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The Lifeguard
It's an unsettled summer for Sirena. Back in Texas, her family's splitting apart, but here in Rhode Island, at the cottage of her free-spirited aunt, it's a different world. There are long days at the beach and intriguing encounters with him. Pilot. He's the lifeguard with shamanic skills. He both saves Sirena and makes her feel lost at sea. Sirena explores her obsession with Pilot and discovers his mysterious―almost magical―gifts.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
39 people are currently reading
1178 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Blumenthal
41 books142 followersDeborah Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and nutritionist who now divides her time between writing children's books and adult novels. She has been a regular contributor to The New York Times (including four years as the Sunday New York Times Magazine beauty columnist), and a home design columnist for Long Island Newsday. Her health, fitness, beauty, travel, and feature stories have appeared widely in many other newspapers and national magazines including New York’s Daily News, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Woman's Day, Family Circle, Self, and Vogue.
Blumenthal lives in New York City.
Blumenthal lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
March 3, 2015
Drama queen alert! Drama queen alert! WARNING! WARNING! Drama queen alert!
In all seriousness, am I being punked? Is this book real?
I know that the mysterious boy and the insta-love is what it's all about these days, but come the heck on. Are you kidding me? Where are the critical readers, the editors, the anyone helping this author create something that makes sense? I think she has been let down by her entire team to let something like this go to print. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. The author bio says her work has appeared in The Washington Post and Vogue. All I can say to that is she either dumbed it down a bunch because she's writing YA or no one cares about actual writing technique at those publications.
The sentence structure is choppy. The story is told in first person present and it seems every other sentence begins with I: I walked over to the window seat. I sat down. I looked at the sea through the bay window while sitting on the window seat. I-I-I-I-I-I-I which would be okay if her thoughts were anything you wanted to know. Most of all I wanted Sirena to simply shut it with her litany of woes.
This girl looks at and once locks eyes with the hottest boy in the world, who is so beautiful that we never get to know his personality in any way because she can't ever get past how wonderful he is to look at. THIS IS NOT A RELATIONSHIP! They don't have a conversation, but yet, she's totally obsessed with him. She has the audacity to be angry with him because he doesn't bow down and worship her when she shows up in a brand new bikini. Um, let's see now, he's WORKING! So maybe, I don't know, his attention should be on his very important job of keeping people at the beach safe and not give the new bikini his full attention while someone drowns. But, yes, go right ahead and have a pout-a-thon for yourself.
And then there's the whole parent's divorce which is why she comes to live with her aunt at the beach. It is oh, woe is me, I have no home, I have no family, life sucks, my parents suck. Waah. Waah. Waah. But really, the whole divorce is merely a device to get Sirena somewhere new without parental control and meeting a new boy. That's it, the whole enchilada of the divorce. Doesn't really matter, other than to get her where the boy is. I didn't actually buy that she was so devastated by the divorce because even though she whines over it, there is so much drama over everything else that the divorce is simply drowned out.
For this whole book to work, you have to like Sirena and I didn't. I didn't care whether the hot mysterious boy liked her or not since I didn't find her interesting, I didn't know why he would have either.
She is handed a volunteer job at the hospital and she sees a little boy seriously injured and she feels so badly for him, that she must do something to fix him. Yeah, right. I get it, this is supposed to show me she has depth, but this little boy's injury is all about her, how it makes her feel, how much drama she can wring out of it for herself. Yeah, she's that kind of girl.
She steals something while convincing herself that somehow she has a right to do so. Let me repeat: She steals something. And there are no consequences for it, ever. She then does something stupid for no reason and is rescued. And then she does something idiotic for no reason, other than she is angry and it's too hot outside. Really? She waltzes into the ocean where there are signs posted saying stay out of the water due to dangerous rip tides, but she's just so stupid that she must go in and dunk herself because then she'll feel better. How can I then feel any sympathy for what happens to her? I really can't. She makes her own drama and then gets even more drama over the consequences. I simply can't abide a character like this, making drama for themselves.
With four adults who object but don't stop her and, in fact, assist her, she leaves the hospital (where she has been near death, btw)without being released, because she must. She must go immediately to the beach to see the boy. She must. She must. So she is taken to the beach, wheeled to the edge of the sand in a wheelchair. Where did they get the wheelchair? They just have one sitting around? Did they steal it from the hospital? And then, Sirena must use crutches over the sand to get to the boy. Where did she get the crutches? They just have them sitting around? Did they steal them from the hospital, too? She falls and this is her actual words when one of the adults(who should know better than to help her leave the hospital against medical advice) tries to help her: "You don't have to stand there watching me, for God's sake. Can't you just go for a drive or and come back later? I can get up by myself." She is the epitome of ungrateful and childish. She crutches her way over the sand, inch by inch, only so that the boy can pick her up and carry her back to the car. And then she goes home for a bit so she can then be taken back to the beach where she will laboriously crutch her pathetic way out to the boy again (he simply can't get her to leave him alone) so he can again carry her to the car.
There are some mysterious things which are explained, sort of, but really who cares? It's about her pursuit of the boy and that's all.
I give very few books one star and I'm sorry for doing this, but I don't know what is the actual point of this story. Whine and the world is your oyster?
In all seriousness, am I being punked? Is this book real?
I know that the mysterious boy and the insta-love is what it's all about these days, but come the heck on. Are you kidding me? Where are the critical readers, the editors, the anyone helping this author create something that makes sense? I think she has been let down by her entire team to let something like this go to print. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. The author bio says her work has appeared in The Washington Post and Vogue. All I can say to that is she either dumbed it down a bunch because she's writing YA or no one cares about actual writing technique at those publications.
The sentence structure is choppy. The story is told in first person present and it seems every other sentence begins with I: I walked over to the window seat. I sat down. I looked at the sea through the bay window while sitting on the window seat. I-I-I-I-I-I-I which would be okay if her thoughts were anything you wanted to know. Most of all I wanted Sirena to simply shut it with her litany of woes.
This girl looks at and once locks eyes with the hottest boy in the world, who is so beautiful that we never get to know his personality in any way because she can't ever get past how wonderful he is to look at. THIS IS NOT A RELATIONSHIP! They don't have a conversation, but yet, she's totally obsessed with him. She has the audacity to be angry with him because he doesn't bow down and worship her when she shows up in a brand new bikini. Um, let's see now, he's WORKING! So maybe, I don't know, his attention should be on his very important job of keeping people at the beach safe and not give the new bikini his full attention while someone drowns. But, yes, go right ahead and have a pout-a-thon for yourself.
And then there's the whole parent's divorce which is why she comes to live with her aunt at the beach. It is oh, woe is me, I have no home, I have no family, life sucks, my parents suck. Waah. Waah. Waah. But really, the whole divorce is merely a device to get Sirena somewhere new without parental control and meeting a new boy. That's it, the whole enchilada of the divorce. Doesn't really matter, other than to get her where the boy is. I didn't actually buy that she was so devastated by the divorce because even though she whines over it, there is so much drama over everything else that the divorce is simply drowned out.
For this whole book to work, you have to like Sirena and I didn't. I didn't care whether the hot mysterious boy liked her or not since I didn't find her interesting, I didn't know why he would have either.
She is handed a volunteer job at the hospital and she sees a little boy seriously injured and she feels so badly for him, that she must do something to fix him. Yeah, right. I get it, this is supposed to show me she has depth, but this little boy's injury is all about her, how it makes her feel, how much drama she can wring out of it for herself. Yeah, she's that kind of girl.
She steals something while convincing herself that somehow she has a right to do so. Let me repeat: She steals something. And there are no consequences for it, ever. She then does something stupid for no reason and is rescued. And then she does something idiotic for no reason, other than she is angry and it's too hot outside. Really? She waltzes into the ocean where there are signs posted saying stay out of the water due to dangerous rip tides, but she's just so stupid that she must go in and dunk herself because then she'll feel better. How can I then feel any sympathy for what happens to her? I really can't. She makes her own drama and then gets even more drama over the consequences. I simply can't abide a character like this, making drama for themselves.
With four adults who object but don't stop her and, in fact, assist her, she leaves the hospital (where she has been near death, btw)without being released, because she must. She must go immediately to the beach to see the boy. She must. She must. So she is taken to the beach, wheeled to the edge of the sand in a wheelchair. Where did they get the wheelchair? They just have one sitting around? Did they steal it from the hospital? And then, Sirena must use crutches over the sand to get to the boy. Where did she get the crutches? They just have them sitting around? Did they steal them from the hospital, too? She falls and this is her actual words when one of the adults(who should know better than to help her leave the hospital against medical advice) tries to help her: "You don't have to stand there watching me, for God's sake. Can't you just go for a drive or and come back later? I can get up by myself." She is the epitome of ungrateful and childish. She crutches her way over the sand, inch by inch, only so that the boy can pick her up and carry her back to the car. And then she goes home for a bit so she can then be taken back to the beach where she will laboriously crutch her pathetic way out to the boy again (he simply can't get her to leave him alone) so he can again carry her to the car.
There are some mysterious things which are explained, sort of, but really who cares? It's about her pursuit of the boy and that's all.
I give very few books one star and I'm sorry for doing this, but I don't know what is the actual point of this story. Whine and the world is your oyster?
August 13, 2012
The Lifeguard was one of those books where I fell for the cover, it was gorgeous and so appealing and the synopsis made it sound like decent summer read too. However my initial assumptions were way off the mark.
The lifeguard started off with a bang, Sirena the main character goes out for a quick dip in the water as it’s so hot; however she gets swept away by the fast currents and bitten by something so sharp that before you know it she finds herself drowning. We’re basically left hanging here with no clue as to whether she’s okay whether she made it in one piece as the story jumps to a completely different part with Sirena telling us the story from the beginning again! I didn’t want to know this story wanted to go back to the story before! It wasn’t until around 60% that I finally got to the part that I had been waiting for and by which point I had lost all my enthusiasm and interest I had started off with.
What usually bugs me with books is when we get male characters with a mysterious side. Usually when it comes to “mysterious characters” I tend not to have the patience to read through just to discover they are a vampire/werewolf. But with the Lifeguard I actually wanted to know and I think this is what made me reading the book to the end. Sirena had no clue what was up with the mysterious male character Pilot in this book, he kept to himself, was drop dead gorgeous but he had another side to him which she couldn’t quite put her finger on. I suppose his big secret did take me by surprise, as it was something I definitely wasn’t expecting.
Overall The Lifeguard was a book which I really wanted to love, but it just had a hard time keeping my attention.
Thank you Netgalley and Open Road Media for the chance to read this book.
The lifeguard started off with a bang, Sirena the main character goes out for a quick dip in the water as it’s so hot; however she gets swept away by the fast currents and bitten by something so sharp that before you know it she finds herself drowning. We’re basically left hanging here with no clue as to whether she’s okay whether she made it in one piece as the story jumps to a completely different part with Sirena telling us the story from the beginning again! I didn’t want to know this story wanted to go back to the story before! It wasn’t until around 60% that I finally got to the part that I had been waiting for and by which point I had lost all my enthusiasm and interest I had started off with.
What usually bugs me with books is when we get male characters with a mysterious side. Usually when it comes to “mysterious characters” I tend not to have the patience to read through just to discover they are a vampire/werewolf. But with the Lifeguard I actually wanted to know and I think this is what made me reading the book to the end. Sirena had no clue what was up with the mysterious male character Pilot in this book, he kept to himself, was drop dead gorgeous but he had another side to him which she couldn’t quite put her finger on. I suppose his big secret did take me by surprise, as it was something I definitely wasn’t expecting.
Overall The Lifeguard was a book which I really wanted to love, but it just had a hard time keeping my attention.
Thank you Netgalley and Open Road Media for the chance to read this book.
March 1, 2012
Review as seen on Ed and Em's Reviews!
I love the narrator in this book. She's a bit whiny, but what teenager isn't? Her story is very relatable and so easy to read. What makes it even better is that you can see her growth as you read. The story is very simple. It's about a teenage girl and it's about life. I really enjoyed reading it.
I usually love books that are all about romance. I read more books based on romance than anything else. In this book, romance was not the key point in the plot and I still loved it. This novel was about growing up and learning new things about life and about yourself. It was very good in an inspirational way.
It had a nice, steady pace to it. I never got lost in the time frame, like I have with some contemporary books. It was just a nice, short novel about the hardships in life and how you grow up as you least expect it. You could really read about Sirena learning about herself as she made friendships and got to know others in her aunt's town.
This book as a magic to it, and within it. It's captivating and intriguing. It's simplicity makes it an even better read. It's got a minor paranormal concept that only adds to the book.
The romance in this book is angsty in a adolescent way. Girl sees boy. Girl's intrigued by boy. Boy saves girl's life. Boy reciprocates feelings, but refuses to act on them out of fear of harming her. Typical? Definitely. But the way the author writes it makes it so much more. Pilot, Sirena's love interest, had me from the very beginning. As the story progresses, so does her infatuation and mine, in turn. He's a great character and the "drama" that separates them is resolved in a excellent and realistic way. It was a great, teenage romance.
Another true character in this book is the ocean. It plays a huge role in everything that happens. I personally love going to the beach and swimming in the ocean. This novel brings everything I love and fear about it into words. The ocean is phenomenally written. It seems like everything that is caused by the ocean in this novel is fate.
This book was very good. I enjoyed reading it.
I love the narrator in this book. She's a bit whiny, but what teenager isn't? Her story is very relatable and so easy to read. What makes it even better is that you can see her growth as you read. The story is very simple. It's about a teenage girl and it's about life. I really enjoyed reading it.
I usually love books that are all about romance. I read more books based on romance than anything else. In this book, romance was not the key point in the plot and I still loved it. This novel was about growing up and learning new things about life and about yourself. It was very good in an inspirational way.
It had a nice, steady pace to it. I never got lost in the time frame, like I have with some contemporary books. It was just a nice, short novel about the hardships in life and how you grow up as you least expect it. You could really read about Sirena learning about herself as she made friendships and got to know others in her aunt's town.
This book as a magic to it, and within it. It's captivating and intriguing. It's simplicity makes it an even better read. It's got a minor paranormal concept that only adds to the book.
The romance in this book is angsty in a adolescent way. Girl sees boy. Girl's intrigued by boy. Boy saves girl's life. Boy reciprocates feelings, but refuses to act on them out of fear of harming her. Typical? Definitely. But the way the author writes it makes it so much more. Pilot, Sirena's love interest, had me from the very beginning. As the story progresses, so does her infatuation and mine, in turn. He's a great character and the "drama" that separates them is resolved in a excellent and realistic way. It was a great, teenage romance.
Another true character in this book is the ocean. It plays a huge role in everything that happens. I personally love going to the beach and swimming in the ocean. This novel brings everything I love and fear about it into words. The ocean is phenomenally written. It seems like everything that is caused by the ocean in this novel is fate.
This book was very good. I enjoyed reading it.
May 16, 2019
This book surprised me. I thought it would be a summer romance at the beach and it was, but there was also a supernatural element to it that I didn't expect. Sirena is spending the summer with her aunt while her parents finalize their divorce. She meets the hot lifeguard Pilot when he saves her from a sea urchin and falls for him immediately. Pilot keeps her at a distance though and Sirena isn't sure why. She decides to fill her time with the charismatic painter Antonio and volunteering at the children's ward of the hospital. My favorite part of this story was Sirena growing as a person, becoming less selfish, and seeing things from other's perspectives. The supernatural element, hauntings and magical healing, was really cool and gave the story something extra.
This was a quick read and I enjoyed how it played out.
This was a quick read and I enjoyed how it played out.
Read
September 27, 2015If you're looking for a romantic novel with an interesting twist, this book is definitely for you. In this book, Sirenas parents are getting a divorce, so she is sent to Rhode Island to spend the summer with her Aunt. Without her best friend, her parents, and being completely new to this small beach town, this is Sirenas worst nightmare...Until she sees him. She runs into a lifeguard and spends the summer trying to win him over. As well as following the lifeguard around, she follows her love for art with an old man who paints on the beach everyday. Over the summer, she tries to find peace after all the turn of events in her life. This book really makes you think about selfishness and about how some people might not be who you think they are. I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading realistic fiction with a bit of romance and action.
August 14, 2017
It is so rare for me to rate a book under 3 stars. The book was only meh and nothing more. There was no good romance and even though the MC didn't bother me to much the whole story line did. I LOVED Antonio and if the book had been solely on the 80 year old grandfather it would have gotten 4 stars for sure. I was bored through most of it and kept hoping with each chapter it would start to pick up but it didn't. I just have nothing good to say. I could care less about the characters and the only good thing is thankfully it is a standalone and no one is ever going to be subjected to another book of those boring character.
October 27, 2011
I'm only a few chapters in and already, I'm super excited, like bad-things-will-happen-if-I-put-this-book-down kind of excitement. The last time I got this crazy about a romance is when I read Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles or maybe when I read Beautiful Disaster, possibly when I read The Iron Duke, eek, I have a tendency to go on and on. The point is I freaking love this book, so far, I really hope it doesn't lame out on me! Okay, enough for now, have to get back to reading! More review to follow . . .
Sad, sad news. The book explored well tread and boring lands. I am so disappointed right now, because the beginning was perfect!
Okay, so without giving away the plot, here's what really rattled my cage;
1. Instalove - Sirena runs into the lifeguard and is instantly smitten. This part was great, but the crush never turns into a real relationship. She doesn't have many moments with him and mostly spends her time watching him and being dazzled his golden skin, long blonde hair and manly build. He seems to have the same instalove too.
2. Ghosts, magical healing powers and mysterious stingrays - I love a good paranormal story. But for the paranormal elements to work, they have to be a real part of the plot, the characters can't be scared out of their ruffled panties one night by ghosties then hanging on the beach painting the next. It just doesn't make sense, why don't they move? Hire an exorcist? Wave some incense around or even seem the least bit disturbed the next morning?
3. Friendly dogs, old Men, injured children and volunteer work - When Sirena arrives at her aunt's beach cottage she's bleak and in my view, clinically depressed. She thinks about how broken her life is, ALL THE TIME, she shows little interest in anything but sleep and staring out windows, so Auntie throws the three best cures for depression at her, a sweet but mangy dog, an old man named Antonio who paints and a volunteer job at the local hospital. The old man is another case of Instalove - Sirena feels a bond to him that she doesn't understand. Often Sirena feels strange about things without any logical reason, she wonders about it but usually a friendly dog or the sexy lifeguard wander by to distract her from investigating said strange things. Her volunteer job at the hospital is pretty much the same deal, it's meant to diffuse her grief over her parents splitting up. Now, I don't mean to be insensitive, my parents didn't split up, they weren't together for long (crazy 70's) so I have nothing to compare this to, but it seems to me that she is going really nutty about parents divorce, she's seventeen, so she was only going to be at home for one year anyways, but she keeps getting maudlin thinking about her parents visiting her separately at college or possibly hooking up with other people, it just seems strange.
4. Paranormal elements are never fully explained. Worse, they just pop in at convenient times to save people. There's a weirdy talk between Sirena and the old painter guy Antonio that seems to imply sick people aren't really sick, they just think they are and a marketing plug for natural medicine and then, 'That's all Folks!' no more discussion.
5. Macking and stuff. If you like a guy and he takes you for an evening walk on the beach with some kissing and canoodling, do you, a) ask him about the gorgeous blonde he was cuddling with on the beach just days before, b) ask him about his grandpa or, c) tell him he's amazing. So the answer to this question really set me off.
6. Boring ending. After all of this, the ending was a bit of a letdown. The story seemed destined for it after the halfway point and then there was some silliness with a vengeful stingray that followed someone from far away and then, done, the end.
Frankly, I'm just not sure what else to say about this book, it seemed so good at first. I loved the lonely girl crushing on the godlike lifeguard, named Pilot, he was aloof, mysterious and so far out of her reach, it reminded me of my crush on an upperclassmen, the hopeless yearning, the fantasy of him actually noticing you, it was magical, but that part of the story faded away. Maybe throwing out all the supernatural and focusing on their coming together would save this book, because as is, it's too many fragments of a few stories stitched together by weirdly named characters and a contrived plot.
Sad, sad news. The book explored well tread and boring lands. I am so disappointed right now, because the beginning was perfect!
Okay, so without giving away the plot, here's what really rattled my cage;
1. Instalove - Sirena runs into the lifeguard and is instantly smitten. This part was great, but the crush never turns into a real relationship. She doesn't have many moments with him and mostly spends her time watching him and being dazzled his golden skin, long blonde hair and manly build. He seems to have the same instalove too.
2. Ghosts, magical healing powers and mysterious stingrays - I love a good paranormal story. But for the paranormal elements to work, they have to be a real part of the plot, the characters can't be scared out of their ruffled panties one night by ghosties then hanging on the beach painting the next. It just doesn't make sense, why don't they move? Hire an exorcist? Wave some incense around or even seem the least bit disturbed the next morning?
3. Friendly dogs, old Men, injured children and volunteer work - When Sirena arrives at her aunt's beach cottage she's bleak and in my view, clinically depressed. She thinks about how broken her life is, ALL THE TIME, she shows little interest in anything but sleep and staring out windows, so Auntie throws the three best cures for depression at her, a sweet but mangy dog, an old man named Antonio who paints and a volunteer job at the local hospital. The old man is another case of Instalove - Sirena feels a bond to him that she doesn't understand. Often Sirena feels strange about things without any logical reason, she wonders about it but usually a friendly dog or the sexy lifeguard wander by to distract her from investigating said strange things. Her volunteer job at the hospital is pretty much the same deal, it's meant to diffuse her grief over her parents splitting up. Now, I don't mean to be insensitive, my parents didn't split up, they weren't together for long (crazy 70's) so I have nothing to compare this to, but it seems to me that she is going really nutty about parents divorce, she's seventeen, so she was only going to be at home for one year anyways, but she keeps getting maudlin thinking about her parents visiting her separately at college or possibly hooking up with other people, it just seems strange.
4. Paranormal elements are never fully explained. Worse, they just pop in at convenient times to save people. There's a weirdy talk between Sirena and the old painter guy Antonio that seems to imply sick people aren't really sick, they just think they are and a marketing plug for natural medicine and then, 'That's all Folks!' no more discussion.
5. Macking and stuff. If you like a guy and he takes you for an evening walk on the beach with some kissing and canoodling, do you, a) ask him about the gorgeous blonde he was cuddling with on the beach just days before, b) ask him about his grandpa or, c) tell him he's amazing. So the answer to this question really set me off.
6. Boring ending. After all of this, the ending was a bit of a letdown. The story seemed destined for it after the halfway point and then there was some silliness with a vengeful stingray that followed someone from far away and then, done, the end.
Frankly, I'm just not sure what else to say about this book, it seemed so good at first. I loved the lonely girl crushing on the godlike lifeguard, named Pilot, he was aloof, mysterious and so far out of her reach, it reminded me of my crush on an upperclassmen, the hopeless yearning, the fantasy of him actually noticing you, it was magical, but that part of the story faded away. Maybe throwing out all the supernatural and focusing on their coming together would save this book, because as is, it's too many fragments of a few stories stitched together by weirdly named characters and a contrived plot.
October 20, 2011
"The Lifeguard" written by Deborah Blumenthal is so much more than just the eye-candy shown on it's beautiful cover. Blumenthal's unique textured writing style fades you in and out of each chapter slowly weaving a magically multi-layered story. It is so breathtakingly real at times that you will swear you hear the rhythm of the waves rolling in.
Sixteen-year-old Sirena Shane is shipped off to Rhode Island to spend the summer with her free-spirited aunt, while back in Texas her parents hash out the final details of their bitter separation. Sirena finds herself in a strange beach cottage where everything is not as it seems. So begins an unforgettable summer of overcoming sadness and finding strength in unexpected places.
Sirena learns that ghosts just might be real after all and volunteering, especially at a hospital is not as easy as it sounds. She also learns that an eighty-year-old artist can actually become a good friend and confidante. But nothing prepares her for the instant attraction she feels toward a certain beautiful green-eyed lifeguard named Pilot who not only saves her but at the same time makes her feel lost at sea. Oh yeah and to make things more interesting... he might just have some mystical powers.
The characters are rich and believable and have lots of depth. The setting is gorgeous and at times downright eery. The plot moves at a quick pace and will keep you turning the pages.
Having said that there is a reason that I did not give this book 5 stars. First, I wish that the secondary storyline which involves certain terrifying ghosts had been better resolved by the end of the book. Secondly, I felt the ending was a little too abrupt. I would have liked more of this wonderful romance that had finally begun between the two main characters. And lastly at times Sirena's attraction to Pilot bordered on crazy obsession and ended up sounding eerily similar to a certain crazy female character in the book that Pilot was bothered by. This was distracting for me and made me wonder why he didn't feel the same way about Sirena???
Still this is a beautifully written, atmospheric novel that I believe is well worth reading.
Sixteen-year-old Sirena Shane is shipped off to Rhode Island to spend the summer with her free-spirited aunt, while back in Texas her parents hash out the final details of their bitter separation. Sirena finds herself in a strange beach cottage where everything is not as it seems. So begins an unforgettable summer of overcoming sadness and finding strength in unexpected places.
Sirena learns that ghosts just might be real after all and volunteering, especially at a hospital is not as easy as it sounds. She also learns that an eighty-year-old artist can actually become a good friend and confidante. But nothing prepares her for the instant attraction she feels toward a certain beautiful green-eyed lifeguard named Pilot who not only saves her but at the same time makes her feel lost at sea. Oh yeah and to make things more interesting... he might just have some mystical powers.
The characters are rich and believable and have lots of depth. The setting is gorgeous and at times downright eery. The plot moves at a quick pace and will keep you turning the pages.
Having said that there is a reason that I did not give this book 5 stars. First, I wish that the secondary storyline which involves certain terrifying ghosts had been better resolved by the end of the book. Secondly, I felt the ending was a little too abrupt. I would have liked more of this wonderful romance that had finally begun between the two main characters. And lastly at times Sirena's attraction to Pilot bordered on crazy obsession and ended up sounding eerily similar to a certain crazy female character in the book that Pilot was bothered by. This was distracting for me and made me wonder why he didn't feel the same way about Sirena???
Still this is a beautifully written, atmospheric novel that I believe is well worth reading.
January 26, 2012
Review:
The Lifeguard will leave you wanting more. It will keep you in it's clutches till the very last page, which ends sorta anti-climatically. I loved this book and if you want a feel good book, then you will too!! :)
Cover: Whew, did someone turn up the heat in here? Dang, if I had a body like that, and was a guy I would never wear a shirt. I would just walk around shirtless and be like, "Touch my abs, you know you want to!" LOL :)
Plot: The story started off a little slow and it slowly progressed, but you wanted to know about Sirena and all her struggles with adjusting. After a slow progression, it's like BOOM! one change after another, and you just want to read and read and read!! :)
Characters:
Lets begin today with Sirena. She is dealing with her parents divorce and was shipped away to Rhode Island with her aunt for the summer. Frankly, I didn't like Sirena, until the end. She was a little petty and a flat character. Then she meets Pilot and everything change, and the story gets interesting.
Pilot, sigh Pilot. I love that name. It is unique and fits him perfectly. Residential white knight and perfect all around. My kind of guy. Plus he's mysterious and reserved, but he is always there to save Sirena whenever she needs saving, or even just a ride. Which is often enough!
All in all: I loved this book! I hope there's a sequel just so I can read about Pilot again!! :) I feel very smiley today! 41 out of 41 stars!
~~Sam :)
The Lifeguard will leave you wanting more. It will keep you in it's clutches till the very last page, which ends sorta anti-climatically. I loved this book and if you want a feel good book, then you will too!! :)
Cover: Whew, did someone turn up the heat in here? Dang, if I had a body like that, and was a guy I would never wear a shirt. I would just walk around shirtless and be like, "Touch my abs, you know you want to!" LOL :)
Plot: The story started off a little slow and it slowly progressed, but you wanted to know about Sirena and all her struggles with adjusting. After a slow progression, it's like BOOM! one change after another, and you just want to read and read and read!! :)
Characters:
Lets begin today with Sirena. She is dealing with her parents divorce and was shipped away to Rhode Island with her aunt for the summer. Frankly, I didn't like Sirena, until the end. She was a little petty and a flat character. Then she meets Pilot and everything change, and the story gets interesting.
Pilot, sigh Pilot. I love that name. It is unique and fits him perfectly. Residential white knight and perfect all around. My kind of guy. Plus he's mysterious and reserved, but he is always there to save Sirena whenever she needs saving, or even just a ride. Which is often enough!
All in all: I loved this book! I hope there's a sequel just so I can read about Pilot again!! :) I feel very smiley today! 41 out of 41 stars!
~~Sam :)
October 26, 2012
I don't even know why I finshed it. It didn't really have a plot. There were a couple different random things going on in it; was it a love story? Was it about a teen deaiing with her parents divorce? Why were there letters to a friend that wasn't even in odd ensamble of storylines. The dialogue was not really about anything. It's like this:
1) Girl goes on trip because her parents are getting a divorce.
2) Stays with her 'cool' aunt that is a writer.
3) Sees hot guy
4) Does some random stuff
5) Meets an important character in the book- which is the only way the paranormal thing comes in
6) Hot guy saves her - turns out he has supernatural powers
7) Then they all of the sudden are soul mates by hooking up on the beach
8) She leaves and the hot guy ends up missing her.
9) The end.
There you have it. No need to do anything but check out the blonde guy on the cover.
I don't think I can even give this one a full star. I'm surprised that so many folks thought it was ok.
Oh well, at least I didn't waste more than a couple of hours on it.
1) Girl goes on trip because her parents are getting a divorce.
2) Stays with her 'cool' aunt that is a writer.
3) Sees hot guy
4) Does some random stuff
5) Meets an important character in the book- which is the only way the paranormal thing comes in
6) Hot guy saves her - turns out he has supernatural powers
7) Then they all of the sudden are soul mates by hooking up on the beach
8) She leaves and the hot guy ends up missing her.
9) The end.
There you have it. No need to do anything but check out the blonde guy on the cover.
I don't think I can even give this one a full star. I'm surprised that so many folks thought it was ok.
Oh well, at least I didn't waste more than a couple of hours on it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2012
This was a way fun and unexpected read.
I love books that read like a contemp, but have that slightly mystical/paranormal element to them.
And holy hot covers...
I loved that the attraction between the two main characters was instant, but the relationship built slowly.
Beautiful job. I will definitely read more from this author.
I love books that read like a contemp, but have that slightly mystical/paranormal element to them.
And holy hot covers...
I loved that the attraction between the two main characters was instant, but the relationship built slowly.
Beautiful job. I will definitely read more from this author.
June 11, 2012
Rating: 2/5
I went into this book expecting something rather different than what I encountered. It could be a good thing or a bad thing. Or it could be both. It was bad in this case but not because it wasn’t what I expected, but because it was not pull well together to make me believe Sirena’s, our protagonist, world. Even though this book was not what I expected it could have been great and I could have put down the book and sighed… well that was odd, but so good. That was not the case.
Sirena is a young girl in the midst of a bad break up between her parents. She had a lot on her plate and this was a perfect opportunity for Blumenthal to write a very compelling character for readers. Sirena was not compelling entirely. She was at the beginning. She was drowning in her own grievances about her parent’s break up – understandably so – and it didn’t come off as whiney. As soon as Pilot enters the picture, she becomes the girl I hate. The girl I wish would just die. The girl who makes me wish every damn girl in the world would just burn and die in agony a few hundred times over, who I wish for a fate worst than Hell. A girl who basically makes/reminds me of a certain “B” lettered girl (in both sense if you get my drift) in a certain glittery supernatural world. Sirena wallows in her self pity. She drowns herself – literally she tries to though the author makes it seems like she’s just challenging herself – to escape the pains of a guy not liking her and how crappy her life is. I’m sorry. I know countless young girls (and young men) who experienced and gone through bitter divorced parents and they are amazing. Their resolve is amazing. Their outlook for hope is astonishing. Sirena was not one of these kids. Yes, I know there are kids who are devastated by their parents’ divorce who turn to “bad” things and I wouldn’t mind that in this book. In fact, I didn’t mind the craziness in this book. I tolerated her angst because I sympathized with Sirena. I did up to the point until she decides to steal a picture from a gallery because of her unhealthy obsession. Until she began to make up excuses for herself for the theft to be okay. I was willing to put aside that bias but Sirena never redeems herself. There was not a moment of self realization… of, “I am better than this. I can get through this. I can do this. I am worth more than this.” Never. Not even once. Why should I feel sorry for her? Okay maybe she doesn’t want my pity, but why should I like her? I don’t and I won’t. Sure she went to the artist and confessed but the artist laughed it off. Convenient for Sirena. Almost believable on the artist’s part, which was a good thing I guess.
Throughout the book Sirena almost never attempts to do something worthwhile for herself of her own accord. She does things that she was directed to do by others (her aunt and by the author). I wanted to see the carefree Sirena at the beginning of the book who danced on the beach with her eyes closed throughout the book. I wanted to see glimpses of that version of her. I never did. Once the love interest,Pilot (yes that is his name), comes in she becomes an obessessed love-smitten idiot who only hates herself more because she doesn’t have the guy of her dream who can make her happy in the aftermath of an orgasm, who she can’t offer up her innocence in a tent (I didn’t make this up. Sirena does says this insane crap…. and it wouldn’t be so insane if she was likable or shattered by her parent’s divorce, but nope she’s was insane because suddenly a guy appears and never having said a word and only seeing him, she wants all these things).
There was one part of the novel that was likable, in the crap part of the story (after the first twenty or so pages – all parts after the first twenty pages are the toilet paper part of the story), was Sirena’s need to be near Cody, a child at the hospital her aunt made her volunteer at. Though the moments weren’t ever human enough to be touching, it was an attempt.
Another thing that bothered me about the book was its lack of details. I never get a good look at anyone in the book. The only person of any worth or value of description was … yes, Pilot. Boy do we get the dish load of details about him. He was the only person I could picture well. Everyone else were just blobs and blurs with no faces. I can hear them talk but not see them. The Aunt, Antonio, even Sirena herself. It seems Blumenthal forget that this story was about other people too and with Sirena’s obsession we only get a clear image of Pilot.
Setting details were okay. They were great but not bad. They did border on very good in instances, but Blumenthal relies on generics. Sirena goes to the beach. Everyone knows what a beach is, no need to describe it. Only it’s not true. There are different kinds of beaches. This beach was on Rhode Island whose average summer temperatures are in the low 70s. Yet, Sirena seems to be sweltering in heat on some days, which were over 90 degrees, but alas, I was willing to toss the detail off as it being a crazy summer of temperatures (barely able to).
Then there’s the paranormal. It comes out and punches you in the face, screaming, “You didn’t see that one coming!” There was no foreshadowing of the supernatural. It’s a hard thing to master: foreshadowing. Either your hints aren’t strong enough or they’re too strong. In this book’s case, not strong enough. There are mentions of ghosts, new age-like spiritualism, healers, to shamanism. All introduced much later in the story with no hints. When we do approach the subject, it’s done in passing conversation. The types of conversation you don’t take seriously, like small talk. Only later, as a reader you realize, “Oh, so that was real/serious?” The paranormal aspect was poorly incorporated.
Overall, if you like girls who mopes after a guy, who whines and demands attention but lack any self-confidence or will to fix her own outlook on life, who thinks she’s strong because she is saved by others and not by herself, who think the world revolves around her, this book is for you. In all seriousness, if this was solely a contemporary book, I think it would have been excellent. Or I would imagine it being so. I would have liked to see Sirena’s self discovery through her hard ships. It would have been an interesting read. But that was not how this book was written. We get a book that goes into too many directions, seemingly not knowing where to go and randomly striding places to fill pages to get to an end. The two aspects of Sirena’s life and the paranormal didn’t mesh well together.
Verdict: Skip. You want a book with a touch of magic and romance I got another recommendation.
Visit my book review blog at ravenousbiblioworm.wordpress.com/
I went into this book expecting something rather different than what I encountered. It could be a good thing or a bad thing. Or it could be both. It was bad in this case but not because it wasn’t what I expected, but because it was not pull well together to make me believe Sirena’s, our protagonist, world. Even though this book was not what I expected it could have been great and I could have put down the book and sighed… well that was odd, but so good. That was not the case.
Sirena is a young girl in the midst of a bad break up between her parents. She had a lot on her plate and this was a perfect opportunity for Blumenthal to write a very compelling character for readers. Sirena was not compelling entirely. She was at the beginning. She was drowning in her own grievances about her parent’s break up – understandably so – and it didn’t come off as whiney. As soon as Pilot enters the picture, she becomes the girl I hate. The girl I wish would just die. The girl who makes me wish every damn girl in the world would just burn and die in agony a few hundred times over, who I wish for a fate worst than Hell. A girl who basically makes/reminds me of a certain “B” lettered girl (in both sense if you get my drift) in a certain glittery supernatural world. Sirena wallows in her self pity. She drowns herself – literally she tries to though the author makes it seems like she’s just challenging herself – to escape the pains of a guy not liking her and how crappy her life is. I’m sorry. I know countless young girls (and young men) who experienced and gone through bitter divorced parents and they are amazing. Their resolve is amazing. Their outlook for hope is astonishing. Sirena was not one of these kids. Yes, I know there are kids who are devastated by their parents’ divorce who turn to “bad” things and I wouldn’t mind that in this book. In fact, I didn’t mind the craziness in this book. I tolerated her angst because I sympathized with Sirena. I did up to the point until she decides to steal a picture from a gallery because of her unhealthy obsession. Until she began to make up excuses for herself for the theft to be okay. I was willing to put aside that bias but Sirena never redeems herself. There was not a moment of self realization… of, “I am better than this. I can get through this. I can do this. I am worth more than this.” Never. Not even once. Why should I feel sorry for her? Okay maybe she doesn’t want my pity, but why should I like her? I don’t and I won’t. Sure she went to the artist and confessed but the artist laughed it off. Convenient for Sirena. Almost believable on the artist’s part, which was a good thing I guess.
Throughout the book Sirena almost never attempts to do something worthwhile for herself of her own accord. She does things that she was directed to do by others (her aunt and by the author). I wanted to see the carefree Sirena at the beginning of the book who danced on the beach with her eyes closed throughout the book. I wanted to see glimpses of that version of her. I never did. Once the love interest,Pilot (yes that is his name), comes in she becomes an obessessed love-smitten idiot who only hates herself more because she doesn’t have the guy of her dream who can make her happy in the aftermath of an orgasm, who she can’t offer up her innocence in a tent (I didn’t make this up. Sirena does says this insane crap…. and it wouldn’t be so insane if she was likable or shattered by her parent’s divorce, but nope she’s was insane because suddenly a guy appears and never having said a word and only seeing him, she wants all these things).
There was one part of the novel that was likable, in the crap part of the story (after the first twenty or so pages – all parts after the first twenty pages are the toilet paper part of the story), was Sirena’s need to be near Cody, a child at the hospital her aunt made her volunteer at. Though the moments weren’t ever human enough to be touching, it was an attempt.
Another thing that bothered me about the book was its lack of details. I never get a good look at anyone in the book. The only person of any worth or value of description was … yes, Pilot. Boy do we get the dish load of details about him. He was the only person I could picture well. Everyone else were just blobs and blurs with no faces. I can hear them talk but not see them. The Aunt, Antonio, even Sirena herself. It seems Blumenthal forget that this story was about other people too and with Sirena’s obsession we only get a clear image of Pilot.
Setting details were okay. They were great but not bad. They did border on very good in instances, but Blumenthal relies on generics. Sirena goes to the beach. Everyone knows what a beach is, no need to describe it. Only it’s not true. There are different kinds of beaches. This beach was on Rhode Island whose average summer temperatures are in the low 70s. Yet, Sirena seems to be sweltering in heat on some days, which were over 90 degrees, but alas, I was willing to toss the detail off as it being a crazy summer of temperatures (barely able to).
Then there’s the paranormal. It comes out and punches you in the face, screaming, “You didn’t see that one coming!” There was no foreshadowing of the supernatural. It’s a hard thing to master: foreshadowing. Either your hints aren’t strong enough or they’re too strong. In this book’s case, not strong enough. There are mentions of ghosts, new age-like spiritualism, healers, to shamanism. All introduced much later in the story with no hints. When we do approach the subject, it’s done in passing conversation. The types of conversation you don’t take seriously, like small talk. Only later, as a reader you realize, “Oh, so that was real/serious?” The paranormal aspect was poorly incorporated.
Overall, if you like girls who mopes after a guy, who whines and demands attention but lack any self-confidence or will to fix her own outlook on life, who thinks she’s strong because she is saved by others and not by herself, who think the world revolves around her, this book is for you. In all seriousness, if this was solely a contemporary book, I think it would have been excellent. Or I would imagine it being so. I would have liked to see Sirena’s self discovery through her hard ships. It would have been an interesting read. But that was not how this book was written. We get a book that goes into too many directions, seemingly not knowing where to go and randomly striding places to fill pages to get to an end. The two aspects of Sirena’s life and the paranormal didn’t mesh well together.
Verdict: Skip. You want a book with a touch of magic and romance I got another recommendation.
Visit my book review blog at ravenousbiblioworm.wordpress.com/
August 5, 2012
As I was headed to Burlington, Vermont for vacation, I thought bringing The Lifeguard would be the perfect light hearted summer read. It is a perfect summer read, but it is anything but light hearted.
Sirena is being shipped off to her Aunt Ellie’s house for the summer because her parents back in Texas are going through a divorce and they figured she would be better off away from all the troubles. She spends a lot of time wallowing in self-pity and feeling sorry for herself. Like no one has ever gone through this before. I went through it, but I was younger, so maybe that was the difference. While I was just accepting of the situation, Sirena is anything but accepting. She seems to spend a lot of time in her head moping about things she can’t change and only seeing the situation as it affects her life and doesn’t seem to think about what her parents must be going through.
She does meet a cast of characters which do not seem very well developed for the most part, but as I said, the book seems to take place a lot in her head. Her Aunt Ellie is flushed out a bit. She is quirky and marches to the beat of her own drum. She is well-travelled and seems to be very much a free spirit. I liked her immediately.
She fixes up the attic room which looks out towards the beach with a big bay window. It is a beautiful little room with one major set back. On stormy days / nights, there is a ghost that visits Sirena and moans pitiably.
The plot really gets underway when Sirena goes for a jog on the beach barefooted and collides with the lifeguard who was getting her out of the way of a sea urchin. She doesn’t realize he was saving her from it, until he jogs away from her and she sees Lifeguard on the back of his shirt. It takes about half the book for her to even find out his name, but she becomes obsessed with him immediately. He is godlike in his perfection. Embarrassed by her encounter with him, she refuses to go to the beach and just mopes around the house.
Aunt Ellie finally has enough of her self-pity and sends her to volunteer at the local hospital where Siren encounters the lifeguard again. He moonlights as an EMT. She stalks him through the hospital and out of the building where he gets on his motor cycle, but he is stopped by a beautiful blond girl calling out his name, Pilot, before he can drive away. She hops on his bike and they drive away. Sirena has a name to go with the face, but assumes the blond is his girlfriend and feels her heart breaking.
Because Sirena likes to paint, Aunt Ellie gives her an old used easel when she moves in that she can use over the summer. She also tells Sirena about a friend of hers named Antonio who is a retired fisherman. He spends most of his time painting on the beach. She meets him on one of her beach walks and and they strike up a friendship.
She finds his gallery in town and she goes in to take a look around. On the wall, she finds a painting of Pilot and before she can rationalize or talk herself out of it, she steals the painting from the gallery as there is no one watching the gallery.
Riddled with guilt over the theft of the painting, Sirena spends more time in her head agonizing over her actions. She finally tells Antonio that she stole his painting. He seems angry at first, but then laughs thanking her. If she loves his painting enough to steal it, that is the ultimate compliment. So, he gives her the painting.
Sirena is determined to make Pilot hers, so she strategizes on how best to accomplish it. She buys a new bikini and heads to the beach. She sees him, but she also sees the blond girl on the blanket next to his lifeguard chair and he is talking to her. Sirena, in an effort to stake her claim, walks right up to him, but he gives her the cold shoulder. She’s humiliated.
He seems to run hot and cold with Sirena, so she makes a move on Pilot which he seems to reciprocate, but then he pushes her away informing her that it would never work between them.
When swimming is banned due to strong riptides, Sirena decides she is going to cool off by just splashing in the water. She waits until Pilot leaves his chair and walks the other way. She goes down by the peer, but loses her footing and is dragged under. She tries to drag herself out of the water, but just as she thinks she’s made it, she steps on something that rears up and she feels an intense pain in her leg and sees blood then remembers nothing.
When she comes to, she realizes she may lose more than her happy home back in Texas.
Pilot is enigmatic and gives very little of himself. He keeps himself apart from everyone and in turn has become the guardian of everyone. He shows little emotion or weakness and is on site whenever anyone needs help. Strange things seem to happen when he is around which only adds further to the mystery that he is.
Antonio also becomes an important character. He becomes Sirena's mentor, confidant and friend. He does open up to her somewhat about where he came from and his background. His father was a shaman in Brazil as his father before him and so on. While Antonio does admit to learning from his father, he never comes out and admits he is also a shaman. He does seem to have some sort of power, though.
As the story enfolds, we learn more about Pilot and Antonio and their relationship to each other and the house Aunt Ellie bought. And who is the blond that seems to be intimate with Pilot? His girlfriend? We also learn more about the connection between Pilot, Antonio and Sirena.
I was expecting a light hearted romp about hanging out on the beach and crushing on the lifeguard, but what I got instead was a book with a mystery, life and death, love and loss and a little bit of the paranormal. I would recommend this to anyone interested in a good beach read that is not just fluff.
Sirena is being shipped off to her Aunt Ellie’s house for the summer because her parents back in Texas are going through a divorce and they figured she would be better off away from all the troubles. She spends a lot of time wallowing in self-pity and feeling sorry for herself. Like no one has ever gone through this before. I went through it, but I was younger, so maybe that was the difference. While I was just accepting of the situation, Sirena is anything but accepting. She seems to spend a lot of time in her head moping about things she can’t change and only seeing the situation as it affects her life and doesn’t seem to think about what her parents must be going through.
She does meet a cast of characters which do not seem very well developed for the most part, but as I said, the book seems to take place a lot in her head. Her Aunt Ellie is flushed out a bit. She is quirky and marches to the beat of her own drum. She is well-travelled and seems to be very much a free spirit. I liked her immediately.
She fixes up the attic room which looks out towards the beach with a big bay window. It is a beautiful little room with one major set back. On stormy days / nights, there is a ghost that visits Sirena and moans pitiably.
The plot really gets underway when Sirena goes for a jog on the beach barefooted and collides with the lifeguard who was getting her out of the way of a sea urchin. She doesn’t realize he was saving her from it, until he jogs away from her and she sees Lifeguard on the back of his shirt. It takes about half the book for her to even find out his name, but she becomes obsessed with him immediately. He is godlike in his perfection. Embarrassed by her encounter with him, she refuses to go to the beach and just mopes around the house.
Aunt Ellie finally has enough of her self-pity and sends her to volunteer at the local hospital where Siren encounters the lifeguard again. He moonlights as an EMT. She stalks him through the hospital and out of the building where he gets on his motor cycle, but he is stopped by a beautiful blond girl calling out his name, Pilot, before he can drive away. She hops on his bike and they drive away. Sirena has a name to go with the face, but assumes the blond is his girlfriend and feels her heart breaking.
Because Sirena likes to paint, Aunt Ellie gives her an old used easel when she moves in that she can use over the summer. She also tells Sirena about a friend of hers named Antonio who is a retired fisherman. He spends most of his time painting on the beach. She meets him on one of her beach walks and and they strike up a friendship.
She finds his gallery in town and she goes in to take a look around. On the wall, she finds a painting of Pilot and before she can rationalize or talk herself out of it, she steals the painting from the gallery as there is no one watching the gallery.
Riddled with guilt over the theft of the painting, Sirena spends more time in her head agonizing over her actions. She finally tells Antonio that she stole his painting. He seems angry at first, but then laughs thanking her. If she loves his painting enough to steal it, that is the ultimate compliment. So, he gives her the painting.
Sirena is determined to make Pilot hers, so she strategizes on how best to accomplish it. She buys a new bikini and heads to the beach. She sees him, but she also sees the blond girl on the blanket next to his lifeguard chair and he is talking to her. Sirena, in an effort to stake her claim, walks right up to him, but he gives her the cold shoulder. She’s humiliated.
He seems to run hot and cold with Sirena, so she makes a move on Pilot which he seems to reciprocate, but then he pushes her away informing her that it would never work between them.
When swimming is banned due to strong riptides, Sirena decides she is going to cool off by just splashing in the water. She waits until Pilot leaves his chair and walks the other way. She goes down by the peer, but loses her footing and is dragged under. She tries to drag herself out of the water, but just as she thinks she’s made it, she steps on something that rears up and she feels an intense pain in her leg and sees blood then remembers nothing.
When she comes to, she realizes she may lose more than her happy home back in Texas.
Pilot is enigmatic and gives very little of himself. He keeps himself apart from everyone and in turn has become the guardian of everyone. He shows little emotion or weakness and is on site whenever anyone needs help. Strange things seem to happen when he is around which only adds further to the mystery that he is.
Antonio also becomes an important character. He becomes Sirena's mentor, confidant and friend. He does open up to her somewhat about where he came from and his background. His father was a shaman in Brazil as his father before him and so on. While Antonio does admit to learning from his father, he never comes out and admits he is also a shaman. He does seem to have some sort of power, though.
As the story enfolds, we learn more about Pilot and Antonio and their relationship to each other and the house Aunt Ellie bought. And who is the blond that seems to be intimate with Pilot? His girlfriend? We also learn more about the connection between Pilot, Antonio and Sirena.
I was expecting a light hearted romp about hanging out on the beach and crushing on the lifeguard, but what I got instead was a book with a mystery, life and death, love and loss and a little bit of the paranormal. I would recommend this to anyone interested in a good beach read that is not just fluff.
February 3, 2018
This is a difficult book to rate because I have such odd feelings about it. Not conflicted feelings, just odd. One thing I like the most about it is the way it portrays a child of divorce. We tend to think that kids just get over that situation these days, even that they prefer it to fighting. But some kids, especially kids who are an only child, can really come undone by that circumstance. I don't think it makes them drama queens, just people whose world is being shaken.
There is beautiful writing here and an unexpected, lovely story. What the book lacks in content it more than makes up for in writing.
Some things feel underdeveloped. But I think that was the point; the otherworldly aspect to the story made it feel wispy and mysterious. It's easy to say that the ghosts were incidental, but this wasn't a ghost story. I got the feel of the beach, the water, the sun, the driving rain.
I couldn't figure Pilot out. Then again, I think that was kind of the point. I've read reviews on this story where people complain about it being boring and shallow. But for me, that sense of other-worldliness was the point of the story.
And that cover? Yep, that's definitely Pilot. It's what drew me to the book. It's like he's the east coast answer to the west coast surfer dude. That shaman thing is definitely working for him.
There is beautiful writing here and an unexpected, lovely story. What the book lacks in content it more than makes up for in writing.
Some things feel underdeveloped. But I think that was the point; the otherworldly aspect to the story made it feel wispy and mysterious. It's easy to say that the ghosts were incidental, but this wasn't a ghost story. I got the feel of the beach, the water, the sun, the driving rain.
I couldn't figure Pilot out. Then again, I think that was kind of the point. I've read reviews on this story where people complain about it being boring and shallow. But for me, that sense of other-worldliness was the point of the story.
And that cover? Yep, that's definitely Pilot. It's what drew me to the book. It's like he's the east coast answer to the west coast surfer dude. That shaman thing is definitely working for him.
September 17, 2018
I enjoy magical realism and this book was just that.
April 24, 2023
The main character of this book is even worse then belly.
February 29, 2012
I had absolutely no idea what this book was about when I started reading. I had skimmed the blurb, but honestly it was the cover that hooked me and the fact that I think the guy on the front looks like Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) from One Tree Hill. It looked to me like it would be an easy going summer read but I found it to be quite different. I wanted to like this book so much, and I did to start with, but by the end of the book I was glad it was over.
Sirena's parents are getting divorced in Texas and to save her from dealing with the mess of this they decide to send her to spend the summer with her aunt in Rhode Island. Sirena uses this chance to spend time on the beach where she meets the Adonis lifeguard, Pilot. Confiding in her new friend and mentor Antonio, the 80 year old painter she spends her days painting with, Sirena discusses her home life and her obsession with Pilot. After an accident on the beach, we begin to see that there may be more going on with Pilot than we were first led to believe.
I actually liked Sirena at the start of the book. Her whole world as she knew it is beginning to fall apart, and she spends the beginning of the book being quite dark and moody. Then one day on the beach she meets the Lifeguard and everything about her I related to and liked disappeared. Suddenly she could think of nothing but him she stopped being so dark and twisty and started obsessing over Pilot all the time. I would not have too much of a problem with this, but I feel we never really get to know Pilot past how he looks and that left me feeling very detached from him as a character.
In terms of their relationship, I wanted there to be much more between the two of them since Sirena was so obsessed. I was waiting for the relationship to take off, and for a while it felt like it was building up to something good, and then.... it fizzled out!! If the relationship could have been pushed a little further, even if they had spent more time together and we had a deeper insight into what it was about Pilot (apart from his looks) that made him so amazing, then I probably would have understood a bit more and felt a bit happier.
My other problem was that I felt that the book did not know what it wanted to be. It started like most other contemporary romance / summer reads, however every so often some paranormal element would be introduced. The ghosts, magic healing or vengeful stingray all seemed like they were going to be explained, or even visited again later in the book, but then it would be dropped or have no explanation by then end of the book. So am I honestly to believe that there are people just wandering about on the beach that can magically heal people and this is not a magical power?
I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if it had chosen a genre and stuck with it all the way! There were some great parts to this book, and as I said I loved the main character at the beginning and I thought some of the secondary characters were great. Unfortunately for me this book felt like it had a split personality disorder and it left me feeling frustrated that it did not quite deliver as a contemporary romance or a paranormal romance. It was certainly an unusual read and would be perfect for someone who may feel like they are stuck in a genre rut and need to read something completely different.
Sirena's parents are getting divorced in Texas and to save her from dealing with the mess of this they decide to send her to spend the summer with her aunt in Rhode Island. Sirena uses this chance to spend time on the beach where she meets the Adonis lifeguard, Pilot. Confiding in her new friend and mentor Antonio, the 80 year old painter she spends her days painting with, Sirena discusses her home life and her obsession with Pilot. After an accident on the beach, we begin to see that there may be more going on with Pilot than we were first led to believe.
I actually liked Sirena at the start of the book. Her whole world as she knew it is beginning to fall apart, and she spends the beginning of the book being quite dark and moody. Then one day on the beach she meets the Lifeguard and everything about her I related to and liked disappeared. Suddenly she could think of nothing but him she stopped being so dark and twisty and started obsessing over Pilot all the time. I would not have too much of a problem with this, but I feel we never really get to know Pilot past how he looks and that left me feeling very detached from him as a character.
In terms of their relationship, I wanted there to be much more between the two of them since Sirena was so obsessed. I was waiting for the relationship to take off, and for a while it felt like it was building up to something good, and then.... it fizzled out!! If the relationship could have been pushed a little further, even if they had spent more time together and we had a deeper insight into what it was about Pilot (apart from his looks) that made him so amazing, then I probably would have understood a bit more and felt a bit happier.
My other problem was that I felt that the book did not know what it wanted to be. It started like most other contemporary romance / summer reads, however every so often some paranormal element would be introduced. The ghosts, magic healing or vengeful stingray all seemed like they were going to be explained, or even visited again later in the book, but then it would be dropped or have no explanation by then end of the book. So am I honestly to believe that there are people just wandering about on the beach that can magically heal people and this is not a magical power?
I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if it had chosen a genre and stuck with it all the way! There were some great parts to this book, and as I said I loved the main character at the beginning and I thought some of the secondary characters were great. Unfortunately for me this book felt like it had a split personality disorder and it left me feeling frustrated that it did not quite deliver as a contemporary romance or a paranormal romance. It was certainly an unusual read and would be perfect for someone who may feel like they are stuck in a genre rut and need to read something completely different.
Read
August 16, 2012It’s an unsettled summer for Sirena. Back in Texas, her family’s splitting apart, but here in Rhode Island, at the cottage of her free-spirited aunt, it’s a different world. There are long days at the beach and intriguing encounters with him. Pilot. He’s the lifeguard.He’s the lifeguard with shamanic skills. He both saves Sirena and makes her feel lost at sea. Sirena explores her obsession with Pilot and discovers
his mysterious – almost magical – gifts.
Come on ...how many of you are staring at this cover thinking, “I want to go to that beach!”. I feel exactly the same way after reading this romantic story about a magical summer. (By the way, my husband just saw it as he walked by and said, "Really?". I feigned disinterest.)
First off, it’s a relief to have a female protagonist who is thankfully devoid of any kind of teenage angst. Sirena is just your normal girl with a normal best friend and worries about normal things. The biggest drama in her life at the moment is that her parents are divorcing. They send her to her aunt's in Rhode Island while they remain in Texas to hash out the details of their divorce. Sirena takes it in stride. She’s almost practical as she processes these changes. And while I said she’s normal, that doesn’t mean that interesting things can’t happen.
During her stay, she meets a few people who leave an impression on her like Pilot, who spends endless days at the beach, you know, as lifeguards tend to do. She can’t escape him and is conflicted whenever she’s in his presence. She’s giddy being near him and also slightly self-conscious – it’s quite cute to watch. Sirena has an innocence about her that makes you nostalgic to be a seventeen year old again. You just want to wrap yourself up in that feeling. Then there’s also Antonio, an elderly man who sits on the beach every day and paints. He becomes a mentor to Sirena who is an artist herself. With him, she feels a reassuring calm and finds herself opening up to this stranger about the changes taking place in her life. It’s a wonderful friendship that gives her some anchor while she’s there for the summer.
At the urging of her Aunt Ellie, Sirena also starts volunteering at the local hospital thinking the routine will be good for her. This in particular becomes an important catalyst in her own personal growth as she encounters illness, sadness and healing.
There’s a part of The Lifeguard that reminds me of Anna and The French Kiss – you know that feeling of falling in love for the first time; those oh so awkward moments of trying to play it cool when you’re attracted to someone. Those instances made me smile. Then there are those other moments when she’s witness to “miracles”. And they all point to Pilot who sets her imagination on fire. And where Sirena is such a delightfully straightforward girl, Pilot is elusive. But after a few life-altering events, we share in her wonderment as she discovers who he is.
The Lifeguard is very enjoyable. It was a nice change in pace to read a story that's pleasant and relatively uncomplicated but still had mystery to it. I absolutely adore Sirena and I fell in love with Pilot. It's just one of those books where you feel good at the end and you're glad you read it. And if nothing else, it'll just make you even more anxious for a beautiful summer at the beach.
~ Bel
his mysterious – almost magical – gifts.
Come on ...how many of you are staring at this cover thinking, “I want to go to that beach!”. I feel exactly the same way after reading this romantic story about a magical summer. (By the way, my husband just saw it as he walked by and said, "Really?". I feigned disinterest.)
First off, it’s a relief to have a female protagonist who is thankfully devoid of any kind of teenage angst. Sirena is just your normal girl with a normal best friend and worries about normal things. The biggest drama in her life at the moment is that her parents are divorcing. They send her to her aunt's in Rhode Island while they remain in Texas to hash out the details of their divorce. Sirena takes it in stride. She’s almost practical as she processes these changes. And while I said she’s normal, that doesn’t mean that interesting things can’t happen.
During her stay, she meets a few people who leave an impression on her like Pilot, who spends endless days at the beach, you know, as lifeguards tend to do. She can’t escape him and is conflicted whenever she’s in his presence. She’s giddy being near him and also slightly self-conscious – it’s quite cute to watch. Sirena has an innocence about her that makes you nostalgic to be a seventeen year old again. You just want to wrap yourself up in that feeling. Then there’s also Antonio, an elderly man who sits on the beach every day and paints. He becomes a mentor to Sirena who is an artist herself. With him, she feels a reassuring calm and finds herself opening up to this stranger about the changes taking place in her life. It’s a wonderful friendship that gives her some anchor while she’s there for the summer.
At the urging of her Aunt Ellie, Sirena also starts volunteering at the local hospital thinking the routine will be good for her. This in particular becomes an important catalyst in her own personal growth as she encounters illness, sadness and healing.
There’s a part of The Lifeguard that reminds me of Anna and The French Kiss – you know that feeling of falling in love for the first time; those oh so awkward moments of trying to play it cool when you’re attracted to someone. Those instances made me smile. Then there are those other moments when she’s witness to “miracles”. And they all point to Pilot who sets her imagination on fire. And where Sirena is such a delightfully straightforward girl, Pilot is elusive. But after a few life-altering events, we share in her wonderment as she discovers who he is.
The Lifeguard is very enjoyable. It was a nice change in pace to read a story that's pleasant and relatively uncomplicated but still had mystery to it. I absolutely adore Sirena and I fell in love with Pilot. It's just one of those books where you feel good at the end and you're glad you read it. And if nothing else, it'll just make you even more anxious for a beautiful summer at the beach.
~ Bel
June 19, 2012
I received this book for review via Net Galley and would like to thank them for the opportunity to read it.
Sirena's life it falling apart, at least she thinks so. Her parents are getting divorced and to her this is worse than death. She is shipped off to Rhode Island for the summer to spend time with her aunt while her parents get things settled in Texas. Rhode Island turns out to be a very different world than the one Sirena knows. There she meets new people, learns of of their shamic skills, realizes ghosts really do exist and falls hard for Pilot, the local lifeguard.
I loved the way the writer was able to pull me into this book. At first, I wasn't sure about the long paragraphs of narrative, but for this book they actually worked. I was also skeptical of the first person narrative, but for the most part it was appropriate for this book. This book flowed like it was Sirena's journal, relating her summer to us and all the things she learns. She even mentions in the book about how she once thought of starting a diary but never did it.
I liked the fact that Sirena was not the whiny teenager we often see in love stories such as this. Did she have her jealous moments? Of course she did, it wouldn't be young adult romance without it. But it wasn't overwhelming and it didn't seem to consume every thought she put out to the audience of the book. And she was brave, which surprised me because I didn't think she had it in her at first. She stood up to her fears, she faced her realities, she looked life straight in the face and learned what it was to live. We learn a lot from her letters to her best friend Marissa, who is spending the summer at camp.
Pilot is very mysterious. He keeps much to himself and doesn't let Sirena in. Their moments together are often quiet. He's this perfect "Godlike" boy who saves people not only with his lifeguarding skills, but with his healing powers. He is almost angelic. He has "powers" that allow him to feel what people are feeling, hear when people are in distress and help people out of dangerous situations.
Sirena's Aunt Ellie leaves Sirena alone for the most part. She gives her space so her wounds can heal and she can realize that life it worth living. That her life is worth something outside of her family being only a cookie cutter crew. And her friend, Mark, is very supportive of Sirena, as well, although we don't see much of him in the book.
Antonio is an 80 year old painter who spends his time capturing every emotion, every nuance his painted scenery has, whether that is a still life or a person. He listens to Sirena, when she just needs an ear. And he points things out to her in an unobtrusive way so she can come to her own conclusions about her life.
All in all I really enjoyed this book. I read it in less than 24 hours. Blumenthal really has a way with words. Her writing flows and is lyrical, her descriptive abilities poetic. I didn't really want to put the book down. I loved that the end really had no wind up, no final conclusion as if it might have a sequel but still does so well as a stand alone.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Sirena's life it falling apart, at least she thinks so. Her parents are getting divorced and to her this is worse than death. She is shipped off to Rhode Island for the summer to spend time with her aunt while her parents get things settled in Texas. Rhode Island turns out to be a very different world than the one Sirena knows. There she meets new people, learns of of their shamic skills, realizes ghosts really do exist and falls hard for Pilot, the local lifeguard.
I loved the way the writer was able to pull me into this book. At first, I wasn't sure about the long paragraphs of narrative, but for this book they actually worked. I was also skeptical of the first person narrative, but for the most part it was appropriate for this book. This book flowed like it was Sirena's journal, relating her summer to us and all the things she learns. She even mentions in the book about how she once thought of starting a diary but never did it.
I liked the fact that Sirena was not the whiny teenager we often see in love stories such as this. Did she have her jealous moments? Of course she did, it wouldn't be young adult romance without it. But it wasn't overwhelming and it didn't seem to consume every thought she put out to the audience of the book. And she was brave, which surprised me because I didn't think she had it in her at first. She stood up to her fears, she faced her realities, she looked life straight in the face and learned what it was to live. We learn a lot from her letters to her best friend Marissa, who is spending the summer at camp.
Pilot is very mysterious. He keeps much to himself and doesn't let Sirena in. Their moments together are often quiet. He's this perfect "Godlike" boy who saves people not only with his lifeguarding skills, but with his healing powers. He is almost angelic. He has "powers" that allow him to feel what people are feeling, hear when people are in distress and help people out of dangerous situations.
Sirena's Aunt Ellie leaves Sirena alone for the most part. She gives her space so her wounds can heal and she can realize that life it worth living. That her life is worth something outside of her family being only a cookie cutter crew. And her friend, Mark, is very supportive of Sirena, as well, although we don't see much of him in the book.
Antonio is an 80 year old painter who spends his time capturing every emotion, every nuance his painted scenery has, whether that is a still life or a person. He listens to Sirena, when she just needs an ear. And he points things out to her in an unobtrusive way so she can come to her own conclusions about her life.
All in all I really enjoyed this book. I read it in less than 24 hours. Blumenthal really has a way with words. Her writing flows and is lyrical, her descriptive abilities poetic. I didn't really want to put the book down. I loved that the end really had no wind up, no final conclusion as if it might have a sequel but still does so well as a stand alone.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
November 13, 2017
I WAS SO ROMANTIC
January 14, 2012
» Review can also be found on Orchids & Amethysts.
Title: The Lifeguard
Author: Deborah Blumenthal
Rating: 4/5
Thanks to Albert Whitman & Company via Netgallery for allowing me to read this book before the official publication.
Sirena's life is over. At least that's how she feels. While her parents deal with their divorce, they send Sirena to her aunt in Rhode Island. But while her life seems a mess, there might be a light. A light called Pilot. He is a lifeguard at the beach and Sirena falls herself fallen for him right away. He is not only good looking, no, there he also seems to hide a secret Sirena is dying to discover.
I don't understand why there are so many harsh words on this book. I totally loved it. Probably also because I was dying to read this, and I can relate to it a lot.
Sirena is sixteen years old and she doesn't want her life to change. She doesn't want her parents to divorce and at first, she also isn't thrilled about the fact that they send her to aunt. Even worse, her aunt's house is haunted by ghosts. The only good thing about this place is Will, her aunt's dog, and the beach. That's where she sees him the first time: Pilot, the lifeguard. She immediately feels drawn to him and while you read this book, you can't help but fall for him as well. His life is based on rescuing people from drowning, but at the same time, Sirena feels like she might get lost out at sea because of him. Not at sea itself, but I mean in mind. He seems too perfect to be true and as she gets to know him better, she discovers that his powers can't be those from a human.
While I don't like books that include singers, or at least I don't like those books most of the time, I loved to read about Sirena's passion for art. How she is obsessed about drawing the perfect picture of Pilot and all that. And how she finds a soulmate in that theme in Antonio. I also loved how worried she was about Cody, who lay in the hospital for a little while and seemed to die more and more each day.
I can't find any words right now. I loved this book, that is all I can say. The writing was just beautiful and Deborah Blumenthal made it seem like you were at the beach yourself, seeing how the connection between Sirena and Pilot grew taller and taller. I would have loved to read more about Pilot. There are lots of parts with him in this book, but I would have loved to get some very romantic scenes between him and Sirena. I'm also glad that the ghost part and mysterious healer parts didn't take too much of The Lifeguard. It still seemed like a realistic thing.
So, all in all, it's still in my favourite list. Four stars and I repeat: I loved it very much, but the romance was too small.
Title: The Lifeguard
Author: Deborah Blumenthal
Rating: 4/5
Thanks to Albert Whitman & Company via Netgallery for allowing me to read this book before the official publication.
Sirena's life is over. At least that's how she feels. While her parents deal with their divorce, they send Sirena to her aunt in Rhode Island. But while her life seems a mess, there might be a light. A light called Pilot. He is a lifeguard at the beach and Sirena falls herself fallen for him right away. He is not only good looking, no, there he also seems to hide a secret Sirena is dying to discover.
I don't understand why there are so many harsh words on this book. I totally loved it. Probably also because I was dying to read this, and I can relate to it a lot.
Sirena is sixteen years old and she doesn't want her life to change. She doesn't want her parents to divorce and at first, she also isn't thrilled about the fact that they send her to aunt. Even worse, her aunt's house is haunted by ghosts. The only good thing about this place is Will, her aunt's dog, and the beach. That's where she sees him the first time: Pilot, the lifeguard. She immediately feels drawn to him and while you read this book, you can't help but fall for him as well. His life is based on rescuing people from drowning, but at the same time, Sirena feels like she might get lost out at sea because of him. Not at sea itself, but I mean in mind. He seems too perfect to be true and as she gets to know him better, she discovers that his powers can't be those from a human.
While I don't like books that include singers, or at least I don't like those books most of the time, I loved to read about Sirena's passion for art. How she is obsessed about drawing the perfect picture of Pilot and all that. And how she finds a soulmate in that theme in Antonio. I also loved how worried she was about Cody, who lay in the hospital for a little while and seemed to die more and more each day.
I can't find any words right now. I loved this book, that is all I can say. The writing was just beautiful and Deborah Blumenthal made it seem like you were at the beach yourself, seeing how the connection between Sirena and Pilot grew taller and taller. I would have loved to read more about Pilot. There are lots of parts with him in this book, but I would have loved to get some very romantic scenes between him and Sirena. I'm also glad that the ghost part and mysterious healer parts didn't take too much of The Lifeguard. It still seemed like a realistic thing.
So, all in all, it's still in my favourite list. Four stars and I repeat: I loved it very much, but the romance was too small.
July 17, 2012
The Lifeguard was nothing like I expected. It has such a great feeling of summer, but something else glistens in this book besides the sun on the water. I loved every character in this book. Sirena was convincing and her emotions and feelings were palpable. Pilot was mysterious and Antonio was perfection. He made you curious, but in a way that you felt should command respect, and not prying. He was talented and it was obvious, yet he had an air of humility that was gracing. I loved the scenes he was in because I wanted to be in his presence as long as possible. I usually don't feel that way about elderly characters :)
The plot of this story was so great, finally a different kind of summer read! I can't wait to read more from Deborah Blumenthal! I thought her writing was textured; there were so many elements that contributed to the whole picture. I really connected with Sirena (She was stuck in this town, alone, while her world at home fell apart. The lucky thing is that she was near the beach!) I found myself wanting to be friends with the other characters, even Sirena's aunt, Ellie, and her "boyfriend." The supporting cast and the setting was as warm as summer and just as inviting, the only problem was that it's not Sirena's real life, which I can definitely see being depressing.
There are a couple of seemingly random details I loved: Sirena volunteering at the hospital (nothing makes you fell better like serving others!) and the ghost that lives in her aunt's attic (where she sleeps! Eek!) that only comes out when it storms. There are more, but I can't remember them off the top of my head)
This was a story that felt so natural, like it just kind of shaped itself into being. The flow of the plot, the back and forth between Sirena's current perspective & her memories and her letters with her best friend (who is away at summer camp) were great. I loved how the plot was so subtle. There weren't any really huge plot twists, but the subtle revelations were timed well and written beautifully. And even though the plot shifts were subtle, they were powerful and it really created this marvelous design, touching the lives of many characters and connecting them in powerful, meaningful ways.
I'm rating The Lifeguard 4 STARS. This book really is something different. It's a good, fun one-sitting, one shot. It's a good reminder that we're all connected in some way. I hope you'll pick it up!
The plot of this story was so great, finally a different kind of summer read! I can't wait to read more from Deborah Blumenthal! I thought her writing was textured; there were so many elements that contributed to the whole picture. I really connected with Sirena (She was stuck in this town, alone, while her world at home fell apart. The lucky thing is that she was near the beach!) I found myself wanting to be friends with the other characters, even Sirena's aunt, Ellie, and her "boyfriend." The supporting cast and the setting was as warm as summer and just as inviting, the only problem was that it's not Sirena's real life, which I can definitely see being depressing.
There are a couple of seemingly random details I loved: Sirena volunteering at the hospital (nothing makes you fell better like serving others!) and the ghost that lives in her aunt's attic (where she sleeps! Eek!) that only comes out when it storms. There are more, but I can't remember them off the top of my head)
This was a story that felt so natural, like it just kind of shaped itself into being. The flow of the plot, the back and forth between Sirena's current perspective & her memories and her letters with her best friend (who is away at summer camp) were great. I loved how the plot was so subtle. There weren't any really huge plot twists, but the subtle revelations were timed well and written beautifully. And even though the plot shifts were subtle, they were powerful and it really created this marvelous design, touching the lives of many characters and connecting them in powerful, meaningful ways.
I'm rating The Lifeguard 4 STARS. This book really is something different. It's a good, fun one-sitting, one shot. It's a good reminder that we're all connected in some way. I hope you'll pick it up!
May 17, 2012
When I first read the synopsis for this book, I was expecting a run of the mill story about a sad girl who goes off to the beach, meets a cute boy and they fall in “love” with each other. I generally enjoy books with that typical story line because they are cute and easy to read. That was not what I ended up reading in The Lifeguard.
First off, I loved Serena. She is a strong willed girl with an amazing voice. Deborah Blumenthal wrote such a funny character with Serena. Everything surrounding Serena’s character is just great. Her dialogue, inner and outer, was one of my favorite things about this book. There really wasn’t any moments when I was disappointed in who Serena was.
I also enjoyed every other character written for this story. I usually find a lot of unnecessary characters when I read YA fiction, and this was not the case with The Lifeguard. Everyone was greatly written and had a purpose for being a part of Serena’s life. You’ll adore each of them just as much as I did, especially Antonio, Marissa, and Pilot. Pilot is just incredibly dreamy and I found myself letting go of quite a few squees.
Now on to the storyline, I enjoyed this book a whole lot. It kept me reading from page one. I only have a couple issues with the plot that I have to point out. First off, I felt like there was a lot of moments that were discussed too quickly and some important factors were thrown in quickly and not given enough detail. I would have loved to know a bit more about Pilot toward the end of the book and I think Deborah Blumenthal could have gone into more details during some of the bigger moments. I felt at times that major plot points were being rushed and I would have liked to see a few things taken a step further.
Otherwise, this was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone into girly YA fiction. There is a bit of romance, a bit of paranormal and a bit of adventure. Like I said above, I think a few things could have been given more detail, but I guess I wasn’t left confused, so it was ok. Definitely one to check out and I will be surely reading more from this author.
First off, I loved Serena. She is a strong willed girl with an amazing voice. Deborah Blumenthal wrote such a funny character with Serena. Everything surrounding Serena’s character is just great. Her dialogue, inner and outer, was one of my favorite things about this book. There really wasn’t any moments when I was disappointed in who Serena was.
I also enjoyed every other character written for this story. I usually find a lot of unnecessary characters when I read YA fiction, and this was not the case with The Lifeguard. Everyone was greatly written and had a purpose for being a part of Serena’s life. You’ll adore each of them just as much as I did, especially Antonio, Marissa, and Pilot. Pilot is just incredibly dreamy and I found myself letting go of quite a few squees.
Now on to the storyline, I enjoyed this book a whole lot. It kept me reading from page one. I only have a couple issues with the plot that I have to point out. First off, I felt like there was a lot of moments that were discussed too quickly and some important factors were thrown in quickly and not given enough detail. I would have loved to know a bit more about Pilot toward the end of the book and I think Deborah Blumenthal could have gone into more details during some of the bigger moments. I felt at times that major plot points were being rushed and I would have liked to see a few things taken a step further.
Otherwise, this was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone into girly YA fiction. There is a bit of romance, a bit of paranormal and a bit of adventure. Like I said above, I think a few things could have been given more detail, but I guess I wasn’t left confused, so it was ok. Definitely one to check out and I will be surely reading more from this author.
February 21, 2012
The Lifeguard
By: Deborah Blumenthal
To be honest when I first picked up ‘The Lifeguard’ I wasn’t all too interested in it. The description of the book sounds like the typical love story. The typical a girl is going through a tough time and falls in love during summer vacation.
But I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderfully captivating story this book told. I was really impressed by the characters. They weren’t your typical fairy tale love story main characters. Sirena had real problems. Her parents getting divorced really tore her whole world apart and instead of doing her usual routine for summer by going to camp with her best friend, Marissa. She is forced to go say with her Aunt Ellie in Rhode Island, who she barely knows.
Her life takes a lot of new turns and has new meaning as she begins volunteering at the local hospital, reading to the children. Her eyes really begin to open to the world around her. She also meets Antonio, an eighty year old man who is an amazing painter and a brilliant man. Antonio becomes a mentor to Sirena and helps her with a lot more than just getting her talent to paint back.
Then there is Pilot, who is just the most beautiful human being on the planet to Sirena. Her brain just couldn’t seem to function around him. He was gorgeous yes but he wasn’t like anyone she had ever met. He was mysterious and quiet and seems to be around whenever anyone is in trouble.
So when Sirena is in a terrible accident that brings her very close to death will Pilot be her hero and come to her rescue.
‘The Lifeguard’ was a beautiful story I found myself caught up in the story. You become very emotional. So many things happen in this story that will really tug at the heart strings. ‘The Lifeguard’ was a definite treat; I would recommend this book to anyone looking to escape into a life of love and fantasy. I give in four stars.
By: Deborah Blumenthal
To be honest when I first picked up ‘The Lifeguard’ I wasn’t all too interested in it. The description of the book sounds like the typical love story. The typical a girl is going through a tough time and falls in love during summer vacation.
But I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderfully captivating story this book told. I was really impressed by the characters. They weren’t your typical fairy tale love story main characters. Sirena had real problems. Her parents getting divorced really tore her whole world apart and instead of doing her usual routine for summer by going to camp with her best friend, Marissa. She is forced to go say with her Aunt Ellie in Rhode Island, who she barely knows.
Her life takes a lot of new turns and has new meaning as she begins volunteering at the local hospital, reading to the children. Her eyes really begin to open to the world around her. She also meets Antonio, an eighty year old man who is an amazing painter and a brilliant man. Antonio becomes a mentor to Sirena and helps her with a lot more than just getting her talent to paint back.
Then there is Pilot, who is just the most beautiful human being on the planet to Sirena. Her brain just couldn’t seem to function around him. He was gorgeous yes but he wasn’t like anyone she had ever met. He was mysterious and quiet and seems to be around whenever anyone is in trouble.
So when Sirena is in a terrible accident that brings her very close to death will Pilot be her hero and come to her rescue.
‘The Lifeguard’ was a beautiful story I found myself caught up in the story. You become very emotional. So many things happen in this story that will really tug at the heart strings. ‘The Lifeguard’ was a definite treat; I would recommend this book to anyone looking to escape into a life of love and fantasy. I give in four stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2012
I bought this on a whim as Amazon was having a Kindle e-book sale and I was trying to find a new swoony boy. (Laughing at Kassiah.) I was hoping for a sunny, beach-centered teen romance.
What we have here instead is different. There were hints of the paranormal in the summary and I was thinking "alien" or "future-boy" or something. Nope. That's not it. I won't spoil it here, but when I found out, I was not altogether surprised, but I was rather pleased.
The story comes to us through Sirena, Our Heroine. She's sixteen, her parents are divorcing, and she's compelled to stay with an aunt she doesn't know very well for the summer instead of going to camp as she had for years. She's mostly alone. She's unsettled. She's terribly sad. A teenager finding herself fascinated with a local hottie lifeguard is very beach-read material, right?
But in this book, the mysteries that surrounded this boy tended to eclipse the romance, for me. Yet, not so much as to be too compelling, either.
I can't go into more without spoiling things. I can say that I think this story would have benefited from being longer, to give more time to explore the various mysteries within the plot. (Blumenthal did a great job in making sure she addressed them all. The writing was well-structured.) I think that in trying to give time to the mysteries of the lifeguard, the author neglected part of the romance. And the need for the romance overshadowed what could have been a much more gripping adventure into the mysteries.
This is a YA book, I grant you. It's a quick read. There are adventures, near-death experiences (hey, the hero is a lifeguard), a terribly attractive hero, older and wiser adults with solid words to say to a young lady, and even a great dog. It's got all the ingredients. Maybe the fault is mine in expecting a delicious dessert when what I got was a meringue?
What we have here instead is different. There were hints of the paranormal in the summary and I was thinking "alien" or "future-boy" or something. Nope. That's not it. I won't spoil it here, but when I found out, I was not altogether surprised, but I was rather pleased.
The story comes to us through Sirena, Our Heroine. She's sixteen, her parents are divorcing, and she's compelled to stay with an aunt she doesn't know very well for the summer instead of going to camp as she had for years. She's mostly alone. She's unsettled. She's terribly sad. A teenager finding herself fascinated with a local hottie lifeguard is very beach-read material, right?
But in this book, the mysteries that surrounded this boy tended to eclipse the romance, for me. Yet, not so much as to be too compelling, either.
I can't go into more without spoiling things. I can say that I think this story would have benefited from being longer, to give more time to explore the various mysteries within the plot. (Blumenthal did a great job in making sure she addressed them all. The writing was well-structured.) I think that in trying to give time to the mysteries of the lifeguard, the author neglected part of the romance. And the need for the romance overshadowed what could have been a much more gripping adventure into the mysteries.
This is a YA book, I grant you. It's a quick read. There are adventures, near-death experiences (hey, the hero is a lifeguard), a terribly attractive hero, older and wiser adults with solid words to say to a young lady, and even a great dog. It's got all the ingredients. Maybe the fault is mine in expecting a delicious dessert when what I got was a meringue?
February 18, 2012
Sirena is stuck in Maine with her Aunt for the summer, because her parents are in the middle of an ugly divorce back in Texas. At first her unhappy family life consumes her thoughts, leaving her depressed and isolated. But then Sirena crosses paths with Pilot, a lifeguard who she is instantly attracted to. She also gets a job volunteering at the hospital and becomes friends with a old painter named Antonio. There are also unexplained supernatural things going on. Will Sirena be able to heal her pain, get the guy and solve the mystery of all the weird things happening. This book was a major let-down. I went in with high expectations and at first it seemed like they'd be met. However, the obsession/instant love between Sirena and Pilot was a major turn-off for me. I HATE it when the main characters of a book have such a superficial connection to each other. Also, none of the supernatural stuff was ever really explained to my satisfaction and Sirena got distracted from her curiosity way too easily. She was an intellectual bimbo, which was unfortunate and made my brain hurt. My favorite things about this book were Sirena's Aunt, the dog, Antonio.....yeah and that's about it. I seriously abhorred the way that this book was written, it was a stylistic nightmare. I can't stand books that are more description than dialogue and this was one of those books. I would not recommend this for anyone who actually wants a book where something of substance happens. If you want fluff and instant love with nary a plot in sight, this one's for you.
VERDICT: 1.5/5 Stars
*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review. This book is expected to be published March 1st, 2012.*
VERDICT: 1.5/5 Stars
*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review. This book is expected to be published March 1st, 2012.*
June 12, 2012
Hmm...where to begin with The Lifeguard? Well, let's just say there was a better taste in my mouth going out than in. Cause for a good chunk of this book, Sirena really annoyed me, to the point I wanted to quit reading. And I guess you could call this a romance, but really, more pages were spent on her obsessive stalking than romance, and she was way to desperate to get his attention. This girl's so freakin' crazy she actually steals (yeah, that's right - STEALS) a painting of Pilot from a small town art gallery while the owner's out to lunch. A normal, albeit obsessive-crazy-person, would have simply taken out their phone and taken a snapshot of it...but with Sirena, she needs the actual painting.
I can appreciate Ms. Blumenthal's attempt to weave in a culture involving people with the ability to draw from the earth and be able to heal people by doing so. However, I have a hard time swallowing the fact that this hottie of a white boy can be Shaman. I need this role to be handed down to someone that actually looks like his descendents came from the rain forest, not Malibu.
About two-third's of the way through, Sirena and Pilot both became more likeable and the story got a little more interesting, but it wasn't enough to rebound the feelings I'd already developed earlier for The Lifeguard. I'm not one to disencourage anyone from reading a book...some people are willing to five star this, I just don't happen to be one of them.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.
I can appreciate Ms. Blumenthal's attempt to weave in a culture involving people with the ability to draw from the earth and be able to heal people by doing so. However, I have a hard time swallowing the fact that this hottie of a white boy can be Shaman. I need this role to be handed down to someone that actually looks like his descendents came from the rain forest, not Malibu.
About two-third's of the way through, Sirena and Pilot both became more likeable and the story got a little more interesting, but it wasn't enough to rebound the feelings I'd already developed earlier for The Lifeguard. I'm not one to disencourage anyone from reading a book...some people are willing to five star this, I just don't happen to be one of them.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.
June 9, 2012
The Lifeguard started off as the perfect contemporary I just needed. A troubled girl because of her parents divorce, a cute, actually perfect, lifeguard she meets at the beach, and the setting is the beach! THE BEACH! The problem is it kind of started to slow pace in the middle, which bored me for a significant part of the book.
The main protagonist, Sirena, is fine. She is just a normal girl, spending her summer at the beach with her aunt because her parents are getting a divorce. All her feelings are realistic, and she is an artist! (Like myself) Sirena meets "The Lifeguard" when he was on duty at the beach, and is immediately mesmerized by his beauty, which I hated. I don't like it when there is instant love, or anything like that in books. Here, Sirena felt this pull towards him.
"The Lifeguard" whose name you learn later as Pilot, doesn't acknowledge Sirena at first. Which is when the slow pace of the story begins. Throughout 70 pages or so of the book, Sirena is trying to get his attention. It bored me a lot. I hoped there was more interaction between the two of them, or ANYTHING, even the teeniest bit of advance in their relationship in those 70 pages, but barely much happened.
And did you know this book had a paranormal twist in the end? I honestly felt that there was no need for the tiny paranormal part of this story. It just confused me, and I didn't really get Pilot's "special powers". I did hope for more cute, fun stuff in this book. While i might not have enjoyed it much it was overall enjoyable, especially the first half of the book.
The main protagonist, Sirena, is fine. She is just a normal girl, spending her summer at the beach with her aunt because her parents are getting a divorce. All her feelings are realistic, and she is an artist! (Like myself) Sirena meets "The Lifeguard" when he was on duty at the beach, and is immediately mesmerized by his beauty, which I hated. I don't like it when there is instant love, or anything like that in books. Here, Sirena felt this pull towards him.
"The Lifeguard" whose name you learn later as Pilot, doesn't acknowledge Sirena at first. Which is when the slow pace of the story begins. Throughout 70 pages or so of the book, Sirena is trying to get his attention. It bored me a lot. I hoped there was more interaction between the two of them, or ANYTHING, even the teeniest bit of advance in their relationship in those 70 pages, but barely much happened.
And did you know this book had a paranormal twist in the end? I honestly felt that there was no need for the tiny paranormal part of this story. It just confused me, and I didn't really get Pilot's "special powers". I did hope for more cute, fun stuff in this book. While i might not have enjoyed it much it was overall enjoyable, especially the first half of the book.
July 3, 2013
I don't think this book was that bad. I just don't think it was really meant to be in the YA genre. I would actually and have actually recommended this book to younger teens.
The story in and of itself is fresh and original. However, it is the story-telling that is subpar. The story seems rushed and not well developed. By the time the big reveal rolls around you feel like there was no mystery in the first place. It feels rushed and therefore there is no real build up.
Also, the MC is very annoying and immature. But then again, I think she is supposed to be young...so then I think maybe I was that ridiculous at that age, but no. This girl acts like a 13 year old with beiber fever.
The thing that really irked me here is that there was such little interaction between the MC and the titular Lifeguard. She sees him on a beach one day and all of a sudden the author invents this profound romantic and spiritual connection between them. It was just embarrassing. Actually, there was little development in most of the relationships in this novel. Mc and her aunt, Mc and her mentor Antonio, etc.
But there is potential. Add another 200 pages, write more scenes with the MC and the Lifeguard getting to know one another in a more casual way (not so dramatic all the time pleeeease), and further explore the ghost-story and you have yourself a very impressive PNR.
The story in and of itself is fresh and original. However, it is the story-telling that is subpar. The story seems rushed and not well developed. By the time the big reveal rolls around you feel like there was no mystery in the first place. It feels rushed and therefore there is no real build up.
Also, the MC is very annoying and immature. But then again, I think she is supposed to be young...so then I think maybe I was that ridiculous at that age, but no. This girl acts like a 13 year old with beiber fever.
The thing that really irked me here is that there was such little interaction between the MC and the titular Lifeguard. She sees him on a beach one day and all of a sudden the author invents this profound romantic and spiritual connection between them. It was just embarrassing. Actually, there was little development in most of the relationships in this novel. Mc and her aunt, Mc and her mentor Antonio, etc.
But there is potential. Add another 200 pages, write more scenes with the MC and the Lifeguard getting to know one another in a more casual way (not so dramatic all the time pleeeease), and further explore the ghost-story and you have yourself a very impressive PNR.
August 27, 2019
This book is a magical piece of literature that blows all expectations out of the water, pun intended. When we set out to read this book, we thought it would be a simple romance for simple times - but it is so much more. We were reading it out loud at 2 am and my friend fell asleep; it was then that I reached the expectation-defying chapter where everything changed. I wanted to make sure my friend had heard the electrifying turn of events, so I leaned over and said, “Bro, you up?” She did not reply. The next morning, as any good friend would, I explained the juicy deets and turn of events this book had taken. We were hooked, and you will be, too. It was fate that we found this book - don’t pass up your destiny. Everyone must read this book. Everyone must read The Lifeguard.
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