ARC Review: These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice—but Lu suspects something more dangerous is at work.

Devereux is a pirate. As one of the outlaws called stream raiders who run rampant on Grace Loray, he pirates the island’s magic plants and sells them on the black market. But after Argrid accuses raiders of the diplomat’s abduction, Vex becomes a target. An expert navigator, he agrees to help Lu find the Argridian—but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war.

Benat is a heretic. The crown prince of Argrid, he harbors a secret obsession with Grace Loray’s forbidden magic. When Ben’s father, the king, gives him the shocking task of reversing Argrid’s fear of magic, Ben has to decide if one prince can change a devout country—or if he’s building his own pyre.

As conspiracies arise, Lu, Vex, and Ben will have to decide who they really are . . . and what they are willing to become for peace.

My Review

I received a free copy for an honest review.This book was pretty disappointing. It’s such a shame – if only the story is as phenomenal as its cover. I think at this point I have pretty much given up on Sara Raasch’s books. It’s not just the pacing, it’s also the way that she writes her characters and story that just can’t interest me. I tried Snow Like Ashes, and I ended up dropping it. I saw this book and who wrote it, and still decided to give a chance…and it still didn’t’ click for me.

This book was so…dry. It’s not in any way “bad”, because its dialogue flows well and its story makes sense…all the things you need to make a plausible story. For example, the character narrations are not completely identical, you can identify individual characteristics and features that identify each of them. I think the reason I can’t bring myself to be as involved into the story as I would like is that this story failed to live up the expectation of a unique, fantastical adventure story, but what I did end up getting is a mundane, average, standard YA adventure story.

I want to make something clear – I am not bashing this book and labeling it as “bad”. I didn’t enjoy this book as much because simply this book is not for me. You may like it, but I didn’t. I can recognize through the technical aspects that this is not a “badly written book”. It was just too standard and….not interesting.

Rating: 2.5/6

about the author

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, came out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.