Rippler (The Ripple Trilogy) [Kindle Edition]

Cidney Swanson (Author)

Book Description

Over Two Weeks on the Amazon Teen Bestseller List!
When Samantha Ruiz turns invisible in front of team mates on a rafting trip,

she knows something's wrong with her. According to her knowledgeable
friend Will, she's got a rare genetic disorder. Fearing a lifetime
sentence as a lab-rat, Sam wants to keep her ability secret. But she
also wants to know if there's a connection between dark Nazi experiments
on others like her and her own mother's death eight years earlier. At
the same time that Sam is sleuthing, she's falling hard for Will. And
soon, she'll have to choose between keeping her secrets hidden and
keeping Will safe.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

That night I dreamed of Will. I was his cross-country partner, our feet beating out a rhythm on hot pavement beneath a blistering sun. This rhythm, Will running at my side, became the cadence to which my heart beat. Then we were small children and he was chasing me through piles of autumn leaves. At last I was his lover, and I pressed him to my heart while snow fell silently around us. I sat up, suddenly awake in the soundless dark of a chill morning.

About the Author

Hey Book Lovers! My name is Cidney and I'm a full time writer of young adult science fiction and fantasy novels. (That is, when I can persuade my cat to move off the keyboard.) I'm easily distracted by shiny things such as new book covers, direct sunlight, and Mars set against an inky night sky. My year so far has included learning to milk goats, baking thirteen pies for friends who wanted Wedding Pie instead of cake, and trying to tan my pasty-white Oregon skin. (That last isn't going too well.) If you'd like to visit, I hang out at cidneyswanson.com where I natter on about this and that, assuming I haven't been distracted by something shiny.

Product Details

• File Size: 351 KB
• Print Length: 288 pages
• Publisher: Williams Press; 2 edition (March 8, 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0052ZLUQQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,039 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #72 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent paranormal YA! July 6, 2011

By K. Nash

Format:Paperback

Do you ever start a book and know, just know, from the very first line that you're going to love it? That's how I felt about Rippler. It drew me in from the very beginning and that great first impression extended through the whole book for me.

Besides the beautiful cover, there's a lot to like about Rippler. Sam is just a regular girl until she starts turning invisible. She has no idea what's going on, or the cause of her new invisibility, until her cross county friend Will witnesses one of her "spells". Will covers for her to keep Sam out of trouble, and the two become fast friends. The story takes off from there as Sam discovers more about her new talent as well as threats from people looking to exploit her.

Rippler has great characterization. I loved Swanson's character development, and especially the way she writes emotion. The world-building was also very intricate, which I loved. I liked how the communication between the "mysterious man from France" was included in the beginnings of the chapters. It added some great depth.

One thing I really liked about Rippler was that it touches on depression. So often, mental illness is overlooked or made out to be a character flaw in literature, especially YA literature. Swanson brings depression and its far-reaching effects out into the open. I like reading about characters with real issues. When someone goes through a traumatic event, I like when they have a realistic response to it, instead of just bouncing back like nothing happened.

Rippler was a great start to a promising new series. I have to note that Cidney Swanson is such a nice person. She has been so friendly, understanding and gracious in our email communications.... Don't you just love it when you like an author personally as well as enjoy their work? I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series! Read more ›

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Clean read, good story line February 27, 2012

By S. E. Woodman

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had gotten this book as a free download, figuring I'd get around to it after all the other books I'd downloaded. I ended up reading it when I'd finished one of my other books, and loved it. I ended up staying up until 2am reading it. Then, I wanted the rest of the series. And I am one who prefers free downloads to paying for books, whenever possible :)

The books were clean, the story line straightforward, and not over or under done, and the characters were engaging.

I would recommend this for young- to mid-teens to adult. There is just a hint of a relationship between a boy and a girl, but their interaction is minimal by most standards, and I tend to be on the conservative side :)

Definitely worth a read.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling and romantic October 2, 2011

By Danielle

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

4.5/5 stars (rounded up for Amazon)

A blend of science fiction, historical novel, thriller and romance, Rippler was an incredibly intriguing story that I just couldn't put down. Told from the perspective of Samantha Ruiz, Swanson crafts a compelling mystery surrounding a rare genetic disease, interspersing Sam's story of discovery with passages of an old journal written by a Nazi scientist who conducted rather horrendous psychological experiments during WWII. I found this blending of the past and present fascinating and very well paced. For just as I am about to sigh blissfully from the sweetness that is Will & Sam, Swanson reminds us again and again in increasingly disturbing ways that all is not well -- that the situation is serious and dangerous. It's shocking and unsettling, and it is good storytelling.

Sam was a protagonist that I really identified with right from the beginning. Despite her confusing and sometimes inconvenient new-found ability to ripple - or turn herself invisible - she is very much a normal girl who's just discovered she's a little more abnormal than she thought. Just beginning to heal from her mother's death in a tragic car accident years earlier, Sam doesn't have a whole lot of people she can call friends. As a result of the trauma of seeing her mother die, Sam spent many years withdrawn inside herself, depressed and lonely. However all that begins to change with the reappearance of an old childhood friend and the arrival of her cute new neighbor, Will. As Sam begins to open up to her new friends, she begins to learn more about herself than she could have ever imagined possible.

While I have never experienced personal tragedy to the extent that Sam has, I can definitely relate to her.... She's someone who has experienced real sorrow, and it has matured her. Although she's been socially withdrawn since her mother's death, Sam is not a wall flower, painfully shy or socially inept. Instead, she just needs friends who don't view her through the tainted lenses of her past, and she finds them in Gwyn and Will. Though she has a lot of the same insecurities most girls share, they're not debilitating - she's a confident and intelligent young lady. She's just a normal girl. I mean, despite the fact that her genes allow her to ripple. Sam is someone I could see myself befriending and I really enjoyed getting to know her character throughout the book.

There were so many things I loved about Rippler, but perhaps the item that tops my list is the friendship between Sam & Will. Swanson did a wonderful job establishing them as good friends before the idea of romantic entanglement surfaced. They have a genuine connection, a comfortableness with each other. I'm of the opinion that relationships tend to be deeper when there's a well-established friendship at the foundation of the romance. And perhaps I'm just an incurable romantic but there's something incredibly swoon-worthy about suddenly realizing you're falling in love with your best friend. Sam & Will are just so sweet and adorable, as is their budding romance, and I can't wait to see where their story takes them.

One of my biggest hang-ups with plots that delve into the scientific realm is credibility. Sometimes the science is just laughable, sometimes it's just too vague, sometimes it just doesn't quite feel plausible. I have no idea how much of the things discussed in Rippler are grounded in actual fact, just theoretical or just plain made up, but Swanson writes with an authority that makes me think it could be. And that's really what matters. It doesn't matter how true the science is, it's a matter of "does the author make me believe it could be?" And she does.

Overall, Swanson has written a thrilling and romantic tale that had me alternately curling my toes in delight and gasping in horror, but that ultimately left me extremely satisfied... or unsatisfied, because I can't wait to read the next book. Read more ›

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Really great read! Nice storyline and mystery! September 22, 2011

By Lisa

Format:Kindle Edition

When Samantha suddenly turns invisible on a canoeing trip with her cross-country team, she is shocked when she realises that her friend, Will, is now aware of her secret. He's witnessed her in action and knows more about her ability than she does herself. Who is he and where is he getting his information from? In their possession is a journal from over a century ago, and in it they discover the deep dark secrets of a disturbed stranger, which could give them more grief than help.

I enjoyed Cidney's writing style immediately. It was simple and in a way which conveyed Sam's exhilaration and the novel's mystery element really well. What seem to be riddles in the old journal are actually reports of experiments done on children in captivity. One plate less of food is provided to pit the children against each other, blankets are removed in the freezing weather for the same reason, water is withheld and only some unknown and possibly poisonous liquid is offered... It's a game of survival, designed to pick out the fittest, meanest and most ruthless. Who is willing to do anything? These flashback scenes are intriguing, and when you discover the way they link with the present... *gasp* Oh my!

Will and Sam have a thing for each other, obviously, but they don't act on their feelings very often. The times they do hug and kiss are adorable though. How about those friends-fall-in-love stories! Will lives with his sister, Mickie, and she just might be my favourite character. Responsible with a hint of cheeky...what's not to like? Her university professor was a man called Pfeffer, someone who's now dead. Theory: Everyone who knows about the Rippler Syndrome is picked off one by one. Fact: One false move and they're in big trouble....

I enjoyed reading about their exploration of invisibility and seeing the mystery unfold, but I would have liked to see more action and plot. There are hints and trickles of the plot throughout, which culminate to form an exciting last few chapters. Some spread would've improved Rippler a whole deal but despite that, this was a fun, yet serious, novel which should have just the right amount of mystery to pull you in. A good debut novel by Swanson! Read more ›

More About the Author

Hi Everyone! My name is Cidney and I'm a full time writer of young adult science fiction and fantasy novels. (That is, when I can persuade my cat to move off the keyboard.) I'm easily distracted by shiny things such as new book covers, direct sunlight, and Mars set against an inky night sky. My year so far has included learning to milk goats, baking thirteen pies for friends who wanted Wedding Pie instead of cake, and trying to tan my pasty-white Oregon skin. (That last isn't going too well.) If you'd like to visit, I hang out at cidneyswanson.com where I natter on about this and that, assuming I haven't been distracted by something shiny. I live in Oregon's Willamette Valley with my husband, three kids, a dog, and two cats and entirely too much rain.