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A review by belacbooks
The Rebellious Tide by Eddy Boudel Tan
2.0
Within Boudel Tan's sophomore novel is quite the thrilling story. Unfortunately, the way said story is told (i.e., like a screenplay with most of the blocking already on the page) detracts from what could have been a much more compelling read. This novel falls victim to the sin of telling, not showing. Characters are said to be this or that, but neither this nor that will ever be examined with any depth. The reader is just expected to accept this as a truth. Action happens off camera and motivations are revealed post-hoc. Thus, this novel unfolds like an autopsy, not a compelling read.
This becomes all the more complicated due to the author's choice to omnisciently jump from POV character to POV character: sometimes in the same paragraph. This is a confusing choice for a thriller, especially when some of those heads are those of the villains once the masks are removed.
This compounds over the narrative to undermine the interesting story at the heart of this novel. Ultimately, what could have been powerful third act twists instead cause the reader to scratch their head, wondering why the narrator's omniscience decided to hide all of this pertinent information and motivation from them until after said information was important.
Finally, this novel hosts a top-tier example of why instalove is a trope best left in the Noughties. A simple sexual relationship was forced into a cloying (and heavy-handed) love story for no discernible reason other than a throw-away line at the denouement.
Overall, an interesting story that could have used some more editing in its early stages. Two stars.
***Note: I received an ARC of this novel from Dundurn Press and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.***
This becomes all the more complicated due to the author's choice to omnisciently jump from POV character to POV character: sometimes in the same paragraph. This is a confusing choice for a thriller, especially when some of those heads are those of the villains once the masks are removed.
This compounds over the narrative to undermine the interesting story at the heart of this novel. Ultimately, what could have been powerful third act twists instead cause the reader to scratch their head, wondering why the narrator's omniscience decided to hide all of this pertinent information and motivation from them until after said information was important.
Finally, this novel hosts a top-tier example of why instalove is a trope best left in the Noughties. A simple sexual relationship was forced into a cloying (and heavy-handed) love story for no discernible reason other than a throw-away line at the denouement.
Overall, an interesting story that could have used some more editing in its early stages. Two stars.
***Note: I received an ARC of this novel from Dundurn Press and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.***