Escaping... One Book @ a Time: **REVIEW & GIVEAWAY** Everblue by Brenda Pandos

She wanted her life to change... he wanted his to stay the same.
Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.
Ashlyn is about to discover what she'd thought to be true her whole life, wasn't, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

Release Date: July 30, 2011

Published By: Obsidian Mountain Publishing

Review Copy: Paperback, 304 pages

*provided by author in turn for honest review

Review

It is far from a secret that I am a huge fan of Mermaids. Have been ever since I first watched The Little Mermaid. Though this is no Little Mermaid tale, it was something new and different that I easily found myself lost in and had no problem reading it from start to finish. When I say start I mean I had to take a few moment to appreciate the beautiful cover. Seriously how could you look at this one and not pick it up for the cover alone?! What is between the pages speaks volumes but the cover will draw your attention to start!!

The story is extremely well written. Everblue takes place at Lake Tahoe and despite the fact that I have never been there or really even seen picture of it, it was amazing easy to picture the town, lake and people within it. Then you get to the underwater world: Natatoria. This world was truly breathtaking and I loved the way the community was done with such detail. I had to agree with Fin and Tatiana when it came down to how it was run though and was happy that their parents allowed them for the most part to be different. Another thing that was really enjoyable about the writing was that it was done from both Ash and Fin's point of view and I love me some multiple point of views when reading!

Ashlyn is such an interesting character and I loved her from the get go. She isn't hung up with the every day happenings and gossip. Though she did keep tabs on it for the sake of her best friend. Her best friend that is "home schooled" and plans on leaving with her to go to college as soon as they graduate. When Tatiana just up and leaves Ash wont let it go and is determined to find out what really happened to her best friend and her brother. The brother that she just happens to have a crush on! Ash is really the kind of friend that you want to have, loyal and determined. Throughout the book she was easy to relate to and fun to read!

The other end of the writing is done from one of the hottest Mermen out there: Fin. I don't even know where to start with him!! First impression said *swoon* and then I was all over it. His stubborn obsession with remaining loyal to a world that was dictated by old rules and needed change picked at me a little bit. He did learn while he was there and made some of his own choices that kind of redeemed him in the end for me. Not that I didn't ever love him but I had a hard time waiting for him to open his eyes to see what was really going on around him.

Though Ash and Fin are the two main characters and were well done, the secondary characters were not completely flat. I loved that everyone got some dimension to them. The role that they played kind of determined how detailed they were. Basically everything in this novel was well written and easy to picture as stated above. I was a little pulled back with the ending but that is mostly because I don't have the next book in my possession and trust me once you start this series there will be no going back!! Without question this is one of my favorite Mer books!!!

Quotes

"Son, ya need to keep focused." He grabbed my hand and yanked me off the seabed. "Get your head out of yer arse and hold your fin up like this."

A pang of dread hit my stomach. His family still hadn't returned-each day making me crazy with worry. What could have possibly happened that they'd abandon their business?

I leaned onto the couch cushion and sobbed. A piece of my soul felt like it was dying and I didn't know how to fix it. The only time I'd felt whole since the accident was when Fin took my arm in the middle of living room.

Her eyes sparkled. "I've always known you were special.""Or genetically mutated.""In the most adorable way." She mussed up my hair and planted a kiss on my nose.

Giveaway

So Brenda was super nice and sent along some extra swag for me to give away!! So in celebration of this review 4 people will get a Everblue swag pack!!!