The Twilight Swimmer Review

   The Twilight Swimmer by A.C.Kavich 

  Synopsis

One year after her beloved sister drowned while swimming in cold New England waters, sixteen-year-old Brandi Vine is still struggling to understand what happened. As she mourns on the rocky beach where her sister's lifeless body washed ashore, she is unaware that a pair of haunting gray eyes is watching her from beneath rolling ocean waves.

When Brandi attends a party that goes horribly awry, the mysterious owner of the gray eyes emerges from the ocean depths and comes to her rescue. She only sees him for a few brief moments, but that's all it takes to turn Brandi's world upside down. What were the strange markings on his neck that seemed to flutter with every breath? How did he possess such inhuman strength and grace? And why did he look at Brandi with such longing?

Brandi's fascination with the Swimmer grows. She makes it her mission to find him again and learn who - and what - he is. Meanwhile, the Swimmer’s fascination with Brandi compels him to leave the safety of the ocean behind, to be with her at all costs. They are from two different worlds, but neither of the star-crossed romantics can resist the pull of the other.

Ultimately, when her feelings for the Swimmer swell beyond her control, Brandi comes to realize that the strange young man from the sea can unlock the secret of her sister's final swim.

Lisa's Review - 3 out of 5 stars

The synopsis for The Twilight Swimmer was enough to pique my curiosity, selling something that seemed quite different from anything I have read before, and sounded like it was going to be a pretty interesting story.

I am kind of split into two here though. I found when the writer was writing from Brandi's point of view, that I enjoyed the story a lot. I felt for this troubled teenage girl who was obviously struggling with the death of her sister, and her family's dysfunctional life during their grieving process, her relationship with the quirky Spider, and the young policeman, Dallas. Even at the end there was a brilliant twist that I can honestly say I didn't see coming, maybe as it was well hidden by the distracting plotline of The Swimmer.

I feel bad, but The Swimmers' inclusion in the story is what ruined it for me. The Swimmer was a character that as one of the main characters, should have progressed more but I felt like it didn't. And when the writing switched to the point of view of The Swimmer was when I really struggled with this book. It went from being a book about teen angst to pages  upon pages of heavily descriptive writing, that struggled to hold my attention. There is nothing wrong with trying to paint a vivid picture for a reader, but for me, this was way too much.

It was hard to decide whether I liked this book or not, and I do feel bad for knocking it down a star because of the namesake of The Swimmer, and I have had to wonder why he was included at all. This would have made a great story without him, and in fact had he not this could have had the potential to be a decent crime/mystery book which I personally think I would have preferred.

Links

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18484867-the-twilight-swimmer?ac=1

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7265933.A_C_Kavich

Purchase Links

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F2404W8?ie=UTF8&tag=goodreads_uk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00F2404W8&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Swimmer-AC-Kavich/dp/1492806560/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383769412&sr=1-1&keywords=the+twilight+swimmer