Surfacing by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Synopsis:
A lyrical and deeply moving portrait of grief, blame, and forgiveness, and of finding the courage to confront your ghosts — one truth at a time.

As soon as she was under, Maggie heard the quiet, though every sound was amplified in her ears and in her brain . . . Sound, like shame, travels four times faster under the water. 

Though only a sophomore, Maggie Paris is a star on the varsity swim team, but she also has an uncanny, almost magical ability to draw out people’s deepest truths, even when they don’t intend to share them. It’s reached a point where most of her classmates, all but her steadfast best friend, now avoid her, and she’s taken to giving herself away every chance she gets to an unavailable — and ungrateful — popular boy from the wrestling team, just to prove she still exists. Even Maggie’s parents, who are busy avoiding each other and the secret deep at the heart of their devastated family, seem wary of her. Is there such a thing as too much truth?

My Thoughts:

Surfacing was not one of my favorite books that I read this year. The story was very slow paced. At times, I would even say it was boring. I didn’t care for the way the book was setup. It would randomly go from the present to the past with no forewarning or breaks. It was confusing trying to figure out what was going on. Even though Maggie’s ability was talked about, it wasn’t the main focus of the book. I was hoping her ability would have played a bigger part in Surfacing. I didn’t like Maggie, the main character. She was very immature. She was dating Nathan, who very loving and sweet. He was the perfect boyfriend. However, Maggie was just using him to sleep with Matthew, who was a complete jerk. She had no respect for Nathan or his feelings. The only thing I did like about Surfacing was Leah. She was a great character that I enjoyed reading about. Maybe if the book had her point of view more often, I would have liked it better. 

I give Surfacing: 2/5.

Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://www.norabaskin.com/Home.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noraraleighb
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/280493.Nora_Raleigh_Baskin

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.