Cascade and Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren REVIEW

Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren (River of Time #2)

bought


Synopsis from Goodreads

Mom touched my underdress—a gown made six hundred years before—and her eyes widened as she rubbed the raw silk between thumb and forefinger. She turned and touched Lia’s gown. “Where did you get these clothes?”

Gabi knows she’s left her heart in the fourteenth century and she persuades Lia to help her to return, even though they know doing so will risk their very lives. When they arrive, weeks have passed and all of Siena longs to celebrate the heroines who turned the tide in the battle against Florence—while the Florentines will go to great lengths to see them dead.
But Marcello patiently awaits, and Gabi must decide if she’s willing to leave her family behind for good in order to give her heart to him forever.

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Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren (River of Time #3)

bought


Synopsis from Goodreads
When Gabi and Lia finally learn to surf the river of time, they realize they must make hard choices about life and love in the third and final book in the River of Time series.  
Gabi and Lia Betarrini have learned to control their time travel, and they return from medieval Italy to save their father from his tragic death in modern times.   But love calls across the centuries, and the girls are determined to return forever—even though they know the Black Plague is advancing across Europe, claiming the lives of one-third of the population. In the suspenseful conclusion of the River of Time series, every decision is about life … and death.   


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OK, the good part of this trilogy is that it's fascinating, adventurous, full of extreme danger and often almost miraculous escape from it. River of Time is rush, bold and breathtaking.



On the other hand, as long as you know that this is pretty much a teenage girl's fantasy in la-la land, you are fine.

I can't wrap my head around Gabi's stupidity and lack of instinct of self-preservation. Sure let's sneak out past Marcello's guard and save the world despite him being of this era, knowing all the risks and trying to prevent Gabi from committing a virtual suicide. The girl lacks common sense so much I wanted to smack her and smack her hard. I really don't know how she survived all her trials...

Then comes the matter of Black Death. What on Earth was THAT?! First, Luca contracts it and deteriorates way tooo fast. But wait. Next time we see him, he is miraculously cured. What?! I've no idea what happened, and it irked me to no end.

My issue with this series is that despite it being hugely entertaining, most of the problems Gabi brings on herself trying to play a superhero. Secondly, there is  no consideration of the butterfly effect. You know, the whole Bettarini bunch changing the past hugely all the time? Yeah, that one.

My last problem is that most of the situations are repetitions of what already happened. If Waterfall was refreshing and unique, the rest two books were annoying and improbable. Gabi is way far from a Christian ideal. She kills and she maims, but where is her remorse? Where is her PTSD? She is just a teenage girl, but her behaviour is not adequate to what she has to go through.

So, yeah. A great read with lots and lots of flows very much like Steel by Carrie Vaughn which made pirates look like cartoonish version of the real deal.

If you want to read a really good time travel book, I highly recommend The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

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На самом деле после прекраснейшего Водопада, Каскад и Торрент это повторение пережёванного, отвратительные ошибки, и я вообще не понимаю как Габи с её отсутствием инстинкта самосохранения каким-то образом пережила позднее средневековье.

Она не только всё время лезет на рожон, в то время как мужчина, который её любит и который непосредственно живёт в этой эпохе пытается предотвратить её идиотский акт самопожертвования, она ещё и никаким образом не страдает от пережитого - у неё нет шоковой реакции на убийства, которые ей приходится совершать, на то, как она приказывает совершенно хладнокровно отрезать уши своему врагу...

Габи играется в супергероя и отнюдь не является идеальной христианкой. А ведь это христианская литература, которой автор широко известна. Я была в шоке.

Да, написано чрезвычано увлекательно, но здесь так много ошибок, роялей в кустах и недочётов, что читать Каскад и особенно Торрент было очень тяжело. Мне это напомнило Сталь от Карри Вонн с её мультяшными версиями настоящих пиратов. Плюс эффект бабочки - эффект манипулирования временем здесь совершенно не учитывается.

Мой вердикт? Если хотите почитать хороший роман с путешествием во времени, лучше познакомьтесь с творчеством Дианы Гэбэльдон.

7/10