Beyond the Rising Tide
by Sarah Beard
Genre: YA Speculative RomanceRelease Date: June 14th 2016
Sweetwater Books
Summary from Goodreads:
Kai met Avery only once--in the moment he died saving her life. Now when he's not using his new healing powers to help people, he watches helplessly as Avery's life is unraveled by his death. To help her, he risks everything by breaking the rules, dangerously blurring the barriers between life and death.
**My thoughts**
I was drawn to this title from the short description, as well as the main character's name. My friends' son is named Kai, and they chose it because of the Hawaiian meaning that connects it to the ocean. It's a very fitting name for this character, as he died in the ocean while trying to save Avery's life.
Kai is no longer on Earth in corporeal form, but he can't help but come back regularly. Sometimes he is there to save someone's life. Many times he is checking in on Avery. Their encounter on Earth was very brief, as he saved her life before losing his. But he is worried about her and often checks in on her. He wants to help her even more, to move on with her life and to become the young woman she was before the accident. To do so, he crosses lines that could cost him everything.
Avery had been a beautifully happy girl before her accident. She suffers from a severe case of survivor's guilt and can't let go of the haunting images of the unknown boy who saved her. She has desperately been trying to find out who he is, to help his family get some closure, as well as hoping to get her own closure. But she can't remember anything about him except for one telltale scar. This mystery man haunts her dreams and waking hours and she has let go of so much of herself.
When Kai breaks the rules to make himself known to Avery, the two of them forge a quick bond. Kai knows what attracts him to Avery, but she cannot figure out what compels her to want to be with him. Knowing that Kai's time on Earth with Avery is so short, it really pulls at your heartstrings as the two of them get closer and closer. Kai is in a new kind of agony as he knows he cannot let Avery know his true identity and that he has to leave her soon. Avery is struggling to find herself again, to cope with her relationships with friends and family, and juggling all of their issues at the same time. She is so unaware of how short her time with Kai actually is, but doesn't know what she would do without him.
My heart was breaking as I read their story. There are so many ways that this could play out. Will he find his way back to Earth to be with her? Will she be taken away from Earth to be reunited with him in the Afterlife? Will Avery find her way back to her old life and her old boyfriend? Will Kai have to wait decades for her on the other side and will she remember him when she gets there? On and on and on.
Their story does come to a satisfactory conclusion, and truly would have worked out in several directions. This was a very moving story and it did make me ponder a few things about myself. Would I be able to sacrifice myself in a split second for a stranger? How would I handle survivor's guilt? How does life after death really work? I look forward to more stories from this author.
I sniffled as I read the final quarter to third of the book, as the answers to all of these questions and more came to fruition.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
About Sarah Beard
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 creative 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. You can follow Sarah on twitter at @authorsarahb, or at facebook.com/authorsarahbeard.
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