Scan barcode
A review by pagesplotsandpints
Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle
2.75
Read Completed 3/4/24 | 2.75 stars
This was kind of a weird read... First off, the cover is a little misleading. Yes, they go on a trail and fall in love. The title is misleading too because there was no fishing involved, and if there was, it occurred entirely off-page and wasn't even mentioned. It also looks like a cute summery book but these two get trapped in a snowstorm. I'm not really upset about that, but when you have a disconnect with the book, it made more of a difference that it just wasn't what I expected.
So firstly, this was a contemporary romance but it was also with very, very light mystery/suspense. That didn't really matter until the ending, though. We find out that Dahlia's sister is missing somewhere in the Colorado wilderness so Dahlia takes it upon herself to go look for her after law enforcement refuses. She enlists the help of Winston Dane, local "hermit". Okay, fine. But the ending was... a bit much for anyone who thought they were reading just a contemporary romance. The plot ended up moving towards total mystery/thriller while Dahlia is trying to save her sister and things totally go off the rails and away from romance plot vibes. It was just odd and clunky, especially since the whole middle was romance. I actually liked the connection between Dahlia and Winston (most of the time) but it was underdeveloped and the vibe kept bouncing back and forth in huge chunks at a time so it just didn't feel like it flowed well.
There were a few other odd things too. Rose, Dahlia's sister, is portrayed to be somewhat adventurous and .... I guess kind of flighty, like doing things without thinking, but she goes off on a MULTIPLE DAY HIKE by herself? That's just asking for trouble in itself. Also, I know some trails don't allow motorized vehicles, but did everyone really have to hike multiple days to get to this spot? I feel like for the sake of danger, someone could have figured out a better way to get there? There has to be a trail because you'd never be able to find something just bushwhacking your way through the woods for 3+ days, so why didn't they just break the rules and get like, a side-by-side or a motorized bicycle or SOMETHING to make it go faster? It was her sister's life at stake....
And then while they're cooped up in a tent while a blizzard happens, they decide, hey you know what's a good idea, my sister might be dead but let's hook up. Eh. I get distracting yourself or nothing else to do, but if I thought my sister might be dead out there, I don't think I'd be thinking about hooking up.
There was also a multiple page long make-up scene where Dahlia essentially gave Winston a makeover to show off her skills and highlight how make-up can enhance your face. Okay... whatever, I didn't love it (because why did she bring ALL OF HER MAKEUP into the wilderness?) but it went on for way too long and it was weird.
I also had an issue with the lack of character development. There were some big things that were just randomly dropped and barely ever talked about again, like how Dahlia & Rose came from huge money, how Winston is a famous cozy mystery author, Winston's past, we know barely anything about Dahlia's past... for as much time as we spend with these people, we don't really get to KNOW them. It's a romance -- I don't have to know everything, but it would have helped me connect a bit more.
I just didn't love the way a lot of this was written and it didn't seem to flow or make sense. I wish the author had chosen to either drop the suspense or add more in because it felt like this book didn't really know what it was and it took away from from everything.
This was kind of a weird read... First off, the cover is a little misleading. Yes, they go on a trail and fall in love. The title is misleading too because there was no fishing involved, and if there was, it occurred entirely off-page and wasn't even mentioned. It also looks like a cute summery book but these two get trapped in a snowstorm. I'm not really upset about that, but when you have a disconnect with the book, it made more of a difference that it just wasn't what I expected.
So firstly, this was a contemporary romance but it was also with very, very light mystery/suspense. That didn't really matter until the ending, though. We find out that Dahlia's sister is missing somewhere in the Colorado wilderness so Dahlia takes it upon herself to go look for her after law enforcement refuses. She enlists the help of Winston Dane, local "hermit". Okay, fine. But the ending was... a bit much for anyone who thought they were reading just a contemporary romance. The plot ended up moving towards total mystery/thriller while Dahlia is trying to save her sister and things totally go off the rails and away from romance plot vibes. It was just odd and clunky, especially since the whole middle was romance. I actually liked the connection between Dahlia and Winston (most of the time) but it was underdeveloped and the vibe kept bouncing back and forth in huge chunks at a time so it just didn't feel like it flowed well.
There were a few other odd things too. Rose, Dahlia's sister, is portrayed to be somewhat adventurous and .... I guess kind of flighty, like doing things without thinking, but she goes off on a MULTIPLE DAY HIKE by herself? That's just asking for trouble in itself. Also, I know some trails don't allow motorized vehicles, but did everyone really have to hike multiple days to get to this spot? I feel like for the sake of danger, someone could have figured out a better way to get there? There has to be a trail because you'd never be able to find something just bushwhacking your way through the woods for 3+ days, so why didn't they just break the rules and get like, a side-by-side or a motorized bicycle or SOMETHING to make it go faster? It was her sister's life at stake....
And then while they're cooped up in a tent while a blizzard happens, they decide, hey you know what's a good idea, my sister might be dead but let's hook up. Eh. I get distracting yourself or nothing else to do, but if I thought my sister might be dead out there, I don't think I'd be thinking about hooking up.
There was also a multiple page long make-up scene where Dahlia essentially gave Winston a makeover to show off her skills and highlight how make-up can enhance your face. Okay... whatever, I didn't love it (because why did she bring ALL OF HER MAKEUP into the wilderness?) but it went on for way too long and it was weird.
I also had an issue with the lack of character development. There were some big things that were just randomly dropped and barely ever talked about again, like how Dahlia & Rose came from huge money, how Winston is a famous cozy mystery author, Winston's past, we know barely anything about Dahlia's past... for as much time as we spend with these people, we don't really get to KNOW them. It's a romance -- I don't have to know everything, but it would have helped me connect a bit more.
I just didn't love the way a lot of this was written and it didn't seem to flow or make sense. I wish the author had chosen to either drop the suspense or add more in because it felt like this book didn't really know what it was and it took away from from everything.