Unique and beautiful... Beyond the Rising Tide by Sarah Beard (Blog Tour Review & Giveaway)

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This story was so fabulous! If you enjoy Contemporary YA, do not miss this one!

Beyond the Rising Tide
Beyond the Rising Tide
by Sarah Beard
YA Contemporary
Paperback & ebook, 304 Pages
June 14th 2016 by Sweetwater Books

Summary

Kai was seventeen when he died saving Avery’s life, though he didn’t really have much to live for. After spending half his life being shipped around to different families, the only place he felt at home was on a street corner with his guitar. Now, it’s been six months since his death. Six months adapting to a new kind of existence where instead of making music, he uses his new healing powers to save lives. But in his off hours, he watches helplessly as Avery’s life is unraveled by his death. 

Avery doesn’t know that it was Kai who saved her life in the ocean, because her rescuer’s body was never found. Wracked with guilt, the ocean she once loved is now her tormentor. As her surfboards collect dust in the garage, the weight of her grief destroys her relationships and stretches her to a breaking point. 

Always willing to break rules for those he loves, Kai steals a ring that temporarily gives his body substance. With limited time, he does all he can to restore her life to the way it was before his tragic death, but Kai’s half-baked plans rarely turn out the way he thinks they will.

   
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Praise for the Book

“Vividly imagined, this novel is the perfect mix of modern love story and literary fiction. One brimming with genuine emotion that had me re-reading passages simply because they were too beautifully written to experience just once.” --Julie N. Ford, author of With No Regrets

“This book is not only an engaging and satisfying supernatural romance, but also a beautiful story about life, death, and the gray places in between.” --E.B. Wheeler, author of The Haunting of Springett Hall

"This is one of those stories that stays with you long after the closing scene. It was beautifully imagined and vividly written and I absolutely loved it!” --Teresa Richards, author of Emerald Bound

My Review

BEYOND THE RISING TIDE is such a unique, beautiful, heartfelt, romantic story! Told from two alternating points of view from Avery, the girl who can't seem to move on from her almost-death and the boy who died saving her, and Kai, the boy who died saving Avery and has since been watching over her when he can. The storyline feels almost impossible at time, but that the author masterfully makes work. If you enjoy complex and genuine characters, and bittersweet story, plenty of swoon-worthy romance, and a perfect ending, then pick this one up!

As I was reading, I was thinking about how the author was going to pull this off. How was she going to make the story genuine, believable, and include a happily-ever-after ending that actually works? Amazingly, she did it. It worked and it was such a good heartfelt, emotional, beautiful story as it did. The pacing was steady with a nice climax towards the end. There were also so many parts that I loved. Here are a few quotes:


I want to know everything. I want to open him up like a book and read every page.


He shakes his head, and then looks deep into my eyes. "The miracle isn't being reaised from death, but living beyond it."


He draws me into his arms and holds me close, whispering into my hair the three words I most love to hear.

Then these characters! Loved them!! I would say that Kai is the brooding bad-boy persona, but that was more who he used to be. Over the months he was fostered by Charles and then since his death he changed and grew into a man who has learned to care deeply for Avery and for other thingsthe more important things in life. Then there's Avery who was so full of life before who is struggling to breath and to really live. 

I loved, loved how their relationship develops, how they draw each other out, how they fit together, and all they share about their lives and thoughts. They know each other for only a few days so it seems like they shouldn't have this strong bond, but I felt like their relationship started with friendship and was developed from there and through actually sharing experiences and thoughts and not the usual chemistry/attraction element alone. And the sweetness of their romance... I didn't know how it would work out or if it would and wondered if there was going to be a bittersweet ending. I'll just say, it's definitely worth finding out what happens.

In the end, was it what I wished for? YES! I was surprised by how good this book was. The writing, characters, descriptions, romance..., everything just felt right. Definitely one I recommend!

Content: Clean

Source: Received a complimentary copy from the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.

Book Trailer


Excerpt

My mind retraces the past few months, all the conversations Tyler and I have had, the words we’ve said and haven’t said, all stemming from one incident, one day. And then I’m thrown back to that afternoon, back into the ocean and the cold, roiling waves. I feel them around me, tossing me this way and that, pounding over my head like a stampede of wild horses. I feel the salt stinging my eyes and see the abyss below me in the moment I dove under to find the boy. I saw him there, motionless and suspended in the deep, just out of reach.

Just out of reach.

My face feels hot, and I can’t breathe. But I keep my panic cloaked beneath my skin. A violent earthquake rattles my insides, but I tense my muscles, holding it in, restraining it, refusing to let it show. I dig my nails into my arm, anchoring them there, anchoring me into stillness, and I focus all my attention on the present physical pain in my arm.

Kai’s hand reaches for mine. His touch stills my insides, draws out the tremors as though they’re water and he’s a sponge.

About the Author


Sarah Beard is the author of YA novels Porcelain Keys and Beyond the Rising Tide. She earned a degree in communications from the University of Utah and is currently pursuing an MFA in writing from VCFA. When she's not writing, she referees wrestling matches between her three boys and listens to audiobooks while folding self-replicating piles of laundry. She is a breast cancer survivor, a baker of sweets, a seeker of good love stories, a composer of melancholy music, and a traveler who wishes her travel budget was much bigger. She lives with her husband and children in the shadow of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.


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