Blog Tour Review: Wavecrossed

Title: Wavecrossed
Author: Andrea Colt
Pub. Date: August 22 2013
Genre: Paranormal YA

Blurb:

A young-adult paranormal novel about selkies, tasers, kissing and secrets.
To Cassandra Kelleher, trust is a dirty word. A teenage selkie who grew up on land, all she wants is to free her family from the man who stole their sealskins long ago. With her twin brother Brennan losing hope and her window of opportunity disappearing like the beach at high tide, she’ll try anything. Before long, however, Cassandra can’t tell whether her biggest threat is the man holding her family captive, a classmate who’s discovered her secret, or her own paranoia. Battling broken friendships and alarming romantic entanglements, Cassandra finds that trust could be the key to winning her family’s freedom … or losing her own.

*Click cover for Goodreads page!*

Review:

★★★★

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Overall, this is a pretty solid young adult fantasy read. I read Andrea Colt's first book, a contemporary whodunnit entitled Torched, and absolutely loved it. Wavecrossed is a completely different kind of story, and I have to applaud Colt for making such a drastic changed. I would have never thought that these books were by the same author, going on blurb alone.

The paranormal/fantastical creature that stars in this book is the selkie, which is a being from Scottish mythology that (oversimplified) is a human on land and a seal in the water. I've heard the myth and was familiar with the being, but this is my first time reading a novel with selkies as protagonists. I love werewolves and vampires as much as the next girl, but this was a very refreshing change from the paranormal trends seen lately, in my opinion.

Colt does a great job not only describing what selkies are and how they shift, but the underwater settings and the characters as a whole. It wasn't hard to dive into (no pun intended) Brennan and Cassandra's world. Speaking of which, I really liked the twin dynamic of this. Despite their mythological nature, they seemed very human and believable. They weren't creepily best friends or forever sworn enemies (which I see a lot), but a realistic combination of loving family and bickering annoyance.

I wasn't a huge fan of Cassandra by herself though. I never really connected to her, because she often came off as aggressive and controlling. I understand that her life, and her family's, are on the line, but I wouldn't have wanted to help her, that's for sure. I much preferred Brennan, who seemed less irritating as a whole.

I also found the start of the story to be a bit confusing. I'm not sure what would fix it, maybe a prologue or a back story or something. For the first few chapters I felt like I was reading the start of a sequel, like I was supposed to have already had some concept of the twins' situation and the drama that went along with it. It got better with time, but it made it a bit slow to start for me.

Despite the issues that I had with this book, it is a solid fantasy read from an author that I continue to love. I recommend it to young adult readers with any of the following- an interest in mythology, shifters, or underwater fantasy such as mermaids. If you're not a fan of those, or high school drama, then this may not be for you.

Thank you to Oops I Read A Book Again Blog Tours for my copy in exchange for an honest review.


Buy now:
Amazon | CreateSpace.

About the Author

Andrea Colt grew up reading and squabbling with her identical twin. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, a fridge full of cheese, and two feline muses. Visit to get to know her better.

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