Playing Through Every Choices Book, In Order (Part 69: Rising Tides)

Hey! Today, we attempt to clean up our town and help our sister promote her environmental message!

Next time, we find our lives transformed after a glamorous, harrowing night at a royal masquerade ball...

Link to previous reviews: https://www.reddit.com/user/stresseatingdog/comments/sj3s3m/all_choices_reviews_megapost/

Rising Tides

M/C: Lily Valentine

Final LI: Cassidy

Favorite Chapter: Chapter 12

Favorite Character(s): Robin, Cassidy

Least Favorite Character(s): The Townspeople, The CEO Guy

Overall Rating: 2/10

Review:

This book reminds me of the worst that Choices has to offer: boring, monotonous plot combined with forgettable characters and hamfisted messaging/writing. The only saving grace? It is only 12 chapters, as opposed to the traditional 16 (thank god). Let me start off with the LIs. Robin is attractive, I suppose, and their whole reporter thing is great and all, but it never really amounts to much in terms of character development or appeal, and overall, they are just such a dull character. I prefer my LIs to be dynamic characters, full of personality and charm, but Robin just isn’t any of that. Cassidy is much the same, though I enjoy them a lot more than Robin due to their conflict with their reason for being a lawyer, their ties to the company, and their environmental beliefs. Plus, male Cassidy is hotter than male Robin in my opinion. Alright, moving on from the LIs, next let's talk about the plot. Look, I get the environmental message, and I actually think it was handled quite well in terms of educating readers for the most part. However, the plot is just so lacking in everything that the whole book feels like just a soapbox for the environment stuff. Charlie is somewhat obnoxious at points, although overall her character is decent. The townspeople are insufferable, with how quickly their opinions seem to swing around, and how nasty some of them are to a little girl who just wants to help the environment. The principal sucks as a minor antagonist, and his redemption is the most rushed, contrived thing I’ve ever seen. The CEO guy (whose name eludes me) is also a pathetic antagonist, since we barely see him. The threats towards M/C’s family are the biggest sort of “tension” we get in this book. The plot just never picks up or goes anywhere, and the ending is just so cliche, forced, and wraps everything up in such a perfect, neat little bow. As if all those changes we made to the town could have possibly happened within the month M/C is there. On top of all that, there is, I think, the most egregious, idiotic part of this book overall: IT’S GENDERLOCKED. Why? Why on earth is this book genderlocked? What on earth would merit this book being genderlocked? It’s not even that long of a book, and I can see Charlie receiving advice from a big brother just as easily. There is just no fathomable, concievable reason this book needed to be genderlocked. I'm usually able to find at least some small reason a book might have for being genderlocked, but this one? No. Overall, I do not like this book, and find it to be a boring slog to sit through. Good for diamond mining, and not much else. Hey, at least it's short, I suppose.