Captivate (Submerged Sun, #1) in Aussie Readers

Nov 13, 2013 Stacey (sassysreadingnook) rated it really liked it

Shelves: blog-tours

I only just finished Captivate a short while ago and everything is still swirling around in my brain. Not sure where to start lol...

Ok, well firstly the cover, well I'm sure we can all agree it's absolutely stunning! The story that lies within matches the cover to a T, which is awesome! This story was a different experience for me, from all the books I've read not alot revolve around the sea, especially an underwater city. An underwater city, could you even imagine it? ^_^

Now to the story.... Mi ...more

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Nov 08, 2013 Nicki Markus rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-fantasy-sci-fi

Captivate started slowly and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it, but about a third in, I suddenly found myself getting more and more drawn into the story and by the halfway mark I was keen to see how it would end.

The book takes a different slant on the mermaid idea, defying expectations right from the word go. The characters are perhaps a little too stereotypically YA at times as I found myself anticipating their every move, having seen a similar thing countless times before, but the plot interest ma ...more

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Dec 07, 2013 Bree T rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult

Miranda Sun is almost 17 and after twelve months is still grieving the loss of her parents and keeping a dark secret. She has been keeping it from her sister Lauren, too frightened to tell her in case it widens the gap between them even more. Miranda’s grandparents have taken the two sisters to their beach cottage, where they’ve spent every summer, to see if it will heal them a little more and help repair their broken relationship.

One night, when she is out swimming with Lauren and about to conf Miranda Sun is almost 17 and after twelve months is still grieving the loss of her parents and keeping a dark secret. She has been keeping it from her sister Lauren, too frightened to tell her in case it widens the gap between them even more. Miranda’s grandparents have taken the two sisters to their beach cottage, where they’ve spent every summer, to see if it will heal them a little more and help repair their broken relationship.

One night, when she is out swimming with Lauren and about to confess to her, Miranda is dragged underwater and taken. When she awakes days later she discovers that she is being held captive in an underwater city named Marin and that she has been taken in order to become the bride to the King, Marko. Miranda and Marko will create an heir and provide new hope to the civilisation and also stop the crown from falling into the hands of Marko’s older brother, the sinister Damir.

All Miranda wants to do is get home to her sister and her grandparents. She forms an alliance with Robbie, one of the king’s guard who is charged with watching over her. Miranda is willing to use Robbie’s growing feelings for her in order to manipulate him into taking her back to the surface so that she can go back to her old life. However Robbie is loyal to Marko and although he wants to help Miranda, he just can’t quite bring himself to do it. As the time marches on and the lure of Marin begins to take its toll on her, Miranda gets to know Marko and it makes her wonder if she really wants to leave at all.

Captivate takes deep down into the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and a city enclosed in a dome. Our protagonist is Miranda, a few days off being 17 when she is taken off the coast of Western Australia and transported down one of the tubes that connect Marin with the surface. She is to be betrothed to the King of Marin and her reluctance is not of any concern to basically anyone. Her refusal to become Marko’s wife will lead her to the Colosseum, basically a stadium filled with water….and several very hungry sharks. This is entertainment and justice and punishment and much more in the world of Marin.

The premise for this book is awesome and the cover is beautiful! It seems like a bizarre pardox, a gothic fairtytale where a young woman is ripped away from her family and wakes up in a beautiful underwater city where she is to become its Queen. Her soon to be fiancé is young and handsome with a formidable reputation but yet a softer side and although Miranda and Marko have their difficulties, she does get to see several different sides of him. She also adapts remarkably well to being yanked away from her life and virtually made a prisoner. There are a few nice moments between Miranda and a couple of the characters and her fledgling friendship with Robbie is also rather cute.

However, there’s a lot that feels quite underdeveloped in this novel, starting with the romance. Although Miranda and Marko do have a couple of moments, I’m not sure it’s really enough to make the reader feel like they’re developing a strong connection. Marko is icy with supposed hints of vulnerability and he comes across as being quite a lot older than 19. Miranda doesn’t have a lot of time to learn about him and to witness much of what goes on in his life and their escalation from captor and captive to falling in love tends to feel a bit like dependency, a sort of Stockholm Syndrome. In the beginning I wasn’t sure if Miranda was going to fall in love with Robbie, her so-nice-it-hurts guard or Marko (who are of course, also as close as brothers). I preferred Marko over Robbie (a lot, the nice guy never gets my vote!) but I do wish he’d been a larger presence in the novel. He kind of strides in and strides out, being very busy and important and the connection between them is only really briefly explored.

I didn’t mind the setting, I thought the city sounded interesting and the reason why they needed to bring Miranda down into the city to marry their King seemed like it could be something really worth exploring. The way in which the book ended really piqued my interest for another installment and I am hoping that I get to see what happens next for Miranda and Marko and if they ever do get the chance to explore a relationship naturally because it’s what they both want, not because it’s the great hope of the nation. ...more

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Oct 21, 2013 Soph - Lock&Key rated it it was ok

Shelves: predictable-reads, love-the-cover, read-in-2014

I wanted this to be so much more then it was....

Its such a shame that such a beautiful cover did not live up to all its potential.

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Oct 21, 2013 Tien rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, arc, fantasy

It seems that I’ve been drawn to underwater worlds lately and with such a gorgeous cover, a promising premise, plus being written by an Aussie author, Captivate was a definite pick for me. I also participated in the blog tour recently (see: blog tour post) so I really had to read this for myself.

The mysterious beginning of being kidnapped into another world was really intriguing. Miranda, to me, was quite average. I like her but I don’t love her. There were admiring traits and some really frustr It seems that I’ve been drawn to underwater worlds lately and with such a gorgeous cover, a promising premise, plus being written by an Aussie author, Captivate was a definite pick for me. I also participated in the blog tour recently (see: blog tour post) so I really had to read this for myself.

The mysterious beginning of being kidnapped into another world was really intriguing. Miranda, to me, was quite average. I like her but I don’t love her. There were admiring traits and some really frustrating traits. Robbie, however, I loved! He was (aside from being the said kidnapper) really a considerate, kind, and loyal kind of boy whilst Marko –well, who doesn’t just fall for the broody passionate guy? This book was all about the boys for me.

The underwater kingdom was quite unbelievable. There was enough glitter to appeal but unfortunately, not quite well developed. There were parts that really stumped me and parts that I just didn’t like. An example is a particular thing Miranda had to do which I kind of relate to animal or cavemen (maybe) behaviour but really not one a modern society would adopt. The kingdom may not be as modern as our world but it’s not primitive. There appears to be a somewhat gothic feel as well which was barely touched though I have a feeling this might be something for the next instalment. If it is, I really would love to see this explored.

Miranda is, I found, a tad confusing, especially when it comes to her feelings. I thought there might be something with Robbie, then maybe a love triangle, then maybe not, then… *gah*, you know what I mean. It was just completely bewildering. With Marko, on the other hand, it was pretty obvious that she felt something for him though he was in and out too many times with ‘out’ being predominant that I feel his character wasn’t quite built up and therefore, the potential relationship was a little flat.

I’d like to see where Vanessa Garden will take the next book to. I am keeping my fingers crossed for all my wishlist (I know I most probably won’t get them all) but I think I may just read the next instalment before I shelf this series away. Totes read this book for the boys, peeps!

Thank you, Harlequin TEEN, for ARC in exchange for my honest review ...more

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Nov 16, 2013 Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten) rated it liked it

Shelves: for-review, arc-s, harlequin-sent, publisher-sent

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Thank you to HarlequinTEEN Australia for providing me a ARC of this to read and review

Find this review and more on my blog The Rest Is Still Unwritten!

Captivate is a delightful debut by Aussie author Vanessa Garden and a lovely start to what promises to be an interesting series set in a magical underworld world full of love, danger and secrets!

Having read the premise of this story—an Australian teenager, kidnapped and swept up into an underwater world—my first thought was quite understandably "m Thank you to HarlequinTEEN Australia for providing me a ARC of this to read and review

Find this review and more on my blog The Rest Is Still Unwritten!

Captivate is a delightful debut by Aussie author Vanessa Garden and a lovely start to what promises to be an interesting series set in a magical underworld world full of love, danger and secrets!

Having read the premise of this story—an Australian teenager, kidnapped and swept up into an underwater world—my first thought was quite understandably "mermaids!" I experienced both disappointment and delight to discover that this wasn’t actually the case. Choosing not to go down this path, Vanessa Garden has penned an intriguing story with Captivate.

Whilst I’m being honest, Captivate wasn’t quite as addictive and beguiling as I’d hoped but it did make for an enjoyable read. Set in the lush, underwater world of Marin, Captivate follows Miranda Sun after she is kidnapped and brought to a land deep under the sea for mysterious and questionable reasons. Reasons we discover as the book progresses that intertwine with the history of those who call it home.

I liked the world Vanessa Garden has created in Captivate. It’s beautiful and lush, with the origins of these underwater people and how they came to live under the sea, in this dome like enclosure so sufficiently, different from what I’d read before. The characters, including heroine Miranda were likable and easy to read about, even if they were basic and their relationships predictable. Marko was alright as the king of Marin and Miranda’s main love interest and Robbie as Marko’s guard, friend and Miranda’s kidnapper/friend.

Miranda and Marko’s romance came on swiftly, but with both characters going into it with their eyes more or less open to the others motive and feelings this didn’t bother me too much. And yet I wasn’t blown away by their romance. It just was.

Don’t get me wrong, the characters were in no way lacking personality or likeability, but at times I felt disconnected from their plight. Captivate was just missing that something more for me. That special, often unnamable quality that takes a book from good and okay to brilliant and beyond.

That being said, I did like this story. There were a number of different story developments and revelations that kept me on my toes and I truly do want to see what decisions Miranda will make and whether she will return to Marin. I foresee a love triangle in the future between Miranda and the two men in her life, and though personally I’m over them myself, I think Vanessa Garden will explore this avenue.

With an interesting plotline and a lavish setting, Captivate was enough to whet my appetite and leave me wanting me. I look forward to what trouble’s await Miranda with her possible return to Marin and wonder what Vanessa Garden has in store for her heroine next!
...more

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Jun 14, 2014 Nicola Marsh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, ya

Loved this book!

The author creates an underwater world and makes it totally believable.
Filled with interesting characters, intrigue and the right dash of romance, I can't wait for the sequel. ...more

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