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jessyam 's review for:
Beyond That, the Sea
by Laura Spence-Ash
Beyond That, The Sea is a nice coming of age book that feels like a warm cozy blanket to me. I was able to connect with the characters and felt like I wasn’t reading a fiction novel, but like I was reading about what actually happened to real people.
The book follows members of two families: the Gregorys and the Thompsons. At the start of WWII, the Thompsons send their daughter, Beatrix, to live with the Gregory family in Boston. Coming from London at the age of eleven, it’s a huge change, but within the five years she spends in the US, she blends in with the family perfectly. After the war, though, Beatrix heads back to London where the rest of the story is told over the course of the next 30 or so years.
The book is told from many different perspectives, but it doesn’t end up being confusing at all. I found myself enjoying seeing how everyone was thinking and what they had been up to through the years.
One of the things I didn’t like in this book, however, was the narration style. In the beginning of the book, all of the dialogue was in italics. In the next section, the dialogue was in quotations, but only for a few chapters. Then it went back to italics. It was a weird switch that I didn’t understand why for only a few chapters. Also, when the dialogue was in italics, sometimes it wasn’t clear who was talking, since it was all in one paragraph sometimes. I had to pause and come back to make sure I had the right character.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the eARC!
The book follows members of two families: the Gregorys and the Thompsons. At the start of WWII, the Thompsons send their daughter, Beatrix, to live with the Gregory family in Boston. Coming from London at the age of eleven, it’s a huge change, but within the five years she spends in the US, she blends in with the family perfectly. After the war, though, Beatrix heads back to London where the rest of the story is told over the course of the next 30 or so years.
The book is told from many different perspectives, but it doesn’t end up being confusing at all. I found myself enjoying seeing how everyone was thinking and what they had been up to through the years.
One of the things I didn’t like in this book, however, was the narration style. In the beginning of the book, all of the dialogue was in italics. In the next section, the dialogue was in quotations, but only for a few chapters. Then it went back to italics. It was a weird switch that I didn’t understand why for only a few chapters. Also, when the dialogue was in italics, sometimes it wasn’t clear who was talking, since it was all in one paragraph sometimes. I had to pause and come back to make sure I had the right character.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the eARC!