Atlantis Riptide

Lost Daughters of Atlantis #1

by Allie Burton

Sixteen-year-old Pearl Poseidon ran away from the circus tired of her adoptive parents’ abuse of her special skills. As a runaway, she craves anonymity but when she saves a small boy from drowning she draws attention to herself and her special abilities. Boardwalk employee and aspiring investigative reporter, Chase Thomas, helps her with the rescue and witnesses her amazing dive.

Now, he has questions. And so do the police.

Unbeknownst to Pearl, a battle rages under the Pacific between Loyal and Non-Loyal Atlantean forces and each side wants to use her powers for their cause. Will the commotion in the ocean expose her secrets to the world? Will Chase’s reporter-determination ruin their chance for a real relationship? Will staying near the ocean she loves catapult into a battle royale?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Mermaids, Romance, Ebooks, Fiction

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 10, 2013

About the author

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Allie Burton has always been a reader and writer. She wrote her first novel at the age of twelve when she was stranded at a hospital by a snowstorm. Receiving her first romance from her grandmother, she fell in love with the genre. As an adult, she read young adult books with her own teens and was excited to find something fresh and new. Now, she writes both.

Having so many jobs as a teen and adult became great research material for the stories she writes. She has been everything from a bike police officer to a professional mascot escort to an advertising executive. She has lived on three continents and in four states and has studied art, fashion design, and marine biology.

Allie is a member of several writing organizations. She splits her time between Arizona and Colorado where she skis, golfs, and bikes.

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Reviews

[Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining at first, but degrades into a faintly nauseating mixture of wahwahwah I'm such a freak/so alone/misunderstood and instalove-ish "Oh I love you! You're so wonderful you big strong man! Save me, save me! I'm a damsel in distress!" Even though said damsel in distress is a princess descended from the gods with magical powers and therefore better placed to save herself than some random teenage boy.

[Maberan Potato · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actual rating: 1.5 stars.

This should be called 'YA Clichés: The Book'. Not even a full day after meeting Chase, Pearl is already kissing him passionately and calling him 'special', which totally breaks her character. She's been betrayed by everyone in her life and is more trusting that me! Does not compute.

Also Chase is a fucking creeper, he meets this girl and starts appearing everywhere she goes and Pearl never gets creeper out by it. Like, it's so disturbing. She should be paranoid. He comes right after her shift ends, shows up at her camp ground, went out to the sea at night and JUST HAPPENED to save her from a tourbillon and wandered at her place just when she fell off a cliff! DUDE THOSE ARE NOT COINCIDENCES.

There's also like three fake 'omg he betrayed me' moments and as much as I like those, they need to make sense. The first one was... eh; Chase is like super mad she doesn't want to tell him her life story after A DAY OF KNOWING HIM. It's ridiculous and comes out of nowhere, but Pearl was finally telling him off for being way too clingy after like, three hours of knowing each other and she's sad she can't find anyone who'll just be her friend, so I let it slide. The second was better; Chase was like high adrenaline and Pearl saves his life so he's like 'dude you're amazing I need to write this paper on you' and Pearl is like 'but you promised!' and he's like 'yeah but I didn't know everything then' and she leaves. That's good. But the third???

Like the thing is that the place where Pearl works is owned by Chase's aunt, which is like this big twist at the end but I'm 98% sure they told us in the beginning? Either this author doesn't edit or I'm just that good. But the aunt is slowly wising up to Pearl's powers because the idiot is like, using them whenever and being super sloppy with it, and we're supposed to assume that Chase told her? Even tho you had this neat foreshadowing of the aunt being more and more pressing towards Pearl.

And the aunt calls Pearl's parents- who made her work in a circus for all of her life (don't worry I'm getting back to that), are stated multiple times NOT to be Pearl's actual parents and the birth certificate they have on her is fake- they show up IN FRONT OF A POLICE OFFICER and are 100% 'you're coming with us you lady, we're a family' type of shit and I'm just throwing my arms in the air in confusion.

Let's talk about everything wrong with this for three hours, alright? So first, Pearl was working in a circus for all her life? Are you for real? Like, no one thought that was weird for an eight-yrs-old stay in the water for so long and do all this? No one called CPS on them? Me thinks most people would be mad that these people are using a kid to fake their show. And wouldn't the aunt be like 'this kid grew up in a circus being the star of the show and ran away, might be a good idea to talk to her and the police about this because I don't think this is legal'.

And yeah, let's talk legality. Is it really okay for kids to have shows in circuses like that? Not, like, dancing on the side or anything. Pearl was in her costume, staying in the water for probably hours lifting things and swimming and stuff. PEOPLE WOULD WONDER. And Pearl says that she brought her birth certificate to like, an hospital or something and they told her 'dude this is fake'. Shouldn't that be worrying? I mean, isn't it illegal to fake birth certificates? HOW ARE THESE GUYS ALLOWED TO HAVE HER STILL

Oh yeah and there's a prophecy of missing princesses.

.
.
.

You get it.

This was boring as fuck. It had potential, but the instalove, the clichés and the plot's stupidity broke it for me. BYE.

[Mandy Sickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pearl is on the run from the circus starting a new life with a new identity in Mermaid Beach. She takes a job on the boardwalk working as a custodian when she see’s a young boy fall into the lagoon. Risking her secret identity Pearl dives into the lagoon to save the boy, however by the time she finds him and saves his life he’s been under water to long. Her only chance to save him she breaths into him giving him the chance to breath under water and saving his life.

Chase is the boardwalk manager who saw the whole thing knowing that Pearl and the boy had been under water longer than was humanly possible. Pearl tries to pass it of as not a big deal in hopes of not drawing attention to her secret. Pearl doesn’t know about her past only that she can breathe under water, is strong, swim fast and isn’t affected by changing temperatures. As Pearls relationship grows with Chase she decides she can trust him telling him her secret. Next she encounters another person just like her who can live under water. She learns that she’s a descendant of Poseidon one of the missing princesses. Will Pearl be able to keep her secret or will her past come to claim her.

I like Pearl she’s had a tough life but has gotten away from her abusive adopted parents and is at last living her own life. I loved Chase at first I wasn’t sure about him but as the book progressed he just kept getting better and better. I really liked getting to know the other Atlantean’s and hope to see them in the next book like Cuda and finn as well as the other princess.

I picked Atlantis Riptide up as a kindle freebie a while back but never seemed to get around to it yet but I’ve been hoping too. I wasn’t sure what to expect I honestly figured it would be mermaids but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they kept their human forms. I like the concept that Pearl is an Atlantean from the lost city of Atlantis. Atlantis Riptide is a captivating novel about a girl finding the life she has been missing. I loved the character Pearl was easy to connect with and I couldn’t’ help cheering her on as she learns to trust Chase, finds out about her past and her future. The novel is well written the story flows from start to finish I had a hard time putting it down. I really enjoyed Atlantis Riptide and look forward to reading the rest of the novels and see what happens next.

[Mel's Reading Rook · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise for this story was very interesting to me. Pearl ran away from the circus because she was sick of being used and abused due to her unusual abilities. It turns out that she may be a lost princess of the fallen kingdom of Atlantis. As the story progresses, she struggles to juggle learning who she is and where she comes from with figuring out who she can trust.

On paper, the basic concept is interesting because it has the potential for interesting worldbuilding with adventure and romance. But it doesn't do any of that for me.

For one, I was barely tolerating the main two characters. It was so bad, I only made it to chapter before 15 before I decided I couldn't take it anymore. Pearl herself is completely ridiculous in a bad way. She would swing between somewhat-reasonable and too-stupid-to-live within a chapter. She realizes all the bad things that could happen by going to an isolated place, blindfolded, with a guy she met five seconds ago who was acting very fishy. Then she throws all reasonable thoughts out the window "because he understands" and goes with him anyways.

Then, the relationship between the two main characters would give me whiplash so hard, I had to stop reading for a bit to process the idiocy. I don't mind love-at-first-sight as long as it's used well, but it wasn't here. She would flip between completely trusting Chase to accusing him of betraying her within the span of a chapter. Not to mention Chase being a dunce and talking about doing something Pearl asked him not to do, which he agreed to, because it would be a hard stop for her in the relationship. I know he apologizes later when the "comes back to his senses" plot trope/device is used, but by then, I was done with the two of them. Just DONE.

So I'm putting this book down at 60% completed. It gets an extra star for interesting premise and a few sweet moments, but I need to move on from this.

[Sarah Wynde]

I read this book because I thought there were interesting similarities between it and A Lonely Magic -- underwater kingdom, Atlantis, runaway heroine -- but the similarities turned out to be pretty superficial. This is more of a young super-hero princess novel -- which, hmm, could possibly be a read of ALM, too, but I think they're very different.

Anyway, I was definitely the wrong reader for this book. The poor downtrodden impulsive heroine with insta-connection to the highly romantic attractive boy, who she alternates between trusting implicitly and being convinced has betrayed her, is a pretty staple trope but not one of my favorites. That said, she's a trope because there are girls out there who relate to her and they'd probably enjoy this book. It definitely also has that flavor of heroic teenagers against the evil adults, which I think works better for the authentically YA audience, instead of ... well, me.

I was skimming pretty fast by the end, but I'm still counting it as book #15 of 2015, and my DNF list still sits at 4.

[Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the first of the series and we learn many things about Pearl, but not much is resolved by the end of the book concerning what she's learned and what needs to happen. She does find an ally or two along the way, though she still has a long way to go.

This book was just okay. The writing was not bad, but the story was missing something. I was not sucked into Pearl's world, though I sympathized at times. Some of the characters did not feel real in their interactions. I did not feel an urgency to get back to the story when I had to put the book down for a while. I found myself skimming because it the story became too wordy for my liking. Pearl would ask a question, then have an internal reflection. 3 or 4 paragraphs later would finally hold the response. At least once I had to backtack to figure out what the respose was for because I'd forgotten.

Definitely a YA read. I liked that this was clean, no adult language, scenes or over the top drama. There was kissing, but it was appropriate for the audience. 2-2.5 stars..

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to like Pearl and this whole Atlantean thing, but every time I started liking Pearl, she just became so helpless, reckless, and plain irritating. Maybe this was a bit too YA for me or something, but I thought Pearl was a much smarter character. Instead, she repeatedly denies her own instincts, leading to more and more trouble. I get that without her fighting herself, there wouldn't be the story but it was still bothersome.

Anyhow, Pearl isn't your average 16 year old, but she does follow along a predictable line of mermaid - or in this case Atlantean. Chase, the male lead is interesting, and thankfully consistent. He's a really good guy, and probably deserves more than Pearl. Geez that's mean.

Other than that, there's quite a bit of misinformation and confusion between all the different parties in the story. Pearl also does something that irks me, even though the clues were all there.

Not sure I'm interested in continuing, though this may interest others.

[Jamie Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

I recommend this book for anyone that likes a book with a good story line. I can't wait to start her next book

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't think this book was terrible, but it wasn't that amazing either. I'm sort of still digesting how I feel about it. It was a quick read, the plot was pretty interesting, and I actually liked the world-building, particularly once we meet the Atlanteans. What I didn't care for was pretty much everything else. My favorite character was Officer Clayton. He seemed to be the only one with any actual sense in this story, but he's a very minor character, and is only in a few scenes. So there's that. It reads way too much like an angsty contemporary teen romance for me. Not really what I was expecting. I especially can't stand the insta-love, but if that's your thing, you may enjoy this more than I did. And I was somehow weirdly disappointed there were no actual tail fins involved. These merfolk? don't transform, they just look human all the time except they have super special abilities underwater.

My main complaint though, is probably the voice of the narrator. Our "heroine" has absolutely no self-esteem despite being incredibly gifted. She is constantly putting herself down, and basing her entire worth around what the "hero" guy who she just met, but is, like, totally gorge and makes her feel tingly all over at just the brush of their fingers thinks about her. She's very immature for 16, which I suppose makes sense given her sheltered past, but honestly, what 16 year old still says "my tummy"? She also uses other vocabulary I would associate more with 12-13 year olds writing their "My First Diary" entries with a pink pen that has glittery feathers glued to the top. I think I would have preferred it written in 3rd person, assuming that would have made a difference in the narration.

This book is probably geared toward younger YA readers. I tend to prefer the more mature end of the YA spectrum. I'm debating giving any more books in the series a try because the synopses sound great, but I am worried they will suffer the same issues I had with this one.

[Katherine Coble · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a ghastly waste of time this is!
It's just a bunch of rushed telling. The "heroine" (whiney, petulant, sharp-tongued) meets a boy and automatically falls for him. He automatically falls for her. They literally shake hands and fall in love as soon as they touch.
While the rest of us know from the blurb that she's some refugee from Atlantis, we have to wait around for 60% of the book. That mostly consists of her asking her Instaboyfriend® if he promises not to tell, him promising, her revealing a secret and him going back on his promise. Over and over. She runs off and goes swimming. He has to save her because he thinks she's drowning but she isn't because she has Super Atlantis powers.
This sequence of events happens three times. Finally ExposishFinn shows up, drops a lot of detail in her lap and she's finally caught up to everyone who read the book blurb.
The fact that the dullest sequences in all of this are the ones set in the two Atlantean kingdoms should tell you just how bad the book is. The description of the water hazard at the miniature golf park is more vivid and detailed than the descriptions of undersea palaces and jails.

It's just not a book to spend time on.

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are books for teens and there are teen books for adults. This is the former. The writing started off very strong, impressive even over what I expected. Before I'd quite gotten to the middle, the inner monologue became repetitive, a sure sign the stakes weren't increasing and the events weren't dominoes. By two-thirds, the whiny inner monologue was almost unbearable. For every action taken there were three lines of self questioning—is it this or that? Can I trust him or not? Is this true or false? How I wanted this character to be stronger through her insecurities—to believe a lie, but at least to follow a specific course of action because of it! The mc had no agency, she just let things happen and then wondered about them. By the last quarter, the action to a huge upswing and the character's thoughts did an almost instantaneous 180 degree turn. A good professional editor would have caught these things and this would have gotten more stars. As is, it's a great teen read which I am sure many readers will binge: Atlanteans, princesses, heart-throb boys, prophesies. I think this author could become a really good one with more attention to plotting and a better balance on dialogue, inner dialogue, and character agency.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whirlpools & Kisses

I do like merpeople stories! This was a grand romp with lots of twists to tangle the story direction.

There's an interesting mix of a complex plot structure and a relatively simple dialogue, character development, and surface plot on top that seems aimed at middle school or slightly older readers. I could easily see myself reading this at age 13. Pearl is 16; her good friend Chase is 18. It's a clean read with no profanity, a small bit of fighting, and no erotica. Chase is a delight, loyal and great at rolling with everything, once he thinks things through a bit. He acts and sounds like an 18 year old male.

This first book is full of story threads. I saw some foreshadowing of a fated mates thread, especially after reading the book two intro. See if you can spot it! There are some interesting answers for Pearl at the end, but it's clear this story is not yet finished. There are many questions remaining.

There are lots of layers to the plot and the people, but in this first book the layers are quite thin still. I am hoping with future books those layers will become deeper and richer.

Whirlpools? Kisses? Yes. Read it to find out!

Happy reading! ~LJS

[Kim Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very intriguing twist on the mermaid myth with a young teenager who begins life as a circus “freak.” Her alleged parents use her as a headliner in their circus until she discovers they have been lying to her and she is not their child but a means to make money. The story begins after she runs away, and follows her as circumstances introduce her to someone who actually sees her as a friend and someone to care for. And experience she has never had before, she struggles not only with discovering friendship but also being a young teen attracted to teen boy. Can she trust him? Especially when a night swim at the beach introduces her to someone else like her – someone who can breathe underwater. She has torn between discovering young love and finding her own kind. It’s well written and saying more would give too much away. This is the first in a series so readers should be aware that starting this book will not give you an immediate conclusion.

[TaniaRina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wiz of Oz from coastal So Cal
Personally, I went the other direction. So, before I left The OC for Kansas, I took my young daughter on a whale-watching trip. If I had known that Atlantis was looking for its lost princesses, we would have dove right in!
Glad we didn’t, though. It seems that Pearl jumped out of the fishing net and into the shark’s mouth.


Sad commentary about our youth and the effects of psychological abuse:
‘I’d been used, abused, and ignored for as long as I remembered. I wanted to act helpless so he’d continue to care, then I wanted to kick myself for wanting to be needy.’

Fave quote:
‘It takes a lot of practice not to die.’


I have the next in series ‘Red Tide’.

[Dana Wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This mermaid tale is pretty lame. The MC has such a bi polar personality that the whiplash of her reactions was hard to read. Half the time she is the poor psychologically abused child then she turns around is smarting off to a cop with a can do attitude. Then she meets Chase and she gets even more bipolar with her 'he called me special but he lied to me I will never speak to him again!' Mantra that goes all throughout the book. I almost didn't finish it. Such a lame tired narrative. Oh and once she finds out she is a princess she all the sudden has an authoritative voice and starts commanding people.

[Colette · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and support an author because underwater! and Atlantis! but I can't. It could have been a great book because the plot was really interesting but the characters were flaky and they didn't feel like real people. I hate to say this but it was the writing style that really turned me off. Disjointed and lacking emotion, it sounded like something I might have written in high school. I've read a lot of YA and was hoping this book would live up to some of the other mermaid YA books I've read but I was thoroughly disappointed.

[Chrystal Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look this book wasn't terrible and it was mind blowing. It was somewhere in the middle somewhere and is good to a degree. The plot was a solid one. Characters surface level likeable. I would say where it lacks is character dialog and background. Would have loved more of an Atlantean history lesson. With pearl there was too much thinking and not enough character building. I'll keep reading because I did enjoy it but I think with some editing and constructive feedback this could be improved immensely.

[Marissa Shortt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved fantasy romance books, and wanted to be a mermaid when I was little. Pearl is orphaned and alone, set to live as a circus act for people who only want the money. When she runs way to Mermaid Beach, she thinks she can finally put the past behind her and try to figure out what makes her so "special" from everyone else. Meeting Chase at work was not planned, but it opens the door to her heart and helps her find out her true heritage. Definitely a great read and I'll be checking out the next in the series.

[Levia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit of a sad story at first due to the main character's past, how she was raised. I like how there aren't tail transformations in this, she's just a bit extra. As an adult I can't say I approve of the yes small age gap, but I understand it and appreciate that it's was very well written (not sexual). I voluntarily read this book given to me at no charge by candid reviews and all opinions are my own.

[Carol L. Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good story with a strong yet vulnerable main character. She is young and naïve to set out alone across country. But she finds a place she feels comfortable in. Her job isn't great, but then she doesn't have a lot of expenses, especially when she skips meals.
Her flaw is that she saves people from drowning, getting her secrets exposed. Chase is clueless, but he cares for her and that makes for a good story.

[Pete Ffrench · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit too young adult romance for me but the premise of the story is good. Pearl seems such a wuss I wonder how she ever plucked up courage to run away from her adoptive parents but she had to for the purpose of finding her destiny as Atlantean royalty. It seems odd that she can be so strong underwater and such a ditherer out of it. I think I would have appreciated it more if I had been more the target audience instead of a miserable old git.

[The Endless Unread · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has everything a teenager could want. This story pulls you in so that the world around you disappears, like what a wonderful book should do. Allie creates marvellous and wonderful worlds that I would love to live in and by her excellent writing and obvious love of fantasy she excels in this. Fantastic book, cant wait to read the rest in the series!!

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

I love that Pearl is a feisty loner who sleeps in a tent, and avoids people, because she has a past. She works to support herself, but all the while keeping herself true to who she is. Then her life changes, and answers to who or what she is surfaces. Complete with a nosey new guy in her life, the ocean, and a whole new world below the deep blue...

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this YA story about a 16 yr old girl who'd been bullied and betrayed all her life. She ran to California and found a new life. It's a little angsty, but what 16 yr old isn't a little insecure? The story stayed true to how she would act; had gorgeous descriptions of the ocean underwater life; great character growth. Good solid summer read. Looking forward to book 2 in the series.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A HEA in the making.

I really liked this story about Pearl and her friend Chase. The things Pearl had to go through growing up, no child should have to deal with. When she finds Chase things really start looking up for her. Too bad there is also danger ahead. The characters are so engaging and the story exciting. I can hardly wait to read the other books in the series.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, very lighthearted and addresses many different aspects of being a teenager from a broken home who suddenly finds her dreams come true. The story is pretty fast pacing and of course there is romance in the air. Technical details are well thought out and totally believable. Good read.

[RUTH · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love fiction books set in the ocean, this is a series for you. I enjoyed reading the first book in this series. This is a great young adult series that I think girls in grades 5 and up would love. I do think some of the writing could have been more sophisticated, and some details were repeated. I would probably give it a 4.5 but could not color in half a star.

[Sara Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting, and not in a bad way. I found myself choosing sides very early on in the book, and wanting what was best for Pearl, but everything seemed just a little too extraordinary too quickly. I don't think I will continue reading the series, but this one was a fun read.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting start to a series. I love that instead of making these people more mermaid-like, they are made similar to humans except they can live in both environments. I also love the tie to Atlantis. I am looking forward to reading about the other lost daughters.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this 5 stars. I REALLY did. I enjoyed the story for the teen age styled book. Just a smidgen more understanding of the ocean and I really wanted a more satisfying smack down on the adoptive parents.