When Tides Turn By Sarah Sundin

Tess is tired of being pretty.

She’s tired of men who only want her for her looks. She’s tired of being stuck as a salesgirl and never as a manager as she would do so well in, because they want her pretty face to sell blouses. Even when she joins the WAVES, she’s tired of being their poster girl.

She’s out to show the world she can be useful. By becoming a WAVE. By tracking down a spy in Boston.

And maybe, just maybe, this might have a little to do with her longtime interest, Dan Avery.

Alright, so I know this is the third book in the series, and I haven’t reviewed the second one yet, but COVID-19 has our library in chaos. So there is no promise as to when that second book will make its way to me.

I love the mystery portion of this book. It has a very “amateur detective” story feel, and I loved riding along as Tess tried to determine who the real spy was. I never guessed the answer—I couldn’t even narrow down who I thought the suspect was, because everyone seemed to be!

Tess’s longing to be useful was very beautifully written, and something that girls feel everyday. A very needed topic to be addressed in a novel.

Sarah Sundin’s perspectives on everyday problems always amazes me. Her books incorporate the elements of most romance and mystery books—namely the drama. But her characters call it out for what it is. They acknowledge that parts of the drama are not kind or unselfish. And then they deal with it. The emotions and thoughts of her characters are very real.

I couldn’t really get into Dan’s portion of the story. I’d turn to the next chapter and think, “Oh, no, I don’t get to go back to Tess until next chapter.” The parts about his relationship with his dad were very interesting, and I would have liked to see more of a plotline there. That being said, I did feel really good tension and injustice between him and his unfair superior. I think the reason I didn’t get as much into his portion was there was just significantly less tension than Tess’s. Had there been a bit more conflict, I would have breezed through it.

I also struggled just a bit to keep up with all the war terms. She had certainly done her research, and her characters referred to things as they would have in that time period, but I am not from that time period, and also did not serve in the Navy. A bit more explanation, or a glossary in the back would have helped me out.

All that being said, When Tides Turn is not a book to turn down.