Review: Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren

Waterfall (River of Time #1)
Lisa T. Bergren
David C. Cook, publisher
February 1, 2011
Amazon Kindle edition


In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another. –Goodreads.com

It has been a few weeks since I finished Waterfall and I am realizing now I should have written this review much sooner to capture the spirit of how I was feeling at the end of this book.  Can I just say I really, really, really want to know what happens next?!  There are two more published books in the series, Cascade & Torrent (which was just recently released) but I haven’t gotten a chance to purchase & read them as of yet.  However, I SO want to know what happens to Gabi & her sister.
With that being said, the Goodreads summary hits the high-lights of this book on the head: knights, swords, horses, armor…and Italian hotties.  I know my blog is fairly new but there are a few things I should share with you. I am a sucker for:

• Guys with accents
  
• Guys in armor
  
• Foreign settings
  
• Historical fiction

The list could go on and on and now with THAT being said… In both high school and college I studied Italian (although my grammar is still  rusty as heck) and even got to visit Italy.  This book reminded me of that so it immediately struck the right chord with me. I love Gabi’s thought process as she gets flung back into time.  She is worried about how to get back to her time, how to survive in a world without modern medicine, realizes how easy and what a blessing modern conveniences like indoor plumbing can be.  Gabi is a smart, considerate, and amazing protagonist.  She takes action and brings her modern knowledge into play to help those in need.  This girl is not going to sit demurely in the corner and let the boys fight her battles.  No, she is going to be right beside her new crush and his flirtatious best friend kicking butt and taking names.


The romance between Gabi and Marcello is not love-at-first-sight and I love that!  It was a slow build and felt so right.  It was courtly and chivalrous & *sighs* just perfect. 

There is a small undertone about religion but it did not interfere with the story.  However, religion was a very big part of the time period so it fit.  The time travel in the book isn’t quite explained.  It happens and you’re not sure of the “how” or the “why”.  BUT it isn’t confusing (for those of you that get worried when you hear the words “time” and “travel” put together).  However, I’m hoping that further into the story we will find out what mystical/magical happenstance brought Gabi & Lia back in time.

Was it a divine plan that took her and Lia back in time?
Will Gabi and Lia’s heroic efforts change the course of history?
What happens to Marcello & the rest of the characters at the end as well?

These are all things that we were left wondering but I’m hoping we’ll find out more in the next two books.  Head’s up: There is some Italian in the book but Ms. Bergren is very good about translating the phrases she uses. 

This book left me wanting but in a good way!  After reading this book, if you don’t want to travel to Italy or at least learn a few phrases of this romantic language, I’d be surprised.  This book screamed, “Marissa, READ ME!” and I am so very glad that I did.
I hope it will do the same for you!