I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Beyond the Rising Tide by Sarah Beard
Published by Sweetwater Books on June 14th 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Romance
Pages: 304
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

Kai met Avery only once–in the moment he died saving her life. Now when he’s not using his new healing powers to help people, he watches helplessly as Avery’s life is unraveled by his death. To help her, he risks everything by breaking the rules, dangerously blurring the barriers between life and death.

‘Beyond the Rising Tide’ is a contemporary romance with an interesting twist. Kai saved Avery’s life. In the process he drowns. Kai and Avery are total strangers when this happens. As a result everything about the boy who saved her life is a mystery to Avery. The gilt Avery feels for what happened causes her life to spiral downhill. Kai, in the afterlife, still feels drawn to Avery and her torment and attempts to help her move on.

Paranormal is not a genre that I usually read. However, I was drawn to this book because of the unique premise. The story is full of rich detail of the strong emotions that both Kai and Avery feel. Avery is often conflicted with her feelings for Kai, her ex-boyfriend, and her mentally ill mother. Avery’s  emotions were very raw and made her very easy for me to identify with.

Kai’s character was also well-developed and the reader is able to understand Kai’s personality both in his life and his afterlife. Beard also describes the settings in vivid detail. The ocean’s beauty and power is central to the theme and is so well described, it becomes  a character in its self. Another important backdrop in the story is the chocolate shop where Avery works. I could almost smell the wonderful scent  of the chocolate.

I really loved this book. It has  wonderful themes of love, sacrifice, and overcoming tragedy and fear. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wants a pure love story with a little bit of a paranormal theme.

You can find Beyond the Rising Tide here.

Guest review contributed by The Book Return. All reviews are geared toward the Generation X, which includes modern books as well as ones from this blogger’s childhood.