Catherine Jones Payne

The talented Catherine has brought us a short sweet taste of the world she introduced us to in Breakwater. We have a short story from Alexander's point of view. I knocked this story out in a quick sitting, and it actually addressed one of my primary critiques of her debut novel: the rather abrupt introduction of Alexander as a character the romance that seemed to come from nowhere. While I could still do without the romance angle at all (personal preference, nothing to do with the writing) A Gathering Tempest gave us more background on a main character, as well as more build up to the tensions Jade faces in Breakwater. (And I'm not even mentioning the gorgeous cover! Which is beautiful!) I'm looking forward to more from Catherin in the future.… (lisätietoja)

Ok, I've been needing to get this up for awhile now. I've written it in my head several times now, but the hard part is getting it down somewhere outside my head. A big reason that I am not an aspiring author! But I promised Catherine when she sent me the book that I would review it, so here goes! Also, I strongly do not believe in spoilers, so I will do my best to keep them out of this review.

Oh my goodness, mermaids. Catherine (I sorry, I tried to call her Ms. Payne, it just didn't work in my head) crafts a lovely, colorful world full of fish and fins! But all is not well! Tensions between the mermaids and the naiads are at an all time high, and Jade, our protagonist naturally gets stuck right in the middle of it all.

First off, let me say that I read this book in a day. I could not stop. This is the first book I've read that takes place 100% underwater (other than you know... The Rainbow Fish book) and, as mentioned earlier, beautiful and full of color. I think Catherine does an excellent job of being descriptive about this world without weighing the plot down with too much information.

Looking back, probably my favorite part of this excellent read were the naiads. I think the last (and only) series I've read with naiads in it was C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. I love that I got a chance to read these really cool mythical creatures fleshed out some in this book. Also, the naiads are where we get one of the major themes running through the book, that of tensions between different species. Especially given our current history, the timing is particularly apt for this topic, and while we aren't given all the answers (because, let's face it, nothing is that easy) I think Catherine does an excellent job portraying how a seventeen year old girl would think about and process these issues. (For those of you complaining about Jade and her friends being more concerned with their appearance and boys than what's going on in the world around them has clearly never been or known a seventeen year old girl.)

Another reason I love Jade is I can only think of two other fantasy series' that prominently features a more introverted female protagonist (Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper Trilogy and The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine) and I LOVE this. It's a small thing, but being an introvert, I identify with introverts. REPRESENT! Quietly, in your own homes.

As it was a large part of the book, I am going to briefly touch on the romance. Mostly I like the romance because it works with some of the tensions between classes into the narrative more closely (not just exploring tension between species, we've got class tension too!) In most novels I can do without the romance, and this is not an exception to that rule.

Alright, so you've read my rambling review! To sum it all up, I really liked this book, you should read it, also Catherine, please give me the next one. Seriously.… (lisätietoja)