Standing (Waterblaze Trilogy #1)

In a future where two tyrants hold the world in an iron grip, humanity is about to meet its doom. An empathetic girl from the past is called to action by a group of technologically advanced mermaids. An apocalypse is coming.

Along with fellow time traveler, Force, she is sent to the future as the last hope for humanity. The stakes are high, the odds against her. Can she overcome her fears and step into her destiny? Can she lead a people to victory who lost hope long ago?

*May Contain Spoilers*

China Dennington debuts her writing with the first book in the Waterblaze Trilogy, Standing. When Gale suddenly learns of her enhanced DNA and time traveling capabilities, it's an unexpected chance to save the world. 

Gale is the main character of this first installment. She's a young girl who has always been drawn to the ocean while also terrified of it. Turns out, her DNA has the ability to adapt to underwater living and traveling through time. Surprisingly, Gale did not freak out or question any of this new information. Gale is also an empath, so she knew the people sharing this information with her were truthful. But still, I think the girl deserves some time to freak out a little bit. I know I would if the fate of the entire world rested on my shoulders. Even though this is fantasy/science fiction, it made her character a little harder to believe. Merpeople, time travel, futuristic rulers dooming earth - I'm totally on board. Love it. But, I want to believe in the main character and she seemed to lack some depth. 

The storyline begins with Gale attempting to save her little sister from drowning in the ocean. A cruel joke, the Merpeople tricked Gale into entering the ocean so that her DNA would be activated. Once activated, Gale is able to access her powers of surviving under water and traveling through time (something that all merpeople are capable of). In the future, the leader of the merpeople sent a message back in time to warn them of the world's destruction. Gale teams up with Force, another DNA enhanced human, in hopes of saving the world. The plot is well laid out and I enjoyed the action. But I wanted more details in the story. Dennington seems to 'tell' with her writing, rather than 'show.' I wanted to bear witness, feel the emotions, the action, the hope teetering on the edge of oblivion. Standing was a nice, quick, easy, and enjoyable read. Impressive for a young writer and good for a young audience. Though I wish the book would have been developed a little further with deeper character connections. 

Rating: 2/5 Cups