The Ripple Effect

Published: May 26th, 2011

Rippler

By: Cidney Swanson

Williams Press

ISBN-13: 9780983562108

Samantha Ruiz has a freak gene that turns her invisible. She can’t control it, and it’s getting worse. Afraid of becoming a lab-rat, Sam keeps her ability secret, until fellow runner Will Baker sees her vanish into thin air. Will promises secrecy and help, and Sam begins to fall in love.

Together, the two discover there are worse things than being a scientific curiosity. Someone’s been killing people who possess Sam's gene. A mysterious man from France sends letters that offer hope for safety, but also reveal a sinister connection with Nazi experiments.

The more time Sam spends with Will, the less she can imagine life without him. When Sam uncovers secrets from her past, she must choose between keeping Will in her life or keeping Will safe.

Review

   Fifteen year old Sam has always been soothed and comforted by water since her earliest memories.  That turns out not to be such a good thing when she turns invisible on her cross-country team's canoe trip - while she's in the canoe with the other kids.  This starts off an odyssey of learning why she is able to turn invisible and what it means for her future happiness and safety.  The person to take the journey with her is her neighbor Will Baker who happened to see her vanish from the canoe and covered for her with the coach.  Because he knew what her genetic mutation is called and he knew more about it than she ever dreamed possible.  It turns out Will's sister Mickie was studying under a man named Professor Pfeffer, who was an expert on Rippler Syndrome, which is an offshoot of a numbness disease (Helmann's) that Will and Mickie's Dad has.  Then the Professor disappeared without a trace and the people studying Rippler's and even just Helmann's began getting killed off in what looked like accidents, but weren't.  And the only clues they really have are in a journal full of sick experiments in a indecipherable language from World War II.  Will and Sam will need all the help they can get to save one another from the danger their abilities present to their very existences while trying to figure out what really happened in the accident that killed Sam's Mom, life, friendship, and their feelings for one another.  I was truly invested in this book!  Other reviews that I've read have complained that there isn't enough action and the pacing isn't that great.  I had NONE of these problems.  I LOVED the characters, the plot and the cliffhanger at the end!  I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book, Chameleon.  The journal entries add a sadistic twist to everything you've ever heard about Nazi medical experiments and worked it into the plot in a chilling way.  Cidney's writing style read like the characters were everyday people just telling the readers about themselves.  I honestly can say that I really liked it from beginning to end.  This book is highly recommended to fans of X-Men, YA paranormal fiction and fantasy. 

VERDICT: 5/5  Stars

Book #7 of Challenge COMPLETE

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the author herself, via LibraryThing.  No money was exchanged for this review. The publication date of this book was May 26th, 2011.*