I didn’t like this one as well as I liked On Earth, which I really enjoyed. This started strong for me, but really drooped in the middle, and then was a slog to finish. It felt like a pacing issue - nothing happening for long stretches except taking swimsuits on and off and eating candy. Lots of repetition of ideas and worries. By the time the final battle rolled around I was ready to skim. The story had drawn out so long with so little happening, I just wanted it to be over. The children were the same children as in the first book, in many ways, and I did not particularly sympathize or connect with the main character, Jenn. She didn’t have a lot of personality except wanting her children to like her and wanting to drink wine. In On Earth the strange or grating personalities of some of the characters are explained by the plot. But I just felt like I was sharing a beach house with a family I didn’t like, which would be annoying in the best of circumstances, let alone when the world might be ending.

All that being said, I read the acknowledgements and they helped me see the ways that this is primarily a grief tale, and possibly a pandemic tale. It explains some things and makes me more understanding of them. And I still feel warmly toward the author and interested in the way she sees the world, so I’ll give her next book a shot!

I swear my last handful of reviews have either disappeared or not linked properly! So going back in and adding them for books I've read the past few months.

A messy romance author and soon-to-be single mom escapes with her two kids to the quaint seaside town where she vacationed - and was traumatized by the drowning death of her best friend - as a child. Soon, strange creatures begin turning up in the water, a strangely persistent tsunami brings a tide of dead sharks to shore, oh and an eldritch horror of a sea monster is keeping the whole town trapped there. And the dead kid turns up.

If this sounds like the setup to a gothic horror, it’s somehow not that at all. This is my first Emily Jane, but by all accounts, Here Beside the Rising Tide deploys her signature blend of humor, whimsy and weird. As a main character, Jenni is a relatable one: stubbornly avoiding her ex, her agent, and desperately trying to out-cool parent her husband with her preteen daughter and younger son. She drinks too much, finds herself inconveniently attracted to a local contractor.

The plot took a turn for the too-much in the book’s final faceoff with the sea monster,and I found myself wishing Jane had stuck with weird rather than the Marvel-esque battle where hundreds or thousands of people are being killed but their deaths are too small and too numerous to register.

Overall this is fun, even if the ending left me not wholly satisfied.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars rounded down
Thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was an interesting read and while I am not sure if I agree with how you t ended up, I throughly enjoyed the journey. It was so hard to figure out what to say about this book but I did like it.

What a wild ride! Here Beside the Rising Tide is a mobster mash of genres… literary fiction, sci-fi, romcom, Super Hero.
Sometimes I had whiplash from trying to figure out where we were headed, but I had to find out what WAS going on. Since I just took my students to Space Camp, and ended up reading this on the bus ride there and back, I appreciated the timely references.
The characters are loveable, the plot is out of this world, and I did find myself with a page turner because I needed to find out… what was going on. All in all, this was a quick and enjoyable read.

While this was a unique read, I am not sure this book hit the mark for me. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review and I hope this book finds its audience.

Thank you, Hyperion and Netgalley, for allowing me the opportunity to read and review.

A nostalgic blend of mystery, fantasy, and summer escapism, *Here Beside the Rising Tide* brings readers back to Pearl Island, where childhood memories resurface in unexpected ways. When Jenn returns with her kids for a much-needed break, she’s shocked to encounter Timmy Caruso—her best friend who vanished thirty years ago, still ten years old and claiming to be on a world-saving mission. While the premise is intriguing and the writing engaging, the story’s mix of magical realism and family drama didn’t fully come together for me. A fun, quirky read, but it didn’t quite hit the mark.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I had read Jane's previous work so I had a general idea of what I might be getting into but this still went beyond that. I don't know that I agree with the blub of this being flat-out fun as there are some heavy topics therein and it is very heavy on the sci-fi. This is not The Expanse or space opera, to be sure, but there are real topics of divorce and grief and longing in here. There is a happy ending here but goodness me the turns it takes to get there. Not sure my particular audience would like this but it may be worth your while. 3 stars.

An interesting romsci-fi (romance x sci-fi) book about a child growing up on pearl island with her single mother and spending a lot of time alone. One summer she befriends a boy and after a tragic incident, he dies. Fast forward 30 years and the same girl is now a woman dealing with a messy separation and a bad attempt at control over her life as she takes her own child to pearl island, where she grew up. Weird things start to happen with creates and monsters out for blood. Personally, this was not for me. I'm more into fantasy than sci-fi, but this felt like a somewhat digestible sci-fi to a reader who like mostly contemporary romance and romantasy. The writing wasn't anything I'd particularly write home about, and I never felt compelled to keep reading, but I didn't mind it either. It was a bit of a palate cleanser and a little break from the usually romance books I read. If the concept of the novel sounds interesting to you I'd def try it out, just not personally for me!

I really enjoyed reading this book—it's a very interesting mix of genres, definitely with some sci-fi and fantasy elements, but I would say it's a character-forward story above all else, with very high plot stakes! I won't say too much about said plot, since one of the pleasures of this weird little gem is seeing it unfold and not knowing where it' going next, but the premise was excellent and I felt the book delivered on that premise. Emily Jane is truly a beautiful writer—there were several places I stopped to contemplate an image or line of dialogue that really struck me. I will definitely be looking out for future books from her!

I was gifted a copy of this book by NetGalley, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to leave this review.

This book is weird - in the best, most whimsical way. It's refreshing to read a fantasy novel that doesn't take itself too seriously, blending elements of humor and adventure with a unique story.

It could easily be categorized in multiple genres - romance, sci-fi, even YA - and somehow, it works! The kid characters were a highlight for me. Their humor was well placed and brought a lightness to the novel to balance some of the heavier themes like grief.

The plot was strong, and I enjoyed the pacing for the most part. I agree with other reviewers that the middle section dragged a bit, and the strong might have benefited from being a little shorter. However, the strength of the plot carried the book through, even when the protagonist was frustrating. That said, I really enjoyed her redemption arc by the end. The protagonist reminded me of a grown up version of Nancy from Stranger Things - flawed, determined. Overall, this was an entertaining and unique read!

Love anthony Ryan's work and this is just as fun and soul destroying as his other works... I enjoy the journeys and characters he creates

DNF 18%

The premise of this book is so intriguing and I do enjoy the writer's sense of humor. However, the children are so obnoxious and the FMC is distressingly negligent. I don't think I will be able to enjoy the balance of this book.

Hm, this book made me laugh out loud a few times. It was a quick read and was pretty chaotic. I’m not a big Pokémon person so I think some of that was lost on me.

This was a very silly, light, cozy fantasy where a mom going through divorce takes her kids to the beach to work on her novel and get away from her soon to be ex-husband who has a long list of her "underminstances" (aka his grievances after getting into some man's self help book) he doesn't let her forget about. Their trip gets uprooted by the appearance of the mom's childhood friend Timmy Caruso who disappeared at the beach 30 years ago... and somehow looks exactly the same as he did 30 years ago.

What unfolds is a sweet, nostalgic-feeling, childhood-magic summer story involving a sea monster, some "squidoodles", a sexy contractor who frequently comes to the rescue, natural disasters, and a cinematic, over-the-top climax. This was an easy breezy, light read that was entertaining, however I did wish we had a a stronger through line moving the plot forward.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

It's very rare for me to select a Netgalley title that I then find so dull that I'm tempted not to finish it. This is one of those. I did finish it, though, and can report that it has all of the excitement and sophistication of Dick and Jane books, and while the premise sounds solid, the writing plods. And plods. And plods.

Thanks for the review copy. I love the cover. I liked the hint of science fiction, It is also whimsical.

This was fun and cute while I was reading but not that memorable. I would say middle of the road, didn't drive deep into any topics just kind of 2 dimensional.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC for review. I read this author’s previous book, On Earth As It is On Television, so I knew to expect a quirky read. I have say, I liked this book even better!! 10 year old, Timmy Caruso disappears one summer while vacationing on Pearl Island. 30 years later, he returns from the ocean the same age and he’s on a mission to save the world. He finds his friend Jenni from 30 years ago, who is now a mom of 2, a writer, and struggling with adult issues and her soon to be ex-husband. But weird things are happening on the island and Jenni and her kids believe Timmy and must try to save the world from a terror in the water. This book is weird in the bast way and laugh out loud funny and very relatable in parts.

This book has an interesting premise, and I was not sure what to think going into it, so I just went in with no intentions. It was unique, quirky, cute, and maybe a little whimsical. I really liked Jenni, her kids, and Timmy! Sure the kids could be annoying, but they were going through A LOT for being so young. As the story progressed, it got more and more intense. I was getting pretty stressed hoping everything was going to work out. Overall, it was really interesting and unlike most books I tend to read. I will definitely have to check out more by this author.

This book is so visually beautiful in its prose that just seeing the cover of it triggers incredibly lush memories for me of the plot, characters, and feelings I had as I read it. It's a weird one, but if the reader can suspend all disbelief and just take the ride, it is stunning and sad and ultimately, incredibly hopeful.

Octopuses seem to be hot topics these days in literature, and I have to say, I understand why. They are mysterious, adorable, and probably as close to an alien creature as we have ever been her eon Earth. I love this story.