The Lifeguard - Deborah Blumenthal

Title: The Lifeguard
Author: Deborah Blumenthal 

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to Albert Whitman & Company via Netgallery for allowing me to read this book before the official publication.

» Sirena's life is over. At least that's how she feels. While her parents deal with their divorce, they send Sirena to her aunt in Rhode Island. But while her life seems a mess, there might be a light. A light called Pilot. He is a lifeguard at the beach and Sirena falls herself fallen for him right away. He is not only good looking, no, there he also seems to hide a secret Sirena is dying to discover.

I don't understand why there are so many harsh words on this book. I totally loved it. Probably also because I was dying to read this, and I can relate to it a lot.

Sirena is sixteen years old and she doesn't want her life to change. She doesn't want her parents to divorce and at first, she also isn't thrilled about the fact that they send her to aunt. Even worse, her aunt's house is haunted by ghosts. The only good thing about this place is Will, her aunt's dog, and the beach. That's where she sees him the first time: Pilot, the lifeguard. She immediately feels drawn to him and while you read this book, you can't help but fall for him as well. His life is based on rescuing people from drowning, but at the same time, Sirena feels like she might get lost out at sea because of him. Not at sea itself, but I mean in mind. He seems too perfect to be true and as she gets to know him better, she discovers that his powers can't be those from a human.

While I don't like books that include singers, or at least I don't like those books most of the time, I loved to read about Sirena's passion for art. How she is obsessed about drawing the perfect picture of Pilot and all that. And how she finds a soulmate in that theme in Antonio. I also loved how worried she was about Cody, who lay in the hospital for a little while and seemed to die more and more each day.

I can't find any words right now. I loved this book, that is all I can say. The writing was just beautiful and Deborah Blumenthal made it seem like you were at the beach yourself, seeing how the connection between Sirena and Pilot grew taller and taller. I would have loved to read more about Pilot. There are lots of parts with him in this book, but I would have loved to get some very romantic scenes between him and Sirena. I'm also glad that the ghost part and mysterious healer parts didn't take too much of The Lifeguard. It still seemed like a realistic thing.

So, all in all, it's still in my favourite list. Four stars and I repeat: I loved it very much, but the romance was too small.