Review: The Eternal Sea

After the thrilling journey that led Camille through the dangerous discovery of love, secrets, and a magical stone that grants immortality, Camille has everything she wants. She's escaped the men who wanted her dead, and now she is ready to build a new life with Oscar, her one true love. But things are not to be so simple. Oscar is acting strangely, and before they can even board a ship from Australia back home, to San Francisco, Camille learns that the journey is not over. If she does not follow the magic of the curse of Umandu, her life and Ocar's could be in grave danger.

I really enjoyed the first in this series, Everlasting, but just about gave up on this one. What is the deal in YA books where the guy treats the girl horribly for her own good? There is some reason why she shouldn't love him, so instead of treating her with respect and letting her make up her own mind, he is rude and tries to push her away. I loathe that aspect in storytelling, and this book had it in spades.

And then there's the love triangle. Oh, yay. The plot device authors use when they don't have enough brain power to come up with a story that will stand on its own. So with these two very big strikes against it, my enjoyment of The Eternal Sea was lessened quite a bit.

But then I remembered the books I read when I was a teen. I loved those Sunfire romances, where just about the whole plot was a girl choosing between two boys. So the problem is I'm not a teenager anymore (or an adult who would love to re-live my teenage years). It's not necessarily that the book itself is bad.

There are some interesting and unique elements here, and it's a quick, easy read. So all in all, not entirely a waste of a few hours. It's just definitely not on my list of best YA fantasy.  
Grade: C 
 
Links:
On Amazon: The Eternal Sea 
Author website: Angie Frazier

Everlasting

Title: Everlasting
Author: Angie Frazier
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 336
Why I read it: ARC Tour
Grade: A-

Synopsis:
Sailing aboard her father’s trade ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a girl of society in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love, or condemn herself and her father to poverty.

On her final voyage before the wedding, the stormy arms of the Tasman Sea claim her father, and a terrible family secret is revealed. A secret intertwined with a fabled map, the mother Camille has long believed dead, and an ancient stone that wields a dangerous—and alluring—magic.

The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar, a handsome young sailor whom she is undeniably drawn to. Torn between trusting her instincts and keeping her promises to her father, Camille embarks on a perilous quest into the Australian wilderness to find the enchanted stone. As she and Oscar elude murderous bushrangers and unravel Camille’s father’s lies, they come closer to making the ultimate decision of who—and what—matters most.

My review:
I really loved this book. Way more than I expected to when I read the synopsis. It was wonderfully paced. Some books have action scene after action scene, without giving you any time to even catch your breath. This one definitely has action, but there are also some scenes where the reader can get to know the characters and the setting.

And I loved the characters. Camille is a great heroine, and I was really feeling the romance between her and Oscar. Oscar felt like a man, rather than the boys I so often read about in YA novels. Which makes me question why I read YA so often, since it's quite understandable that the male leads would still be boys. But it's nice to come across a more mature, manly character every once in awhile.

I never got bored while reading, or felt that the story started to get slow or tiresome. The only problem I had with it was that most of the action was packed into what felt like a very rushed ending. As I was nearing the end of the book I kept wondering if there was going to be a big cliffhanger or something, because with the amount of pages left, there's no way the author was going to wrap up everything that needed to happen. But she did, and sadly, it felt incredibly rushed. Everlasting seems like it could be the first in a series, but it stands on it's own as well.

I will definitely read more by Angie Frazier, and would highly recommend this one to fans of YA.