Back Cover Blurb
genre: YA mythic fantasy
In a war between the humans and the inhabitants of the sea—humans will lose. Xanthus Dimitriou—the most lethal Dagonian to rise from the ocean—is on a mission to save mankind from annihilation. But first there’s one small thing he needs to do. Kill a young woman in a wheelchair.
Killing her doesn’t start out as part of his plan. He entrenches himself deep in the human world. Aligning himself with his enemies, he prepares to send them to Triton to face their punishment. Then Sara Taylor rolls onto the scene. Xanthus knows at once she’s a criminal. And her crime? Being born. She’s a human/Dagonian half-breed, an abomination. Killing her should be an easy job. All he has to do is break into her apartment, slit her throat, and feed her body to the sharks. Simple, right? Wrong. If only she weren’t so beautiful, so innocent, so sweet… Saving the world may have to wait. It appears he has a woman to save. But protecting her may cost him his own life.
My Review
4.5 stars out of 5
I really enjoyed this book and found myself neglecting life so I could squeeze in another chapter. 🙂 There were some really unique and interesting details in this novel that really helped the world building. I was fascinated by the social structure of the Dagonian society (I agree with Sara, they need a women’s rights movement!). The whole men-can-smell-fertile-women thing was interesting, and reminded me a little bit of Twilight (in a good way).
I loved Xanthus as a character. He was the perfect hero–strong, handsome, and protective. I loved watching Sara come out of her shell with Xanthus’s influence in her life.
I appreciated the challenges Sara encountered as a wheelchair-bound individual, and I enjoyed seeing her struggles in the human world. But I really liked the Dagonian world! The author gave enough of a description that I had a very vivid picture in my head, but not so much description that I grew bored.
Towards the end of the novel, the dialogue grew oddly stilted at times, and I felt like Sara broke character a bit too much. It may have been intended as a character arc, but it was too abrupt and swift for me. There were a few grammatical issues as well. Overall, however, this book was a story that kept me up late at night reading and had me hiding away in my bedroom to finish while my husband took care of the kids. A fantastic debut novel! I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next. I really hope there will be more stories set in the Dagonian world.
Rising is set to release on September 6, this Friday! Start saving your pennies, because this one is worth buying.
I received a free ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. 