Waterfall Wednesdays: Chapters 24-28

Welcome to the very last week of the Waterfall Read-Along! For those of you who don't know, the wonderful ladies behind Tina's Book Reviews, Edgy Inspirational Romance, Irresistible Reads, The Unread Reader and myself are hosting a read-along of Lisa T. Bergren's time-travel young adult novel Waterfall (LOVED!). Each week we'll pose and answer five questions about the book and then hop around to the other blogs who have signed up to check out everyone's answers!

Nic is the host this week, so be sure and pop over to Irresistible Reads to link up your posts and, in doing so, get entered in a giveaway to win signed copies of the entire series.

Also, if you haven't had a chance to hop over to Small Review, be sure and stop by as she's having a River of Time Series extravaganza with all sorts of fun giveaways running through September 30th.

CHAPTERS 24-28

After Gabi is injured, the doctor gives her a tonic. Gabi questions the doctor several times what is in it but he refuses to tell. Would have you taken the tonic in Gabi's situation?

Good question. I consider myself a pretty suspicious person by nature, and given that medical remedies in this time period were not exactly up to snuff, I think I might balk as Gabi did especially since the doctor adamantly refused to tell her what was in it. There would be all sorts of disgusting things going through my head like "Am I drinking feces? Poison? Feces and poison? WHY WON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT'S IN THIS?!"

Before the games Gabi asks Lia to let Lord Forabosch win in the archery event as people, especially Lord Forabosch, are becoming suspicious of them. But during the games Lord Forabosch upsets Lia trying to throw her off her game. So Lia decides to win. Do you think she did the right thing by not letting Lord Forabosch bully her or do you think she took an unnecessary risk?

This scene made me smile. Yes, both girls were starting to raise suspicions. Yes, Lia behaving as a proper lady deferring to her male "betters" (gag) in a display of skill probably would have been beneficial to their cause. However, I just can't find it in me to fault Lia as I'm a competitive person too and would find it extraordinarily difficult to allow someone who thought so very little of me to best me when I knew I could win, repercussions be damned. So, in summary, I like to win. GO LIA!

When Gabi is dying and she and Lia decide to return to the tombs so they can get the cure at home but they have to tell Marcello the truth. Even though Marcello thinks that it is madness that they are from the future he believes in Gabi because he loves her. Do you think this is believable? What would you have done if you were Marcello?

I think given all that's unusual to Marcello about Gabi and her sister it's easier for him to believe they are a from a different time. I think if Gabi had mentioned it right when she stumbled out of the tomb, despite her odd clothing, he would have thought her crazy or working some kind of witchcraft. By the time they tell him though, there had been so many little things adding up that I found his willingness to accept their story believable.

In the end Gabi and Lia return home. Do you think Gabi will return to Marcello? Would you go back?

In a truly spectacular display of deductive reasoning on my part, I did figure Gabi was going to go back to Marcello given that there were two additional books in the series. The way my mind works is intimidating isn't it? Don't worry, we can't all be as magnificently intelligent and modest as me ;-)

The romantic in me would absolutely go back. I would have a very hard time living out my life wondering "what if", and knowing Marcello was waiting for me would eat at me every single day until I could bear it no longer. Deliciously sexy knight pining day in and day out for my return = my hand on that print in the tomb in a second.

Looking back at Waterfall what was your favourite moment?

I only get to pick one? That's nearly impossible. I think my favorite moments would be the tension-filled interactions between Marcello and Gabi. Romantic tension is my favorite part of almost any book, and theirs was so tangible I could practically reach through the pages and touch Marcello. Wait. Not Marcello. Touch it. It, as in the tension. And if my fingers happen to fondle Marcello while they were in there I can't really be held accountable now can I? No.


I want to say a huge thank you to Missie, Nic, Serena, Joy, and Tina for organizing this event and allowing me to be a part of it! A special thank you to Lisa Bergren as well for writing such an amazing series and for offering up fabulous prizes to those who participated each week. I hope everyone had fun with the read-along, and for those who continue on with the series after this I have one word for you: GRECO. That is all:)

Review: River of Time Series

RIVER OF TIME SERIES (Waterfall, Cascade, Torrent)
Lisa T. Bergren
Paranormal Young Adult
David C. Cook (publisher)
Available Now
Bought and received for review from author

Warning: review contains minor spoilers

THE STORY
Gabriella Betarrini and her sister Lia are used to following their mother around on archaeological digs, spending their summers in beautiful Italy but ultimately stuck at the dig site unable to explore much themselves. When they stumble into their mother's latest find, an ancient tomb, and place their hands on painted hand prints on the wall that seem identical to their own, they find themselves sucked back in time.

Yanking her hand from the wall a few moments before her sister, Gabi finds herself still in the tomb, yet everything has changed. When she emerges, she sees the ruins she expects restored to all their medieval glory and watches as the battle taking place in front of her proves itself to be no mere reenactment.

This series follows Gabi, Lia and eventually their mother as they navigate their way through medieval Italy and all the beauty and horror of the time, picking up weapons in defense of those who have been wronged and finding unexpected love amidst the chaos of war.

MY THOUGHTS
The River of Time books transport us to an utterly enthralling medieval world, enchanting us with knights in shining armor and their chivalry, but also never letting us forget the difficulties of the time period. With the extravagant gowns and the propriety we also experience lives governed by the point of a sword–often lived fast and lost quickly–as accompanying the gallantry we find greed and a desire for power; just as with loyalty we also discover the brutal sting of betrayal. Ms. Bergren paints her world in hypnotic color, gloriously illustrating the joys and pains of the medieval era, dazzling us with rich historical details and intricacies, and thoroughly entertaining us with characters who win us over with their vibrant personalities. Gabi and Lia drag us through the tomb's portal with them, companions on a an epic adventure that has us keeping track of the page numbers with increasing dismay and grieving the speed with which they're flying by as we catapult toward an end we're simply not prepared to accept just yet.

Gabriella is a heroine virtually impossible to dislike, her quick mind coming to her aid again and again as she moves through a world she's only read about previously, never despairing of her circumstances but rather embracing the soft romanticism of a medieval lady's life with the hard-edged brutality of civilization at the time. While it would be shockingly easy for her to lose herself in the grandeur of living in a castle with the attentions of its handsome lord, she never forgets herself entirely or allows her mind to fall prey to the beautiful illusion, instead remaining cognizant of what's waiting for her in her life back home and the effect her decisions will have on her family. She swoons over Marcello and then mentally chastises herself for doing so, approaching her relationship with remarkable maturity and level-headedness–perhaps more so than we do as readers given that we find ourselves weak-kneed and foggy-minded when faced with Marcello, Luca, and Lord Greco.

In addition to an extraordinary leading lady, Ms. Bergren also increases our love for this series by steadily integrating the presence of Gabi's family, drawing us blissfully further into the story as the dynamic of a modern family traipsing through and forever altering an ancient world fully captivates us. We start with the brief presence of Lia in Waterfall, then progress to the addition of the girls' equally strong-willed and physically fearsome mother in Cascade, and finally see the completion of the Betarrini family in Torrent with their father. Each Betarrini member supports the others fully but also questions them, ensuring no decision is made lightly or without forethought, and we can't help but admire each of them for their individual strengths as we watch a jump in time save a family in so many different ways.

The River of Time series is an absolute pleasure to read, keeping our emotions constantly in flux as we discover both how wonderful and terrifying medieval Italy can be. All three books are incredibly action-packed with family feuds and political battles taking center stage while sweet romance is expertly interwoven to keep our hearts beating double time for hundreds of pages. These novels will appeal to a wide variety of readers as no single element overpowers the others, and we are left with a solid conclusion but also the potential for so much more. The possibility that this world is just waiting for us to return is a heady one, bringing a smile to our faces every time we think of it.

Overall series rating: 4.5/5

Waterfall Read-Along

I'm really excited today to post about a fun upcoming event that will take place each Wednesday on the blog starting August 31st and ending the week of September 28th: The Waterfall Read-Along! I just finished this book last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, so if you've yet to read it I highly recommend you give it a try. Along with the fabulous ladies at Tina's Book Reviews, The Unread Reader, Irresistible Reads, and Edgy Inspirational Romance, we will be hosting discussion questions each week that will explore Lisa T. Bergren's absorbing time travel world.

Tina, the wonderful mastermind behind this event, I think does a fabulous job explaining all the details so I'm going to borrow a snippet from her post:

We want you to join us!! Sign up with the Linky, linking up your post announcing the read-along, acquire your copy of Waterfall and read chapters 1-6. The first five questions posted here will be discussed on August 31, 2011, where you can link up your answers and get info about the next week's discussion questions. If you want to use a button (created by the very talented Missie from The Unread Reader) for your sidebar please feel free and link back to the original sign up post. You can also use the buttons for any of the discussion posts and original posts you do. And for everyone who links up and joins the read-along, Lisa Bergren herself has offered a trilogy set of her series to one winner. Yup- that means Waterfall, Cascade and Torrent, all for you!! Signing up and participating automatically enters you into the drawing and if the winner is from the US- Lisa will sign them as well.

OUR DISCUSSION SCHEDULE:

August 31- Chapters 1-6 Hosted by Tina at Tinasbookreviews

Sept 7- Chapters 7-11 Hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader

Sept 14- Chapters 12-17 Hosted by Joy & Serena at Edgy Inspirational Romance

Sept 21- Chapters 18-23 Hosted by Jenny at Supernatural Snark

Sept 28- Chapters 24-28 and Wrap Up Hosted by Nic at Irresistible Reads

I'm thrilled to be a part of this event and I can't wait to read everyone's questions and answers and relive Waterfall all over again! To sign up and get the first five questions, head on over to Tina's Book Reviews.



WATERFALL (from Goodreads):

In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidentally finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another.