Fractured Tide by Leslie Lutz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
17-year old, Sia, has been scuba diving her whole life with her parent’s charter business.
She’s used to diving with the tourists, exploring reefs and shipwrecks. There is always something new to interact with in the quiet depths.
It’s quite a serious position for her to be in as well. There’s a lot to be responsible for. Not all the tourists have a lot of experience and getting people to follow even simple instructions can be a challenge.
With Sia’s father currently incarcerated, it’s up to Sia and her mother to keep the family business afloat. On one particular dive, Sia is exploring a sunken craft with some customers when disaster strikes.
Attacked by a mysterious monster of the deep, a customer ends up dead and Sia blames herself.
Making matters worse, they need to call for help when their boat is incapacitated. Another vessel, full of students on a science expedition, comes to their rescue. Sia, her mother and the surviving tourists board that ship.
It’s now that the real fun begins. Again it seems something is after them. The boat sinks and Sia finds herself washed up on a deserted island.
Eventually teaming up with a handful of other survivors, Sia and the others must figure out the secrets of the island and a way to make it off alive. This is no normal place.
Fractured Tide is a unique YA Horror story with an enticing set-up. I was surprised when I discovered that this is told in epistolary format, which is a narrative style I enjoy.
In this case, it is told through journal entries that Sia is writing for her father. It’s a full accounting of all the events happening on the ill-fated trip, including her thoughts and feelings on what is taking place.
I felt like this was a great way to tell this story. You’re literally learning everything as Sia is relaying it and you really only know what she knows, or interprets about the events going on around her.
In the synopsis, this book is compared to Lost and I would 100% agree with that. Especially considering towards the end, I had no clue what was happening; still don’t.
Honestly, I would have preferred more answers. I was a little confused for almost the entire second half and don’t really understand the end much at all. I mean I have theories, but it’s really a shot in the dark.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy this story overall. I found it to be refreshing. I love Horror stories set at sea, so this one was fun in that regard.
I would definitely be interested in picking up more books by Leslie Lutz in the future. I hope she stays in this YA Horror lane, as she is clearly very talented at writing claustrophobic, uncomfortable narratives.
Yessss, that is absolutely a compliment!!!
