Reviews tagging 'Death'

Dark Blue Rising by Teri Terry

2 reviews

lawbooks600's review

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Representation: Minor Asian characters
Score: Six and a half out of ten.

That was a unique book. I wanted to read Dark Blue Rising by Teri Terry for a while but I put it off for a few months until I saw it hiding on a library shelf. It looked like few people read it, so I picked it up and glanced at the intriguing blurb. When I closed the final page, the book was flawed, but enjoyable.

It starts with Tabitha or Tabby, living with her mother, Cate, in the opening pages until Tabby's mother is arrested for an unknown reason and another character took Tabby somewhere else. The pacing is slow in the opening pages, and I thought the entire narrative would be tedious to read, but at least there are more action scenes in the finishing pages. Did I mention Dark Blue Rising is almost 400 pages long? Something was off about Tabby based on her dialogue, making her seem more naïve than her peers, like when she had to learn text messaging. There is a mystery aspect where Tabby discusses an organisation only known as The Circle, whose logo is four connected circles, but it's still unclear who they are, other than an environmentalist group. 

Tabby is now in a leisure centre where she can swim as much as she likes, as it is her passion, then she joins a training program with other swimmers, before finally going to an elite but isolated swimming institution. There are a lot of scenes where I get to see Tabby doing what she enjoys best, but it got tiring and repetitive over time. Tabby's naïveté isn't a new character trait to me as I saw that in other works I've read from different authors. Tabby stays in that final place for a while. Nothing intriguing about that. Except for when Tabby swims alone and discovers a human fish hybrid, which must've been a result of an experiment. The conclusion shows the UK, Tabby's home country, affected by storms, but at that point I disconnected from the narrative. Perhaps Red Sky Burning would be an improvement.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pippat25's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It was ok, wouldn’t read it again but it was a good book. The ending left me feeling like all I read wasn’t really worth it, it cleverly grips the reader to read the sequel. Would have rated it more if it wasn’t for the disappointing ending that didn’t really explain much.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...