Astral Tide review

Astral Tide by Anna Silver
Series: Otherborn #2
Published by Self-published on 2014-02-25
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 223
Format: eARC
Source: Provided as part of book tour, Provided by author for honest review
Goodreads

London and her friends are fugitives in a reprocessed world where anything New is illegal. But as Otherborn, they're different. They can dream and create, which hasn't gone unnoticed. After fleeing Capital City with an assassin on their heels, the Otherborn found nothing went according to plan. Now, they are down by two and on the run in the Outroads, but the Tycoons keep mysteriously gaining on them. And seven months later, London is no closer to her promise to go back for Rye, if there is anything left to go back for. But Zen is teaching London that there may be more to her heart than the pieces she left behind, and London can't help but feel guilty about not looking back since they fled New Eden. Should she hold on to hope that Rye is more than just a memory, or embrace a new life and love with Zen?In their race to outrun their enemies, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: they can only run for so long. Eventually, they'll have to face what waits when the road runs out. Eventually, their fates will catch up to them. 

Julie’s Review:

Astral Tide is such an imaginative and unique story. The ethereal mood throughout is refreshing, since I don’t typically read many books involving another plane of existence. The Astral here is like a character rather than a place, which is pretty interesting. I liked the special abilities that the characters that have an Other were able to develop – such as warping space to create water or a ledge. Very cool if you ask me. I enjoyed the character development in the story as well. London was cool in Otherborn but she gets pretty baddass in Astral Tide. The friendships and loyalties in this book are always tested, and sometimes what can appear as an ultimate betrayal may be something else entirely. The characters have to trust their instincts and each other to get by.

One thing I struggled with is the journey aspect of the book. The characters go from one place to another, continuing to run for their lives, but I feel not enough happens until maybe the second half of the book. I’m also not sure how I feel about the love triangles in this book.  The relationships are basically in the “it’s complicated” mode for most of the people it seems. I’m guessing it will all be resolved in the next book. As for the ending, I can’t say it ended in a cliffhanger exactly, but it did just kind of stop. It didn’t feel like a conclusion of a book, more like a “stay tuned”. I kept trying to turn to the next chapter, but I was at 100% and there was nowhere else to go.

So overall I’d give this a 3.5. I liked the book, but not everything worked for me.

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