Atlantis Riptide by Allie Burton Published by Alice Fairbanks Burton on May 22nd 2013
Pages: 298
Goodreads
Atlantis Riptide
Lost Daughters of Atlantis Book 1When a girl runs away from the circus…
For all her sixteen years, Pearl Poseidon has been a fish out of water. A freak on display for her adoptive parents’ profit. Running away from her horrible life, she craves one thing—anonymity. But when she saves a small boy from drowning she exposes herself and her mutant abilities to Chase, a budding investigative reporter.
Now, he has questions. And so do the police.
Once Pearl discovers her secret identity, she learns she’s part of a larger war between battling Atlanteans. A battle that will decide who rules the oceans. A battle raging between evil and her true family. Will she find a way to use her powers in time to save a kingdom she never knew existed?
This is the start of a young adult fantasy action adventure novel series. “Free sweet summer young adult paranormal with death-defying underwater rescues.” Reviewer
Other books in the Atlantis series: Atlantis Red Tide, Atlantis Rising Tide, Atlantis Tide Breaker, Atlantis Dark Tides, Atlantis Twisting Tides, Atlantis Glacial Tides
Atlantis Riptide by Allie Burton is another book in the Spark book bundle. Like with the other books, I went in blind. I had no idea what to expect except for the title and the cover. The story premise surprised me and I do think this series has potential. Let me tell you why.
I like books with a circus theme, but most of these books have the characters run away from home to join the circus. Pearl is running away from her life at the circus. Her gift makes her feel like an outsider and she wants to start over. It’s like a reversal of what you usually read in books with circuses. It’s only a small part of the book but needed to build the character of Pearl.
Another thing I like in books is a new perspective on something old. Burton reimagined merfolk with her series and she’s done it well. The normal humans are afraid of her and her gift even when it’s not a threatening gift. Being hated or disliked just because you’re a little different is hard. I don’t like to see it in real life, nor in books. That’s why I have problems with the first half of the book.
The first part of the story focuses on Pearl and her adaption to her new life and how it’s turned upside down by saving a little boy. Just as her internal struggle seems to have calmed down, she finds out she’s not alone. She’s part of something bigger and it’s up to her to decide what she’s going to do with that information. I suspect the follow-up, Atlantis Red Tide, will deal with this more deeply.
Atlantis Riptide has earned 3 stars. The story is interesting, but what drew me in only appeared in the latter half of the book. I am glad that I kept reading because I would’ve missed the part that I liked if I quit reading. I hope that the next books in the series focus more on this than on Pearl’s relationship with her ‘parents’.
