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Monday, August 29, 2011

"Ripple" by Mandy Hubbard

Release Date: July 21st, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Hardcover


Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. Each day she goes to school like a normal teenager, and each night she must swim, or the pain will be unbearable. She is a siren - a deadly mermaid destined to lure men to their watery deaths. After a terrible tragedy, Lexi shut herself off from the world, vowing to protect the ones she loves. But she soon finds herself caught between a new boy at school who may have the power to melt her icy exterior, and a handsome water spirit who says he can break Lexi's curse if she gives up everything else. Lexi is faced with the hardest decision she's ever had to make: the life she's always longed for - or the love she can't live without?


Going into this one I wasn't reall sure what I was going to get out of it. This is actually my first Siren/Mermaid book and I was a tad skeptical. I didn't need to be so concerned, though, because I really enjoyed this book. Lexi's lake in the middle of the forest was described so well. I could picture myself standing in the woods watching her swim and I could almost feel the pull to be in the water. This story was truly heartbreaking at it's core. Sure there are some good things that happen throughout, but the truth behind the tragedy in the beginning of the book is not something that ever goes away. Even still Mandy Hubbard manages to tell a great story and gives hope for the future of her characters.

My favorite character, hands down, was Cole. I couldn't find anything I didn't like about him. Through the whole book he was so patient with Lexi and just wanted to be there for her. Even when she pushed him away, his anger didn't change the fact that he cared. He was just a genuinely nice guy. Lexi was a great character, too, even though she got a little too whiny in her own head, sometimes. She had good reason to be like that, but it drove me nuts when she refused to really let anyone in, even when they so obviously just wanted to be there for her. There was definitely a fair amount of character growth for her in the book and by the end it seems like maybe she's on her way to accepting she can have a better life. I'd say my biggest gripe was probably that she was so willing to forgive Sienna so quickly. I'm sure having your best friend back is hard to resist, but two years of torture forgiven in one day. I don't know about that, although I might just be cynical. Not an Erik fan, nuff said.

All in all this was a fantastic read. And I am so glad that it wrapped up nice and satisfying in one book. Don't get me wrong, I love series, but sometimes you need a good standalone and this one was!

1 comment:

  1. I'm definitely more interested in stand-alones these days, just because it's hard for me to keep up with series and whatnot. I have so much to read. I'm not sure about this one. It sounds pretty interesting, but the whole two guys, etc. etc. thing seems a bit overdone (at least for me) so that might ruin it.

    -Lauren

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