The desire to read ALL THE BOOKS is real, lemme tell ya. Eventually, this bookworm will be able to tell you, “I read a book a day,” and you’ll get tons of book reviews. Sadly, I can usually read a book a week. This seems like a lot to some people, but when your TBR is as big as mine is, this isn’t much.
You’re probably getting tired of my saying “OMG I KICKED MYSELF FOR NOT READING THIS BOOK SOONER!” but it’s true, once again. Between Mountain and Sea is a book I got for free from BookBub a while back, and it sat in my kindle for far too long. When I finally got to it, I couldn’t put it down. I devoured this book in about 3 days. My favorite part about reading backlist books, is that when it’s part of a series, I don’t have to wait as long for the next book to come out.
One of these days, I’ll be able to say I can read a book a day, but this is not one of those times. If you know any tips on how to read faster, let me know!
Synopsis of Between Mountain and Sea
Between Mountain and Sea is the story of Mei Lin, a descendant of one of the Founding Families. Earth was going through an apocalypse 100 years ago, so 10 powerful families left Earth to settle on Caelestis in the Paradisi System. Mei was born on Caelestis, so has no memory of Earth. All she knows is what she’s learned in history class.
When Mei finds a journal that belonged to her ancestor Mabel Yu, she starts on a journey to the truth that will upend what she thought she knew about her home and bring into question everything she’s been taught about the original settlers of Caelestis: The Ddaerans.
My Thoughts
If you like space exploration stories, keep reading. This book series is one I hope to own all of, because it has such a unique premise, even if the trope is familiar. I never once felt like it was uber predictable, and it even had a couple twists I wasn’t expecting.
Characters
I absolutely loved the characters in Between Mountain and Sea. Each one was necessary, and only served to push the story forward, rather than make it feel stagnant. Mabel and Mei are the narrators of the story, but through them we get to meet some truly amazing characters.
Mabel Yu
Mabel is Mei’s ancestor, and one of the members of the original expedition to Caelestis. Her family was one of the richest and most powerful on Earth, but through her diary it’s easy to see that she didn’t consider herself entitled, and she didn’t come across as a spoiled little princess. I appreciated that about her part in the story very much. Mabel introduces us to Jaxon and the culture of the 10 families before they left Earth. I found this part really interesting, because while it’s set in the future, it doesn’t feel unrealistic. Jaxon was supposed to come to New Eden (what the colonists call Caelestis) on an 11th ship, but somehow it never made it. I loved how this created a questiont that can possibly get answered later.
Mei Lin
Mei is the main driver of the story, and she discovers Mabel’s diary when she stays with her grandparents one summer. She’s a well-written character, full of her own insecurities, but she also shows an incredible strength as she makes various discoveries about her ancestor. She learns to stand up to her brother, and learns to communicate with her grandparents in ways she had never been able to before. Mei introduces us to Tesni, a Ddaeran who lives in the compound that Mei’s grandparents run. She helps in the clinic, and shows Mei around. She becomes one of Mei’s closest friends, and someone she can depend on.
Tadcu Jie
Tadcu Jie, Mabel’s grandfather, is such a super cool person. He is fascinated with anything tech related, so when Mei finds Mabel’s diary, he’s more than willing to help her get it working. He even has her “work” for him so that she can read the diary and learn about her ancestor. Overall, he’s the kind of person we all want in a grandparent. Don’t ask me how to pronounce his name, either, because I have no clue.
What’s really cool about Between Mountain and Sea, is that it’s not just one author’s series. Louisa Locke founded this book series, but multiple authors have written their own books in this world, and I think that’s incredible. I can’t wait to find the rest of them and check them out!
The Cover
As much as I love a good cover, I have to say this one isn’t one of my favorites. It didn’t seem to really give a good idea of what the story is about. Based on the cover, I had an idea about the story, but it ended up being completely different from what I expected. It’s not an ugly cover, by any means. It just doesn’t give much insight into the book itself.
The Pace
I did love the pace of the story. It never felt rushed at all, and I felt drawn more into the story because of that. The diary entries broke up what could have been a monotonous story about a girl’s learning about her family, so I think that was the perfect addition to the book. Since the book is just under 300 pages, it could have felt like the author had to shove a bunch in the book in order to keep the story moving forward, but at no point did it feel forced. Everything felt like it was supposed to be there.
The Title
Between Mountain and Sea is the perfect title. Once you read the book, you’ll find out why. It gets explained pretty easily, and once that happens, the book doesn’t feel like it could have been titled anything differently.
Recommendation
If you like space travel books, this would be a good one for you. While most of the story takes place on another planet, some of the back story comes through in the diary entries, so there is some space travel. You might also like this book if you love coming-of-age stories. Mei Lin is learning to grow up in a place that is familiar and foreign, all at the same time, so her growing up makes for an interesting read. Some of the story was predictable, in the way that most stories are, but had a couple twists that I either wasn’t expecting, or repressed so I could be surprised. Either way, Between Mountain and Sea is an immersive read, and a book everyone should read at least once.
About the Author (taken from Amazon)
Louisa Locke is a retired professor of US Women’s History and features women’s occupations in her Victorian-era San Francisco Mystery series. Locke wasn’t content to simply write about the past, so she founded The Paradisi Chronicles, a book series with multiple authors contributing their own books to the 200-year span between apocalyptic Earth and settling on a new planet in the Paradisi System. Between Mountain and Sea is the first book in this series.
Louisa Locke is currently an active member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, writes about self-publishing on her blog, and is on the Board of Directors of The Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative.
Conclusion
Thank you so much for taking part in this book review! What did you think? Let me know in the comments whether you think you’ll buy this book or not. I’d also love if you share this post on Pinterest, or your favorite social media platform, so others can get involved in the discussion! And if you like this blog, please subscribe! You’ll get a weekly notification of new blog posts, and I never spam. Promise!
Until Next Time, Friends!
