Rip Tide Paperback – January 1, 2013

Kat Falls' Rip Tide is the sequel to her first novel, Dark Life. I picked up Dark Life on a whim and liked it quite a bit, enough to order Rip Tide because I wanted to read more about the characters and about the undersea world they inhabit. To my surprise and even more to my delight, the sequel proved to be even better than the first book.In the near-future world of Dark Life, we were introduced to Ty Townson, a fifteen-year-old boy living in the pioneer undersea colony of Benthic Territory, which is located on the ocean floor somewhere off the east coast of the US. Or rather, what was the east coast until a big chunk of it ended up under water due to rising sea levels. His parents were among the first generation to leave the surface world and settle homesteads in the territory, but Ty has lived there almost his entire life. For him and his younger sister Zoe, the undersea world of the territory is _home_. We also met Gemma, a "Topsider" (someone from the surface world) girl Ty's age who came undersea to look for her missing older brother, Richard, whom she discovered now goes by the name of Shade and is the head of a band of outlaws called the Seablite Gang. And we learned about how the children who grow up undersea seem to acquire Dark Gifts - special abilities like Ty's bio-sonar and Zoe's ability to deliver electric shocks - that they don't want people to know about for fear of ending up being treated like lab rats.Rip Tide begins just a few months after where Dark Life ended, with the story once again being told from Ty's point of view. Ty's parents are in the process of opening a new market for Benthic Territory settlers' crops. But it's not as simple as it sounds as the potential buyers are the "surfs", a group of sea dwellers who live in enormous globe-shaped floating vessels called townships (literally town-ships) and are viewed with wary suspicion at best by most settlers. And who in turn view most settlers with equal suspicion and often with open hostility, not, as it turns out, without reason. Things quickly go downhill when Ty discovers a sunken township that has been sabotaged and chained to the sea floor, and later when his parents are kidnapped by the very surfs they were meeting with to negotiate the trade deal. And on top of finding his parents and solving the mystery of who's been attacking the surfers' towhships, Ty also has to figure out what's going on with Gemma who seems to have developed sudden but intense panic attacks while deep sea diving. Which is a real problem for an undersea boy like Ty since he's also having typical fifteen-year-old boy problems figuring out how he feels about Gemma and just what he should do about it.What I particularly liked about Rip Tide was how Falls brings out YA issues like learning to see the world differently as new experiences give you new perspectives, even when those perspectives are things you don't want to believe. And like having to make decisions even when you're not sure of the outcome, trying to figure out who you can trust and how much, and learning that even people whom you think you know can still end up surprising you.Highly recommended for anyone who likes a good scifi novel with engaging characters and particularly for anyone who likes a story set in the other great frontier, the world under the sea..

Kat Falls' RIP TIDE (Dark Life #2)is a good book, a different feel then its predecessor and not quite as favorable, as so few sequels are; but a solid enjoyable read none the less.The story opens with Ty and Gamma discovering what morbidly (but most accurately) could be referred to as a floating grave. Someone has chained a township to a sunken wreckage buried deep in the middle of the trash gyre; dooming the hundreds of surfs who inhibited the vessel to an unthinkable end. Now the question is why someone would do this and to what gain?.. But more importantly, who would do this and where will they strike next? Unfortunately for Ty, the latter will be answered much sooner and much closer to home then he ever could have imagined, as for the who?... well that's an answer he's determined to find, even if it means risking his own life to do it.I guess where the story lost a bit of its "shine" for me was in that much of what made the first book so fresh and unique were the many mysteries surrounding the "Dark Gifts", the underwater environment and the people themselves. Much of the those details were reviled by the end of DARK LIFE, a good thing for DARK LIFE but a slight detriment for RIP TIDE. To Falls' credit, she did attempt to hang on to that original mystique by introducing a few new gifts to the mix, which was much appreciated. Still this second installment, although a strong who-done-it thriller in its self, left me slightly disappointed by the lack of special that I fell in love with while immersed in the first book.Where RIP TIDE did clearly follow in the footsteps of DARK LIFE is in the books very young-male friendly nature, being heavy handed on the action front verses romance. A rare find among its genre of YA paranormal/dystopian reads these days, where romantic gestures and intentions commonly hold court at center stage. Yes there is an attraction between Ty and Gemma, but in no way did that drive the story or get in the way of the action. And there was definitely no shortage of action once the direction of the plot was finally laid out. With lots of plot twist and red herrings to keep the reader guessing, RIP TIDE is a read sure to hold your attention until the very last page. And one that I'd recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery... and although you really don't have to read the first book to "get" what's going on in the second, I'd definitely encourage you to check out the most excellent DARK LIFE before picking up RIP TIDE.

So some of you may recall that when I read Dark Life last year, I absolutely fell in love with it. It is classed as a Middle Grade novel, however I think it can beenjoyed by everyone. If you haven't read Dark Life then I don't suggest reading this review as it may spoil you. I do suggest, however, that you go and pick up Dark Life right now because I ADORE it.Rip Tide takes place a couple of months after Dark Life ended. Gemma is no longer living with Ty and his family as she is still scared of the ocean, and there are also some mysterious things happening with her character.I loved Rip Tide just as much as Dark Life, and I can't get it out of my head. I think the two books are due a reread very soon!The world that Kat Falls has created continues to expand in this book, and she has done a fantastic job of making it stand out.We do see more of Shade in this book which I was thrilled about! While I do wish we could see more of him, I was pleased with what we got. I love him so much, he's definitely my favourite character. I think he should have his own series, because he and his crew are just awesome!I love the twists and the turns that this story took, with the townships disappearing and Ty and Gemma going to various places to investigate. It's action packed and kpet me guessing all the way through.I'm not sure when the third book is out, but I hope it's some time soon because I need to see more of these characters and this world!

Book was new, as advertised, and came within the estimated delivery time. I love this series so much, and I was so glad I was able to find a copy.