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jennareadsbooks 's review for:
Castle of Water
by Dane Huckelbridge
This book. THIS BOOK. I really loved it. It's about Barry and Sophie, an American ex-bonds salesman from Cleveland with dreams of being a painter and a French architect on her honeymoon, who are the two survivors of a plane crash on their trip to a Polynesia. They end up stranded on a small island in the South Pacific and have to learn to survive. As the only two inhabitants of the island besides a menacing octopus they’ve dubbed Balthazar and some birds, Barry and Sophie must learn to work together if they want to live long enough to maybe someday make it home.
I saw a few reviews of this book where people said they were unsure how the felt about it until they got pretty far in the story. That was not how I felt at all. I enjoyed the writing the entire time. The omniscient narration was witty and quirky. That aspect reminded me of John Boyne in The Heart’s Invisible Furies, which I just recently finished, only this book is about a third of the length. I also loved that in this book, the author incorporated both playful foreshadowing a chapter or few paragraphs ahead of time in places along with longer glimpses into another time or life scattered throughout the book.
Another thing I really appreciated was that Barry is extremely nearsighted and has to make three pairs of contacts last, well, maybe forever? Or until he is rescued. As a nearsighted contact-wearer, I’ve semi-often wondered how I would fare in a zombie apocalypse or desert island situation if I didn’t have a spare pair. I also appreciated the realistic challenges Barry and Sophie faced, like having no access to modern medicine or a well balanced diet, weather issues, and lack of survival skills due to being normal people.
Yet another aspect of this book that I really liked were the parts that provided short bits of character development for people who were involved or reasons for why the situation unfolded the way it did, like why the pilot flew off course, who the only other two people on earth were who knew about the island (and why that meant Sophie and Barry were very much in a pickle), and why the island was populated with banana trees. As unbelievable as you would think survival on a desert island is, the author made it more reasonable by including these details.
And finally, the plot. Sophie and Barry, the island, two strangers forced to live and learn together… I don’t want to say too much here, as the gist is “stuck on a desert island and trying to survive”, but their relationship and experience on the island is a delight to read about.
The bits of humor and smart writing mixed with a captivating plot, well developed likable characters, and attention to detail really brought everything together into a five star read for me. It’s a shame that I hadn’t heard of this book until bookstagram brought it to my attention. Also, this was the only copy at Powell’s - why?! More people need to hear about this book. It’s deserving of love and attention and praise. Highly recommend!
I saw a few reviews of this book where people said they were unsure how the felt about it until they got pretty far in the story. That was not how I felt at all. I enjoyed the writing the entire time. The omniscient narration was witty and quirky. That aspect reminded me of John Boyne in The Heart’s Invisible Furies, which I just recently finished, only this book is about a third of the length. I also loved that in this book, the author incorporated both playful foreshadowing a chapter or few paragraphs ahead of time in places along with longer glimpses into another time or life scattered throughout the book.
Another thing I really appreciated was that Barry is extremely nearsighted and has to make three pairs of contacts last, well, maybe forever? Or until he is rescued. As a nearsighted contact-wearer, I’ve semi-often wondered how I would fare in a zombie apocalypse or desert island situation if I didn’t have a spare pair. I also appreciated the realistic challenges Barry and Sophie faced, like having no access to modern medicine or a well balanced diet, weather issues, and lack of survival skills due to being normal people.
Yet another aspect of this book that I really liked were the parts that provided short bits of character development for people who were involved or reasons for why the situation unfolded the way it did, like why the pilot flew off course, who the only other two people on earth were who knew about the island (and why that meant Sophie and Barry were very much in a pickle), and why the island was populated with banana trees. As unbelievable as you would think survival on a desert island is, the author made it more reasonable by including these details.
And finally, the plot. Sophie and Barry, the island, two strangers forced to live and learn together… I don’t want to say too much here, as the gist is “stuck on a desert island and trying to survive”, but their relationship and experience on the island is a delight to read about.
The bits of humor and smart writing mixed with a captivating plot, well developed likable characters, and attention to detail really brought everything together into a five star read for me. It’s a shame that I hadn’t heard of this book until bookstagram brought it to my attention. Also, this was the only copy at Powell’s - why?! More people need to hear about this book. It’s deserving of love and attention and praise. Highly recommend!