BOOK REVIEW | Atlantis Rising

Title: Atlantis Rising
Author: Gloria Craw
Series: Yes, trilogy
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Source: I received a galley of Atlantis Rising via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

You’ll never see me unless I want you to…

I am different. I have always been different, but no one can know or my life will be in danger. So I hide in plain sight, wearing drab clothes and thick glasses and trying to be invisible. I’m so good at hiding, no one has ever noticed me. Until Ian…the mysterious and oh-so-cute boy I know I need to avoid.

Now I have been seen. And more terrifying still, I am wanted—by those who would protect me and those who would destroy everything and everyone I love. But if they’re all terrified about who I am, wait until they see what I can do…

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Atlantis Rising is the first book in Gloria Craw's paranormal trilogy about dewings. Dewings, essentially, are human like paranormal creatures that come from Atlantis and have mind powers. This opening book is your classic "fish out of the water" paranormal scenario. Though Allison has known she's been different her whole life, she only starts to understand where she comes from after starting to come out of her shell and interact with others like her. 

I don't have strong feelings for or against this book. It took a while for me to really get into the story. The opening felt like every other YA paranormal book I've read and it didn't stand out to me. I easily forgot character's names and who was who. Luckily, the book really started to pick up around halfway through. The first half of the book was more of Allison understanding what was going on and the second half was where the action came in. Once the action was introduced, the book got a lot better for me. I was able to keep track of the characters easily, and the main characters at least were developed a bit more. 

My main complaint about the book is that the characters aren't original. While I think the paranormal aspect is original (I for sure haven't read about dewings before), the characters themselves didn't come off the page. They felt very cookie cutter to me, and none of them stood out. I hope that with the sequels the characters will be expanded upon. The plot itself isn't too original either. It's the classic "bad guy want control and has a link to the main character" but I still had fun with it. Even though the book lacked originality, the execution itself was solid. Although I found the book to be a bit  predictable, I wasn't ever bored. The writing was still able to hold my attention even with stiff characters. 

This might seem like a lot of complaints, but I actually did enjoy myself! I'm looking forward to continuing on with the series. The last fifth of the book was really strong, and held promise for the next book. My main complaints are things that can be fixed in the sequels, and aren't big enough to keep me from continuing on. 

If you're looking for a quick and easy read, then Atlantis Rising is a contender. I myself haven't read too much paranormal recently, and this was a great reintroduction and reminded both of what I love and dislike from the genre. At the end of the day, I am recommending Atlantis Rising. 

With that, I give this book 

3.5 out of 5 Stars!