Waters of Change: Gwendolyn Falling was an engaging teen romance with a twist. This book is similar to Twilight in a few ways, but has mermaids instead of vampires. Also, the romance aspect ends up a bit more complicated than a cut-and-dry girl meets boy.
The plot was captivating and the book was well-written (although there were quite a few editing errors, but that happens in self-publishing). (Editor’s Note: Author has sub-sequentially made corrections.) The book held quite a bit of excitement, with kidnapping, possible murder, and more. The ideas of the book were original, but brought in some familiar folk-lore about mermaids that was fun to read.
The characters, while painted imaginatively by the author, were a bit despicable. Meaning, they each made some very bad choices and were not admirable. This was the biggest downside to the book, since readers usually want to respect their protagonists to some degree.
This book is the beginning of a series, but how long the series will be is unclear. Although it is certain that there will at least be a sequel called Waters of Change: Marcus’ Awakening. This budding author will also be writing another interesting-sounding book called Dust, a romance involving mummies.
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Amy Astorga
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 1 mild obscenity.
Violence/Gore: A character’s teeth fall out in a dream, scene is longer, a bit disturbing, and graphic; rape is mentioned in passing; a character gets a bloody leg injury (not a gory or lengthy scene); a long frightening scene where two characters get slightly injured and almost drown, briefly gory; the pain of a character is described in graphic metaphors, briefly; a mythical murder of a person is discussed; a character says he killed a teen in a mythical way; a character accidentally scratches her own skin, drawing blood; a character is graphically murdered in a mythical way; there are two scenes where a mythical creature undergoes a painful and slightly graphic transformation.
Sex/Nudity: There are a few scenes of sexual tension between teens throughout the book; a teen kisses another teen on the forehead; a teen female checks out the body of a teen male a few times; teens kiss passionately but briefly; a topless mermaid is briefly and graphically described; teens hold hands and kiss; an adult male checks out a teen girl; a male character cuddles with two women; a character’s underwear is accidentally visible; a sexual innuendo is mentioned; teens flirt for a couple pages; teens cuddle briefly; a brief description of teen couples cuddling and kissing and flirting at a party; teens kiss; a male teen passionately kisses and caresses a half-naked woman, slightly graphic; a naked woman is seen, not sexual or graphic; a half-naked woman is seen and her chest is briefly discussed; teens flirt.
Mature Subject Matter:
Abduction, murder, murder of romantic partner, drinking, smoking, infidelity.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
An adult is mentioned as being addicted to cigarettes; an adult smokes a cigarette; adults get drunk at a bar.
