A review by ashleyvharris
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Despite bringing much-needed fat representation to the spicy romance genre, Ship Wrecked feels more like a sinking ship without life jackets.

Dade’s third book following actors from the (unfortunately) fictional “Gods of the Gates” television series, Ship Wrecked was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. So I was surprised and disappointed by the lack of coherent plot and unlikable characters.

If you like character-driven stories, this might be for you. I much prefer when my romance stories have plot beyond the romance itself. We see small conflicts pop up throughout the book, but all find resolution—if unsatisfying—fairly fast. We see a huge gap in time, but only receive short generic mentions of what our main characters got up to during that time and how they’ve each changed and grown.

There’s little in the way of ongoing conflict; the author focuses mainly on the characters internal conflicts, doubts, and past pains. I think those internal conflicts are valid and well-written, but fail to provide interesting forward movement to the story.

I might have enjoyed the character-driven story more if I had been able to connect and relate to Peter or Maria. Unfortunately, I found both to be immature and hard-headed; they also lacked chemistry on the page. At times it felt like we were expected to like them as a couple because of their similarity in size. 

Peter came off as cold, cruel, and immature from the beginning. While we learn some reasoning for why this might be and we see him grow out of those traits a bit, it never feels like he fully shakes that. 

Maria came off as stubborn, overbearing, and selfish. Unlike Peter, she doesn’t seem to change much. From her constant coddling of Peter to encourage him to be social (he’s a grown man) to her demanding that he give up career opportunities to be with to her all the time, Maria was not an appealing character for me. If there was any shred of hope, it was lost with her hypocrisy at
wanting a job that would take her out of LA for months when she left Peter for that reason
.

While I didn’t enjoy this book overall, Olivia still brought her charming writing style and messaging of inclusion, fat-positivity, and self-love to the page. Plus, the Alex Woodroe cameos alone are absolutely worth it. Here’s hoping Dade returns to form in her next one.
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