Review: Undertow by Leigh T. Moore

Undertow

Dragonfly #2

Author: Leigh T. Moore

Publication Date: July 18, 2013

~Synopsis~

Bill Kyser has a plan to take the sandy farms of his hometown and turn them into a world-class tourist destination--and become a billionaire in the process. 
Alexandra "Lexy" LaSalle has a plan to change her life by becoming a world-famous artist. 
Meg Weaver has a plan to hold onto Bill no matter what she has to do.

Three friends, three dreams.
One fatal decision will change all their lives forever.

In Dragonfly, Bill Kyser gave Anna the three journals that held the story behind the powerful developer's seclusion and the damaged lives of his family members. 

Anna hoped to find a way for Julian to know the truth, but as she digs deeper into the tragic events of the past, she realizes silence could be the only option. 

Now she's in an alliance with the man she formerly feared. And if Julian finds out what she knows, she could lose for good the boy she's starting to love.

~Prelude~

After reading Dragonfly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Undertow. While Dragonfly was an enjoyable read, I couldn’t connect with Anna and Jack was a total tool. Julian was the saving grace and I enjoyed the tiny bit of mystery in the plot. Undertow is very different from Dragonfly and I have to say I was impressed. If you haven’t read Dragonfly, there may be some small spoilers from that book in this review.

~Review~

At the end of Dragonfly, Bill Kyser gives Anna three journals to read in hopes that she will understand why it is so important that they keep their secret from Julian. The journals belong to Meg, Bill’s deceased wife; Alex, Meg’s best friend and Julian’s mom; and Bill. As Anna reads through the journals, she learns more than she probably wanted to about the events that led to Meg’s death, Alex’s loneliness and Bill’s distance and isolation. Reading the journals also gives her perspective and understanding into Jack and Lucy’s lives and how these events trickled down to all the children involved.

The book is written as if Anna is reading the journals and we start off with Meg’s. Immediately, I was not a fan of her. She was very stuck up and self-centered. She came off as very vain and a bit spoiled. The more I read of her story, the less I really liked her. She wanted to reap all of the benefits from the hard work that Bill was putting in but she bitched and moaned at him all the time about never being around. She did some crazy stuff and I could see where their relationship was going. However, she was a loving and caring mother and the loss of her definitely played a role in her children’s lives. She was also a very loyal wife and friend and the betrayal she faced in the end was heart breaking. No matter how much I didn’t like her, I was sad for her in the end.

"I was not going to lose my prince charming or my mansion on Hammond Island!"

After Meg’s journal, Anne moves on to Alex’s. Even though I knew what Alex was going to do and I wanted to dislike her for that, I couldn’t help but like her. She was smart, artistic, kind and full of ambition. She wanted to make her mark on the art world and be somebody big. She seemed to be a really good friend and always there for Meg when she needed her. However, Alex made many poor decisions, especially when it came to men and her decisions affected so many other lives. While I know she didn’t anticipate falling for Bill, I was so disappointed in her for losing control and betraying Meg.  

"It's funny, we are sort of like night and day-- her glowing sunshine, and me quiet night."

Bill’s journal definitely gave me more insight into why he was the way he was and I disliked him less after that. All the things he had said and done in Dragonfly were put into perspective after reading his version of the events so long ago. I actually felt sorry for him because he really seemed like a good guy in the beginning. He was ambitious and he knew what he wanted. He loved Meg and he tried to be a good husband. She didn’t make it easy on him. However, the things that happened between him and Meg were never the kids fault and I hated that he didn’t spend more time with them. His marriage was disintegrating and Alex became a really great, close friend. He never meant to fall for her and I truly felt sorry for him because he ended up losing both women he loved. However, he made his bed and now he would have to lie in it.

"Yeah, I know I'm not the first guy to say this, but I will never understand women."

Anna wants to be with Julian and she knows that they can be good together but now that she carries around this huge secret that will have a huge impact on his life, she is worried about losing him. I don’t blame her but I am actually proud of her that she recognizes this is not her secret to tell. While, she wasn’t really in this book much, I did feel some growth with her character and I was happy to see that she finally realized how wrong Jack was for her and how right Julian will be. I was happy with the ending and I can’t wait to see what will happen with everything in Watercolor.

Overall, Undertow was riveting and I enjoyed it even more than Dragonfly. I loved going into the past and seeing how Alex and Bill got to where they are which affected how Jack, Lucy and Julian got to be where they are. The way that it was written was really fun and unique; with the journal entries having some dialogue to make you feel like you were right there experiencing it with them.

~IPOD Picks~
"Mess I Made" by Parachute
"Night Minds" by Missy Higgins
"When a Heart Breaks" by Ben Rector