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The Bikini Collective #1
Ocean Rules
Book 1 (Ocean Rules) in new YA series (The Bikini Collective)
Three friends discover, surfing just got serious.
What does it take to be the best, and what does that even mean anyway? Fifteen-year-old Jaspa Ryder is on the crest of qualifying to join surfing’s prestigious World Junior Tour along with her best friends, Mel and Carolyn. But as the girls soon discover, the ride to stardom doesn’t come easy. Jaspa’s head and heart are in battle – she isn’t sure she wants to be a professional surfer, which, given her incredible talent, infuriates everyone, especially her envious brother. Who will qualify for the tour? Will Jaspa’s friendships survive the pressure of competition? Sometimes in life, you just have to jump to your feet, take off, and hope you don’t wipe out.
Three friends discover, surfing just got serious.
What does it take to be the best, and what does that even mean anyway? Fifteen-year-old Jaspa Ryder is on the crest of qualifying to join surfing’s prestigious World Junior Tour along with her best friends, Mel and Carolyn. But as the girls soon discover, the ride to stardom doesn’t come easy. Jaspa’s head and heart are in battle – she isn’t sure she wants to be a professional surfer, which, given her incredible talent, infuriates everyone, especially her envious brother. Who will qualify for the tour? Will Jaspa’s friendships survive the pressure of competition? Sometimes in life, you just have to jump to your feet, take off, and hope you don’t wipe out.
228 pages, Paperback
First published February 6, 2018
20 people want to read
About the author
Kate McMahon
3 books5 followersKate McMahon has spent the past twenty-years surfing waves all over the world, and regularly arriving to events late with her hair dripping wet. After watching many of her friends compete on the world surfing tour, she wondered how she too could combine a career with her true love; her butt still hurts from pinching herself after landing the dream job as editor of SurfGIRL magazine in 2001. Since then, Kate has edited various preschool, tween, teen and entertainment magazines and lives just one hundred steps from the sand at Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where she gets up to mischief with all of her amazing surfer girlfriends.
Ocean Rules is her first book, and she’s released three in the series so far.
Ocean Rules is her first book, and she’s released three in the series so far.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 2, 2018
While this was a cute and quick read for adult me, I think there are some beautiful messages in there for the teens. The story touches on; the Stress of competition and meeting expectations, the complexity of friends competing against each other, the power of social media (both negative and positive), sibling rivalry and dealing with disappointment.
There is a dash of boy drama in there, but just a dash. The message of the importance of girls supporting and empowering each other, of standing up for themselves together, shines through.
There is a Surf Speak Glossary at the back. I didn’t find it necessary while reading. The writing was easy and pleasant to read, and the story flowed well. I never felt like the surf speak was unobvious, but I enjoyed reading through the glossary at the end anyways.
The reference to Gosford skirts made me laugh out loud. And seeing Newcastle being called Newy made me smile. It’s such a quintessential Novocastrian thing to call it that [born and bred Novo here].
And of course, the power, the danger, the beauty, and sheer awesomeness of the ocean. You can tell McMahon’s a surfer. The way she described riding the waves made you feel like you were out there with Jaspa, Mel and Carolyn.
The ending is rather cheeky, it leaves the reader guessing and in my own experience, looking forward to the second book of the series.
“The Bikini Collective – a girl’s-eye view of surfing”. Fantastic YA debut McMahon!!
There is a dash of boy drama in there, but just a dash. The message of the importance of girls supporting and empowering each other, of standing up for themselves together, shines through.
There is a Surf Speak Glossary at the back. I didn’t find it necessary while reading. The writing was easy and pleasant to read, and the story flowed well. I never felt like the surf speak was unobvious, but I enjoyed reading through the glossary at the end anyways.
The reference to Gosford skirts made me laugh out loud. And seeing Newcastle being called Newy made me smile. It’s such a quintessential Novocastrian thing to call it that [born and bred Novo here].
And of course, the power, the danger, the beauty, and sheer awesomeness of the ocean. You can tell McMahon’s a surfer. The way she described riding the waves made you feel like you were out there with Jaspa, Mel and Carolyn.
The ending is rather cheeky, it leaves the reader guessing and in my own experience, looking forward to the second book of the series.
“The Bikini Collective – a girl’s-eye view of surfing”. Fantastic YA debut McMahon!!
December 4, 2019
Kate McMahon, The Bikini Collective, Ocean Rules.
As a Hidden Gems ARC reader I received a free copy and promised an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 3,5 stars (of 5).
In general: Three surf-girls learn life-lessons during qualification competition.
The nice main characters (living in New South Wales, Aus.) are Jaspa Ryder and her best friends Mel(issa) Appleby and Carolyn Fitzgerald, also two serious opponents in Jaspa’s qualifying efforts for the prestigious world junior surfing tour. Will their friendship survive the pressure of competition?
Jaspa’s brother is Tyler, also an ambitious surfer, but less talented than his sis. Jaspa is uncertain about her surfing ambitions; she likes the fun of playing with the waves, but not the stress of a pro surf competition. Tyler is envious and infuriated that his sister is successful without going to extremes during condition-trainings and being too friendly in the struggle for the best surf-waves during a contest.
The author, Kate McMahon (an ex professional surfer), describes how the three girlfriends learn to deal with the stress of an exciting qualification contest, family complications, how to use the media for promoting their beloved women surfing sport and the uncertainties of a first love.
For me the book wasn’t always easy to read. A lot of professional surfing jargon. Sometimes the author jumps into a situation without - at the start of the scene - informing the reader in which phase of the story the scene is situated. Only in following paragraphs or pages I found the explanation.
And Jaspa, preparing during a long time for the deciding qualification contest and studying surfing at school doesn’t know - on the first day of the qualification - how the contest is organized??
But in the second part of the book I understood more of the story line and enjoyed the interesting characters, the action scenes and the excitement of a surfing competition.
R.Huiszoon.
As a Hidden Gems ARC reader I received a free copy and promised an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 3,5 stars (of 5).
In general: Three surf-girls learn life-lessons during qualification competition.
The nice main characters (living in New South Wales, Aus.) are Jaspa Ryder and her best friends Mel(issa) Appleby and Carolyn Fitzgerald, also two serious opponents in Jaspa’s qualifying efforts for the prestigious world junior surfing tour. Will their friendship survive the pressure of competition?
Jaspa’s brother is Tyler, also an ambitious surfer, but less talented than his sis. Jaspa is uncertain about her surfing ambitions; she likes the fun of playing with the waves, but not the stress of a pro surf competition. Tyler is envious and infuriated that his sister is successful without going to extremes during condition-trainings and being too friendly in the struggle for the best surf-waves during a contest.
The author, Kate McMahon (an ex professional surfer), describes how the three girlfriends learn to deal with the stress of an exciting qualification contest, family complications, how to use the media for promoting their beloved women surfing sport and the uncertainties of a first love.
For me the book wasn’t always easy to read. A lot of professional surfing jargon. Sometimes the author jumps into a situation without - at the start of the scene - informing the reader in which phase of the story the scene is situated. Only in following paragraphs or pages I found the explanation.
And Jaspa, preparing during a long time for the deciding qualification contest and studying surfing at school doesn’t know - on the first day of the qualification - how the contest is organized??
But in the second part of the book I understood more of the story line and enjoyed the interesting characters, the action scenes and the excitement of a surfing competition.
R.Huiszoon.
July 17, 2018
As soon as I have teenage children of my own, I’m making them read this book, and any of its successors. It’s super refreshing to come across a piece of young adult Australian fiction where the central female characters navigate their emotional growth in the world of surfing rather than just high school. Such representation is important. Ocean Rules is candid, relatable, inspiring and even laugh-out-loud funny in places. There are some great lessons to be learned, plus, the way it is written is eloquent and literary enough for even an adult to enjoy. It’s hard not to get sucked into the story, so I’m really looking forward to the sequel!
June 28, 2018
Only a surfer could have written this book - the descriptions of getting amongst it are so wonderfully visceral I was almost tempted to get my feet wet. For anyone bemoaning the fact that Tim Winton's Breath goes light on the female characters, Ocean Rules is all about girl camaraderie. In fact, as the title suggests, it's chicks before d....
Ocean Rules is a wholesome but exciting read for tweens and early teens; kinda the Baby-Sitters Club of the surf. I hope it's similarly the first in a long series.
Ocean Rules is a wholesome but exciting read for tweens and early teens; kinda the Baby-Sitters Club of the surf. I hope it's similarly the first in a long series.
January 27, 2020
Loved Ocean Rules by Kate McMahon - one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every page you turn. I genuinely wish The Bikini Collective series had been around in my teen years and can't wait to start on #2 Lost in L.A! What did Jaspa and Tyler decide??
April 28, 2020
This is an inspiring and entertaining read for tweens. It's beautifully written, and regardless of whether the reader surfs or doesn't, it easily creates a magical spell around the ocean that draws you in. It's the perfect book for a tween girl to read at that age - highlighting the importance of friendships, of setting big goals and going for them, of following your dreams. Highly recommended.
September 10, 2020
I would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys surfing. It had a strong message about
sexism and friendship with very likeable characters – the story follows teens Jaspa, Mel, Carolyn,
Tyler and Cooper and their career as professional surfers. It is full of twists and turns and
never failed to surprise me.
sexism and friendship with very likeable characters – the story follows teens Jaspa, Mel, Carolyn,
Tyler and Cooper and their career as professional surfers. It is full of twists and turns and
never failed to surprise me.
April 28, 2020
Ocean Rules is such a great book, it was hard to put the book down, i finished it in 4 days:) Looking forward to read the next two books.
Monet 12 yrs old
Monet 12 yrs old
April 28, 2020
I bought this book series for my 12 & 13 year old girls. They both absolutely love it and haven’t put them down. They are eagerly awaiting the next instalment.
June 10, 2018
Having not read a book through in years thanks to the exhaustive nature of life, I was at first a little resistant to make my return to fictional reading with a youth title but as it turns out, for a busy Mum, business owner and of course, surfer, it turned out to be the perfect way back in. Whilst enjoying the character play from the outset, I was conscious of the book initially feeling a little 'rich, white girls' so very much enjoyed the introduction of the third female character who gave a glimpse of the tougher side of life; this is where the book began to take on some of the bigger issues - inequality, superficial attitudes toward women's sport, class divides and of course the whole concept of competition itself. As a 43 year old woman, I'm not exactly the demographic for this book but it still without a doubt paid a part in motivating me not just back to books but back to the ocean. I found myself attached to the characters and really felt the book come to life when the girls were surfing. If you're a Mum or Dad with girl shredders in the family, do add this to the birthday/christmas present list for your little gidget. It's fantastic to know there are action novels out there for the teen girl market, representing the boldness of girls in the modern age and encouraging teenage girls to get outside and feel the world in such a healthy and dynamic way.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews