Reviews

The Detective's Guide to Ocean Travel by Nicki Greenberg

amrawinter's review

5.0

This was so cute! I really enjoyed it, and absolutely did not see the twist coming. I will definitely be recommending this one to my students.

thebluehour's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

lawbooks600's review

3.0

6.5/10

gracelincolnelomax's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

It was a great plot; very unpredictable, but there were many errors in the book. But overall it was excellent.

melbsreads's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Trigger warnings: theft, death of a parent (in the past), shitty parenting, explosions, fire, vomit, mentions of the Titanic tragedy. 

I wanted to love this because it sounded like so much FUN, but honestly? It just took too long to get to the point. Like, it's a 300ish page book, right? And it took until nearly the half way mark for the diamond to even go missing. And by that point, I'd basically stopped caring about the mystery element of it, and was instead busy being cranky about what a terrible parent Pepper's dad is. 

Add in the fact that I thought for SURE that

it would turn out that her ridiculously named governess was faking her seasickness and was responsible for the crime and instead it was a somewhat dull "the diamond's owner faked the whole thing so she can get a pay out from Cunard for her loss AND sell the diamond down the track"

and I was honestly a little disappointed with the way things played out. 

Also, the letters at the end? Yeah, they kind of ended up writing over Pepper as the protagonist and I wanted something about how her relationship with her father changed after the trip. And instead, I just got letters about how great a time her friends - who she'll likely never see again because they all live in America now - are having. 

Look, it wasn't bad! And I can see why middle grade readers would like the story. But it definitely took too long to get going. 

becreally's review

mysterious medium-paced

4.0

starrpixie's review

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

blakan01's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

filliefanatic's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

not much abt how she loves detective-ing? mostly abt how she loves the ship (& her dad) but still cute, fun lil mystery :)

zozo_reads's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

3 and 1/2 stars

Recommend for 9-14