Whatever flaws we might identify or frustrations we might feel are trivial in comparison to a reader's pure joy in losing himself/herself in a narrative. When all the elements come together: an intriguing plot, thoughtful, profound themes, complex, troubling, characters, and language that make us shudder for its honesty, clarity, and confidence; we gratefully set all analysis aside and give ourselves up to the sheer magic of a great book. And for me, Rising Tide: Dark Innocence is such a book.
The story had every element a good story should have. An exciting plot, attention to detail, but best of all fleshed out, well-written and well-rounded character development. There’s an abundance of well illustrated scenes that really make you feel like you are right there in the story, and that's something I really look for in a good book.
The book description says it all; “Isolated and sheltered by her lonely mother, Maura's never been able to make friends. She seems to drive her classmates away—except for the odd times they pay enough attention to torture her—but she doesn’t understand why. Maura considers herself to be a freak of nature, with her unusually pale skin and an aversion to the sun that renders her violently nauseous. Her belief is only worsened by the fact that almost everyone around her keeps their distance.
Even her own father deserted her before she was born, leaving Maura alone with her emotionally distant mother, Caelyn. Even though Maura is desperate for answers about her unknown parent, Caelyn remains heartbroken and her daughter can’t bring herself to reopen her mother’s wounds. Or is there a more sinister reason Caelyn refuses to utter a word about her long-lost love?
When a cruel prank nearly claims Maura’s life, one of her classmates, Ron, rushes to her rescue. Darkly handsome & mysteriously accepting, Ron doesn’t seem to want to stay away, but Maura is reluctant to get too close, since her mother has announced she’s moving the two of them to Vancouver…nearly 3,000 miles away from their hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.
If life wasn’t already challenging enough, Maura begins to experience bizarre, physical changes her mother seems hell bent on ignoring, compelling Maura to fear for her own life. Vicious nightmares, blood cravings, failing health and the heart-shattering loss of Ron—as well as the discovery of a tangled web of her own mother's lies—become obstacles in Maura's desperate quest for the unfathomable truth she was never prepared to uncover.” If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, I don’t know what will. If you want to find out what happens next, you’ll just have to turn the pages yourself to find out!
This captivating and commendable work had me immersed from the beginning. The story flows from scene to scene with ease, and the author shows exceptional skill when it comes to storytelling. There are attention-grabbing moments in this page turner that will take the reader on a spellbinding journey!
It’s one of those stories that come along once in awhile that makes you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end. I’m giving nothing further away here. And this, I hope, will only add to the mystery and enjoyment for the reader!
I’ll certainly be looking forward to reading more from Claudette Melanson in the future. I would definitely recommend this book. Five stars from me.
‘Claudette Melanson writes & edits in Kitchener, Ontario with her four bun babies: Tegan, Pepper, Butters & Beckett. She graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a BA in English, BS in English Education and an MA in Literature. Harboring a deep admiration of vampires since the age of five left her with the desire to eventually become one, and now fuels the creation of her favorite paranormal characters. She hopes to one day work full time as an author, since there are many, many stories playing out inside her head.’
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![Rising Tide: Dark Innocence (The Maura DeLuca Trilogy Book 1) by [Claudette Melanson, Rachel Montreuil]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516n55uHEzL._SY346_.jpg)
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Fans of Twilight will enjoy this!
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2018
Claudette does a wonderful job of weaving a young girl's coming of age with the anxiety of self-discovery and all the issues that go along with it.
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2018
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Top reviews from other countries
Avid Novel Reader
Something A Little Different
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 15, 2021
Avid Novel Reader
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 15, 2021
The Opening
The first chapter opens with an interesting hook and quickly establishes Maura as a sympathetic character. It also features an intriguing end that hints there’s more going on that we realize.
The Characters
Maura is an instantly sympathetic character because of the imposed move introduced in the first paragraph. As the first chapter progresses, it’s clear she’s an underdog and also suffering from a debilitating skin condition, which helps to increase the readers’ interest. In later parts of the book, we become more invested in her as she has more and more to lose.
Mom (Caelyn) is a complex and interesting character. There are elements of her character that I find illogical within the context of the story. For example, the name she gave Maura and the reasons for that as well as the reasons for her depression and anxiety.
Initially, it all seems to make sense. However, by the end of this book, some of the reasoning has been eroded to the extent that her initial personality becomes somewhat implausible. I may be too harsh about this. There are reasons for Caelyn to feel as she does. It’s just that the reasons are not nearly as good toward the end.
Katie Parker and her brother are well introduced and sketched. In some ways, she’s the most interesting character. She is a caricature of the popular girl in school, but I liked her backstory.
Ron is cute. I like the little things he does for Maura and his faithfulness toward his mom. Through his interaction with Maura, speaking about music and other interests, both characters are made more three-dimensional with a distinct life beyond the plot.
The Plot
For much of the novel, the plot follows the countdown archetype. Maura and her mom are moving to Canada, and there is a set future date when this must happen. Much of the conflict and tension revolves around the timing of this move and its implications in Maura’s life.
Also, it is clear that Maura is going through interesting hormonal changes in this coming-of-age tale. But said changes are a little more extreme than average. Running in tandem with these changes we have Maura’s serious health issues. These also subscribe to the countdown archetype in that set times are given for events to occur, and we’re working toward them.
The health-scare approach to the paranormal elements is unique. I like the novelty of how Maura’s supernatural biology and abilities are introduced slowly throughout the story. In that way, there are many similarities to Stephen King’s Carrie. However, I did find some elements of the health scare conflict frustrating.
It becomes clear pretty soon that mom is hiding something, and I felt throughout that if Mom would just be open and transparent, most of the tension would disappear. That would be a good thing if it were not for the fact that Mom’s withholding of the information is illogical. The longer she keeps secrets, the more dangerous the situation becomes.
There are a few tiny hiccups in the plot. For example, Maura receives a dentist appointment before she gets her health card after it’s been stressed that she can’t made any appointments or take any medical tests until after she gets said card.
Another issue is regarding Maura’s newfound mental abilities. At the end of her stay in Indiana, her abilities help her to stay ahead of the curve in school. In Vancouver, it feels as though they all suddenly disappear.
I find it implausible that Shane doesn’t know about Ron’s extended family and situation when they’ve been friends their entire life. I also don’t much like the simple resolution of the final relationship conflict. It just seems too easy.
The resolution of the health scare plot line feels rather deus ex machina. Most of the remaining conflict is resolved by an external agency that is only a background element of the preceding story. However, to be fair, said agency is well foreshadowed, so it doesn’t come entirely out of the blue.
The ending does generate a nice hook encouraging the reader to continue on to the next book. I wonder what will happen to Maura next and how she will deal with her relationship with Ron. It’s all very intriguing.
The Setting
The physical setting is well sketched. The magic system is pretty cool and is well introduced through the changes in Maura and small incidents that occur throughout the story.
The Prose
Generally, the prose is clear and this story is successfully shown rather than told. There are a few small things I didn’t like.
The story as a whole feels slow paced to me. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but it just seems to drag a little between the action scenes.
I do like that the paranormal elements are small and scattered and introduced slowly, but not the long gaps between where relatively little seems to happen. The relationship is definitely slow burn and not your typical teen-hormone-driven fast-paced romance.
Within Maura’s first person narrative, I don’t like that she calls her mom Caelyn. If she calls her mom Caelyn in dialogue, I would be fine with it. However, if she calls her mom “Mom” when addressing her or when speaking with other people about her, then she should also call her Mom in her thoughts. Otherwise, it distracts me from the story and somewhat spoils my immersion.
My Opinion
I enjoyed the growing relationship between Maura and Ron, the magic system, and Maura’s slow discovery of herself. However, I would have preferred a faster pace and a better reason for Mom to keep secrets. I am going to rate this YA paranormal romance 7 out of 10, which will translate to 4 out of 5 on Goodreads and Amazon.
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K. G. A. Alavi
The vampire diary
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 5, 2022
Joni Martins
Interesting Young Adult fantasy. Teenage Angst and some more.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 14, 2019
Su
Dark Innocence, this truly is.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 21, 2015
Su
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 21, 2015
So I delved deep within the pages and became hooked. Its hard to say why without giving anything away but this story really flowed for me, I just had to keep reading. The 'Dark Innocence' part of the title is more than appropriate with Minks mother (sorry but liked this little pet name better than Maura) seemingly wishing to keep her daughter as an innocent child. Being very secretive, and for a very good reason (dragged out to the very end) not allowing her daughter to mature into something that is inevitable.
This book covers some issues that many growing teens will experience such as peer pressure and finding where you fit into the world. Making new friends and being able to accept their help in times of trouble. I hope I haven't said too much?
I recommend this highly for teens & young adults or even old fans of paranormal like me. Don't take my word for it try it for yourself.
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Kindle Customer
A captivating tale!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 10, 2018
