Review: Wavecrossed by: Andrea Colt

Wavecrossed by: Andrea Colt (2013)

200ish e-book pages

Genre: YA/Paranormal

Source: I received a free copy of this book from the author for my honest review. Thanks Andrea!

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: A 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.

My Review

     

The synopsis of Wavecrossed may put you off from reading it simply because it is a book about selkies (I've never run across one before), but don’t be afraid of something you don’t know, selkies are pretty cool and Wavecrossed will delight you. I enjoyed every second of my time while reading Wavecrossed. I’ve never read a book about selkies, but I’m really glad I got over my fear of the unknown and embraced this wonderful new mythology. Sure some of it was a little weird at first, but it grew on me, and this story is one worth discovering. It’s full of laughs, cuteness, uniqueness, and mysteriousness.

The plot (just in general) and its pacing is magnificent. There are no huge info dumps, everything you need to know about selkies and the main character Cassandra’s family history are handled nicely. Another great quirk, there is a good amount of interesting surprises and it’s a short and fast paced read.  I also really enjoyed the fact that teenage romance isn't the main focus and was handled pretty well making Wavecrossed a nice change from the norm. I was only bothered a tiny bit by two little things. There is some corniness throughout the novel with the abundance of nautical terms, but for the most part it works. The only thing that bothered me a little about that was the fake curse words. There was a tiny plot hole that irked me, but it was quickly pushed out of my mind and easily written off as me over analyzing. Therefore the impressiveness of Wavecrossed outweighs the two tiny hiccups I came across.

All of the characters are interesting and I cared about them, which is a big selling point for me. Cassandra is overly paranoid but it makes sense, plus she is charming and actually reminds me of a real teenager, besides the fact that she is a selkie of course. Her brother has more common sense and is just as likable. I love the brother-sister interactions in
Wavecrossed and the interesting family dynamics. There are also a lot of minor characters that are just as good as the main characters. Oh and the evil man that is holding her family captive is a great villain, he is actually complex and I love that.

I recommend that you read this one. It will be worth your time and it’s very unique. If you have yet to discover the interesting lives of selkies then you should give Wavecrossed a chance. This would be even more fun to read on the beach and since the summer is almost over you should read it sooner rather than later. Plus, there is going to be a sequel that I can’t wait to get my hands on!

**I received a free copy of this book from the author for my honest review. Thanks Andrea!