About
Waterfall: Gabriella has never spent a summer in Italy like this one. Remaining means giving up all she’s known and loved … and leaving means forfeiting what she’s come to know—and love itself. Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives with their parents, famed Etruscan scholars, among the romantic hills. In Book One of the River of Time series, Gabi and Lia are stuck among the rubble of medieval castles in rural Tuscany on yet another hot, boring, and dusty archeological site … until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces. And thus she comes to be rescued by the knight-prince Marcello Falassi, who takes her back to his father’s castle—a castle Gabi has seen in ruins in another life. Suddenly Gabi’s summer in Italy is much, much more interesting. But what do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?
Review
I decided to just let you know what book one is about. This is one of those series that, in my opinion, must be read in order and you don’t want to know too much about the next book before you read the first. So, who likes time travel books? Me, me me! Waterfall is just pure gold: time-travel, knights in shining armor, realistic situations. Loved it. Gabi is such a great character. I love how she does what she must to fit in and yet, you can’t erase 21st century ways. She’s herself without being offensive (if that makes any sense). The only drawback I saw to these novels is that of course she and her sister were familiar with the old Italian language and they just happened to be excellent swordswoman/archers but in all fairness, they weren’t exactly Angelina Jolie. And the guys in these books? Well, lets just say they make me want to go back to Italy for a second look. A love triangle does pop up in one of these novels, and I’m not a huge fan because I liked both guys, but then you feel guilty, but then you want to shake things up a little, and at the end of the day I’m like was that necessary? It certainly added a new layer of tension to the story though. The last tidbit that I love about these books is that war is real in these novels. It’s not fluff and that gives these stories even more substance. Spiritually, Gabi must learn to trust God, but this is a thread that is interwoven throughout these novels as well as the last two that aren’t mentioned. Highly Recommended!
PS. Here is my other review of Tributary: https://remaininhislove.com/2012/06/12/lisa-t-bergrens-tributary-3/
and Glamorous Illusions, another YA book by Ms. Bergren (also excellent!):
https://remaininhislove.com/2012/06/05/lisa-bergrens-glamourous-illusions-4/
Does anyone have a favorite by Ms. Bergren? Did anyone really love the love triangle?
remaininhislove 