Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Against The Tide

3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 · rating details · 18 ratings · 6 reviews

Katie and Matt are champion ocean swimmers, who love nothing better than a challenge that will test their training and skills to the limit. But even the toughest Sydney beach is nothing compared with the course of events mapped out for them by their parents! Effi and Christie live in another world - intense, funny, often overheated and far removed from the coast in so many...more

Published

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

Best YA Novels in Verse

37th out of 64 books — 14 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 36)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 03, 2012 Mandee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-have-a-copy, aussie, ya-lit, verse, read-a-long, aussieya2012, aww2012, review-on-the-blog, contemporary-fiction, realistic-fiction

Against the Tide by Irini Savvides is set in Sydney and revolves around four teenagers. Katie and Matt are cousins and both have been ocean swimmers since they were kids, they live in South Sydney. Katie’s mum has cheated on her husband with his brother, Matt’s dad, and now Katie and her dad have moved west. Effi and Christie live in Western Sydney. Each year on Australia Day, Effi and her family return to the beach where her brother drowned and Effi has never learned to swim. Christie doesn't e...more Against the Tide by Irini Savvides is set in Sydney and revolves around four teenagers. Katie and Matt are cousins and both have been ocean swimmers since they were kids, they live in South Sydney. Katie’s mum has cheated on her husband with his brother, Matt’s dad, and now Katie and her dad have moved west. Effi and Christie live in Western Sydney. Each year on Australia Day, Effi and her family return to the beach where her brother drowned and Effi has never learned to swim. Christie doesn't enjoy school but looks out for Effi and enjoys rhyming and rapping.

The story is told from the kids’ perspectives, and to a lesser extent, their parents. I really sympathised with Katie, moving away from the beaches would be hard for me as well and her dad was so depressed, he relied on her a lot. I felt even more for Matt, unlike Katie and her dad, he is stuck with his dad and Katie’s mum who has now moved in. All he can think about is the minute he finishes school and leaves for good. I liked Effi and Christie, too. Effi is carrying around the loss of a brother she will never know and her mother is still consumed by her past. Growing up on the beaches, it’s hard for me to imagine anyone not knowing how to swim and how hard it might be to learn as a teen/adult, so I enjoyed reading about Effi’s struggles as she conquers her fear.

The book is written in verse and most characters were in a different form, I can’t even begin to identify the forms but some were more structured, others free form and Christie’s almost always rhymed. I enjoyed the differences between them and the way each of their stories slowly interconnected as the story went on. While I had theories as to what was going to happen, I was really surprised by the ending – I had envisioned something much darker, but the ending was quite happy and rounded out their individual plot lines.

The book deals with racism as Australia is a very multi-cultural country but there are still areas where locals have issues with anyone who they deem as foreign, which is ridiculous as everyone here is a descendant of someone who came here from another country. The book touches on the Cronulla Riots that happened a few years ago and it was really interesting to read about them again now because some days it doesn't feel like much has changed and we’re still dealing with the same issues today.

Against the Tide is a beautiful story about the lives of teenagers, their families, their history and the beach, which plays a role in all their lives.

Thanks to Laura who told me about this book and participated in a read-a-long with me. (less)

like 5 likes · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Chantal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: family-and-friendship, realistic-fiction

Beautiful Austrlian prose novel, depicting the thoughts of 4 teens and their parents, set in Cronulla, with a wonderful representation of the Australian surf life savers beach scene, high school, Greek immigrants, and of course a touch of teen romance.
THEMES include: immigrants, xenophobia, belonging, dealing with grief, high school, life in Australia

like · see review

Jun 10, 2010 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels-in-verse

Set on Australia's beautiful beaches, this story has three main characters who share the spotlight... so don't get caught up with Katie being the only mc. If you're not from Australia be sure to read the glossary of Aussie words in the back.

like · see review

Dec 18, 2012 Lucy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites

I borrowed this book from my town library two or three years ago and absolutely loved the story. The story has really stuck with me and even now I find myself reflecting on it. I reccommend it to all.

like · see review

Nov 21, 2012 Nat Frankli rated it 4 of 5 stars

good story about two kids that love pushing themselves to the limit a beautiful book and well written

like · see review

Apr 06, 2013 Sarah marked it as we-were-on-a-break

Australian. YA. Verse.

And OF COURSE, it's not published here. (*&%$W*&)(#$W*)($&^@!!!!!

like · see review

Apr 16, 2013 Debora alphani marked it as to-read

Mar 30, 2013 Dr.Mandi marked it as to-read

Shelves: must-buy-soon

Mar 20, 2013 Brittany marked it as to-read

Shelves: aussie

Dec 23, 2012 Ruth marked it as to-read

Dec 10, 2012 Ashleigh Vale marked it as to-read

Nov 30, 2012 Chloe marked it as to-read

Nov 29, 2012 Rachel marked it as to-read

Nov 11, 2012 Stephanie marked it as to-read

Shelves: aussie-mate, greedy2read

Nov 11, 2012 Stephanie Parent marked it as to-read

Oct 14, 2012 Laura Newcombe marked it as to-read

Oct 06, 2012 Clementine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-class

Sep 22, 2012 Sarah marked it as to-read

Sep 22, 2012 Racquel marked it as to-read

Sep 12, 2012 Annabelle Amber added it

Aug 10, 2012 Amanda (Born Bookish) marked it as to-read

Jun 16, 2012 Steph D added it

May 19, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 14, 2012 Fiona rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ncea-level-1, verse-fiction

Nov 11, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: it-s-not-poetry, aussie-rules

Mar 27, 2012 Elly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Feb 17, 2012 Sarah added it

Jan 30, 2012 Rebeccadanielle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Dec 10, 2011 Ratesjul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Nov 23, 2011 Kylie marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

Genres

Realistic Fiction

2 users

See top shelves...

Books by Irini Savvides

A Marathon Of Her Own: The Diary Of Sophia Krikonis, Melbourne, 1956

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Against The Tide

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Against The Tide
avg rating	preview: Against The Tide Goodreads rating: 3.50 (18 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8432056-against-the-tide?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308652476l/8432056.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8432056-against-the-tide?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Against The Tide by Irini Savvides[/url]

Against The Tide

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Genres

Books by Irini Savvides

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Against The Tide

new topic
Discuss This Book