There’s also the GLBT angle – that came totally out of nowhere, but I melted a little when it did. I could feel everything that was written, and for an author to really nail it when it comes to sensory stuff (especially when most of their book takes place in water) really makes me happy. The characters and world are pretty thorough and sturdily built, and the sensory imagery is lovely and starkly written. It’s not very big or exciting or loud with its prose, but more of a laid back, summer-y beach book one can sink into when you need to get away. Otherwise this is an amazing little book. Little more development on the characters and some of the finer points of the selkie body (in terms of what we don’t know from the legends/folklore) would have been nice, but I’m happy with what I got. I wanted to know more about the Pod, and why they became so fractured aside from Aine’s disappearance – that seemed too simple an explanation for me, and I just wanted a little more on the entire fracturing of the pod, as well as how much strength it takes to go back to Ireland within a selkie body. I guess my only issue with this book was the underdevelopment with some of the more minor bits of the main cast (Ronan and the younglings being the ones that come to mind the most) since especially the latter of the above two become really important to the plot near the climax of the book (though I won’t spoil as to how). If you’re looking for some absolutely wonderful new magical realism from a debut author this summer, “Tides” is definitely your book. “Tides” is a gorgeous story filled with not only magical realism, but also tough stuff issues that aren’t couched in their usual terrible filling of bullying, suicide, or other such destructive behaviors, but treated with love and kindness, giving the reader hope if they’re in the same situation. Two books alone this month (“Ashes on the Waves” being the second, along with this one) are being pubbed with selkies as major characters, and I couldn’t be happier. They’re quickly becoming the new mermaids of the YA paranormal world, and I’m happy to see that happen.
☆: 4.5/5 stars – a gorgeous new version of the selkie folklore to explore! This dreamlike, suspenseful story-deftly told from multiple points of view-dives deeply into selkie folklore while examining the fluid nature of love and family.
But then things take a dramatic turn for them both when Noah mistakenly tries to save a mysterious girl from drowning. Noah has landed a marine biology internship, and Lo wants to draw and paint, perhaps even to vanquish her struggles with bulimia. Summary: When high-school senior Noah Gallagher and his adopted teenage sister, Lo, go to live with their grandmother in her island cottage for the summer, they don’t expect much in the way of adventure. Genre: YA contemporary, UF, PNR, GLBT, AWESOME
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