Sunday, December 1, 2013

Review: The Twilight Swimmer by A.C. Kavich

*I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion*

I really enjoyed this book. I have read so many paranormal romances, I didn't think one would be able to surprise me that much, but this one definitely did. 

I love how Kavich worked around the typical paranormal romance tropes, for example when the Swimmer watches Brandy at night and she finds out. She reacts like pretty much any human being would in that situation: she freaks out and she yells at him, even though he didn't know that something like that was socially unacceptable. 
Also, I loved the way their love story unfolds: it felt quite natural and there were some really sweet moments that didn't get too cheesy. 
I also enjoyed the way the love square was handled and resolved. I usually hate love squares - I mean, I can take love triangles, but love squares is just pushing it. This one didn't bother me because it wasn't presented as though three guys suddenly felt some great and tragic love for the same girl. The human boys just seemed to have the hots for her and were trying to get a date, which is a lot more realistic. The way it was resolved was also great, but I won't give anything more away on that front.  
There were some things I didn't like that much, though. First off, I would have liked the see a bit more of exploration on the mystery angle, so as to create a bit more tension on that side.
Then, I don't really like the way Brandy's mother was handled: she felt really one-dimensional, I would be interested in seeing some development on her and her relationship with her children.
Thirdly, Brandy's anorexia wasn't handled that well - or at all. Anorexia is an important issue and it's also important to handle it well. It's not resolved (or at least, it didn't feel like it was), it's never explored and Brandy does not suffer any consequences from it. If she really ate so little she should be physically very weak and unable to do the sort of stuff she keeps doing throughout the book.
That being said, the good aspects outweighed the bad and I definitely recommend it, especially if you're tired paranormal romance novels that are all basically the same. 


Rating:
★★★ 1/2
Source for the cover image: Goodreads

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