Friday, April 20, 2012

ARC Book Review: Wrecked by Anna Davies


Wrecked

Anna Davies


ARC Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with).

Publication Date: May 1st 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Pages: 336

Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult

Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control. But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm. Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of Wrecked. It intrigued me because of the summary's similarities to "The Little Mermaid" And I love me some fairytale inspired novels. While reading it however, I soon learned that is not really the point of Wrecked.


For me Wrecked is a heart wrenching tale of loss and guilt underneath myth and fantasy elements. It's still a love story, as the cover tries to assert, but Miranda growing up and dealing with the situation she is put through is the focus. She was driving the boat during the accident which kills many of her friends, yet she is saved and ends up living. She is constantly blaming herself, and it doesn't help that her surviving friends blame her as well.

The beginning starts out a bit rough, trying to introduce so many characters (half of whom die) and the mythos of the Down Below, after the exposition is out of the way though the prose flows easily and enchanted me. I loved Miranda as a character for how flawed she was (however I will admit I know some people are not fans of such flawed main characters) and I felt that many of the characters had a depth to them. Christian, Gray, Valentine and Coral probably felt the most one dimensional; however I found the portrayal of the grieving friends and family well done however.

The ending was also slightly rushed, though I enjoyed the idea of it a lot. It probably could have been drawn out a bit more and the reveal of Coral to everyone made more obvious, but there were many other elements of the ending that I loved.

The story does indeed mirror "The Little Mermaid", though far from an outright fairytale retelling. The prose is definitely closer to the style of contemporary or paranormal young adult novel. Overall, Wrecked is much better than I had originally perceived and I am very happy I was able to receive a copy.



I recommend this book to people who like coming of age young adult books, or ones dealing with loss. I also recommend it for people who enjoy paranormal books dealing with merpeople and other similar creatures.


3.5 Bookmarks



2 comments:

Kristin said...

I won this book on good reads, i personally just thought it was ok, I didn't hate it or love it, but I really liked your review of it!

your newest follower,
Kristin
youngadultbookhaven.blogspot.com

Pabkins said...

LInking you to my 1 star review to give people a different perspective. www.myshelfconfessions.com

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