Cover Reveal and Review: Waterworld Vol 3: Xavier by Rachel E. Kelly

Hey all, Dani here.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow citizens of the United States, and Happy Thursday to everyone else! I hope you are all having a wonderful day. I have two–possibly three–Thanksgiving meals to attend today, so I definitely plan on wearing my stretchy pants. I am going to end up eating so much food, but it’s worth it. I enjoy getting this time with my various families.

I am so pleased to finally be able to post a review for this book. But before we really jump into it, I first need to put a huge disclaimer on my review. Yes, I am one of Rachel’s copy editors, so yes I do get to see this book a little bit early. And yes, I have greatly loved each of the other books in this series. However, I still give as honest a review and opinion as I can for this series. Still, it wouldn’t be fair if I acted like I’m completely unbiased. I love Colorworld Books. I think they are amazing people and it is a wonderful company.

Okay, let’s just jump into the cover reveal and the review.

Summary

Thoughts and prayers never did anything for Xavier but get his brother killed and starve his family. Eastern North Carolina, where he lives, is now home to thousands of Caribbean refugees, who were saved by prayers and the Guild together only one month ago. Tensions between locals and the refugees run high, making the borderlands dangerous, but no place is safe, not with gangs struggling to take control of what the cops can no longer police.

If Xavier listened less to his paranoid mother and more to good sense, he’d have headed west already with his siblings in tow. But instead, he winds up working for Cassie, the hot girl who heads up The Human Movement’s local chapter. Good thing Xavier’s not that principled or he never would have helped Cassie organize the gardening co-op between his neighborhood and the refugees. Come to think of it, if it weren’t for Cassie, he wouldn’t be ending up in jail either, sharing a cell with an unlikely individual who offers him an unlikely job.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

First, let’s talk about that cover. Every time I hear about an upcoming release for this series I wonder what sort of cover it will have. The entire series has featured photos of bubbles from different angles, as they pop, and more. It has been fascinating to look at them. It makes me wonder how the cover will step up its game for the next book. And somehow it manages to happen. Okay, fine, so I think that the Colorworld bubble from the first book is probably still my favorite, with Dreamworld right behind it, but I have to say that all of the covers have just been so fantastic.

Now, I’ll jump into the content of the story. I can honestly admit that it took me a long time to start to like Xavier. He just had such a different mindset from most of the other characters I’ve met through this series. I had a difficult time connecting with him, even though I found the story interesting enough. But when I finally started to feel for Xavier, that was it. I was so hooked and invested in the story.

It’s a bit difficult for me to talk about my thoughts on the plot, because we’re so deep in the series now that I feel like most anything I could talk about would be a spoiler. Maybe I’ll do a re-read of the series and jot down notes so I can do a series of spoilery review/discussions. Would anyone be interested in that?

Anyway, this book felt so incredibly relevant to some of the societal issues taking place now, even though in the story they’re happening after some pretty big natural disasters and calamities. There is so much “us and them” mentality, so much hatred and racism, and you can definitely feel heavy elements of that with this story. This is even true with our main character Xavier; his opinions on the refugees unsettled me for quite a while, but I think his evolution as he learns more and experiences more is pretty interesting to follow.

With the Waterworld set of books, we are getting several smaller stories that will all weave together into the main story line, and it has been so fascinating following that concept. With Waterworld Volume 1: Ezra, I understood the connection immediately because Ezra is Wendy’s family. With Waterworld Volume 2: Charlotte and now Waterworld Volume 3: Xavier, I was wondering when I would hit that reveal that would show how they all tied together.

I have no idea how many timelines and notes Rachel is keeping track of now, but from my perspective it all fits in together so well. Each release also makes me want to go back and re-read the rest of the series.

I know I talk about this series rather frequently, but I can’t help it. I truly believe that everyone should give these books a try. Over the years I have probably bought at least a dozen copies of Colorworld for various book-loving friends of mine. Rachel is honestly one of my favorite people and I am happy to shout about my love of these books and the Colorworld team every chance I get.

Where to Get a Copy

You can get your own copy right now from Amazon or the Colorworld Books store