Neurotic Thoughts - Ripple

Ripple
Author: Mandy Hubbard
Release Date: July 21, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal
Published by: Razorbill/Penguin
Source: My wonderful daughter Allison from Shorty Reads
Summary from Goodreads:
Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn't, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love-again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead. 
Then Lexi finds herself torn. Against her better judgement, she's opening up agian, falling in love with someone new when she knows she shouldn't. But when she's offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free or her curse is giving him up.

At the constant insistence of my wonderful daughter I finally picked up Ripple. I had to thank her for shoving this book in my face because it really was quite good.


Poor Lexi has no idea how she killed her boyfriend on her sixteenth birthday but she is deteremined to never kill anyone again. Since that horrible night she has shut herself off from everyone. All of her old friends bully her now because they all believe that she had something to do with his death.


 I love how a really well written character, paranormal or not can seem like a real person. Lexi's pain felt so real throughout this book. When Cole, her past boyfriend's best friend starts to show an interest in her she wants to stay away, she really does. He finally shows her that not everyone thinks she was the cause of her boyfriend's death. 


Then along comes Erik. He knows what she is. He knows how to fix her, and he is pretty darn awesome. He is everything she needs, and even though Cole is everything she wants she knows that Erik is the right choice. Until being with Erik just starts to feel wrong, and she can't get Cole out of her head.


I loved the twist in this book. I was completely blown away and couldn't believe how wrong I had been. The characters are pretty great from damaged Lexi, to her grandma in the sweats sitting in her recliner. Cole is an amazing guy that will have you wondering why your boyfriend isn't quite that sweet. Erik, oh Erik, that's all I have to say about him. Ripple is a quick read and guess what? It's not a series or a trilogy it's a stand alone novel. Ripple isn't like the few other mermaid books I've read (not that I've read many). I really enjoyed the legend behind what she is, and wish that they story had delved just a little deeper into that. Overall a quick enjoyable read!