Waterdancer
Author: Samantha Combs
Publication Date: September 7, 2012
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Thank you Musa Publishing for the review copy
Bailey and her mom have always met life’s challenges as a team of two, more like best friends than mother and daughter. But her mom’s recent marriage has changed all of that, and having her little brother Landry is the only good Bailey can find in that union. The move to wealthy Del Mar from their humble beginnings has turned Bailey sour, until a chance meeting with surf hottie Jack West. Then Bailey’s father, with his annoying Zen-surfer lingo and a talking turtle he claims is no less than her spirit guardian, reenters her life and threatens the only relationship Bailey thinks is working in her world. She soon finds out that’s not all his arrival will do. His presence and their shared family trait could ultimately force Bailey to make a decision that will alter the course of her own life and those she loves…forever.
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Synopsis:
For Bailey Wasserman, being Bailey has recently become an incredible challenge. It's not enough that she must come to terms with her mother's new husband, their new life, and a new surfer boyfriend. When she meets her real father for the first time, she discovers a secret family trait that will alter the course of her own life and those she loves…maybe forever.Bailey and her mom have always met life’s challenges as a team of two, more like best friends than mother and daughter. But her mom’s recent marriage has changed all of that, and having her little brother Landry is the only good Bailey can find in that union. The move to wealthy Del Mar from their humble beginnings has turned Bailey sour, until a chance meeting with surf hottie Jack West. Then Bailey’s father, with his annoying Zen-surfer lingo and a talking turtle he claims is no less than her spirit guardian, reenters her life and threatens the only relationship Bailey thinks is working in her world. She soon finds out that’s not all his arrival will do. His presence and their shared family trait could ultimately force Bailey to make a decision that will alter the course of her own life and those she loves…forever.
My Thoughts: I’m not entirely sure what I thought of this book, which is strange for me since I normally have quite strong opinions. There is a bunch of ways I could examine this novel and come up with a variety of different conclusions on it. I have decided to treat Waterdancer like a fairytale, because it certainly reminded me of one.
The surfer-lingo in this book had me laughing at times and gave me a throw-back to the 90s, but I found it hilarious. I don’t know much about surfing, even though I lived by the ocean my whole life. We got the highest tides, not the highest waves.
The characters, for the most part, were likeable. I wish the book had been a little longer only so that we could have seen more character development.
The novel is a short, quick read which I strangely liked. It moves fast and some parts are kind of hard to believe (like reactions from people), but I believed it flowed with the feel of the whole story and worked. There were a few things that I would have liked clarification on, since it went so fast, but since it had a fairytale sort of feel to it, I can forgive it for that. An explanation as to why the whole curse happened in the first place, for instance, would have added.
I enjoyed Waterdancer as a quick, light read. If I had been looking for something more I would have been disappointed. It would make a great addition into the classic fairytales.
I know next to nothing about surfing, but I do love me some 90s lingo.
ReplyDeleteI've also had that experience where I'm just not sure what to say about a book. Makes writing the review very hard!