It took a little bit for me to get into The Rift, but once I did, I couldn’t stop reading! It reminded me a bit of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, as both this book and that series have magical realism and mythicism galore, and although adults are present, it’s clear that these books are about the young people and what their lives are like. And of course, there’s a little bit of a love interest going on between a few of the younger characters as well.
Something about fictional worlds that aren’t really that far removed from reality is enchanting to me, and obviously many other readers as well, since there are oodles of books to choose from in teen and YA bookstore and library collections. Whether it’s vampires, mystical creatures, a whole other planet, or any of the other myriad choices for plots and characters out there, something about an escape from reality is clearly what we crave. The Rift is one of those books that doesn’t tell a long and drawn out story, but the short story that it does tell is rife with details and action. Within the first few chapters, multiple characters are introduced and they all have important roles to play; however it’s made clear that this story is about Meg and Cal and how they will perform under pressure.
From the beginning, the reader is thrown into a world of violence and supposed “good” versus “evil”. Black Water Island is the place Cal has called home for his entire life up until this point, and he’s spent much of his time as a Ranger defending the island he lives on from the terror that dwells inside the Rift. Cal’s old friend Meg has been gone from the island for some time, but she returns just in time to distract Cal with her attractive looks and offer him an opportunity at heroics. Meg is the picture of a tomboy, and has some baggage she’s carrying with her, but is more than willing to get involved in protecting the island she came back to.
Violence is quite prevalent in this book, but that might be just the thing you need to lure the teen boy in your life who loves videogames into reading this book. Although I’m not a gamer myself, The Rift is a book that reminded me of the basis of a game, something fun and adventurous to escape into and make your imagination go wild. And as a plus, I can imagine the author adding on to this story and maybe making it into a series, or at least a trilogy!
Review of an Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Candlewick
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 6 religious exclamations, 3 mild obscenities, 3 religious profanities, 6 scatological words, 21 anatomical terms, 1 F-word derivative.
Violence/Gore: A wild animal attacks a group of adults and minors, blood is mentioned and a few mild injuries occur; an animal is found dead in a trappers snare; a mythical creature is injured and a few characters are worried about it; a brief scene occurs with a dead deer depicted hanging from a noose and how the carcass looked, blood is mentioned briefly; a brief description of an animals death is given; a minor recalls an injury and some blood in a wound in a brief scene; a brief scene occurs of a minor trying to rescue her mother from an attack by a man; feral dogs and the damage they can do are mentioned; stories are told of nightmares and a brief description of blood and bodies found in a very bad state is mentioned; a minor’s father is killed and they remember some very brief details of the dead body laid out on a dock; an animal bites a character; a hunting scene is described where a rabbit is found injured and then characters put it out of its misery by hitting it on the head; an imaginary creature is described in brief detail; a minor uses a machete in self-defense against an attacking animal and is helped by onlookers in an extended scene; a woman holds a hatchet to fight a stag that is attacking her; a dead animal is mentioned to smell and release a black substance; a brief scene is depicted with an attacking animal and several characters defending themselves against it, blood is described to be covering those defending themselves; a brief scene of violence and cracking a skull is depicted; a minor is injured after an animal attacks and a bloody wound is described; a flashback to an injury where character recalls blood and gore is described briefly; a scene with a fight involving bones breaking and a glimpse of blood and bone is mentioned; a fight is briefly described with guns used to hit and injure people occurs, a nose is broken and blood is mentioned; a man is seen severely injured in a brief scene; a fight between two people occurs and a bird is mentioned to peck at the flesh of one of the people fighting; a crossbow digs into the side of a minor while in a violent encounter with an attacking wild boar; a detailed violent fighting scene occurs with blood and black ooze coming from an injured animal, minors are injured in the fight and a laceration is mentioned in a brief scene; a minor is mentioned to punch an adult in the face during an altercation; bloody clothes are mentioned to be burned.
Sex/Nudity: Minors kiss in a brief scene; a girl and boy bathe nude together in a non-sexual encounter; “canoodling” is mentioned to possibly have occured between two minors; mother mentions her lack of sexual encounters to her minor daughter; a girl is embarrassed to find her bra is transluscent after swimming; a brief scene occurs where a minor boy sees a minor girl bathing iin her bra and it is implied he is attracted to her; a girl is mentioned to strip down to her underwear to swim with male and female peers; sexual innuendo is implied between teens; a minor boy is mentioned to fantasize about being with a minor girl and able to touch her in a sexual way.
Mature Subject Matter:
Cancer; invasive surgery; magical realism; fantasy creatures; death of a parent; death.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Littered beer cans are mentioned; exposure to hallucinogenic drugs are mentioned.
