Jacquelyn MitchardGenre: Fiction
Published: 2007
Personal Rating: 3.75/5
Yearly Count: 43
Twenty years after high school, four best friends decide to take a Caribbean sailing voyage together. One of the four has to back out at the last minute because her husband falls ill, so she is replaced with the 19 year old daughter of another. The four quickly discover their luxury vacation is not so luxurious when a storm causes great havoc.
I didn't know what to expect from this book. I wondered if I was going to get suburban drama on the sea or an adventure. There actually was both. The beginning was slow, consisting of tedious character building and delayed the actual plot for quite some time. When the four finally embarked the sailboat, the action began with relational drama and survival adventure.
The four women and the daughter each had distinctly unique personalities. I cared about them as a group, but I only liked little parts of them individually, resulting in no real connections. There was actually a lot of harsh words spoken that made me uneasy making it difficult to enjoy the book fully. However, I thought the thriller portion of the plot was very good and will seek out other work by Mitchard.
Joy, I'm a little careful about Mitchard books. I find her writing on the uneven side. I'm guessing you enjoyed the reader. Did she read it?
ReplyDeletePS I left another post after yours on my Riding Lessons review - for you : )
I have such a difficult time getting motivated to read when I don't have any type of connection to the characters. I have a few of her books on my shelf (for years actually)--maybe I'll pick one up soon.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this one would have caught my eye, but your review definitely made it sound interesting. Might have to keep my eyes open for this one.
ReplyDeleteMary ~ Kirsten Potter was the narrator. For the most part she was just fine. What exactly do you mean by "uneven"? Sorry, I may be missing something very obvious.
ReplyDeleteTrish ~ I was actually surprised that in the long run I liked it because of that very reason. However, I did root for them as a group and the unique personalities was actually a draw. I wondered what they were going to do or say next.
Debi ~ I read some reviews after my post and a lot of people liked this one less than her previous ones, but as a first for me - it was pretty good after it started rolling (or sailing as the case may be). :)
Glad to read your comments on this book. I have it here in my book closet and will get to it eventually. I have never actually read one of her books but am familiar with them.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading to read more by this author. I enjoyed the one book I did read by her. Deep End of the Ocean, I believe it was. Or am I thinking of someone else? Anyhow, I will have to keep a look out for this one and give it a try. Thanks for the review, Joy!
ReplyDeleteKay ~ I didn't know anything about her and was pleasantly surprised.
ReplyDeleteLiterary Feline ~ Yes, I think that's the one that everybody really liked, making this one pale in comparison. Did you blog about Deep End of the Ocean?
Joy, not I didn't. It was before my blogging days. I think I read it before I started keeping a reading journal even. It was quite a while ago.
ReplyDeleteJoy, I should have phrased it "some of her writing is uneven". I read Deep End of the Ocean many years ago and thought it was ok. Mitchard lives a couple hours from me and writes (wrote) a newspaper column in our paper for quite a while. It was there I found the uneven writing. Or maybe it was content that was uneven. At any rate, uneven in terms of strong writing, interesting story, etc. Purely subjective, to be sure! I'm glad you enjoyed the book!
ReplyDeleteLiterary Feline ~ Oh, okay. Thanks for getting back to me.
ReplyDeleteMary ~ Oh! You have personal knowledge of her. I can understand how her past work could have an impact on your thoughts.