Book Review: Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Friday, June 17, 2011

Waterfall (Book 1 River of Time) by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Date of Publication: 1st February, 2011
Publishers: David C Cook
Source: Bought


Lisa Tawn Bergren's new YA series, River of Time, is romantic, historical fiction in which the plucky heroine doesn't have to fear a vampire's bite but must still fight for her life.

In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another.


My Review:


My Favourite Quote:  We froze.  Neither of us moving, simply staring at each other if the other was going to move first.  
"You are," he whispered, "uncommonly stirring."

He closed his eyes then, as if he had to in order to break the bond between us, then lifted me to the saddle and stare at the ground as he guided my feet into the stirrups.

AWESOME!  I am not usually a fan of anything that slightly resembles historical fiction and well this is time travel back to Fourteenth-Century Italy.  But I love everything about this book the setting, the characters, the history, the romance.  It has to be one of my favourite series of 2011.

Bergen prose is elegant and magnetic while the plot is fast paced and addicting. Often with historical fiction I feel overloaded with information and sometimes a little bored but Waterfall was effortless read that had me on the edge of my seat.  I was completely captivated by this story.   Immediately when I finished it I looked up how long I would have to wait for the next one.  It is one of those books that you just don't want to end thanks to the amazing writing of Bergren.  

The characters are fantastic.  And not just this main ones.  The secondary character are just as strong and entertaining and I admit it is hard to pick a favourite.  Gabi is a compelling character.  Strong, mature and caring.  She showed a lot of courage and I don't think I could have handle myself as well as she did if got sent back to Fourteenth-Century Italy and lost my sister.  Then there is Marcello.  My first thoughts was WOW.  A  fierce fighter, smart, loyal and kind.  Gabi and Marcello has chemistry from page one.   There is loads of tension and obstacles as their relationship builds slowly.

Overall, Waterfall is an electrifying and enthralling tale.  Do not miss out on this awesome new series.


Overall Rating: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Romance: 4.5/5
Cover:4/5


For more info:  Visit Lisa Tawn Bergren website.
For more reviews:  Small Review

The second book in the series Cascade has just been released!


21 comments:

Alix said...

I LOVE historical books and this one sounds so good, plus uncommonly stirring. love that quote :)

Thanks for the review I'll look out for this one.

Unknown said...

This sounds like my sort of novel!
And the love the quote you added too. Definitely will have to look out for it.

Jan von Harz said...

I enjoy historical fiction books and while I am always a little hesitate about time travel, if it is done well it can be a lot of fun to read. Waterfall sounds like a perfect read with great characters all around. Thanks for the great review, I will have to add this one to my wish list.

Misha said...

I LOVE historical fiction! And this one is set in 14th century Italy too! Wow! I have to read this book. Fantastic review :)

Leanna Elle said...

I'm a fan of historical fiction, and the Italian setting sounds great, as do the Italian hotties! :) I will have to check this one out! Great review, Nic!

Savannah said...

LOVE. THIS. BOOK! AGHHHHH! I saw swooned over Marcello! Nice review!

Jenny said...

I've read nothing but good things about this one, I really need to add it to the list! I'm loving time travel at the moment, so this fits right in with my current obsession:) Awesome review Nic, I can't wait to meet Gabi!

Missie, The Unread Reader said...

YES! I've been wanting to read these book since reading about them on Small Review's blog! I'm not a big historical fiction reader either, but something about this series, and the magic of it, just makes it a MUST. Every review I've read for the books has been glowing! That is pretty exciting. Plus, I'm super curious about Marcello! I just have to get to know him. :)

Exciting review, Nic. Glad you enjoy it so much!

bibliophile brouhaha said...

I'm not normally into historical fiction, either, Nic, but this one sounds fantastic! You can really tell how much you loved this one! I'm heading off to add to the TBR right now :) Thanks for the great rec - it's the first review I've really read for this book.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

I have this one on my tbr and it is wanting me to read it. Now, it's telling me that Nic loved it and so there I should pick it up.

Hm...

Should I worry that my books are speaking to me in this way? O.o Great review (despite my hallucinations). I love it when you don't normally like a genere and you find a good book.

Rummanah Aasi said...

Your enthusiasm for this book leaps off the screen, Nic! I love the sound of this book: great cast of characters, romance, time travel, and historical fiction. I'm adding this one to my tbr pile right now!

Anonymous said...

It sounds interesting. I too am not the historical fiction type, but I've just been hearing so many good things about this that I'm starting to feel the need to check it out.

Thanks for the review :D

Jenny N. said...

Quite a few of these time travel books being released this year. Italy is a settng I don't read a lot of so it would be something new to try.

A Canadian Girl said...

Canada Post is on a strike which means I'm still waiting for my copy of Cascade to arrive :( As soon as it does, I'm reading Waterfall and Cascade back to back since Small Review has been raving about it too.

A.J. said...

Awesome review! And love the quote! Cannot wait to read this one. :D

Nomes said...

i have to review this too ~ but i would pretty much say the exact sam ting as you :)

you did such a great job on saying everything good about this books nic :)

i agree it wasn't painful at all like some historical YA can be ...

Logan E. Turner said...

I'm so glad you liked this book! Love this series!

I also really like the new blog design!

Anonymous said...

Ohhh I loved this book too!! And Cascade so awesome, that whole thing with the cage and the ending about did me in!!

Small Review said...

Yes!! *happy dance* I love reading glowing happy reviews for this book. I agree, it's hard to choose a favorite character. Even the secondary characters are great. Can't wait to hear what you think of Cascade!

Thank you for linking my review! :D

Teddyree said...

This is definitely going on my wishlist; time travel and historical fiction, YAY! Thanks for highlighting this one!

Alyssa Kirk said...

This just arrived in the mail and I can't wait to get started!

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