A review by andreasromancebooks
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade

5.0

4.75 ⭐️ Does it come as a surprise – to literally anyone– that I’m five staring an Olivia Dade’s book?

Nope - nor it should. When people ask me what kind of books I like, I often point them to 40-Love, because that’s my taste in books in a nutshell.

I’d read a couple of mixed reviews about this one, and I was admittedly a bit nervous at first, but I should’ve had faith! The thing is, I don’t believe in ‘faith’. I’ve always told people that the place where faith is in everyone else, mine’s either empty or nonexistent… and I’m not kidding. Faith implies blind trust, and that’s just not a thing I possess – and if I ever did, I certainly don’t anymore. My trust is hard heard… and Olivia Dade has it. Full stop.

I’ve read every book of hers that I can get my hands on. I’ve certainty read every book in this series – I own them now forever (or at least as long as eBooks exist) – and every single one of them has manage to overwhelm me in the most beautiful ways. They bring hope and happiness to my very cynical-yet-romantic heart and make me hopeful for beautiful, complex, imperfect, gorgeous people to be just out and about out there in the world. This book was no exception to that rule.

Peter and Maria are an absolute delight to read about. I, personally, feel like a Maria in my heart– or at least a short, brunette, dark eyed version of her who hates the gym. This character spoke to me in ways that not many do; specifically her personality, her outlook on life and what she wants in the future. Her understanding of her needs and the unwillingness to burn down her own boundaries just to please the people around her was such a breath of fresh air, and I loved how empowered she was. Even in her lowest points, she always fought to stay true to herself while protecting others as well. She was never malicious, or sought out to hurt anyone, but she wasn’t willing to let other’s hurt her or who she was. She’s chaotic goodness personified and she’s the impish angel I’ve always aspired to be.

Also, rounding up the storylines for the God of the Gates cast was exactly what I needed this week! Now I want to reread them all, get into Marcus’ story again and watch him fall head over heels in love with April, his perfect Lavinia/cyberfriend, in a crowed restaurant; or watch Alex be completely unhinged around Lauren’s zero-shit attitude, that helped both bringing him down to earth and made him feel safe as he flies away in his AO3 inspired fantasies. Which, by the way, can we talk about that? If an author makes a series based on how much real, successful people love fanfics and AO3… Sorry (not sorry), but it immediately sends said book into the 3.5 / 4 star realm for me.

The reason why I’m reticent to give this book the full 5 stars is because 1) Age gaps where the dude is 10+ years older than the heroine are so much a pet peeve of mine at this point. They are EVERYWHERE! And they kind of creep me out; and 2) The six yearlong blue balls hurt me more than they hurt them. I just wanted a measly crumb of romance, and instead we got tension for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was personally more than happy to skip and time jump through it, as I’m not the biggest fan of the slow-burn. This was a bit painful, but this level of it I could take.

Overall, this was the perfect ending for an amazingly wonderful series!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5