Saturday, August 24, 2013

REVIEW: SURFACE (Surface, #1) by Tiffany Daune

Title: Surface
Series: Surface, #1
Author: Tiffany Daune
Publisher: Noble Young Adult
Publication Date: February, 2013
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 4/5

SUMMARY

Bound to the water bound to land, a Siren’s soul will never be safe on either side of the ocean’s surface. Hidden beneath the rolling waves lies the secret to Theia’s past and as she unveils each haunting truth, she realizes the last seventeen years of her life have been a lie. Now, drawn into a mysterious new world and with nowhere to turn, Theia must place her trust in Luc, a beautiful boy who stops her heart with each dazzling smile, but even his unearthly charm can’t hide the truth—he has secrets— dark secrets binding him to his world—an underwater world where Theia will never belong—a world determined to destroy her soul.


REVIEW

Never realizing that she is different and could be extremely valuable, Theia lived a normal life for seventeen years. That is until she is abducted and dumped into the sea. Soon she discovers her true roots, befriends the beautiful Artagasian boy, Luc, and realizes that several greedy, selfish people are after her blood. Literally!

Although Surface is not a long book and reads at a comfortable pace, it has a great deal of action, drama and nail-biting suspense. As this book is entirely set outside of Theia's school, it does not contain the usual school politics present in so many young adult novels. Still, make no mistake, this story has its fair share of young people, their concerns and their joys. As Surface deals with a fair amount of romance between young adults, it definitely contains some thoroughly poignant as well as passionate moments.

The characters are well-crafted and fleshed out. I found however, that one of the secondary characters, Celeste, almost comes across stronger and better developed than the main character, Theia. Celeste's frivolous nature and her mood swings give her a personality presence not often found in secondary characters. Theia, on the other hand, does not really have much time to display distinct personality traits as she is thrown from one impossibly difficult situation to another. However, as the story progresses and Theia faces numerous challenges, she becomes much more assertive than she is in the beginning.

Hugh, the greedy, grudge-bearing antagonist in the book is as evil as they come and doesn't even have any mercy for his own son. The counsel of the Artagasians, not so much a bad presence as a threatening one, will do anything to protect their tribe. 

Set in the modern world combined with fantasy, romance, the sea and a touch of Syrian mythology, Surface is a book that should appeal to many readers of all ages. Let's hope that we'll soon see more from this brilliant author who can write such a unique tale of fantasy.


READ more REVIEWS

Surface by Tiffany Daune has 47 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

PURCHASE LINK


ABOUT the AUTHOR

Tiffany Daune doesn’t get why people want to grow up, or why anyone would ever stop eating candy. Her purse is filled with books, lip gloss and a few pieces of Lego bricks. She writes best with a dish of chocolate chips on hand, and finds licorice makes a better straw than plastic.

She lives on an island and believes mermaids may be raiding her candy stash, though she hasn’t caught them, yet. 



AUTHOR LINKS

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