[Blog Tour] Review: Waterfell by Amalie Howard

Book Description:

Paperback, 350 pages
October 29th 2013, Harlequin Teen

THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE QUEEN

Nerissa Marin hides among teens in her human form, waiting for the day she can claim her birthright—the undersea kingdom stolen from her the day her father was murdered. Blending in is her best weapon—until her father's betrayer confronts Nerissa and challenges her to a battle to the death on Nerissa's upcoming birthday—the day she comes of age.

Amid danger and the heartbreak of her missing mother, falling for a human boy is the last thing Nerissa should do. But Lo Seavon breaches her defenses and somehow becomes the only person she can count on to help her desperate search for her mother, a prisoner of Nerissa's mortal enemy. Is Lo the linchpin that might win Nerissa back her crown? Or will this mortal boy become the weakness that destroys her?

Reviewer's Copy: eARC from JKS Communications and Print ARC from Harlequin Teen

Source: Samantha + JKS Communications + Harlequin Teen (Thank you!!)

My Thoughts:

Let me start by saying that Waterfell was not what I expected it to be. Instead of the normal mermaid mythology that I was expecting, I got something much more sophisticated and out of this world. Amalie's twist on the deep sea creature mythology was refreshing and original. Both mythology and science fiction readers alike will enjoy this.

Nerissa, was an interesting heroine. There were so many things that made her seem so human to me, like how she thought and acted. She would always fall under the teenager category for me with all the angst, rebellious moves and impulsive decisions. Her inhumanity also came into play with how she carried herself. She might seem like an all-too-selfish brat but as a reader, I considered that she was royalty. She grew up as royalty and was used to getting things her way. She was definitely not a perfect character with her temper and bursts of talk/act-now-think-later-scheme from time to time. But that made her realistic in my eyes.

Let's move on to Lo, the confident and charming surfer boy. He was magnetic with his boyish allure but at the same time, there was a sarcastic, overconfident part of him that just pushes me away. He was quiet though, always in the shadow of mystery. I liked getting to know Lo. He was what I would imagine to be the kind of boy labelled as "delicious," "rebel," and "carefree." I loved it when his enjoy-life-now-do-everything-else-later attitude came up. But what I really loved the most were (1) digging into his life and unearthing bits and pieces of him, to be examined closer under a microscope, and (2) reading about Lo surf. I just wish that Lo and Riss got to know each other in a longer time frame; more relationship development. But don't let that discourage you, there are fireworks when these two are in the same room together.

The secondary characters like Jenna, who I loved to bits, and Speio, who made me think twice, were significantly present. There were novels wherein the story was 95% focused on the main characters. But in Waterfell, we also got to know the secondary cast. They added life to the story and breathed reality onto the pages.

The world of Waterfell was all about vibes. It was 100% atmospheric. Amalie mastered storytelling with vivid descriptions of the water. She made me feel relaxed, thrilled, excited and she even made me sit at the edge of my seat.

Waterfell gave me both sides of the ocean, still and stormy, through the wondrous simplicity of human life and the violent and challenging ups and downs of friendship, love and otherworldly affairs. Beautifully written, atmospheric and out of this world, Waterfell will capture the hearts of readers of mythology and paranormal.

Rating:

4.5 Cupids = Obsessive book love.
Almost made it as one of my favorites! I strongly recommend this!

AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure.

An aspiring writer from a young age, Amalie’s poem “The Candle,” written at age thirteen, was published in a University of Warwick journal. She was also a recipient of a Royal Commonwealth Society essay award (a global youth writing competition). A Colby College graduate, she completed simultaneous Honors Theses in both French and International Studies, and graduated Summa Cum Laude/Phi Beta Kappa. At Colby, she was cited for research and criticism in Raffael Scheck’s article, “German Conservatism and Female Political Activism in the Early Weimar Republic,” and his subsequent book, Mothers of the Nation. She also received a distinction in English Literature from the University of Cambridge (A-levels) as well as a certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France.

Her debut novel, BLOODSPELL, was selected as a Seventeen Magazine Summer Read. She is also the author of the Aquarathi series from Harlequin TEEN (WATERFELL, October 29, 2013 and OCEANBORN, August, 2014), as well as THE ALMOST GIRL from Strange Chemistry in January 7, 2014, and ALPHA GODDESS from Sky Pony Press coming March 2014. Click on the BOOKS page for more information.

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