First of all thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

The main plot of this book is climate change which I believe does need to be talked about and this does that so semi well. This is thought provoking however there are some parts of the book that I did not enjoy and at times did make me uncomfortable.

Heard this book normalizes a 16 year old girl having a relationship with a middle aged man. Actually disgusted, and I will not be finishing this title

this was a great mystery novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the plot. It really keeps you invested in what's happening and keeps going till the end.

The Undercurrent is a unique story. It is the story of two teenagers who happen to meet at a party. They are both from influential families. Yulia introduces Curtis to the Saccoglossans pyasinskii; a sea slug with the extraordinary ability to share memories. He has visions and nightmares of a dying ocean. Yulia invites him to join the radical eco-environmentalist group to prevent devastation in the arctic waters and that is when his whole world is turned upside down.

This book is an interesting read. At first, I struggled to make sense of the story. Although it was engaging, it was a bit tricky to follow. There are a lot of characters, a lot of real names and a lot of codenames to wrap your head around. But once you have sorted all that in your head, you are well drawn into this story. You are invested so you must trudge through the arctic snow to finish this lengthy read.

In places, the writing is profound and poetic. Unfortunately, I found that some of the descriptions were lengthy and felt that it prevented the story from moving forward. However, that could have been my impatience getting the better of me as I really wanted to reach the end.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the premise. The prominent man versus nature theme took an unusual twist and I really liked it. I was also impressed by the author’s focus on the environmental impact of the oil industry on nature. The views on environmental impact were expressed with beautifully written passages that drove the message home.

Many thanks to the NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the eARC copy of this book.

This is a contemporary science fiction novel that will catch the attention of both adult fiction and young adult fiction readers. It portrays environmental destruction by corporations and the environmental activists that are risking everything to save the environment. Incorporating intelligent sea slugs on the coral reefs in the Arctic Ocean lead to the science fiction feel of the story. This novel is both action packed and depressing with respect to family dynamics that are at play as well as the issue of the environment's potential destruction. I was engaged in this story until the end. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Full of action and drama. Pretty good story that I normally wouldn't read. Definitely makes you think. Worth picking up and check it out. Plenty of tension to keep you flipping the pages. Happy reading!

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book. I liked the subject of this book. It is about eco-activists saving the Arctic Ocean. Two unlikely wealthy kids meet a party. Yulia gets Curtis involved in saving the ocean. This book has lots of action, adventure, and deceit. Definitely makes you think about climate change and endangered animals.

TW: pedophilia

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a digital ARC of this novel.

I don't know with what I should start my review, so let me just say: this is why I do not like to read book written by straight white men.
You know what, until like 75% of this I thought I was going to give it 2 stars, but then the author decided that a barely 16yo girl falling in love and kissing a middle aged dude was perfectly okay and I decided I had enough (even though showing a woman having to convince her husband to do or not do things by basically having to force herself to have sex with him and openly saying how "good" made the man feel wasn't good either), so I stopped pretending to care about this story and admitted what I thought: this book is a sorry excuse of an action story that the author tried to elevate by putting in it some "environmental activism". The latter part was quite lacking too, considering that people talked about how much they wanted to protect nature once every 90 pages.
The rest of the story was just a sequence of people travelling, people fighting, people discovering that other people ran away and such. There was no pathos in the way the story was narrated and it was often confusing, the characters were straight up flat, and the fact that 80% of the cast was made of adults even though this is a Young Adult book didn't help either. I would like to say that this book would have worked better if it was addressed to an adult audience, but honestly a book that presents the things I discussed in the first lines of my review shouldn't even be written.
That's it, I don't have anything good to say about this book. I am not disappointed, I am utterly disgusted.

Update: Half a hour after writing this review I remembered that at the start of the book another adult man was accused of "flirting" with that same teenage girl, and it was explicitly said that she's a few months away from "the age of consent". I don't know how to break this to the author, but the "age of consent" is nothing but an excuse made by adult man to pray on young people. It's clear that a man who is decades older than that girl has a powerful influence over her, and they literally spend months together while he helps her learn how to do things. Even if you want to justify this by saying that she's old enough to consent so it "can't be pedophilia", then there's also a very interesting word for it called GROOMING.

I requested this book in netgalley and receiving it I was really happy. It my first e-arc book and I'm really thankful to netgalley and Michael Burnett for giving me the opportunity to give me the e=arc of this book. I really appreciate it.

The Undercurrent is a beautifully sad novel that promotes the climate change crisis through the eyes of two young coming of age teenagers. The plot has heartbreak, deception and lessons of inner growth alongside the environment.

I kind of enjoyed this book. It was a good book. I gave it 3 stars because there are some parts that I didn't like and maybe this book is out of my comfort zone. But this book was good and I really enjoyed it.

The Undercurrent is a beautifully sad novel that promotes the climate change crisis through the eyes of two young coming of age teenagers. The plot has heartbreak, deception and lessons of inner growth alongside the environment. Burnett uses the harsh reality of climate change and fills it with drama in order to keep your brain engaged through the love of two new characters he has bought to life.

It is important to understand the nature of this book because he poses themes relevant to the news and worldly events. For example, he includes the power and defeat of a eco activist group and an oil baron all of which has been mentioned through news articles like Greenpeace activity and oil spills in the Antarctic. It is like he has come in touch with the world around him through the use of very good research. Burnett takes you into the rainforest, Antarctica and the world of the wealthy. It is beneficial that he uses the narration of two young people because they are the future of this earth and it is important for the younger generation to see what adults see or perhaps to be able to feel as though they want to do something about this crisis. It was nice listening to him not shy away from the important issues around us. He also narrates a few other people into the novel in the style of James Patterson but intertwines their time line in an affective manner. As a reader, you need to peruse the book in order to enjoy the plot twists at the end. It does seem like a long book but every piece of information he gives you is vital to the book. You will find that Yulia is a stubborn, spoiled and irrational teenager at first but you come to adore her by the end of it. She is faced with some very hard decisions and grows within the book. She is a fierce, decisive and passionate Jane Eyre type character. Curtis is a scared, shy and misunderstood character which we learn bounces off of Yulia's dominance.

This book was a little hard to break into once past the first chapters. It is only because Burnett plays on the emotion of each character and their values to their mission which is due to be carried out. You have to bare with it for a while as he then raises the tension, thrill factor and sense of adventure. Overall, it is an interesting take on climate change and it will be recommended!

Read and reviewed after receiving an ARC via netgalley.

In these uncertain times alot of what had been our pressing concerns have been put to one side, but not for most people environmental concerns. We've seen alot of a media coverage about lowering of emissions in towns and cities and the cleaning up of the air, closure of fast food places reducing litter etc, so this book is surprisingly topical.

The teenage daughter of a wealthy Russian involved with the oil industry has become involved with an environmental action group. They have been getting information via what boils down to a hallucinogenic substance from a specific species of sea slug. She recruits another rich kid from an English family and here the story takes off.

Her father's company is planning to take advantage of the thawing of sea ice to drill for oil in the Arctic, her group have decided that they have to stop his fleet of super tankers to protect the environment.

There is action in the Brazilian jungle where the English boy has travelling with his mother, but ultimately they all end up in the Arctic, where the main action takes place.

The world building seemed a little flat, but I've never been to the arctic so maybe it's my impression which is off rather than the authors descriptions, and for people apparently so monitored by wealthy parents the leads seemed to find it easy enough to escape.

Overall I quite enjoyed this one, the environmental theme wasn't constantly beating you about the head and actually leaves you wondering if there is a way for nature to heal itself - though probably without the aid of hallucinogenic seaslugs. The action was a touch formulaic and at times I was a little frustrated that the lead characters were only supposed to be in their mid teens - the Russian is said to be weeks away from her 16th birthday at the start - so some of their behaviour too mature for the given age.

When a first novel is as good as this, my old favourites get a rest. I love it when someone with a fresh voice arrives on the literary scene, making such a powerful entrance. I could not put this book down. The last book that made this much of an impression on me was Andy Weir's 'The Martian'. 'The Undercurrent' is fast-paced, the characters beautifully drawn, the plot imaginative and yet grounded in a gritty reality. Highly recommend.

The Undercurrent is a book that is thought provoking and will challenge readers perceptions, it's extremely topical and relevant. The writing style is like marmite, you either have an infinity with it and enjoy it, or you find it hard to connect with.

This was just not really doing it for me. The premise was interesting, and I wanted to diversify my reading by trying a book I’d otherwise never read, but the writing style was really off putting...felt a little pretentious. DNF.