Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fathom: A Captivating YA Tale

Fathom
Author: Merrie Destefano
Print Length: 310 pages
Publisher: Merrie Destefano
Released: September 24, 2012
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

SUMMARY: Turning sixteen can be hell, especially if everyone in town thinks your mother killed herself and your sister. All Kira Callahan wants to do is swim, hang out with her best friend, Sean, and ignore the kids who torment her at school. That is, until one day when she gets invited to a party. For three minutes her life is wonderful—she even kisses Sean in the driveway. Then somebody spikes her drink at the party and some girls from out of town lure her into the ocean and hold her underwater. Kira soon discovers that the group of wild teenagers who have come to visit Crescent Moon Bay are not as innocent as they seem. In fact, nothing is as it seems—not the mysterious deaths of her sister and mother, not her heritage, not even her best friend. And everything seems to hinge on the ancient Celtic legends that her mother used to tell her as a child.

It's no secret that I love Merrie Destefano's books and stories.  Her writing has a beautiful flow to it, bringing the reader inside the story to experience it with the characters.  Fathom is the first Young Adult story I've read by Merrie, and my summer was so chaotic I had fell behind in book news, and didn't know much at all about her new novel.  I dived into the unknown and was captivated by the end of the first chapter, wanting to know what was going to happen to Kira.  Was her family evil?  Hmmm...maybe her best friend wasn't what he seemed? Why did her mother kill herself and her sister, but spare Kira?  I needed to know! 

Ms. Destefano captured the voice of a teenage girl so well, it made me feel 16 again.  I identified with Kira and her hormonal confusion battling with the need to do what is right.  The words flowed from page to page, keeping me captivated from start to finish.  I loved the characters, and truly appreciated that the adults were as interesting, flaws and all, as the teens.   They were part of the story, not relegated to the background, as some YA stories tend to do.  

Lastly,  I must mention the twists, the turns and the surprises along the way.  This is not a predictable story. It's fresh, passionate and compelling and will surprise the reader.  Fans of Melissa Marr, Karen Mahoney, and Colleen Houck will love Fathom.

To read the first chapter and find out more about Fathom visit Merrie's website at:
http://www.merriedestefano.com/fathom.html

~Brenda