No Regrets
Beyond The Rising Tide by Sarah Beard is a clean YA fantasy romance novel and I really enjoyed it, in spite of being considerably older than a YA! I found Beyond The Rising Tide a most beautifully written novel. The love contained within its pages, sinks deep into the readers’ soul. As the novel ends, the reader feels calm, peaceful and loved.
The novel is about love. A gentle love that permeates all it touches. A sacrificial love motivated by the best interests and love of another. It reminds the reader of Jesus’ words “greater love hath no-one than that he lays down his life for a friend.” (John 15:13) Love is giving, not taking. This novel lives out 1 Corinthians: 13.
The story in contrast also deals with regret. Seventeen year old Avery is paralysed by her memories and regret. She is unable to move forwards as her heart is stuck in the past. She needs to have “courage to take back the life I discarded.” Life is too short to live in the past. “Get up. Life is too short to stay down when we fall.” Sometimes one needs help to rejoin the human race and to live our lives once more.