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bluebeereads's review against another edition
5.0
Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books
Wow. I mean... Wow. I love Kelly Oram, you know that if you've payed attention to this blog. She's one of my all time favorite authors and is waaaay on top of my author autobuy list next to Victoria Schwab, Marissa Meyer, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo. But this book... it was soooo much more than I expected. This was perfection, guys.
Joni's life is good. She loves being an adult, living the college-life. She just finished her first year and will never again be called a freshmen. But then her brother dies in an accident and everything changes. Joni struggles to cope with the loss, guilt and anger she's feeling. The meddling of her friends and family isn't helping either. Then she gets the chance to go on the trip her brother had been planning and looking forward to for ages before he died. When she steps onto the sailboat called Lady Marguerite, the real adventure starts. The journey across the Atlantic Ocean with a small eccentric crew and the young, very handsome, very kind Captain Reid will mark the real beginning of her adult life.
Although, yes, I'm a major Kelly Oram fan, this book was very different from what she usually writes. It's an adult book for starters. Well, not that adult. It's New Adult, but clean. Perfectly safe for minors to read. (And they should, just saying...) It's also co-written with her real life husband, which is awesome! Joni, Underway is what I like to call a quiet book. It tells a simple story without any unnecessary drama. Some people may find it boring, but I was so engrossed, I read it in one sitting. At night. Resulting in me having very few hours of sleep yet again. It's so beautifully written and the story is so uplifting, heartbreaking and swoon-worthy all at once. Yes, there are quite a few sad moments that made me tear up. But there are also moments I can't help but smile and laugh. And there are moments my heart just melts.
What I've always loved the most about Kelly's books are her characters. She always manages to create such realistic, fun and extremely likeable characters. I loved everyone in this book, however small their role was. The crew is just fantastic. Gordon, Murray, Star, Yvonne, Jim,... They're all so awesome! And oh my god, Reid. Oh Captain, my Captain. (You'll understand why I put in that reference when you've read the book.) He's so hot but also so kind and caring and awesome and I looooove him. I also loved Joni and I could relate to her a lot. She goes on quite the journey in this book and I loved following her every step of the way. Their romance is also quite perfect. Not too fast, not too slow. And the ending came way too soon. Like always with Kelly's books.
Joni, Underway is definitely a must-read for Kelly Oram fans. But also for all contemporary fans. It's a fun, sweet, emotional, heartbreaking and uplifting story that I loved very, very much. So go read it. Seriously.
This review is also (or -soon- will be) posted on Istyria book blog.
Wow. I mean... Wow. I love Kelly Oram, you know that if you've payed attention to this blog. She's one of my all time favorite authors and is waaaay on top of my author autobuy list next to Victoria Schwab, Marissa Meyer, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo. But this book... it was soooo much more than I expected. This was perfection, guys.
Joni's life is good. She loves being an adult, living the college-life. She just finished her first year and will never again be called a freshmen. But then her brother dies in an accident and everything changes. Joni struggles to cope with the loss, guilt and anger she's feeling. The meddling of her friends and family isn't helping either. Then she gets the chance to go on the trip her brother had been planning and looking forward to for ages before he died. When she steps onto the sailboat called Lady Marguerite, the real adventure starts. The journey across the Atlantic Ocean with a small eccentric crew and the young, very handsome, very kind Captain Reid will mark the real beginning of her adult life.
Although, yes, I'm a major Kelly Oram fan, this book was very different from what she usually writes. It's an adult book for starters. Well, not that adult. It's New Adult, but clean. Perfectly safe for minors to read. (And they should, just saying...) It's also co-written with her real life husband, which is awesome! Joni, Underway is what I like to call a quiet book. It tells a simple story without any unnecessary drama. Some people may find it boring, but I was so engrossed, I read it in one sitting. At night. Resulting in me having very few hours of sleep yet again. It's so beautifully written and the story is so uplifting, heartbreaking and swoon-worthy all at once. Yes, there are quite a few sad moments that made me tear up. But there are also moments I can't help but smile and laugh. And there are moments my heart just melts.
What I've always loved the most about Kelly's books are her characters. She always manages to create such realistic, fun and extremely likeable characters. I loved everyone in this book, however small their role was. The crew is just fantastic. Gordon, Murray, Star, Yvonne, Jim,... They're all so awesome! And oh my god, Reid. Oh Captain, my Captain. (You'll understand why I put in that reference when you've read the book.) He's so hot but also so kind and caring and awesome and I looooove him. I also loved Joni and I could relate to her a lot. She goes on quite the journey in this book and I loved following her every step of the way. Their romance is also quite perfect. Not too fast, not too slow. And the ending came way too soon. Like always with Kelly's books.
Joni, Underway is definitely a must-read for Kelly Oram fans. But also for all contemporary fans. It's a fun, sweet, emotional, heartbreaking and uplifting story that I loved very, very much. So go read it. Seriously.
This review is also (or -soon- will be) posted on Istyria book blog.
star_sapphire's review against another edition
1.0
Rating: 0.5 - 0.75 / 5 stars
Did I read the same book everybody else read? I couldn’t get into this book at all. Which sucked because I’m a huge fan of Kelly Oram’s writing, just as I’m a huge fan of the New Adult genre.
First of all, this book should be called: Joni, Unemotional. Or here’s a list of titles it could have been:
joni, judgmental-and-self-centered
joni, needs-to-have-emotions-that-aren’t-revolved-around-her-stupid-libido
joni, the-fucking-robot
joni, problematic-as-fuck
joni, racist-as-fuck
or, one word could sum it up better. This book should have been called RACIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
… i’ll get more into this later.
Everything about Joni was so… robotic? Her narrative voice felt flat. Her reaction to her brother’s death felt flat. I understand that everybody grieves differently, and what not, but Joni didn’t show any emotions toward her brother’s death at all?
In fact, did she even show any emotions whatsoever? She was just so robotic, unemotional, and so lacking in anything that’s empathy and what not that I couldn’t connect with her character at all.
It almost felt as if she just didn’t give a shit that her brother died. The only thing she seemed to give a shit about was flirting with Reid, because he’s so hot that every woman that sees him is instantly attracted to him.
She’s just one of those characters that will leave readers stump. She would be one of those characters that would have readers begging the question, “What does he [Reid] see in her?” No, but seriously, what does Reid see in her? Her personality sucks so much, that when the book hinted his attraction to her—I found myself asking, “Dude. What the heck do you actually see in her? There’s nothing pleasant about her????"
Plus, one of the few emotions Joni seemed to show when she wasn’t being a robotic, one-dimensional, flat character was lust for Reid. I’m not a fan of insta-lust in any story. I get that this is a new adult book, and most new-adult books tend to overuse instalove/instalust… but still. I don’t know if the authors were trying to make her sound witty/funny in her inner monologue with all the “scenarios” she imagined she’d do with Reid, but I found myself rolling my eyes at how off-putting it actually was.
Maybe it was the writing style. Maybe it was her narrative voice (I can’t stand flat narrative voices… or judgmental ones, and Joni seemed to be harboring both). Whatever it was, I didn’t like this at all.
I’m sorry. I can’t stand bitchy characters, and Joni was a huge one. If Joni was a real person in real life, she would be one I would call out for being judgmental right off the very bat. I’d call her out for being mean, for being so judgmental, and for being so fucking self-centered. {Also, when you learn about other characters’ backstory, which only confirmed that Joni is quite a nasty, judgmental person—she didn’t even show any signs of shame/regret/remorse for thinking so lowly of people she didn’t even know. Yuck. People like her are the worst. And even when she showed some signs of remorse, she made it ALL about her… Which shouldn’t be surprising, since she’s self-centered. Even with her brother’s death, she harbored a lot of resentment toward other people because she, yet again (surprisingly), was being self-centered and didn’t want to live up to her brother… even though it wasn’t expected of her to???}
All the characters felt stereotypical? While it was “~~~~diverse~~~~", it felt forced.
It’s portrayed in a way where you know the author purposely included characters of each race just so they can be seen as ~~~progressive~~~ and be applauded for involving diversity, and all the characters are portrayed in bastardized, stereotypical ways to the point where it feels racist, offensive, and insulting.
Please don’t tell me I wasn’t the only one offended at the asian girl (Star)’s portrayal in the book. I understand that there are lots of Asian people out there that are like that: dress like a “stereotypical Asian” (or as how Americans perceive Asians) [cough "kawaii asian", because americans think all asians dress like this apparently], but still. Seriously. Don’t portray a character like a stereotype for the sake of “diversity.” It’s offensive, annoying, and leaves me full of chagrin at it. Especially since Joni, the judgmental robot, called her “weird” for how she was portrayed.
edit: it has come to my attention that I had mistaken Star's identity. Thanks to the author for correcting me on my mistake. Since Star's not Asian, it feels kind of like the cultural appropriation on the "Harajuku" fashion
“C’mon, she doesn’t exactly make it easy on herself. If she dresses like that at school, she’s just asking for it.”
(Yuck. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I wanted to throw up at how gross this was)
The two white main characters literally said that the asian character’s asking to get bullied because of how she “dresses” (aka stereotypical american perception of how asians dress [think of how Americans fetishize the Asian culture and how they perceive them, and that’s what you get from this book]).
Yet the thing is, I applaud this book for trying to incorporate diversity—because most authors tend to pull the “50 shades of mayo” card instead of being realistic and having a diverse cast. But, I draw the line at how stereotypical all the characters are? I think it’s because they all keep on having to remind us, the readers, that they’re Asian, or black, or etc. Look. We get it. This book has characters that all aren’t just 50 shades of mayo. The more you bring up the fact that they’re people of color, the more it feels like a gimmick. As if you’re trying to make us aware about the book’s diversity. As if you want to be applauded for being so “freaking progressive” for including diversity.
I think the reason why I couldn’t get into this was because it wasn’t a character-driven book. It felt more like a plot-driven book, and it was not even a good one? I don’t know how to explain it. Everything conveniently happened for the sake of the plot, which just made the story feel less organic and more like a forced, contrived story.
It might also have to do with the fact that some of the dialog felt more like it should be in a screenplay/script than in a book?
Like, there’d be parts where it’d be like this:
Character A: “Says something.”
Character B: “Also says something.”
Character C: “Also contributes by saying something.”
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with it—but it totally distracts from the overall story when conversations starts to feel like a “ping pong match” and watching the dialogue “bounce around.” The flow is disruptive and you, the reader, will get distracted and confused most likely.
“Face it, Joni. Everybody likes you.”
Because everybody is senile and has the time to appreciate a girl so self-centered and robotic. Right.
Overall, this book has pretty much the makings of a book that would leave a bad taste in my mouth:
This book is so problematic that the more I get into it, with hope that it’d redeem itself, the more I want to throw my kindle against the wall and bleach my brains so I can forget this mess.
Just... no. Don't drink the kool-aid. This book was not good. I couldn't care for any of them. I couldn't care for anything. The only emotion this book managed to get from me was anger toward the slut-shaming and racist this book was.
Did I read the same book everybody else read? I couldn’t get into this book at all. Which sucked because I’m a huge fan of Kelly Oram’s writing, just as I’m a huge fan of the New Adult genre.
First of all, this book should be called: Joni, Unemotional. Or here’s a list of titles it could have been:
joni, judgmental-and-self-centered
joni, needs-to-have-emotions-that-aren’t-revolved-around-her-stupid-libido
joni, the-fucking-robot
joni, problematic-as-fuck
joni, racist-as-fuck
or, one word could sum it up better. This book should have been called RACIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
… i’ll get more into this later.
Everything about Joni was so… robotic? Her narrative voice felt flat. Her reaction to her brother’s death felt flat. I understand that everybody grieves differently, and what not, but Joni didn’t show any emotions toward her brother’s death at all?
In fact, did she even show any emotions whatsoever? She was just so robotic, unemotional, and so lacking in anything that’s empathy and what not that I couldn’t connect with her character at all.
It almost felt as if she just didn’t give a shit that her brother died. The only thing she seemed to give a shit about was flirting with Reid, because he’s so hot that every woman that sees him is instantly attracted to him.
She’s just one of those characters that will leave readers stump. She would be one of those characters that would have readers begging the question, “What does he [Reid] see in her?” No, but seriously, what does Reid see in her? Her personality sucks so much, that when the book hinted his attraction to her—I found myself asking, “Dude. What the heck do you actually see in her? There’s nothing pleasant about her????"
Plus, one of the few emotions Joni seemed to show when she wasn’t being a robotic, one-dimensional, flat character was lust for Reid. I’m not a fan of insta-lust in any story. I get that this is a new adult book, and most new-adult books tend to overuse instalove/instalust… but still. I don’t know if the authors were trying to make her sound witty/funny in her inner monologue with all the “scenarios” she imagined she’d do with Reid, but I found myself rolling my eyes at how off-putting it actually was.
Maybe it was the writing style. Maybe it was her narrative voice (I can’t stand flat narrative voices… or judgmental ones, and Joni seemed to be harboring both). Whatever it was, I didn’t like this at all.
I’m sorry. I can’t stand bitchy characters, and Joni was a huge one. If Joni was a real person in real life, she would be one I would call out for being judgmental right off the very bat. I’d call her out for being mean, for being so judgmental, and for being so fucking self-centered. {Also, when you learn about other characters’ backstory, which only confirmed that Joni is quite a nasty, judgmental person—she didn’t even show any signs of shame/regret/remorse for thinking so lowly of people she didn’t even know. Yuck. People like her are the worst. And even when she showed some signs of remorse, she made it ALL about her… Which shouldn’t be surprising, since she’s self-centered. Even with her brother’s death, she harbored a lot of resentment toward other people because she, yet again (surprisingly), was being self-centered and didn’t want to live up to her brother… even though it wasn’t expected of her to???}
All the characters felt stereotypical? While it was “~~~~diverse~~~~", it felt forced.
It’s portrayed in a way where you know the author purposely included characters of each race just so they can be seen as ~~~progressive~~~ and be applauded for involving diversity, and all the characters are portrayed in bastardized, stereotypical ways to the point where it feels racist, offensive, and insulting.
edit: it has come to my attention that I had mistaken Star's identity. Thanks to the author for correcting me on my mistake. Since Star's not Asian, it feels kind of like the cultural appropriation on the "Harajuku" fashion
“C’mon, she doesn’t exactly make it easy on herself. If she dresses like that at school, she’s just asking for it.”
(Yuck. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I wanted to throw up at how gross this was)
The two white main characters literally said that the asian character’s asking to get bullied because of how she “dresses” (aka stereotypical american perception of how asians dress [think of how Americans fetishize the Asian culture and how they perceive them, and that’s what you get from this book]).
Yet the thing is, I applaud this book for trying to incorporate diversity—because most authors tend to pull the “50 shades of mayo” card instead of being realistic and having a diverse cast. But, I draw the line at how stereotypical all the characters are? I think it’s because they all keep on having to remind us, the readers, that they’re Asian, or black, or etc. Look. We get it. This book has characters that all aren’t just 50 shades of mayo. The more you bring up the fact that they’re people of color, the more it feels like a gimmick. As if you’re trying to make us aware about the book’s diversity. As if you want to be applauded for being so “freaking progressive” for including diversity.
I think the reason why I couldn’t get into this was because it wasn’t a character-driven book. It felt more like a plot-driven book, and it was not even a good one? I don’t know how to explain it. Everything conveniently happened for the sake of the plot, which just made the story feel less organic and more like a forced, contrived story.
It might also have to do with the fact that some of the dialog felt more like it should be in a screenplay/script than in a book?
Like, there’d be parts where it’d be like this:
Character A: “Says something.”
Character B: “Also says something.”
Character C: “Also contributes by saying something.”
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with it—but it totally distracts from the overall story when conversations starts to feel like a “ping pong match” and watching the dialogue “bounce around.” The flow is disruptive and you, the reader, will get distracted and confused most likely.
“Face it, Joni. Everybody likes you.”
Because everybody is senile and has the time to appreciate a girl so self-centered and robotic. Right.
Overall, this book has pretty much the makings of a book that would leave a bad taste in my mouth:
protagonist you can’t connect with
• one-dimensional characters
• instalust
• misogyny??? (Would it technically be considered that, since Joni just kept reaching for any reason to dislike Star. I understand not liking somebody, but Joni… jesus christ. No. This book is not feminist at all).
• (Also, her hatred toward Megan would count too).
• Slut-shaming. (Joni’s reaction/feelings toward Megan). Yeah, not my cup of tea.
• Racism… and the fact that the characters fucking excused it? Like, hell to the fuck no. Hell. No. Fuck. That. I’m sorry, but what the fuck? Are we or are we not in the 21st century? Since when the hell was racism excusable???????????
• (Add in the fact that two white characters made fun of an Indian man’s accent…and laughed over it… like, what the fuck???? Who does that?????? The only people I know who does that are usually either: racists or making fun of their own accents. They were not making fun of their own accents. *Cough*]
• Weak-ass character growth. Seriously, what was that? How did joni went from being judgmental to ~~~we’re a crew that looks out for each other~~~. Bullshit. Character growth doesn’t happen instantly. There was no subtlety, no growth whatsoever. It felt like a flip of a switch. It was not character growth because there was no development whatsoever.
•edit: Cultural appropriation. [Exhibit: Star]
This book is so problematic that the more I get into it, with hope that it’d redeem itself, the more I want to throw my kindle against the wall and bleach my brains so I can forget this mess.
Just... no. Don't drink the kool-aid. This book was not good. I couldn't care for any of them. I couldn't care for anything. The only emotion this book managed to get from me was anger toward the slut-shaming and racist this book was.
sammijo1904's review against another edition
5.0
I laughed, I cried, I ate ice cream
Just kidding about the ice cream, I'm a vegan.
But in all seriousness, this was a lovely story. I really felt close to the characters. I was on the boat with with. I was laughing. I was crying. It's a good story.
Read it.
Just kidding about the ice cream, I'm a vegan.
But in all seriousness, this was a lovely story. I really felt close to the characters. I was on the boat with with. I was laughing. I was crying. It's a good story.
Read it.
awexis's review
4.0
First few chapters are not something I would like to read and I keep on looking for Kelly Oram in those. I have not seen her yet but when Joni went to travel... Yes, definitely, it's Kelly writing. I love all the aspects of this book. It's amazing to details. Like I was wondering "did they own this kind of boat? To have it detailed so good?" Or "Where did they get all those kinds of information?"
I also liked that the guy is a great listener. Yes, I already forgot the name of the guy. Lol. I'm really not good with names. But anyway, he's awesome and I would fall for him too if I was Joni. Hehe.
Although I admit... I kinda want to see the New Adutl side. I mean yes, probably not all NA books have sex in it but most I read have. Lmao. So it's bit disappointing not to see some action. :P
All in all, good Job to both the authors! Especially Kellay since I believe this is her first NA? :)
I also liked that the guy is a great listener. Yes, I already forgot the name of the guy. Lol. I'm really not good with names. But anyway, he's awesome and I would fall for him too if I was Joni. Hehe.
Although I admit... I kinda want to see the New Adutl side. I mean yes, probably not all NA books have sex in it but most I read have. Lmao. So it's bit disappointing not to see some action. :P
All in all, good Job to both the authors! Especially Kellay since I believe this is her first NA? :)
jadeshea's review
4.0
ARC
Joni, Underway begins when something happens in Joni's life to throw it off course. Now, she ends up taking an unexpected cruise trip across the ocean. The only problems are it's not the kind of cruise you would picture, for one. And for another she still has some issues to deal with. Oh, and the "Captain" is really hot, and she can't seem to stay away from him even though he's kind of off limits for the next five weeks.
As Joni, and her new friends journey across the ocean each of them starts to learn new things about the world, love, and friendship. And Joni more than anyone learns a lot.
This book was truly different from anything I've ever read before. It had lots of humor, some sweet romance, but it also had a really detailed beautiful story of a young woman trying to find her way, but extremely different than most stories.
I adored this book! It is for sure one of my recommend reads now!
Joni, Underway begins when something happens in Joni's life to throw it off course. Now, she ends up taking an unexpected cruise trip across the ocean. The only problems are it's not the kind of cruise you would picture, for one. And for another she still has some issues to deal with. Oh, and the "Captain" is really hot, and she can't seem to stay away from him even though he's kind of off limits for the next five weeks.
As Joni, and her new friends journey across the ocean each of them starts to learn new things about the world, love, and friendship. And Joni more than anyone learns a lot.
This book was truly different from anything I've ever read before. It had lots of humor, some sweet romance, but it also had a really detailed beautiful story of a young woman trying to find her way, but extremely different than most stories.
I adored this book! It is for sure one of my recommend reads now!
denizyildiz's review
5.0
Initial Reaction:
WOW!!
I am blown away by this one.
I dunno what to rate this atm. It's around 4.5 Stars... but I gotta let this sink it.
The story resonated with something deep within me - a novel that left me in awe and deeply touched me.
Freakn amazing!
REVIEW:
For me the creation of a good book is a bit like magic. I mean I kinda get how one does it, but being able to put a wonderful boo together? Well, as I said: Magic. I honestly am in awe of many authors and simply baffled by their ability to create wonder. As we all know, I am not a writer, never will be so it's beyond my reach. Why am I telling you this?
Well, simply Joni, Underway is one of those books that left me... touched, in wonderment and awe- and possibly somewhat changed.
It's no secret that I am a fan of Oram's books... But this one is not just hers. This is co-authored with her husband Jonathan Harrow. I never read any of his works - an oversight I shall correct soon. And here comes the reason why I was telling you the latter- I can not imagine how people co-write books! I am fascinated by it. Many collaborations work with dual or multiple POV- makes sense. But see- this one was written from just Joni's POV.. So how I have been wondering do you do that? It's a far cry from my imagination of how authors work- which is alone with their laptop at all hours of the day... Kelly Oram kindly gave us a glimpse on how she and Harrow did it. I shall not fangirl about any longer and get to my review:
The writing style is more somber than I was used to by Oram. But the content is more somber as well. I kinda expected cute and lighthearted romance- though I don't know why retrospectively. And I got something much deeper instead. Its had plenty of Oram's wonderful humor and sass - and to my delight it had wonderful descriptions, beautiful moments and such depths it touched me somewhere deep inside my stone cold heart.
I honestly can't tell you how much I loved the prose in this- because I find it impossible to dissect this novel- it became way to personal.
At the beginning I was kinda taken aback by how much I actually disliked Joni. I found her selfish, self-involved and melodramatic. I couldn't believe the self-pity party. This huge thing happened and she sat there just feeling sorry for herself. The way she was with her family? Atrocious at best! And then she embarks on her journey... and EVERYTHING changes.
The journey was beyond wonderful. I have no words to describe the trip, the characters and all the things that happen. I just gulped it up and wanted more!
What I can say is, that being someone who met her husband on her travels and has traveled all over the world for several years with said guy, Joni, Underway got it right. The traveling bits- amazing! The changes one goes through, the bonding, the heart all of it is there. And that's why I can't be objective nor make a decent review.. because this is one of the most beautiful and most touching books I have ever read...
Now don't misunderstand me.. It's not mooshy or uber-emo. It simply spoke to me. It is well written and has an interesting storyline. But mostly it has fantastic character building. I fell in love with each and every quirk of the cast. It was amazing to see them bond and to slowly see different sides to each one of them.
The romance is slow and extremely sweet, heartfelt and well swoon-worthy in a very subtle way. Reid -sighs- is a dream, with his faults and all. Joni and Reid are magic.
My only little thing that I found a bit disappointing: the end. Well not the end as such, but it all suddenly just worked out and was sorted.. It felt a wee bit rushed. But it's a teeny little thing and frankly it did not take away the happy cloud I was on.
Joni, Underway left me unable to read anything - I was still stuck in that world and all I wanted is grab my guy and go travel the world again.
Incredibly beautiful book! Possibly the best release in 2015 but definitely one of my favorite books ever.
WOW!!
I am blown away by this one.
I dunno what to rate this atm. It's around 4.5 Stars... but I gotta let this sink it.
The story resonated with something deep within me - a novel that left me in awe and deeply touched me.
Freakn amazing!
REVIEW:
For me the creation of a good book is a bit like magic. I mean I kinda get how one does it, but being able to put a wonderful boo together? Well, as I said: Magic. I honestly am in awe of many authors and simply baffled by their ability to create wonder. As we all know, I am not a writer, never will be so it's beyond my reach. Why am I telling you this?
Well, simply Joni, Underway is one of those books that left me... touched, in wonderment and awe- and possibly somewhat changed.
It's no secret that I am a fan of Oram's books... But this one is not just hers. This is co-authored with her husband Jonathan Harrow. I never read any of his works - an oversight I shall correct soon. And here comes the reason why I was telling you the latter- I can not imagine how people co-write books! I am fascinated by it. Many collaborations work with dual or multiple POV- makes sense. But see- this one was written from just Joni's POV.. So how I have been wondering do you do that? It's a far cry from my imagination of how authors work- which is alone with their laptop at all hours of the day... Kelly Oram kindly gave us a glimpse on how she and Harrow did it. I shall not fangirl about any longer and get to my review:
The writing style is more somber than I was used to by Oram. But the content is more somber as well. I kinda expected cute and lighthearted romance- though I don't know why retrospectively. And I got something much deeper instead. Its had plenty of Oram's wonderful humor and sass - and to my delight it had wonderful descriptions, beautiful moments and such depths it touched me somewhere deep inside my stone cold heart.
I honestly can't tell you how much I loved the prose in this- because I find it impossible to dissect this novel- it became way to personal.
At the beginning I was kinda taken aback by how much I actually disliked Joni. I found her selfish, self-involved and melodramatic. I couldn't believe the self-pity party. This huge thing happened and she sat there just feeling sorry for herself. The way she was with her family? Atrocious at best! And then she embarks on her journey... and EVERYTHING changes.
The journey was beyond wonderful. I have no words to describe the trip, the characters and all the things that happen. I just gulped it up and wanted more!
What I can say is, that being someone who met her husband on her travels and has traveled all over the world for several years with said guy, Joni, Underway got it right. The traveling bits- amazing! The changes one goes through, the bonding, the heart all of it is there. And that's why I can't be objective nor make a decent review.. because this is one of the most beautiful and most touching books I have ever read...
Now don't misunderstand me.. It's not mooshy or uber-emo. It simply spoke to me. It is well written and has an interesting storyline. But mostly it has fantastic character building. I fell in love with each and every quirk of the cast. It was amazing to see them bond and to slowly see different sides to each one of them.
The romance is slow and extremely sweet, heartfelt and well swoon-worthy in a very subtle way. Reid -sighs- is a dream, with his faults and all. Joni and Reid are magic.
My only little thing that I found a bit disappointing: the end. Well not the end as such, but it all suddenly just worked out and was sorted.. It felt a wee bit rushed. But it's a teeny little thing and frankly it did not take away the happy cloud I was on.
Joni, Underway left me unable to read anything - I was still stuck in that world and all I wanted is grab my guy and go travel the world again.
Incredibly beautiful book! Possibly the best release in 2015 but definitely one of my favorite books ever.
cravingpages's review
5.0
Ik wil dit boek een hele sterrenregen geven. De personages hebben stuk voor stuk mijn hart gestolen. Dit boek lezen is als deel uit gaan maken van de bemanning (familie is wellicht een beter woord) aan boord van de M'lady Marguirite. Dit boek gaf mij all the feels>. Het einde raakte me zo diep dat ik al blubberend van emotie de laatste pagina omsloeg.
Echt een aanrader!
Echt een aanrader!
samwlabb's review against another edition
5.0
I thought I was going to get a super sweet and funny romance, because Oram has always delivered that before, but with Joni, Underway, I got so much more. There were so many aspects of this story that touched my heart. I mean, the whole idea of what Reid organized. Wow! I was left sort of speechless. This "cruise" served a different purpose for each of its 7 passengers. Some found peace, some found closure, some found love, some found purpose, but all, all of the passengers were changed for the better.
Although this is not your typical Oram book, it still has her signature is that it is packed with amazing characters. Our main character, Joni, is carrying some emotional baggage that she is reluctant to acknowledge. However, after her brother dies in an accident, she takes his place on the "cruise" and her evolution begins! The Joni at the end of the book is very different from the Joni at the beginning of the books, and I really loved being a witness to her metamorphosis.
Then, there is Reid (swoon!). He is not perfect, but he is so special. He gives of himself freely and appreciates every experience. What he did for the people on his ship was so beautiful. Yeah, I totally shed some tears.
The secondary characters were all interesting and unique in their own way. Each was dealing with something and each of them made some sort of peace with that issue during the cruise.
I found this story sweet, touching, happy, sad and inspiring. I found myself doing a lot of introspection as I read Joni, Underway and I greatly enjoyed this book
Although this is not your typical Oram book, it still has her signature is that it is packed with amazing characters. Our main character, Joni, is carrying some emotional baggage that she is reluctant to acknowledge. However, after her brother dies in an accident, she takes his place on the "cruise" and her evolution begins! The Joni at the end of the book is very different from the Joni at the beginning of the books, and I really loved being a witness to her metamorphosis.
Then, there is Reid (swoon!). He is not perfect, but he is so special. He gives of himself freely and appreciates every experience. What he did for the people on his ship was so beautiful. Yeah, I totally shed some tears.
The secondary characters were all interesting and unique in their own way. Each was dealing with something and each of them made some sort of peace with that issue during the cruise.
I found this story sweet, touching, happy, sad and inspiring. I found myself doing a lot of introspection as I read Joni, Underway and I greatly enjoyed this book
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