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A review by sarrie
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade is, what seems to be, the final book in a trilogy that follows a cast from an ‘epic fantasy tv show’ that’s totally not Game of Thrones. Ship Wrecked follows Maria and Peter over the course of 6 years as they play the part of two ship wrecked warriors on a small island. It moves through time, from their first hook-up to their brief spat as enemies on set and shows how the two become close friends and co-workers and then eventually come together in the end.
I have to be completely honest in that I really didn’t enjoy aspects of the first book in this series, Spoiler Alert. It just did not weave together for me well and frankly the main heroines unreasonable reaction to the mere mention of exercise was borderline offensive to me. However I loved the representation in All The Feels. I felt like Olivia Dade’s writing and nuance had stepped up and this one really sold that to me. By the end of this I felt the two character’s dynamics. Yes, the third act breakup resolution ‘realization’ that one character went through was a little long, but it felt genuine. I felt Olivia Dade believed the things her characters were saying and felt them deeply. She captured them beautifully.
Our characters themselves felt familiar. If you’ve read many romances or Mrs. Dade’s you’ll fall right into them. The classic Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic applies here and she does it well. Maria is vibrant and feisty - I loved the jar of herring that repeatedly appears. She was by far my favorite character in the book. Peter felt just a hair flatter than her, a fact I think withholding a lot of his backstory for the later third of the book was to blame for. But I still enjoyed him and enjoyed reading his perspective.
These two really successfully wrapped up the series overall. I do wish we’d seen some of the other cast members, perhaps Ian’s redemption (I know, possibly controversial there) or the cast’s resident Cat Lady. But overall this felt like a good ending (?) to the series. I’ll definitely continue to pick up more from Olivia Dade in the future.
I have to be completely honest in that I really didn’t enjoy aspects of the first book in this series, Spoiler Alert. It just did not weave together for me well and frankly the main heroines unreasonable reaction to the mere mention of exercise was borderline offensive to me. However I loved the representation in All The Feels. I felt like Olivia Dade’s writing and nuance had stepped up and this one really sold that to me. By the end of this I felt the two character’s dynamics. Yes, the third act breakup resolution ‘realization’ that one character went through was a little long, but it felt genuine. I felt Olivia Dade believed the things her characters were saying and felt them deeply. She captured them beautifully.
Our characters themselves felt familiar. If you’ve read many romances or Mrs. Dade’s you’ll fall right into them. The classic Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic applies here and she does it well. Maria is vibrant and feisty - I loved the jar of herring that repeatedly appears. She was by far my favorite character in the book. Peter felt just a hair flatter than her, a fact I think withholding a lot of his backstory for the later third of the book was to blame for. But I still enjoyed him and enjoyed reading his perspective.
These two really successfully wrapped up the series overall. I do wish we’d seen some of the other cast members, perhaps Ian’s redemption (I know, possibly controversial there) or the cast’s resident Cat Lady. But overall this felt like a good ending (?) to the series. I’ll definitely continue to pick up more from Olivia Dade in the future.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Mental illness