Review ~ Water - Natasha Hardy

eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: 16th August 2013

Publisher: Carina (Harlequin UK)

Description:

Surrender to the power of the water... Alex knows she is different. She’s plagued by nightmares that feel shockingly real and an intense restlessness she cannot explain. As the long hot summer holidays stretch before her, Alex seeks out adventure in the rugged mountains of Injasuthi. But during a camping trip to the mystic jade pools, Alex meets Merrick, a boy who tells her the shocking truth about herself, and Alex's nightmare is about to become reality. Because Alex is no ordinary teenager...she is a half-mermaid and her adventures are only just beginning.

My Opinion

The cover caught my attention of this book. I love the colours and after I read the description it sounded exactly like something I would love. However now that I have read it the only word I can think of to describe this book is boring! I hate to say it as I had high hopes for this book. I mean; revealing truths, mermaids, adventures and an exciting new setting in Africa sounds interesting right? Well it wasn't.

It has taken me over a week to read this book as it just hasn't kept my attention. I started it thinking I would finish it in a few hours but I couldn't engage with it at all and I have had to read two chapters every so often when I felt like it. It literally put me off reading as I didn't want to go back to it. 

I know what you're thinking now though. Why didn't I just mark it as DNF right? Well I hoped it would get better. I've read a lot of books that start off slowly and get better so I gave Water a chance. Then when it became obvious it wasn't going to pick up I had invested so much time in it I felt I had to finish it even though it meant forcing myself through pages of drab, actionless writing.

The imagery was described wonderfully in Water however that's all the book seemed to be. It was a description of cave, after cave, after cave and in the end I began skimming most bits of description and read the speech. I liked the idea of setting the book in Africa but I felt so much more could have been done with it as except from the start it never felt like that's where I was.

The main issue with this book is there is absolutely no action. There was like 2 pages on an iPod but it's hardly anything. Because of this the writing was so slow. It just didn't keep me hooked and I found myself not caring for any of the characters, it was just bland. Without the action there was nothing to fear, sympathise or connect with the characters over so they just felt distant. 

Personally I feel that the whole book was like reading the beginning of a novel and could be condensed into half the or even a quarter of the size so it could lead on into some action. The book stops right on the brink of something happening and for me I just wanted to scream in frustration. I feel I have wasted a lot of time reading this and wish I had DNFd because the narrative just didn't go anywhere. 

There was also this underlying eco message about pollution etc in the ocean which I just found annoying. I don't want to read books with eco messages and it made me lose interest even more as it became obvious where the plot was heading.

Over all this book can only be summed up as boring. It lacked action, intrigue and anything remotely interesting. There was a lot of description that started off well, giving you a good idea of location but it just became too repetitive and boring. I wish I had marked it as DNF and would not recommend it.