Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Ship Wrecked

I had a bit of an Olivia Dade binge session in February but had a long wait to get to this one and honestly I’m not sure it was worth the wait. Maria and Peter have the same superficial charm that previous protagonists in the series also had but now that it’s the third installment of the series, it’s wearing thin (ironic). The whole thing feels a lot like a middling fanfiction. The characters flirt with having real personalities but so much of it is internal and huge understandings are gleaned from a glance or a one word sentence and I’m not entirely sure these people like each other despite what we’re being told. On top of that, it’s trying way too hard to be funny with repeated “jokes” that the readers are let in on but simply aren’t funny.

The funniest part is the tags attached to the fanfiction interstitial that references not doing a lot of research about an aspect of Hollywood life because that feels like truth in fiction about how much research the actual author put in to learning about how filming works and what press junkets are really like.

That said, if you just want to read a book about two fat actors falling in love and you don’t really care about how illogical a lot of the details are then you’ll probably love this. I’ll be taking a break from Olivia Dade for a while though.

Content Warnings

jackiepreston's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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4.0

Finished reading: March 17th 2023

"But I’m not you, Peter. I need people I love around me every day to be happy."

I enjoyed the first two books of the series, which is kind of a surprise for me considering just how much smut is involved in both books. I think this has a lot to do with the way Olivia Dade writes her stories and creates her characters. There is just something about the characters in the Spoiler Alert books that makes it easy to connect to them, and the banter is always brilliant. Book number three is no different. Ship Wrecked features not one, but two fat main characters this time around, and I love the show of body positivity and the fact that we actually have a fat male character (which you don't see often). I am grateful for the warning about the VERY steamy start of Ship Wrecked though, because holy cow! I had to skimread more than once, because there is a LOT of smut involved considering this is basically a six-year-long slowburn romance. Somehow I don't mind the sexy scenes too much with these books though, and this is thanks to the characters and banter. I enjoyed spending time with Maria and Peter, and while I would loved to have seen their connection grow more up close and without that huge gap in the middle, as a whole it was still satisfying. It was also great to see the rest of the gang again, and the humor was spot on for me.

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stardustandrockets's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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stegan's review

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

What a delightful warm hug of a book. I laughed and cried. Dade does an amazing job of creating a fully fleshed out couple, with Peter having as much complexity as Maria, which I genuinely love.

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ladythana's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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martamae77's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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bookcheshirecat's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

“Dieting? No fucking way. Taunting the Grim Reaper? No problem!”

➽ Olivia Dade does it again and delivers a swoonworthy romance!! Ship Wrecked is about Gods of the Gates co-stars Maria and Peter who are set to film their parts over the course of 6 years. After an awkward ONS, being together in close proximity might be difficult, but they are nothing if not professionals. I loved Maria so much, she's an aspiring Swedish actress who is hoping for her big break in mainstream media, so being part of Gods of the Gates is her chance. She's super outspoken, caring and brave! There is still a lot of fatphobia in the media industry and I admired how Maria took it head on, never letting others belittle her body or decide to force her into dieting! Peter is a bit more timid when it comes to upsetting anyone on set, as he knows Gods of the Gates is his chance at a career. Nevertheless, he adores Maria and wouldn't want to see her hurt! I loved their banter and the great chemistry they had 💗

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