Standing

***

3 Stars/5

Thanks to China Dennington for giving this book to review.

Gale has always been afraid of the sea but when she rescues her sister from drowning, she discovers a group of technologically advanced mermaids who need her help. Because of her genes she can travel into the future and the mermaids need her, along with another human Force, to go to 2212 to stop the apocalypse. Will they be able to stop two tyrants before it is too late to go back to their time?

Standing is an enjoyable and unique story as it is mixture of paranormal, sci-fi and dystopia. It was predictable and a bit naïve story but still a fun light read. I tend to have problems with time travel but I liked this one. I feel the story could have been fleshed out a bit more with a 100 more pages. Also the beginning was too fast and I found I struggled to work out what was going on.

All of the characters are likeable (apart from the baddies) if a bit one-dimensional and I would have liked to have seen both good and bad sides of them and for them to act their age. Gale is intuitive, kind and a strong leader but I would have liked her to have panicked a bit when discovering everything rather than calmly accepting it. Force is smart, sensible but also fun-loving and curious.

While this book is not perfect, considering the age China Dennigton wrote this book, it was good and I look forward to seeing her grow her writing talents and see what she writes next. I would recommend Standing to fans of unique paranormal novels.