Riptide - Lindsey Scheibe

Riptide by Lindsey Schiebe
Publisher: Flux Books
Publication Date: May 8, 2013
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks Flux!) || e-galley

[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

For Grace Parker, surfing is all about the ride and the moment. Everything else disappears. She can forget that her best friend, Ford Watson, has a crush on her that she can’t reciprocate. She can forget how badly she wants to get a surf scholarship to UC San Diego. She can forget the pressure of her parents’ impossibly high expectations.

When Ford enters Grace into a surf competition—the only way she can impress the UCSD surfing scouts—she has one summer to train and prepare. Will she gain everything she’s ever wanted or lose the only things that ever mattered? (from Goodreads)

There are so many reasons why Riptide could have been a book I fell head over heels in love with. It's about a girl who surfs, and surfing has always been a sport that fascinates me. The girl appears to be experiencing the problems of a typical teen - dealing with her parents, chasing her dreams, falling in love. While Riptide's story includes all of these things, the execution simply fell flat for me and I finished feeling slightly disappointed in what I'd just read.

What I Liked

Surfing was a big part of the novel. Like I already mentioned, I love surfing (even though I think I'm too much of a chicken to try it myself). The way that the sport is woven into the novel as part of Grace's life is really well-done, and it's so clear that Grace is dedicated to the sport that she loves. The best parts for me, however, were the descriptions of what it was like for Grace when she was surfing; it made me feel like I was right on the board along with her.

Grace's determination to follow her dreams was admirable. There's a lot of opposition in Grace's life when it comes to her dreams of surfing, particularly from her parents. I really admire the fact that she persisted in doing what she wanted to do, what she knew she loved, in spite of everything.At the start, she was pretty hesitant to disobey them, but that just held her back. It was nice to see her finally fighting for what she wanted, instead of going along with what they wanted from her.

Ford (and his parents). Ford's story is actually told in bits and pieces here and there, since the POV shifts from Grace to him for some chapters. He was really intriguing, especially with his interest in immigration law and helping people he knew. I would have loved to read more about this particular part of the story. (Also, his parents are included because they are basically warm and wonderful, especially his mother.)

What I Didn't Like

There are so many different things going on all at once. There's Grace's quest to enter and place in the surf competition. There's the matter of Grace's issues with her father. Grace's issues with her mother. Ford's dealing with something in his past that haunts him. Ford's internship at the firm where Grace's father works. Ford and Grace's friendship-more than friends dance. Other romantic interests. I mean, if these things had been properly woven together, I feel like I might have enjoyed the story more. But I felt like it was pretty scattered and all over the place, especially since a lot of them were either too easily concluded or never concluded at all.

The multiple point-of-views didn't work. While I enjoyed reading from Ford's perspective, I wish it had been fleshed out more. There definitely wasn't an equal balance to the book, as it was primarily about Grace. Ford's parts ended up being very sporadic and jarring and just out of place to me.

Grace has the worst parents. I absolutely hated Grace's parents. Sure, they had little moments where I started to soften towards them, but in the end, they were simply horrible people. Her father's behavior was just nuts, but it was her mother who I hated even more as the book ended.

The romance. You know, to me, if they'd just both been honest with each other from the start, they could have avoided all the potholes in their budding relationship. I suppose that was going to add another dimension to Grace's situation, but it seriously backfired for this reader.

I really wanted to like Riptide more than I did, but it inevitably was a book that disappointed me. I couldn't connect with the characters to the level where I truly cared about what became of them. The story had too many plot threads, and the execution just didn't work when it came to weaving them together. While it had a lot of potential, Riptide was essentially a novel that I was disappointed in.