Review: Riptide by Lindsey Scheibe

Title: Riptide
Author: Lindsey Scheibe
Published May 8th 2013 by Flux
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I had a very eloquent, and very emotional review for this book (and two more), but genius me pressed the reset button on my phone and they’re gone. So now you have to settle for this quick, not-nearly-as-awesome-but-trying-my-best review.

Riptide surprised me. I thought it was going to be a cute, summery, surfer-book, and it was so much more. Seriously, the depth went beyond just the sad story inside the walls of Grace’s home, which I am not going to spoil you because I want you to read this.

I loved Grace, she was tenacious, and sweet and I admire her courage and discipline when she surfs. Whoever said surfers were shallow potheads has obviously not met Grace and Ford.

Ford. Also known as Ferdinand Watson, the love of my life, or Grace’s best friend. You have to love him from page one, he is just the kind of guy that everyone loves because he is super smart, super handsome and super nice. He is a surfer guy but he is also doing an internship at Grace’s dad prestigious firm; he wants to be a lawyer, you see, and not just any lawyer, one dedicated to help immigrants. Now how mind-blowing is this? Sometimes we forget there are teenagers out there with passion for great causes, and I’m not saying it is bad to concentrate on winning the heart of your next crush, but sometimes YA novels forget to include awesome young leaders like Ford.

I love that this novel is also multicultural, Ford is half Mexican and he embraces his fiesta side. Mexican culture, or at least Mexican food, is included as a bid deal in this novel, which makes it even warmer. And then we have Ford’s Asian, hilariously awesome friends. Meeting foreign people is the only way to discover that these people are not criminals and it’s really sad some consider them so. I hope this novel opens people’s eyes about how much immigration laws kind of suck in the US, and it’s sad and disappointing considering it is a country that was founded by immigrants.

But on a lighter topic, Ford’s crush on Grace, their banter and their subtle, slow falling for each other was just so incredibly sweet; I loved every minute of it. I loved learning so much about surfing that I am even considering trying it, it sounds amazing and romantic, like a relationship with the ocean. Ford’s parents were another aspect of the book that I completely fell for, they had such a big part of the story, especially his mother, that I was like “is this really a YA?”.

So really, what a lovely read. Wish it was longer and wish you’d all give it a go.