A review by steca2
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

I didn’t love how much explaining there was (very much a tell not show kind of book) and it was sometimes confusing for pacing, but not horrible. Honestly this was a solid 4 star read up until the third act breakup. I loved Peter (who doesn’t love a burly introvert?) and Maria’s outspoken body positivity was  refreshing.

Maria’s traumatic childhood clearly lead to a strong fear of abandonment and her freak out/the breakup made sense from HER POV…. but from Peter? It felt like the author completely forgot about the stubborn man he was for the first 50% of the book! He was so quick to blame himself and give up everything for her and there was no accountability for her on her significant part of the conflict. It made me not like Maria, and I had really liked her up until then! I wonder if a different writer took the helm if they could have explored the complexities of their conflicting trauma responses…

all in all, a fun read though!  Got me out of a significant reading slump so I’m happy about that — prob won’t recommend it to others though bc of my issues with the last 15% of the book.