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echo_finished_cake's review against another edition
4.0
I'm giving this book 4 stars because while I really enjoyed it overall, there were somethings about it that keep me from giving it all 5 stars.
I liked the story line, as it really stood out to me from other LGBQT books I found on various lists. It's about this love triangle, really. Cara is best friends with Dan. At the beginning of the story, her life is down in the dumps. She is living with Dan, but really is not doing anything to better herself. Then Dan gets his girlfriend Billie (who considers herself bisexual) to get Cara a kitchen job on a fancy cruise. Cara takes the opportunity and ends up bunking with Billie during the six months cruise. They fall in love, despite both of their resistance due to their loyalty to Dan. I really enjoyed how Ms. Gold developed the romance between Billie and Cara, but I liked and respected that fact that she made them both loyal to Dan as much as she did. This book gets my 4 stars because I liked the character development of all three main characters and how each was really transformed by the end of the novel. Not only am I a sucker for romance, but the fact that there is this traveling element to the plot/development of the story was very nice and made me happy to read.
I also respect the fact that though the synopsis makes it sound like the whole story takes place on this cruise, that is indeed not true. The very beginning and the very end take part off the cruise.
This story was fairly predictable in the grand scheme of the plot, which is why it only gets 4 stars, but I love these little subplots that were written to keep the reader wondering what would become of these character's romance if this or that would have happened. It keeps the reader engaged, for sure.
Honestly, there were two "scenes" in particular that were not a romance scene between Cara and Billie, but were scenes of each of them discussing with another woman they respect about how much they love the other and these respective women share advice about life and love with each main character and other than the romance scenes between Billie and Cara, I really enjoyed these scenes and respect the story and the author for including them.
Honestly, the writing itself was nothing spectacular or extraordinary. In fact, towards the beginning, I was a bit annoyed with pieces of the writing because it made it hard to follow the actions of the characters. I will say, this got better the further into the novel I read. Another reason it is not getting 5 stars.
I also liked how this novel didn't over do it with the stereotypical romance story or scenes. I'm a bit indifferent to how, in my opinion, there are a lack of romantic scenes, especially in the first half of the novel. I wanted more of them, but respect how they were developed in the second half of the story.
Overall, I really liked and enjoyed reading this story!
I liked the story line, as it really stood out to me from other LGBQT books I found on various lists. It's about this love triangle, really. Cara is best friends with Dan. At the beginning of the story, her life is down in the dumps. She is living with Dan, but really is not doing anything to better herself. Then Dan gets his girlfriend Billie (who considers herself bisexual) to get Cara a kitchen job on a fancy cruise. Cara takes the opportunity and ends up bunking with Billie during the six months cruise. They fall in love, despite both of their resistance due to their loyalty to Dan. I really enjoyed how Ms. Gold developed the romance between Billie and Cara, but I liked and respected that fact that she made them both loyal to Dan as much as she did. This book gets my 4 stars because I liked the character development of all three main characters and how each was really transformed by the end of the novel. Not only am I a sucker for romance, but the fact that there is this traveling element to the plot/development of the story was very nice and made me happy to read.
I also respect the fact that though the synopsis makes it sound like the whole story takes place on this cruise, that is indeed not true. The very beginning and the very end take part off the cruise.
This story was fairly predictable in the grand scheme of the plot, which is why it only gets 4 stars, but I love these little subplots that were written to keep the reader wondering what would become of these character's romance if this or that would have happened. It keeps the reader engaged, for sure.
Honestly, there were two "scenes" in particular that were not a romance scene between Cara and Billie, but were scenes of each of them discussing with another woman they respect about how much they love the other and these respective women share advice about life and love with each main character and other than the romance scenes between Billie and Cara, I really enjoyed these scenes and respect the story and the author for including them.
Honestly, the writing itself was nothing spectacular or extraordinary. In fact, towards the beginning, I was a bit annoyed with pieces of the writing because it made it hard to follow the actions of the characters. I will say, this got better the further into the novel I read. Another reason it is not getting 5 stars.
I also liked how this novel didn't over do it with the stereotypical romance story or scenes. I'm a bit indifferent to how, in my opinion, there are a lack of romantic scenes, especially in the first half of the novel. I wanted more of them, but respect how they were developed in the second half of the story.
Overall, I really liked and enjoyed reading this story!
kimily's review against another edition
4.0
One of things I appreciate most about Lise Gold's writing in The Cruise, is the tangible growth of her characters. Each of her main characters starts out seemingly stuck; unable to move forward in life, but by the end, they have discovered the people and lives that make them happy. The dialog is well-written, and the story itself is a page turner. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Gold.
judeinthestars's review against another edition
4.0
Once again, [a:Lise Gold|16556448|Lise Gold|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1539200069p2/16556448.jpg] writes the sweetest characters. Cara is an unemployed journalist, living in London in a filthy apartment with her best friend, an performance artist called Dan. Dan is worried that she’s getting more and more depressed and asks his new girlfriend Billie to help Cara get a job on the cruise ship she works on as the animation team leader. Cara is hired to carve fruit and the two women find themselves sharing a cabin and cruising around the world for six months. As luck would have it, Dan, who doesn’t usually really do relationships, seems to like Billie a lot, so when Cara finds herself terribly attracted to her new friend and roommate, she struggles with her loyalty towards him. But she’s only human, and when Billie makes it clear the attraction is mutual, how is she supposed to resist? As usual with this author’s books, the chemistry between the characters is palpable, and there are some rather steamy scenes in between the fun and witty bantering dialogues. Also as usual, the way Lise Gold describes all the places the characters get to see while working on the ship makes want to visit them too. And eat the same food!
There were a couple of things I didn’t like, though. The whole Gwen story made me uncomfortable. Gwen is the Captain’s daughter and she takes full advantage of that fact, acting like Billie’s job is to be her personal assistant, hitting on her relentlessly and being an all-around pest. I didn’t like the way she treated Billie and I didn’t like either how Cara and the others made light of Gwen’s desire to always be thinner. It sounded an awful lot like anorexia, which isn’t fun at all. Sure, she was totally obnoxious and all but being a spoilt brat whose only concern seems to be whether a landscape is Instagram-worthy doesn’t mean you can’t also suffer from real problems. The other – much more minor – thing is Cara’s job as a journalist. Maybe things are different in the UK from what I know in France, but in my experience, an unemployed journalist will do freelance work, while looking (or not) for a more stable position but there are so few of those that freelancing is the rule, especially for younger journalists.
Anyhow, neither of these are big enough reasons to stop you from giving The Cruise a chance, when there are so many reasons to enjoy it. The writing is good, the characters are lovely, the chemistry is fantastic, the ending works. There’s also a very moving scene between Billie and her mother (who is not one of those overbearing yet perfect mothers who populate lesfic romance), which I didn’t expect at all and which left me teary-eyed.
There were a couple of things I didn’t like, though. The whole Gwen story made me uncomfortable. Gwen is the Captain’s daughter and she takes full advantage of that fact, acting like Billie’s job is to be her personal assistant, hitting on her relentlessly and being an all-around pest. I didn’t like the way she treated Billie and I didn’t like either how Cara and the others made light of Gwen’s desire to always be thinner. It sounded an awful lot like anorexia, which isn’t fun at all. Sure, she was totally obnoxious and all but being a spoilt brat whose only concern seems to be whether a landscape is Instagram-worthy doesn’t mean you can’t also suffer from real problems. The other – much more minor – thing is Cara’s job as a journalist. Maybe things are different in the UK from what I know in France, but in my experience, an unemployed journalist will do freelance work, while looking (or not) for a more stable position but there are so few of those that freelancing is the rule, especially for younger journalists.
Anyhow, neither of these are big enough reasons to stop you from giving The Cruise a chance, when there are so many reasons to enjoy it. The writing is good, the characters are lovely, the chemistry is fantastic, the ending works. There’s also a very moving scene between Billie and her mother (who is not one of those overbearing yet perfect mothers who populate lesfic romance), which I didn’t expect at all and which left me teary-eyed.
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