Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.
Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.
It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever-rub the genie's lamp.
[from barnesandnoble.com]
The first thing that drew me into this novel was the cover. I thought it was really original and pretty cool looking (I admit to being one of those who do judge a book by its cover). And I'm glad I gave it a shot. For a debut novel, Tempest Rising was really entertaining, and had some really strong characters.
Jane True is a pretty solid main character. She has flaws and she's indepentdent but vulnerable at the same time. She's relatable, and had a great voice. I especially loved the parts when she argued with herself. It's something I'm guilty of doing at times, and it made me laugh. She was sarcastic and witty, and all around the type of girl that I would probably want to be friends with.
Her relationship with Ryu, like in most paranormal novels, gets heated up pretty quickly. They do have good chemistry together, but I wish we could've had a bit more time to get some more tension in and then have them finally do the deed. But that might just be me. And I wish we'd gotten to know more about Ryu's background. I was surprised that Jane never asked him about his life. What he's seen and done. If I learned that the guy I liked was 270 years old, I was certainly ask him a few questions. I think without that bit of a background, Ryu isn't going to be as developed as he could be.
A side character that I absolutely loved was Anyan. Even though he only had a few moments in the novel, he was great. I can't wait to get to know more about him. I think he's going to be a really strong character.
The plot was decent enough and it stayed constant throughout the novel. And the amount of supernaturals she put in this was good. It wasn't just vampires and other "normal" supernaturals one sees these days. There was incubi, succubae, elves (though they're called Alfar), dryads, genies, selkies; a whole slew of supernaturals. I liked that. It showed a lot of variety from what we've been seeing lately. And I like that she lives in a small town.
One thing I really liked was the allusions that Peeler made. From Dostoevsky to Edith Wharton to Angela Lansbury playing Mrs. Fletcher in Murder She Wrote (that allusion particularly made me laugh, because right before I read it, I had been thinking about how the novel paralled some aspects of the show). Those were great.
So, all in all, I liked the first book enough to want to pick up the second. It was a fast read, entertaining, and had great characters. So I'll definitely be picking up Tracking The Tempest.
Overall Rating: 8/10
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