Review: Undercurrent by Tricia Rayburn

Title: Undercurrent

Author: Tricia Rayburn

Series: A Siren Novel

Book #: 2

Pages: 350

Reading Level: Young Adult

Book Rating: 

Published: July 12th, 2011

by EgmontUSA

Tricia Rayburn's Official Website

After losing her sister and finding out who- or what- she really is, Vanessa returns home for her senior year. Everyone at Hawthorne Prep has questions about her tragic summer, but knowing who to open up to is impossible. As she walks the halls without Justine for the very first time, Vanessa has more to worry about than just making a new life for herself. 

Because the sirens are out for revenge. To protect herself and the ones she loves, Vanessa must call on powers she believes she has but does not know how to use. To learn, she'll have to seek help from the only person who truly knows her. But first, she must admit the truth about her real identity.

Taschima's POV:

I  remember when I finished Siren. I was pumped, I wanted Undercurrent here and now. And after months of waiting, well, Undercurrent fell a little flat in comparison.

We pick up this story 2-3 months after Siren. Paige moves to Vanessa's home, and they both start their senior year together. Simon is back at college, but him and Vanessa are doing the long distance relationship  The Sirens are still frozen. This is the part where everybody is supposed to be happy, but Vanessa isn't. She is all freaked out that the Sirens are coming back again, and doesn't believe that Simon really loves her. She thinks her powers are messing with his head, and she hates herself for it. She's also mad as all hell at her family because they lied to her her entire life.

I was not so into Undercurrent as I was into Siren. All the Siren elements were there, but I felt as if I was in a very slow parade that had no new exciting destination in mind. Half way through the novel and I still saw no point in sight. It was just Vanessa talking about how she needed to leave Simon because he didn't really love her, and Paige trying to convince herself to go to college, even Simon lost some of his appeal. I mean in the first book he was interesting and hot in a geeky way, in this book he loses his personality and is always behind Vanessa like a sick love puppy, only at the end does he redeem himself a bit.

Not to say I didn't enjoy the novel, but it's just so slow. I need something other than the mystery of the missing mother to keep me reading (actually, caught by surprise by this whole thing, so that was a nice twist!). One thing I did enjoy though was the new guy in Vanessa's life. He was a cutie... and hot. The scenes with him in them were so much fun.You could say that him/Vanessa/Simon have a love triangle going on, but at the same time they don't. You have to read the novel to understand it. It's sad to say though, that I enjoyed Parker King (the new guy) more than I enjoyed Simon in this whole novel.

Also one thing that really pissed me off about Undercurrent was how each chapter ended just when it was getting good. It's like something great happened that needed more explanation and that could have been potentially awesome but right when it started getting good it was cut off. It was so annoying.

One of the things I really like about this series no matter what is that the sirens are evil. They have to kill men, they have to survive. They have to make men love them because if not they don't function properly. I like how Vanessa deals with this, and how she is trying to cope with that part of herself as best as she can. It's dark and twisted, and I like that in my novels.

By the middle Undercurrent redeems itself. It starts jogging and then it just runs at a full gallop to the finish line. It was a bit confusing, but it kept me reading. Also Undercurrent had this element of suspense that was very enjoyable. All in all, it was nice but not as lovable as Siren. I think there will be a third novel, let's see how that one goes ^^