Tempest Rising (Tempest, #1)

by Tracy Deebs

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home, continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark, and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kona, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an other-worldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her - and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

• ISBN10: 0802727964
• ISBN13: 9780802727961
• Publish Date: 8 May 2012 (first published 1 May 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 30 June 2021
• Imprint: Walker & Company
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 344
• Language: English

Reviews

[Raven]

After her mother abandoned her family six years ago for the call of the sea, Tempest is dreading her seventeenth birthday where she will have to choose to remain human, or become a mermaid as well. She is certain that she will stay human. She has her loving father and two brothers, a super hot boyfriend, and great friends, why would she want to leave? But when her attraction to the sea and a mysterious and handsome new boy, Kai, become too much, her mind begins to change. Big things are happening under the waves though, and she just might be the key to saving the underwater world she was planning on rejecting.
The characters were interesting. Tempest has a lot of rage at her mother and is over-dramatic about some things. She is trying to move on and have a life, but she really needs closure from what her mother put her through. She was very hot and cold about things, I felt like she wanted everything and nothing at the same time. For her age, I felt like she shouldn’t be having such a bratty middle schooler outlook on things. I wasn’t a big fan of Mark. He wasn’t a horrible male lead, but you know a triangle looms somewhere and he will be a key player and I just don’t like that. I was a big fan of Kona. Sure, he was harsher than Mark, but he also isn’t human, which gives him the excuse.

The story was nice, but simple. I felt like the build up happened really slow though. I felt like the climax came really late into the story. The interactions between Tempest and her mother left a lot to be wanted. I had expected more from it. When I first read this book, I didn’t know it would become a series, so I was saddened by the ending. Tempest is built up as this girl of prophecy and so when the climax is a minor skirmish, I was less than impressed. After finding out it was a series though, I was impressed. It was just the right taste of the series to make you curious what would happen next.

The book was a good start to the series and I did enjoy it, better than some of the other mermaid stories I have tried. Recommended.

Read this and other reviews at my blog.