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A review by justinkhchen
Rocking the Boat by C. Koehler
2.0
2 stars
C Koehler is evidently knowledgeable, and passionate about college rowing. and scenes surrounding the training and competition are easily the best aspect of Rocking the Boat. It is also a setting rarely used in a M/M romance, and one can't deny, from a shallow, aesthetic-driven perspective, it is a rather ripe choice to conjure up some steamy, sexy time.
While Rocking the Boat. delivers on the sex, it falters quite a bit on its story and character development. The crux of the novella relies on a character decision so absurd and illogical (having you best friend fake dating your crush to alleviate him from your mind), that the remaining narrative never fully recover from it. It depreciates the protagonist Nick, who has been written a little too naive, leaning into incredibly dumb territory (yes, going out in public with a boyfriend means the potential of being spotted, that shouldn't come as a sudden realization). The story is also quite constrained in its scope, with setting/scenario narrowly focused on rowing and relationship gossip, characters don't read like well-rounded adult individuals, but emotionally-obsessed teens where a phone call or text ruins one's life forever. Being melodramatic and angst is a valid stylistic choice, but when it is paired with the almost documentary style precision of the rowing portion, the clash between realism and comic book characters ended up subtracting the impact on both ends.
Lastly, seeing this was originally written in 2011, some of the word choice may seems problematic under today's climate; when characters are emotionally vulnerable, they are often described with phrases like "being like a girl" or "acting girly"—which on repeating occurrence, starts to sound extremely sexist. Hope this is something can be revisited prior to the re-release.
Rocking the Boat does have some highlights, but they are being dragged down by questionable plot choice and dated writing style. In it's current state, it reads a little more like a personal fantasy, rather than a fully fleshed-out publication.
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
C Koehler is evidently knowledgeable, and passionate about college rowing. and scenes surrounding the training and competition are easily the best aspect of Rocking the Boat. It is also a setting rarely used in a M/M romance, and one can't deny, from a shallow, aesthetic-driven perspective, it is a rather ripe choice to conjure up some steamy, sexy time.
While Rocking the Boat. delivers on the sex, it falters quite a bit on its story and character development. The crux of the novella relies on a character decision so absurd and illogical (having you best friend fake dating your crush to alleviate him from your mind), that the remaining narrative never fully recover from it. It depreciates the protagonist Nick, who has been written a little too naive, leaning into incredibly dumb territory (yes, going out in public with a boyfriend means the potential of being spotted, that shouldn't come as a sudden realization). The story is also quite constrained in its scope, with setting/scenario narrowly focused on rowing and relationship gossip, characters don't read like well-rounded adult individuals, but emotionally-obsessed teens where a phone call or text ruins one's life forever. Being melodramatic and angst is a valid stylistic choice, but when it is paired with the almost documentary style precision of the rowing portion, the clash between realism and comic book characters ended up subtracting the impact on both ends.
Lastly, seeing this was originally written in 2011, some of the word choice may seems problematic under today's climate; when characters are emotionally vulnerable, they are often described with phrases like "being like a girl" or "acting girly"—which on repeating occurrence, starts to sound extremely sexist. Hope this is something can be revisited prior to the re-release.
Rocking the Boat does have some highlights, but they are being dragged down by questionable plot choice and dated writing style. In it's current state, it reads a little more like a personal fantasy, rather than a fully fleshed-out publication.
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***