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books_inthewild's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, from beginning to end. WHAT a journey!
I absolutely loved the characters and their complexity. Sebastian of course- but also Ilya and Sophie. I was so surprised by the twists & turns, the suspense, and the back & forth from past and present. This book kept me captivated & kept me guessing!
Thank you Eddy for another amazing book! Can’t wait to see what you’ll do next :)
I would recommend this book to anyone! But especially those who love:
Psychological thrillers/suspense/mystery- as it has elements of all of those.
Family dramas & stories of friendship.
Travel, cruises, France :)
Stories of resilience, overcoming adversity... and of course, a good revenge/good vs. evil type story!
I absolutely loved the characters and their complexity. Sebastian of course- but also Ilya and Sophie. I was so surprised by the twists & turns, the suspense, and the back & forth from past and present. This book kept me captivated & kept me guessing!
Thank you Eddy for another amazing book! Can’t wait to see what you’ll do next :)
I would recommend this book to anyone! But especially those who love:
Psychological thrillers/suspense/mystery- as it has elements of all of those.
Family dramas & stories of friendship.
Travel, cruises, France :)
Stories of resilience, overcoming adversity... and of course, a good revenge/good vs. evil type story!
melonpaper's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rjsreadingnook's review against another edition
3.0
Strong start but I struggled with this one as the plot progressed.
What I liked: the opening chapters in Quebec, the concept of a story set on a luxury liner, the queer rep that wasn’t hyper focused on labels, found family goodness
What didn’t work for me: the multiple references to Greek mythology that just didn’t connect or feel accurate (like the Achilles and Patroclus references), the insta-lust romance, the “sympathetic” villain aspect.
I really liked Sebastien but I wanted more from the story.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
What I liked: the opening chapters in Quebec, the concept of a story set on a luxury liner, the queer rep that wasn’t hyper focused on labels, found family goodness
What didn’t work for me: the multiple references to Greek mythology that just didn’t connect or feel accurate (like the Achilles and Patroclus references), the insta-lust romance, the “sympathetic” villain aspect.
I really liked Sebastien but I wanted more from the story.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
glendareads39's review
5.0
TW: assault, sexual harassment, violence, human trafficking, homophobia, hate crime
The Rebellious Tide is one of my favorite LGBTQ+ novels of 2021. It was emotional and deeply heartbreaking. A young man named Sebastian Goh going in search of his absent father after the loss of his mother. Sebastian works as a photographer on a luxury liner to find his father, uncovering disturbing secrets hidden behind luxury and money. The mystery and backstory of his parents kept me reading. Sebastian questioning his own identity and himself after an public assault on board triggers the crew's outrage and joining a revolt against the ruling class of officers.
The Rebellious Tide is one of my favorite LGBTQ+ novels of 2021. It was emotional and deeply heartbreaking. A young man named Sebastian Goh going in search of his absent father after the loss of his mother. Sebastian works as a photographer on a luxury liner to find his father, uncovering disturbing secrets hidden behind luxury and money. The mystery and backstory of his parents kept me reading. Sebastian questioning his own identity and himself after an public assault on board triggers the crew's outrage and joining a revolt against the ruling class of officers.
tinamayreads's review against another edition
4.0
THE REBELLIOUS TIDE by Eddy Boudel Tan is an engrossing novel! This was one of my most anticipated books this year as Eddy’s debut novel, After Elias, was my fave fiction read last year and this is another great book! I found myself completely absorbed into this story and finished the book in two days. It’s about Sebastian, who goes to work on a luxury liner to meet his father that he’s never met before and while aboard he encounters a disturbing secret.
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I loved the characterization of Sebastian as he’s half Singaporean half Greek, queer and the intense pull he had to discover his heritage. I am mixed race so I love to see it represented in literature. The setting of the sea was stunning as we travel along the Mediterranean. I also loved the initial setting in Quebec as I’m Canadian. The mystery element really propelled me to keep reading. Definitely pick up this novel if you want to go on an adventure!
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Thank you so much to the author for my gifted copy!
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I loved the characterization of Sebastian as he’s half Singaporean half Greek, queer and the intense pull he had to discover his heritage. I am mixed race so I love to see it represented in literature. The setting of the sea was stunning as we travel along the Mediterranean. I also loved the initial setting in Quebec as I’m Canadian. The mystery element really propelled me to keep reading. Definitely pick up this novel if you want to go on an adventure!
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Thank you so much to the author for my gifted copy!
coolgalreading's review
2.0
I liked how this started — I was really into the story line with Sebastien’s mother, feeling of identity and wanting find his father.
Once he left to go find him, the story lost me, I didn’t like the plot line on the boat and the altering POVs between paragraphs was confusing at best.
I really wanted to like this one! Thank you Dundurn Press for providing me with a copy.
Once he left to go find him, the story lost me, I didn’t like the plot line on the boat and the altering POVs between paragraphs was confusing at best.
I really wanted to like this one! Thank you Dundurn Press for providing me with a copy.
zeereads's review
1.0
oof
a really interesting, unique premise that was unfortunately bogged down by writing style and narrative choices. this novel suffers from loads of telling not showing and really strange pov switches, often in the same paragraph, giving us quick, random perspectives of characters that aren't necessarily needed for the plot to progress. it really felt all the characters were held at arms-length away, making it harder for me to really care about them, their relationships with one another, or what was happening. this wasn't helped by the clunky, often unnatural feeling dialogue.
the way sebastien's backstory unravelled throughout could've been better if we KNEW the important information earlier, instead of the most important aspects being revealed in the third act. it wasn't that sebastien is a completely unsympathetic character, but i feel knowing more about him BEFORE the story begins to wrap up would've made me understand his choices and motivations a lot better.
and don't get me started on these two characters referring to themselves as achilles and patroclus after hooking up literally once. that whole thing was super corny, and with the already many greek parallels being not so subtly shoved down our throats, i just could not take it seriously.
there was also one part where we're taken completely out of the plot and told the story of the trojan horse???
i liked the discussions/themes of racism, white privilege, and a main character whose story wasn't limited to, and didn't necessarily revolve around being lgbtqia+. but that was basically it.
also some spoiler stuff that rubs me the wrong way: the fact that after athena publicly helps expose her abusers she just like....disappears. we don't ever hear about her or from her again??? shes the victim, pretty much the catalyst of the story, but we don't get to see how she's doing or what happens to her at the ending of the novel. unless im missing something, it kind of makes me feel like she was only there as a plot device and then was just thrown away when no longer needed. also sebastien actually violently assaults and blackmails an innocent KID and feels just sort of bad about it by the end??? like i get it, he has extreme anger issues associated with trauma, the why not actually being revealed until AFTER, when the book is almost over, but holy shit. he basically traumatizes this poor kid and then at the end when the kid understandably lashes out, he chalks it up to them having the same dad?
unfortunately, while i didn't care for the rebellious tide, i'm still interested in tan's debut and wouldn't be opposed to checking it out sometime in the future. hopefully, i'd enjoy it a lot more!
thank you to edelweiss for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review!
a really interesting, unique premise that was unfortunately bogged down by writing style and narrative choices. this novel suffers from loads of telling not showing and really strange pov switches, often in the same paragraph, giving us quick, random perspectives of characters that aren't necessarily needed for the plot to progress. it really felt all the characters were held at arms-length away, making it harder for me to really care about them, their relationships with one another, or what was happening. this wasn't helped by the clunky, often unnatural feeling dialogue.
the way sebastien's backstory unravelled throughout could've been better if we KNEW the important information earlier, instead of the most important aspects being revealed in the third act. it wasn't that sebastien is a completely unsympathetic character, but i feel knowing more about him BEFORE the story begins to wrap up would've made me understand his choices and motivations a lot better.
and don't get me started on these two characters referring to themselves as achilles and patroclus after hooking up literally once. that whole thing was super corny, and with the already many greek parallels being not so subtly shoved down our throats, i just could not take it seriously.
there was also one part where we're taken completely out of the plot and told the story of the trojan horse???
i liked the discussions/themes of racism, white privilege, and a main character whose story wasn't limited to, and didn't necessarily revolve around being lgbtqia+. but that was basically it.
also some spoiler stuff that rubs me the wrong way: the fact that after athena publicly helps expose her abusers she just like....disappears. we don't ever hear about her or from her again??? shes the victim, pretty much the catalyst of the story, but we don't get to see how she's doing or what happens to her at the ending of the novel. unless im missing something, it kind of makes me feel like she was only there as a plot device and then was just thrown away when no longer needed. also sebastien actually violently assaults and blackmails an innocent KID and feels just sort of bad about it by the end??? like i get it, he has extreme anger issues associated with trauma, the why not actually being revealed until AFTER, when the book is almost over, but holy shit. he basically traumatizes this poor kid and then at the end when the kid understandably lashes out, he chalks it up to them having the same dad?
unfortunately, while i didn't care for the rebellious tide, i'm still interested in tan's debut and wouldn't be opposed to checking it out sometime in the future. hopefully, i'd enjoy it a lot more!
thank you to edelweiss for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review!
gabriele_queerbookdom's review
4.0
DRC provided by Dundurn Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Representation: queer Singaporean-Greek protagonist, gay Ukrainian secondary character, Indian secondary character, queer Greek secondary character, Greek secondary and tertiary characters, Singaporean tertiary character, Filipino tertiary characters.
Content Warning: death, racism, classism, slurs, violence, mentions of sexual harassment, mentions of physical abuse, homophobia, mentions of hate crime, mentions of torture, sex-negativism, human trafficking, violence.
The Rebellious Tide is Eddy Boudel Tan’s sophomore compelling literary endeavour, a story about found families, anger, love, justice and introspection.
Sebastien Goh, after years of observation from afar, decides to leave his hometown to go meet the father who abandoned him and his mother in Canada years before, and to look for answers. His journey towards the truth will unveil more than he thinks.
This novel was heavy and raw and angering and inspiring and reflective. I loved the author’s writing style, although I found it hard sometimes to understand whose point-of-view I was reading from. Nonetheless, Eddy Boudel Tan has an amazing voice and I am looking forward to get my hands on his debut After Elias, so that I can revel again in his words.
I really liked Sebastien’s internal development and the array of fully fleshed-out secondary and tertiary characters (my eternal love to Ilya and Diya and Rosa).
The Rebellious Tide is definitely deserving of a read!
Representation: queer Singaporean-Greek protagonist, gay Ukrainian secondary character, Indian secondary character, queer Greek secondary character, Greek secondary and tertiary characters, Singaporean tertiary character, Filipino tertiary characters.
Content Warning: death, racism, classism, slurs, violence, mentions of sexual harassment, mentions of physical abuse, homophobia, mentions of hate crime, mentions of torture, sex-negativism, human trafficking, violence.
The Rebellious Tide is Eddy Boudel Tan’s sophomore compelling literary endeavour, a story about found families, anger, love, justice and introspection.
Sebastien Goh, after years of observation from afar, decides to leave his hometown to go meet the father who abandoned him and his mother in Canada years before, and to look for answers. His journey towards the truth will unveil more than he thinks.
This novel was heavy and raw and angering and inspiring and reflective. I loved the author’s writing style, although I found it hard sometimes to understand whose point-of-view I was reading from. Nonetheless, Eddy Boudel Tan has an amazing voice and I am looking forward to get my hands on his debut After Elias, so that I can revel again in his words.
I really liked Sebastien’s internal development and the array of fully fleshed-out secondary and tertiary characters (my eternal love to Ilya and Diya and Rosa).
The Rebellious Tide is definitely deserving of a read!
alonsonm's review
4.0
I discovered the work of Eddy Boudel Tan early this year through his novel ‘After Elias’ and I knew I had to keep an eye on him. ‘The rebellious tide’ confirmed to me that I was right on that. This book is very round and engaging; with conflicted characters and good mystery and twists. I really enjoyed this one and I can’t wait to see how Boudel Tan’s writing career keeps going up
breq's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
The plot was just stupid, honestly, and the writing wasn't very good.