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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

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30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
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My Progress:


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2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

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52 / 50 books. 104% done!

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36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

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52 / 52 books. 100% done!

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51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

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37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


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2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

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25 / 25 cozies. 100% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

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5 / 26.2 miles (4th lap). 19% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

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51 / 100 books. 51% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

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99 / 109 books. 91% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

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Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

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139 / 165 books. 84% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

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88 / 100 names. 88% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

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45 / 80 skills. 56% done!
Friday, October 30, 2020

LOST Meets Stranger Things? Does YA sci-fi/horror novel deliver?

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Tasia "Sia" Gianopoulos has spent so much time in the water over the last 17 years of her life that it seems she was born with gills.  These days, she's diving not just for fun but because, with her dad in prison, she and her mom desperately need the money.  Their charter scuba diving business allows them to do what they love and pay the bills.  

Leading diving expeditions to shipwrecks in the Florida Keys is second nature to Sia, but she has an odd, unsettling feeling about visiting the U.S.S. Andrew.  Something about the trip just feels off.  When one of the divers die, the whole group desperately tries to get back to land.  An attack by a horrifying sea monster leaves divers dead, the Gianopoulos' boats in ruins, and four kids stranded on a remote island.  With a thick jungle at their backs and a sea of deadly water in front, there is no escape route.  As the days wear on with no rescue in sight, Sia, her younger brother, and two kids who are virtually strangers to them must learn how to survive on an island where nothing is as it seems.  Can they learn its strange ways?  Can they defeat the sea monster that guards the terrifying secret that may be their only way home?  

When a book is described as LOST meets Stranger Things, it leads the reader to expect a certain level of greatness.  Did Fractured Tide, a debut YA sci fi/horror novel by Leslie Lutz, deliver?  I'm not sure it's possible to totally meet the expectations of such an illustrious billing, but the book offers a story that is tense, tightly-plotted, and exciting.  Told through letters Sia writes to her father, the tale has an intimate feel that just adds to the plot's intensity.  With the urgency of LOST and the eeriness of Stranger Things, it uses classic sci fi/horror elements to keep the reader on the edge of their seat while they burn through the pages to see what happens next.  Entertaining and satisfying, Fractured Tide is simply a good read.  Despite some violence and gore, it's also a mostly clean read that I can hand to my 15-year-old LOST lover without reservation.  I love that.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:

  

(possibly PG-13—for violence, blood/gore, and scenes of peril)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

13 comments:

  1. I love love this premise. I adored the first couple of seasons of Lost and I love the general weirdness of Stranger Things. Plus I love the setting on this one. I'm not in the mood for this one right now but I'm adding it to my TBR list for later.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm big on both LOST and Stranger Things, although I like the type of scare factor LOST offers better than the Stranger Things version - The Underneath is seriously creepy!

      I hope you like this one when you read it.

      Delete
  2. It sounds excellent... I do love a bit of wierd fiction, especially in the autumn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha. This would probably qualify as "weird fiction." It's a YA novel, so it reads fast and it's definitely entertaining.

      Delete
  3. I read this one over the summer; I had some mixed feelings about the ending, but overall I thought it was a fun read. And certainly different from other survival books I've read. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh boy, this doesn't sound like a good book for me, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha. It's not for everyone, but I enjoyed it!

      Delete
  5. Sounds interesting Susan. Not sure if it is my cup of tea, but you never know. Nice review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you like it if you decide to give it a go. I'm not a big monster horror fan, so this one was a little out of my comfort zone, too, but I ended up enjoying it.

      Delete
  6. Sounds pretty good. I'm unfamiliar with Lost but I did get hooked on the Netflix version of Stranger Things and ended up watching the whole thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've never watched LOST? You totally should! It's a survival drama, but it's got mystery, suspense, romance, sci-fi, humor, etc. There are a lot of layers to the story, so it's like a puzzle. It's my favorite t.v. show of all time - maybe tied with MASH ...

      Delete
  7. You had me at Lost! I love that show and I really should have a rewatch! Ill add this to my list.

    ReplyDelete

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