Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury
Imprint: Scholastic
Pages: 300
ISBN: 1407180290
Published: January 5th 2021
Tour Hosted By: Book Terminal Tours
Rating: 4 stars
(I received an ARC from the publisher free of charge, but this does not impact my review in any way.)
Small town meets paranormal
thriller meets mystery, thrown in with some horror – That’s Hold Back the Tide.
Alva falls under the category of
heroines who don’t hold back. From the very first line, you can tell she is not
playing around.
“Here are the rules of living with a murderer.”
Girl is hardened after years of
living with this knowledge. Granted this is a /spoilers/ miscommunication, but
you can tell how much more jaded and driven Alva is because her whole life was
upturned following that one night. She’s ostracized, isolated, and bullied,
with few people to call close. And even those who are lucky to have her
friendship, she pushes away with a meter long stick.
“Hear me, Murren Ross. I like you well enough, but I’ll not be your wife, pretend or otherwise. If you want to leave Ormscaula, leave. But you’ll not come with me. Do you understand?” – p. 101
And because we’re stuck with Alva
from beginning to end, by the time the ending rolls around, you realize that
there’s the occasional bit of unreliable narrator in the beginning, because
Alva hated her father’s guts (understandably so). Readers are so caught up in
this compelling narrative that it’s only until you know the truth that things
change.
Alva even puts her love interests
to shame, taking charge of discovering the mysteries of their town with grim
determination and a gun.
“Have either of you used a gun before?”Both of them shake their heads.“Then you’re not having one.”“How do we defend ourselves?” Gavan asks.“We stay behind Alva.”“Fine,” I sigh. “One of you can have the gun, after I show you how to use it. And there’s an exe, wherever Ren left it. But also, yes – stay behind me.” – p. 175
Also can’t forget the olanfhuil, the creepy monsters of the
loch. Tried to look up how they look like, and didn’t come up with anything,
but I was getting Pale Man (from Pan’s Labyrinth) vibes. They are spooky, and
Salisbury captured the horror-thriller atmosphere of death and disappearance
quite well.
But even beyond the obvious monster of the loch, there’s the
theme of the monster that is mankind, as well. How mankind brings ruin to the
environment (even in 19th/20th century Scotland we have
monsters impacted by man’s environmental carelessness), how mankind thinks it
is privy to every little thing --- Giles Stewart is the embodiment of evil
here, in more ways than one.
Maybe I don’t read these often,
but the fact that this book doesn’t have the HEA most books do is what makes me
so satisfied with it? It’s one of those inevitable thriller endings that have
both readers and characters accepting that this is the way it has to be. If it
were any other way, I’d be befuddled by how perfectly everything worked out,
but with this, I’m all for it. It’s the ending that makes the most sense, given
what shit has happened to everyone in this book. Basically, everyone is a
target. Those are the endings your rarely see, unless it’s Battle Royale or
something.
Much of what I enjoyed about this book goes into spoiler territory. The complexity of Alva's relationship with her father, the theme of running from fate/responsibility versus chasing your dreams, the surprise twist with her mother in the end. I could go on, but to summarize – it’s a small town paranormal thriller that will have you on your toes, from beginning to end.
Mood Board for Hold Back the Tide
Order HOLD BACK THE TIDE
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble
About the Book:
From internationally bestselling, acclaimed author Melinda Salisbury comes a darkly seductive story of murder, betrayal, love, and family secrets in a small town in the Scottish Highlands.
Here are the rules of living with a murderer.
One: Do not draw attention to yourself.
Of course, when you live with a murderer, this is impossible. Even the subtlest of spectres is bound to be noticed. Which leads to the next rule.
Two: If you can't be invisible, be useful.
Everyone in this quiet lakeside community knows that Alva's father killed her mother, all those years ago. There wasn't enough proof to arrest him, though, and with no other family, Alva's been forced to live with her mother's murderer, doing her best to survive until she can earn enough money to run away.
One of her chores is to monitor water levels in the loch-a task her father takes very seriously. Their family has been the guardian of the loch for generations. It's a cold, lonely task, and a few times, Alva can swear she feels someone watching her.
But the more Alva investigates, the more she realizes that the truth can be more monstrous than lies, and that you can never escape your past …
About the Author:
Melinda Salisbury was born in the 1980s in a landlocked city, before escaping to live by the sea. As a child, she genuinely thought Roald Dahl's Matilda was her biography. When she's not trying to unlock the hidden avenues of her mind, she's reading, writing, or traveling. She lives in the UK and can be found on Twitter as @MESalisbury, though be warned she tweets often.
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I love your mood board!
ReplyDeletethank you so much!! i had so much fun making it :)
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