Rachael Craw

When 17-year-old Meg Archer returns home to her mystical island after living with her mother on the mainland for ten years she finds herself in the midst of a struggle for survival. Having been bitten by mythical creatures from The Rift when they were children, both Meg and her friend Cal possess Rift Sight and are key to preventing the Rift from opening and allowing the wolves to destroy the Old Herd. This book was quite good but in my opinion is more of a second novel. It needs a prequel show more to better explain why the Old Herd is so important, what exactly is The Rift and where did it come from, more background on the characters and why they have the hint, they reason behind the drug testing and creating zombie animals... so many great concepts that felt a bit disjointed. show less

The Rift by Rachael Craw drops the reader onto the island of Black Water, where the secretive and mystic Rangers protect the Old Herd from threats both natural and supernatural. The story follows Cal and Meg, childhood friends who were separated when Meg was moved off the island after a tragic event nine years ago. The story begins with Meg returning to the island.

This is a young adult novel and hits on a number of themes and archetypes of that genre. If you’re a reader who doesn’t care show more much for YA fiction, it may be a pass for you. I, personally, really enjoyed the story. I liked the blending of the ranger characters (literally ranger class as if lifted from D&D or any fantasy game) with the supernatural elements of the Rift, the ley lines, the Rift hound bite powers, animal bonds, etc. I liked that the modern world exists outside the island of Black Water, which I found grounded the story a bit more than setting it in some fantasy world. Ultimately, I thought the story was a unique and exciting entry into a genre that is quite crowded already.

The author’s writing is excellent, painting the scenes with thoughtful imagery and diligently describing the characters’ feelings and motivations. There were a handful of iffy passages, though these may have been elements that had yet to be edited (my advanced review copy had a number of formatting and punctuation errors throughout).

[Spoilers below]

I know the author has stated this book is intended to be a standalone story, however there are a number of loose threads and unanswered questions that I think could merit an equally exceptional sequel, if not a trilogy. (Who will be the new head Ranger? How will Nutris hit back? What is to become of Nutris’ reanimation serum? What happened with Rilke and the spirit of the head ranger? What sorts of powers will the new bite survivors develop and how will that help in the impending conflict with Nutris? How badass will Meg get when she figures out her own powers and gets her own animal bond? What other sorts of effects do the Rift and the ley lines have on the Rangers? On the wildlife? Even just some slice-of-life from Meg’s perspective of living on the island and with the Rangers after spending so long off the island)

[Spoilers above]

The publisher, Candlewick, provided me with a copy of the book for early reviewing, however, the opinion expressed above is my own. show less

Black Water is an island that's home to some kind of interdimensional rift, an ancient herd of magical deer, and a hereditary line of rangers with supernatural powers who are sworn to protect them. But the deer have a substance in their antlers that can be used to make powerful medications, so representatives of a pharmaceutical company are allowed onto the island once a year for a cull.

It seemed to me like an interesting genre-blending set-up, but I was rather disappointed by how little the show more novel does with it. The more real-world-feeling side of things is hugely underdeveloped, and the pharmaceutical company and its methods themselves are more magic than medicine and more plot device than either. There is a lot of scope here for some interesting themes about magic and science and capitalism and human need vs. environmental preservation, and such, but none of it really gets explored.

What we do get is readable enough, I guess. There's some action, some revelations, some romantic tension. But I have to say, none of it really gripped me at all. In the end, I'm mostly left with the feeling of a potentially interesting concept that didn't really go anywhere, or, more charitably, of a work by a writer who was interested in entirely different things about it than I was. show less

Plenty of potential, the execution just wasn’t for me.

When Meg and her mother return to their former island home, it’s meant to be a short trip, strictly for financial purposes, however, very quickly Meg’s caught up with rangers, fortune hunters, a pharmaceutical company, mystical and zombie deer, as well as hounds, who, if they don’t kill you, their bites may imbue you with powers.

The supernatural, the medicine, the rangers, the fortune hunters, the backstory of Meg and her show more family’s separation, pretty much all of it remained vague throughout, I mean, yes, I had a basic understanding of what was going on, but for the most part, none of it was delved into with depth or detail, it seemed underdeveloped, lacking concrete explanations. With so much undefined, I struggled to feel fully immersed in it, particularly once the book took a turn almost entirely into action territory where more solid footing in the world of the story might have been helpful in holding my attention more than this ultimately did.

It may also have helped my emotional investment and my overall engagement with this one had there been more of an arc, more conflict beyond fighting off supernatural creatures. For instance, I wondered why afflict Meg’s mother with cancer if it doesn’t tie in to the story? If she’d been dying and could have benefited from the island, wouldn’t that have massively upped the stakes? If Meg had been torn between saving her mother’s life and siding with her father/the rangers she admired (and wanted to be), it may have provided some very necessary tension, if Meg had to deal with moral and emotional conflicts about something real world tangible, make tough decisions, maybe the plot would have felt like stronger and more involving.

Initially, I was intrigued by the character dynamics. Meg’s mom still seemingly harbored some feelings for Meg’s dad, Meg longed for a relationship with her dad, Meg was envious of Cal basically living the life she’d wanted, Cal felt unworthy and Rilke compounded that, there was a lot of juicy stuff to dig into here, unfortunately, so much of the interpersonal fell to the wayside after one particular attack, moments, confrontations I’d anticipated from the interesting set-up early on, between Meg’s parents, between Meg and her parents, between Meg and Cal, and Cal and Rilke, most of that became lost amid the action as opposed to being woven into it for what could have been a richer reading experience.

I received this ARC through a giveaway. show less