard to explain but it feels more coming of age - except a selkie coming of age lol

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  7. Nice guy? NICE guy? Do those even still exist in the book world?

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  8. Great to hear about a nice guy and something different in the genre

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    1. It's always fun to read something a little different from vampires and were's lol

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  9. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have it on my wishlist and I may have to take it off since it is only .99 right now. I love mer books (including selkies). I love that the ending is different. You know you had me curious with that!

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    1. Let me know if you read it. I really liked the end but want to know what others think.

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  10. I've only read one Selkie book and though it's certainly different it didn't work out for me. I've always struggled with water creatures, for some reason I can't connect with Poseidon's peeps. I don't think this book is for me but the characters and world building sounds well written.

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  11. Yeah, I think I had similar feelings and like you I decided I needed to give Cass a bit of leeway since she's growing so much. I didn't like this as much as Torched, but it was still a pretty great read.

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