—Book Review—
Title: The Unsinkable Greta James
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
You may be familiar with author Jennifer E. Smith from her many YA books, but The Unsinkable Greta James is the author’s first leap into adult books. And she didn’t sink, she swam!!! 😆
The book begins with famous indie musician Greta James on a bit of a musical hiatus because she bombed her last attempt at a new song on stage. A song she wrote for her mom. Because she died. Unexpectedly. Greta is grieving. Her dad, Conrad, is also grieving. I mean she assumes as much because they live in separate states and don’t really talk much anymore. Despite this, she needs to accompany him an Alaskan cruise that he was supposed to go on with her mother for their 40th anniversary. Her brother Asher has a traditional 9-5 job and 3 kids, so he can’t go. It’s up to her. So Greta sucks it up.
See this is where I expect the book to be just about Greta and her father. Grieving. Healing. But Greta’s father Conrad ends hanging out with friends mostly who also came along on the trip with them to help celebrate their anniversary. And Greta James meets a guy . . .
“The proper function of a man is to live, not too exist.”
Ben Wilder is a professor and is on the cruise to lecture about the book “The Call of the Wild”. He also struggling with some major upheaval in his life and together him and Greta figure some things out about themselves.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed this book. Especially reading along side my @bookfriendsbookclub but it was lacking oomph for me. It sort of had an identity crisis. I had high expectations and thought the book was going one way and was caught off guard by the romance being the bulk of it. Which is fine. Expectations are just a tricky thing!
