OKAY. This book was a journey, a real struggle to the finish line. It was listed (I think this counts?) as one of the selections of my local library book club for this year, so, like a dutiful former English major, I read it. I had a sneaky suspicion from jump that this wasn’t my kind of book. I like historical fiction and was intrigued by the juxtaposition of this story over the sinking of the Lusitania, but this book boasts three different authors who all wrote a lot of books that, having given a casual glance at titles/synopses, I wouldn’t care for. Romance isn’t my genre especially one with this “will they/won’t they/they probably will” tug of war and this thing is LOUSY with it TIMES. THREE.
To summarize plainly, I didn’t like this book. In fact, I hated this book. In fact, I was surprised that while listening to the audiobook I didn’t wreck my car as my eyes rolled back and around in my head. What I AM looking forward to is raging about it at our book club meeting, so, in that I am glad to have read it.
I don’t like to go into a lot of detail in my reviews as I’m the kind of reader who likes to go into a book as a newborn babe, with no spoilers. However, to give context to my opinion, I have taken a pull quote from the back of the book, and edited it to show where I think they went wrong. See if you can spot the differences!
“A sensational tale of drama, espionage, and passion on the high seas. Three brilliantly twisty plots plus a trio of hard-headed, unpredictable heroines add up to one immensely satisfying read.” (Fiona Davis, bestselling author of The Masterpiece)
“A tale of draaaaamaaaaaaaaa, espionage and passion on the high seas. Three pretty obviously straightforward plots (except for the bits that are so far-fetched they make no sense) plus a trio of one dimensional female tropes add up to one immensely frustrating read.” (Fiona Davis, bestselling author of another book I will not like).
Also, this is stuck in my craw, at one point a male character’s hair is described as “unencumbered by a hat.” THAT IS NOT HOW HAIR WORKS. OR HATS. OR THE WORD UNENCUMBERED.
Deeeep breath. Okay. I need to wrap this to get credit for bingo before the clock strikes, so, I’ll end with my favorite Amy Pohler quote/insight, edited for this purpose, “Good for her (and her and her). NOT. FOR. ME.”
