Review: Waterfell (The Aquarathi #1) – Amalie Howard

Posted 4 December, 2013 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 14 Comments

Review: Waterfell (The Aquarathi #1) – Amalie HowardWaterfell by Amalie Howard
Series: The Aquarathi #1
Published by Harlequin Teen on 29 October 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 360
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

2 Stars

Nerissa Marin hides among teens in her human form, waiting for the day she can claim her birthright—the undersea kingdom stolen from her the day her father was murdered. Blending in is her best weapon—until her father's betrayer confronts Nerissa and challenges her to a battle to the death on Nerissa's upcoming birthday—the day she comes of age.

Amid danger and the heartbreak of her missing mother, falling for a human boy is the last thing Nerissa should do. But Lo Seavon breaches her defenses and somehow becomes the only person she can count on to help her desperate search for her mother, a prisoner of Nerissa's mortal enemy. Is Lo the linchpin that might win Nerissa back her crown? Or will this mortal boy become the weakness that destroys her?

*I received a free ARC of Waterfell from Harlequin Teen via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

Waterfell is a strange story about Nerissa, her handlers and her best friend. Nerissa is trying her best to fit in at a human school, blending in is almost second nature. Until she realizes she is closer to her coming of age than she thought, and she has some serious decisions to make. Her decisions aren’t only for her own future, but that of her whole people – if you can call them that.

Nerissa is a sea-creature from a place deep in the sea – Waterfell – and she has no trouble acting like a self-absorbed human teenager most of the time. I did not particularly like Nerissa, I thought her best friend, Jenna is the one character I really enjoyed. She is smart, funny, sporty and the best friend any character can hope to get. I guess Waterfell is not the story that could get me to love sea-creatures in my stories. But I think that those readers who do enjoy that brand of paranormal will love it! There are some twists that aren’t expected, and if you love those from the ocean, you might understand things differently from what I did.

The plot is pretty straight-forward, as is the story. When Nerissa comes of age, she will become the queen of her people, but there is an evil queen who has usurped her place after killing her father. So there are fights on the horizon. Nerissa is easily distracted from her purpose by Lo, the new boy in school, the one she really wants to hate, but can’t help but admiring. I think this part of the story is what made me not enjoy it. It was pretty predictable, both the way the romance unfolded and some things about Lo as well.

The writing is good, though, and it flows well. It just didn’t flow into my heart to make me swoon and feel for the characters, but as I said, this might very well be because I don’t have a deep love for sea-creatures and the way they do things. Towards the end of Waterfell, Nerissa became pretty paranoid, and that is a good thing! She should have been more careful with things long before then, but as she was too caught up in her own drama, she didn’t really see what those around her were going through.

I’d turned my back on it – all of it, not just my family and my people, but my home. I’d pretended to be human because it’d been so much simpler to be nobody than to fight to be somebody.

And then the truth hits me like a curling wave. I don’t hate him at all.

Lo’s absentee mother aside – his biological father died when he was a baby – he seems to have everything he wants at this fingertips.

Selfish? Probably. Smart? Probably not.

What’s the worst that can happen?

But the one to Lo is barely a page, barely a sentence.

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Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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14 responses to “Review: Waterfell (The Aquarathi #1) – Amalie Howard

    • I’m not a huge sea creature fan myself. but the summary for this one sounded pretty good.
      Thanks for stopping by, Stormi!

    • I think that readers who usually enjoy reading about sea-creatures might enjoy this one, though, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

      Thanks for stopping by, Melliane 🙂

    • I hope you’ll enjoy it, Pamela! I have seen some reviews that are a lot more positive than mine 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by!

  1. Hmm, well I was waiting to see what you thought of Waterfell, Lexxie. After reading your review, I may read it one day, but I won’t be in any hurry. I can’t say as I’ve read any book with sea creatures and that’s one thing that made me curious about Waterfell. But I’m not liking the sound of Nerissa. I’m glad the writing was good and you enjoyed it somewhat – even if it didn’t make you fall in love. 🙂

    Great review, my dear! I hope your day has gone splendidly. *hugs*

    • Hey Brandee 🙂 My day was great – all spent in planes and airports, but in the end, I arrived and finally got to see my best friend!!

      Yeah, Waterfell did entice me to want to read it, but I guess sea-creatures and I just don’t get along. But that’s OK.

      Have a wonderful day, my friend. *hugs*

    • I think that’s exactly it for me, too, Braine. I just don’t get those guys from the sea at all. And this doesn’t remind me of The Little Mermaid – which is probably the only sea-creature story I’ve ever enjoyed…
      Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  2. I had similar feelings to the book. I think I looked the idea of the plot more than the execution. I really really didn’t like Narissa…she was a total mean girl. The other characters weren’t bad, but she was a bitchy brat.

    • Yeah, I loved the idea, too, but that’s about it 🙁 And Narissa… don’t even get me started on her :O

      Thanks for stopping by Lizzy!

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