annieb123
Written on Feb 23, 2020
Undertow is the first book in a YA fantasy series by K.R. Conway. Released in 2014, it's 390 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. The ebook version is available on most platforms for free to download and read as an introduction to the series which is up to 4 books (plus a prequel) currently.
This was a readable and entertaining YA fantasy with a strong romance subplot and female protagonist. It's full of the type of high school drama and cars/boys/homework/cheerleader/potential world changing apocalypse drama endemic to the genre. There's quite a lot of snarky dialogue which caused me to roll my eyes now and again, but overall it's well written and perfectly readable. (Note: the things I found less-than-stellar about the book will likely be a positive for the intended audience; it's been decades since I was young, and I don't think I've ever been an adult).
I liked the world building. The author has provided a rich background history and captivating world for her characters. The plotting was a little slow in the first half of the book but picked up and accelerated around the 45% mark.
I'm intrigued enough to pick up the next couple books in the series to see how it develops.
Four stars, it'll be interesting to read what comes next. As a bonus, readers don't have to wait for the author to finish the follow-up books
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.