Thursday, May 1, 2014

Review - Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians by Mark Caney

Originally written over a year ago, this is the review of the first ever book (or anything at all) that I won. A real gem, I must say :)


Genre: Animal Fiction
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Released: January 1st 2011

Description:
Dolphin culture evolved over millions of years so that they could remain perfectly attuned with their world, Ocean. Unlike man, they have created an almost utopian society without feeling the need to manipulate their environment, collect possessions or wage war. But the growing pressure of man’s activities become intolerable and in frustration one faction seeks an aggressive new path. They make a shocking departure from the Way — the ancient philosophy that has guided them so well through the millennia.

Sky, a male dolphin close to becoming an Initiate in the Way, unwillingly finds himself caught up in the violent consequences. To save the lives of his closest friends he will have to risk the worst punishment his clan can inflict and must decide between the two females who challenge everything he believes in.








My review:
I won DOLPHIN WAY from a First Reads giveaway on Goodreads. I had never won anything before in my life, so it's needless to say I was extremely happy. It was also the first autographed book to sit on my shelf.

I have to admit, though, when I first saw it among the giveaways, I did not pay much attention to this book. I'm not sure what changed my mind, I never had any idea what to expect from this. I remember reading a few reviews before deciding to give it a try. And suddenly, I won!

And I'm so very happy I did. DOLPHIN WAY captivated me with the first pages. The story was brought to readers very realistically - in my opinion. At first I considered it completely fictional. The dolphins having such high intelligence, their own beliefs, the way they talked to each other just like humans do... I mean, I knew dolphins are quite intelligent creatures, but as I got further into the book, I began to think, could something near that really be true? How smart are they really? I've heard a lot of interesting stories about them before, but this book really got me thinking.

Touches The Sky went through a lot throughout the book. Many friends were lost. Life was unfair. That reminds me of the description of the book. I don't think the society was very utopian there. Maybe yes, if everyone were to follow the Way. Or even if to understand why the Guardians were as they were. But it seemed way too easy to become an exile.

I liked how you could distinguish between the characters. They didn't blur into one as it sometimes happens in books, instead they all had their very own personalities. I think One Eye was especially interesting. Who was he really? I also liked how we humans - or Walkers - were brought in. It was fun to read how the dolphins imagined us.

In general, I'm gonna say I definitely loved this book. There were a few small details that I disliked, but not big enough to deserve a mention. Like for example using ' instead of " in dialogue. It was confusing at first, but I quickly got used to it. I recommend DOLPHIN WAY to everyone, both adults and teenagers. Although from the point of view of dolphins, it's not a children's fairytale, but a very well written story of how human behavior affects the sealife.

I'm happy to have read this book and can't wait for the sequel DOLPHIN WAY: CAPTURED. I really hope to hear more about it soon!


Click here to see this review on Goodreads.

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