Undertow|Michael Buckley

Review

Title: Undertow

Series: Undertow #1

Author: Michael Buckley

Publication: May 5th, 2015 by HMH Books For Young Readers

Format: ARC

Source: Publisher

Genre: YA, Sci-Fy, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Action, Romance

Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world’s initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric’s small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity’s only hope of survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it’s more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen.

My Thoughts:

Although I never personally have read any of Buckley’s other works, I am quite familiar with them and was surpassed to find out that he had decided to write a YA novel.  However, I had a friend who insisted that I read this one based soley on the quality of his Middle Grade novels.  When I found myself with a copy of it, I figured, why not?

Very quickly into the book you realize that there is something going on.  Although the Alpha (an aquatic race of beings loosely based on traditional mermaids) are not introduced  for some time in the book, their presence is felt.  I was of course fascinated with Buckley’s unique interpretation mermaids.  Contrary to traditional folklore, Buckley’s mermaids are pure warriors, but are diverse in their appearances and abilities.  The Alpha, as he calls them, not only are extremely powerful, and deadly, but have the ability to live on land without a great deal of difficulty.

As Buckley’s story progressed, I was enchanted by this bizarre interpretation of mermaids, particularly the reactions by the masses.  The idea that the Alpha are now ‘immigrants’ is so startling and the opposite of what would likely happen if this were real, begins to pull this story in a more magical realism direction.  I was a fan of the Niners, because I think that they represented they type of group that would really develop if this book was real life.   I appreciated their role in the story because it made everything a little less outlandish and more grounded.

Our protagonist, Lyric, is well, just alright.  Not overtly annoying or foolish, and she does have some strikingly realistic qualities (especially in relation to boys) but she lacks and interesting personality.  Her ‘connection’ to the Alpha is foreseeable and of course disappointing.  Much like Lyric’s weird and inappropriate friendship with Fathom.  Nothing about what happened between the two of them made any sense and was a half ass attempt to romanticize the story.

Fathom, along with the other Alpha characters, were spineless and bland.  Although their physical appearances may have made them stand apart, the way that they acted in the book was much the same.  I found myself forgetting which Alpha was doing what.

As for our human secondary characters, Lyrics friends Bex and Shadow, I enjoyed their dynamic much more.  Bex had extraordinary development in the story, (Shadow somewhat less).  Both of them pushed the plot forward in interesting ways.

The end of Undertow was extremely rushed.  Scenes that could have taken longer were smooched together.  The entire idea of this book having a rushed ending is so bizarre because it took forever for any plot to actually get started.  I’m pretty sure all the action happened in the last twenty pages.

The rushed climax led to zero resolution.  Lyric’s confrontation with Fathom solves nothing, and as the book closes it awkwardly references more mayhem in the future, therefore promising a sequel/series.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I was unimpressed by the execution of Undertow by Michael Buckely.  What started off as a unique premise led to zero world building. A boring protagonist moseys through three quarters of the book accomplishing nothing.  Throw in a lack of character development, unrealistic reactions to traumatic events, and of course a blessed romance, Undertow is the biggest sic-fy flop I’ve read in years.  Undertow is similar to watered down versions of Article 5 and The 5th Wave.

Despite my utter bashing (sorry) of Undertow, here is a quote that resonated with me:

“I’ve learned to let every word I say to her roll around in my mouth to dull the sharp edges first” (17).*

*Taken from ARC