Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.
     Tempest Rising was a lot of things I didn’t think it was. It was unlike any other mermaid novels I’ve read. It started out serious, mellowed down its depression, warming up a little, then with lots of light and happy stuff, then more fun, then comes the action, the unbelievable happenings which lead us back to where we started-sadness. Such heavy sadness that just brought you down with it. Then there’s the unexpected decision which lead to a very definite and right though still hurtful choice. So, can you just imagine how much emotion I’ve been through reading this book?
     The writing. I’ve never read any book that made me feel like swimming in the water just as Tracy Deebs did. Her descriptions used words that fitted perfectly and exactly like the scene that is happening. Not only that, I was swallowed in to the scene, and was carried onto it. Especially whenever it was the water-the ocean. I feel like I’ve dived into it too! It’s like I smelled, breathed and moved Tempest.
    The story was okay too. Tempest was literally rising. She learned of her being a mermaid slowly, when she underwent through all the changes, met new people, fell in love with another person at the wrong time. Prematurely faced a battle she was not prepared for. Everything happened so fast in two weeks.
     The characters. I liked how tough Tempest was and how loving she is to her family. However, her being unable to control her temper is something not likable. I really didn’t like the fact that she entertained and allowed new feelings to grow to another guy when she was still with another guy. I really hate girls with no fidelity. Thus, I did not enjoy the feelings she was describing she was developing toward Kona, because it was wrong. I hated it all the more when the sweet and loving guy that Mark was (we can really see how much he loved Tempest in the beginning until she ran away) was turned into someone else (a complete downside!) when she came back in the end of the book. It appears to me that Tracy Deebs just made a happy ending for Mark just so it wouldn’t sound unfair to him. It was a trash. And for that, instead of giving the book a higher rating, I settled for 3.
     In the end, this series (as I would assume) did not captivate my heart so much that I want to finish the series. At this point, I don’t care what happens to Tempest and her life, and everything because I don’t want her and Kona, and it just pisses me off. I wanted her to stay with her family longer. and I hated how low Mark was shown.
But if you’re into mermaids and becoming of age novel kind of person, and you enjoy descriptively written novels, this is perfect for you.


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