Desperate Tides, Desperate Measures is the fifth book of The Talisman Series by Brett Salter. I hope you are ready for a vacation setting with violent monsters because Brett is back with more characters, battles and creatures!
The story started with revelations that shocked me. The progression of the plot was swift after that, with multiple twists and turns.
I went through an emotional rollercoaster because I was invested in this story. The fight scenes stressed me out. At random moments, there were hilarious scenes too. We get the old characters that we love and new cuter ones. There is more travel, more mysteries and more depth to the world of The Talisman series. The ending with the cliffhanger made me regret reading this book before the next one is released.
There is more variety of monsters now, and they are more brutal than the previous ones. Moreover, The Great Synergy is not an advantage sometimes, as in a fight, if one is injured, the other feels it too. It makes me curious about future battles. Rome and Julian reached their full potential by accomplishing The Great Synergy and getting the upgrades, but their enemies kept getting stronger. They have great allies, but what else can they do?
Unforgettable characters are an integral part of a great story. As expected, Brett brought back our beloved characters and added some new ones.
Rome is still in love. Julian has become more Julian, if that was possible. Camela is still Camela. Krysta is still in love too. Jericho is quite prophetic for an 18-year-old. I am still worried about who is taking care of him. Clay is enjoying his life. Mr Jones is fantastic as always and he needs more lines too. The new characters were a great addition to the already fantastic character list.
The writing has improved in terms of words used and writing style. I enjoyed the story’s integration with the real world. However, I felt that the editing of the previous books was better. The main issue with grammar errors is that they can unintentionally change the meaning of sentences.
Vocabulary, as usual, is above average for the target age group, but that’s still a positive point. Rome was using big words like “trepidation”. It seems out of character for him from a writing standpoint, but it could also be Mr Jones rubbing off on him.
I found it weird or unnecessary to put recaps in the middle of the story. The recaps right now are the one at the beginning of the book, the one big part in the main story content and Beacon’s and Mrs Case’s introduction more than halfway into the book. The recap at the beginning of the book was enough. With four books done, I feel that trying to summarize the story and do previous characters’ re-introductions will be overwhelming. I would either skip that altogether and just start the story or finish all recaps required in the beginning pre-chapter itself.
If any recap was required, I needed a reminder on how the library became a dragon hideout space since they’ve been touring the world for so long.
This book is more violent than the previous ones in the series, so young readers may not want to read it. The word ‘playboy’ was also mentioned, which is inappropriate for young readers.
To conclude, this book is another great one by Brett. There’s a never-ending list of characters we love and a rollercoaster of emotions and stress levels. The story is imaginative and fresh, and I look forward to the next one.
The Rising Tilde 
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