23
Jul262010
BOOK REVIEW: Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
by Carolyn • Posted in 3 Star Reviews, Authors M-P, Book Reviews, Nicole Peeler, Orbit, Urban Fantasy
Title: Tempest Rising (Jane True #1)
Author: Nicole Peeler
Publisher: Orbit (UK) / Orbit (US)
Publication Date: Aug 2010 / Nov 2009 (US)
Paperback: 346 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
RATING: 6/10 – good
BACK COVER SYNOPSIS:
Living in smal twon Rockabill, Maine,Jane True always knew she didn’t quite bit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.
Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures that are terrifying, beautiful, and deadly – all of which perfectly describe her new “friends,” Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire. It is a world nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never – ever – rub the genie’s lamp.
REVIEW:
Tempest Rising is the first book in the ‘Jane True’ series and Nicole Peeler’s debut. It’s a light read with fun characters and magical creatures.
The story begins with Jane who’s trying to deal with a lot of painful history. Her mother left her and her father when Jane was only six, and the death of her boyfriend who she had known practically her entire life. The only thing in her life that Jane can totally rely on is the ocean and her nightly swims, until one night Jane pulls a dead body from the water, and the life she knows is changed forever.
I liked the aspect of Jane’s past as it gave her character and personality the depth she is otherwise lacking. However, her past is frustratingly kept secret from the reader as well as the other characters in the book for a long time, which I thought was unnecessary and became rather annoying. It made me feel I couldn’t quite get to know Jane and so I didn’t connect with her at all.
Jane’s internal reflections are annoyingly incessant. The “virtuous” Jane constantly discussed her life with the “libido” Jane, especially when meeting the lovely Ryu, a gorgeous vampire investigator who has come to her town to investigate several murders.
The continuous bickering with herself was, I’m sure, meant to be humorous but it just didn’t work for me. Sometimes these witticisms would be injected at the completely wrong moments, such as the passage below:
“Ryu’s other hand was brushing my hair away from my face, and then stroking over my cheek. Then he was supporting the back of my neck as he tilted my face up towards his……the tiny pointy tips of two very sharp-looking fangs had just begun to peep out from under hi to lip. Holy Shit! thought the part of me that was trying to remember where i kept our Band-Aids. Meanwhile, the part of me that was really attracted to Ryu was wondering, Does that mean he likes me?“
What was turning out to be quite a nice romantic moment between Jane and Ryu was ruined by Jane’s stupid thoughts. This went on and on throughout the entire book and it was tiresome. Funny, witty, characters can’t be forced, they either are or are not…
Jane isn’t a particularly feisty character either, nor a strong one. She blushes at everything and throws-up a lot! She isn’t kick-arse or dynamic and I found her a difficult character to like – to be honest I found her to be a little bland for my taste.
Ryu on the other hand is rather delish. I really like his character and enjoyed his interactions with those around him. He’s sweet, handsome, sexy, everything that is pretty standard nowadays with vampires as love interests. And although he’s a yummy male lead, there’s nothing particularly unique or original about him. And I must say, I am a bit perplexed why his laugh is described as a bark!
Peeler’s descriptions for Rockabill are vivid and gives the reader the feeling of a quaint little town full of quirky characters, but then the story moves on to a place called the Compound (not a very magical name is it) where there is no world-building at all. The compound felt cold and I just longed to get back to Rockabill, to the ocean and all the other characters I was introduced to at the beginning but left way too early.
The plot itself is okay, but it didn’t rock my world. There are a few twist and turns but for the most part it was pretty predictable and tame with regards to action and suspense.
I much preferred the story when it was situated in Rockabill. It’s here that I started to feel cosy – Rockabill is a great little town and it felt magical. I easily imagined the ocean, the cove and Jane’s nightly, starlit swims in the water. I also began to like the paranormal characters in the cove.
Anyan is my favourite; a talking dog and so cute! He stays in animal form for most of the book but the suspicions I had about him were confirmed in the last couple of chapters. There’s something very mysterious about him and there are moments which allude to him knowing Jane long before she knew him or any of the other creatures, and these are revealed at the end.
VERDICT:
I liked Tempest Rising. It’s an easy read and even with all it’s faults I breezed through it in a couple of days. But due to the fact that I am a very character driven reader, and as I didn’t care for Jane, I think this is the main reason I didn’t love it.
However, the ending is my favourite part of the whole book and has now made me quite eager to read the next book in the series, Tracking the Tempest. I have a feeling Jane will develop a lot more and maybe into a heroine I can connect with and I hope that what I found lacking in the first book I will find in the second.
SOURCE: Thank you to Orbit for sending me this book to review.
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23 Comments
Thanks for the review
Sounds like fun & light read 
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You see I do like the idea of a talking dog
I actually find the cover on this book a bit odd and am not sure if I would pick it up in a book shop because of this? Does it reflect the content do you think? Should I be so shallow to judge a book by its cover?
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Aleksandra – You're welcome – it is fun for the most part and it certainly is light, and sometimes that's all I'm after, but it did have it's problems as you can tell from my review LOL But I would recommend it with reservations…
Laura – I am always buying books based on the cover alone, I think if we're honest most of us do
I like this cover, but it does have a child like quality but now I've read the book I would say that it's quite a good match. This isn't a gritty, thought-provoking urban fantasy, it's just a very light fun read. Although, when I first saw this cover I thought Jane would be a mermaid, but alas no…well, not in this instalment anyway 
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See I loved this book- it shows how Jane is human and screwed up but still differnt and she learns as we alearn how very differnt she is.
I did find her charming and witty and humorous in a way that wasn't forced. And I don't think heroines always need to be kick ass chicks because lets face it most of us in real life are creampuffs. We need characters we can relate to.
I did just finish the second book in this series and Jane is coming in to her own and getting mcuh tougher but if you don't like her in the first book you won't like her in the next because her wit grows as does her powers.
And the covers are awesome. Jane is part selkie- think babay seal with those big balck eyes which gives you the big eyed girl on the cover- and she's a girl/woman who has just been thrown into a whirlwind of a magical world she didn't know existed before. The covers fit.
And the talking man dog…hmmm he's much more in the future books.
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Roxanne – I'm so pleased you liked the book, it just shows how great reading is and how everyone takes something different from a book.
I realise that Jane was trying to be witty, but it seemed forced to me and I just didn't like it much in this book. I think it really depends on what you want from an urban fantasy and it's very much a personal preference, but I like my protags to have a bit of sass and I like them strong. They don't have to start out totally kick-arse but I want to see that they have the potential, and I didn't feel Jane did. I can relate to characters that are written well, I don't need a character to be like me to relate to them.
I like the fact you mention in the second book we see Jane coming into her own and getting much tougher. You say I won't like her in the second book because her wit grows as do her powers, but that's what I want, so hopefully I will like Tracking the Tempest more (as I said in my review).
I like the doggie and I'm very pleased he becomes much more in future books – thanks for stopping by
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Really fantastic review! It's nice to read a review that points out some problems with the book even though it was enjoyable overall. I agree with Laura that the cover is not all my favorite, and perhaps one of the reasons I haven't picked it up yet. Thanks for the very thorough review!
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I agree with you on all the one liners and quips. It seemed a bit much, and the fact that it was listed as an urban fantasy made me expect this. However it read as a paranormal romance. I don't mind romances once in a while, but I want an urban fantasy when it says so.
There were side characters that I thought were pretty interesting, and would like to read more about, but I'm not sure I want to read more about Jane and her libido. LOL
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I have both books! I love your review–sometimes books aren't quite as catching as we hope. I love when there are mixed reviews, oddly enough, because it means that there is a place for the book somewhere
I love the covers–aka the reason I picked up the books
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Same grade as me lol
. I knew if you kept reading it you would think it was good. I agree with most of what you said in your review 
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Jenny – Thank you! I did enjoy it overall, but there were a few points that just didn't work for me and I like to be honest. I like the covers and I think they work well, but I can see that they might not work for other people
Mardel – Yes, I agree, it did read more like a PNR than an UF, wish I'd put that in my review too LOL
Felicia – I like the covers too – and I agree that it's good when there are mixed views with books as it gives a more rounded expectations, it does for me anyway
Rosey – It did get better and I did enjoy it, but I still couldn't connect with Jane at the end of it. I'm hoping Tracking the Tempest will be better.
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+JMJ+
I like your review. =) I think I'd have similar problems with Jenny's internal conversations with herself, but since I have those, too, I'll try to keep an open mind!
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I really love the cover – it's the only reason I haven't given Tempest Rising away. I'm wondering if the second book might be more interesting for me…I did really enjoy her bookstore couple.
I think if I had realized it was more paranormal romance, I might have enjoyed it more, as I would have read it with totally different expectations. Oh well, at least if I read the second, I'll know going in that it's going to be a "quip" full book. LOL
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I notice that the book cover is a little bit odd. If I am going to be in a bookstore and find this book with that cover. I don't think that I am going to pick it.
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Enbrethiliel – Thank you! Yes, I too have conversations internally, but it's different to write them and there are just too many I felt throughout the book and also at wrong moments
Mardel – I liked the bookstore couple too, that's what I wanted, the first book to stay in Rockabill so I could get to know these quirky characters. I think you're right, I was heading into this book thinking UF but it didn't read like that – maybe like you say if I new it was more like PNR I would have viewed the book differently. Well, now I'll never know, but I hope that now I know what to expect I will like book 2 more.
Dining Room Table – I like the book cover as I've said above, and to be honest as as art work I think it's rather lovely. I would have picked up this book if I saw it in a bookshop, I think the cover is quite striking
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Hi Carolyn – Yes, I'm very much in sync with your reaction to Jane. I found her so darn hard to like, and it really hampered my enjoyment of the story. Still, I need to try the second book, and see she evolves, since I've followed other series where I didn't like the heroine in book one. That can change.
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I'll check this book out. I am really hoarding for some interesting books to read.
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I really liked this book (but it wasn't a top rating for me). I liked the Jane wasn't kickass and found that didn't bother me. I also read this expecting more UF then PNR so actually the events with Ryu really ticked me off and I couldn't like him.
I've read the second book (I'm in the US) and I think my best advice (not that you asked) when starting it, is expect more PNR. More so then the first book, the second really read like a PNR book for me. And Ryu managed to tick me off even more.
Both books are light fun reads with uncomplicated plots. Neither of those things are bad in my book because it makes the book something relaxing and perfect for a lazy day read.
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Hello!
I thought I should clarify my cover comment
For me it does not seem your typical Urban Fantasy cover and so I would probably pass it over in a book shop.
When it comes to UF I like it gritty and it looks more YA I guess. Childlike as @bookchickcity mentioned.
So that was why it looked odd to me, the design itself is fab. It just didn't seem to match.
L x
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Hi Rebecca – Exactly, that's why I thought I would read book two as well. One of the comments above suggests she gets stronger with more powers, so maybe I will like her a bit more!
Charles – Well, you will definitely find lots of books to read here, just check out my reviews, or On My WIshlist and you will be inundated with them
WonderBunny – I'm glad you liked this book, but as I mentioned in one of the comments above I do prefer my UF heroines to have some sass and strength, and she doesn't have to begin as kick-arse but has to show me she has the potential. Jane didn't. And as you say this book read more like a PNR, so now I know that I may enjoy the second book more.
Laura – I like my UF gritty as well, and this book certainly isn't. But as I mentioned above, once I read this book the cover does fit quite nicely. I do think though it should be classed more as a PNR than an UF
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I think you may like Tracking the Tempest a little more. Or I hope you do.
I enjoyed this series. Do hope Jane comes around for you in the next book.
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Melissa – So do I as I really want to like this series. Will hopefully read book 2 very soon
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I really enjoyed this book which surprised me considering how little I've liked most of the other Urban Fantasy/PNR books that I have read lately. Though after reading the sequel, which I didn't enjoy quite as much, I was left wondering if my enjoyment of Tempest Rising had more to do with timing than the content.
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Great review. Both the first and second books of this series are on my tbr list. I'll keep your thoughts in mind when I read them.
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