GJ's Review of Olivia Dade's Ship Wrecked

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon publishing for giving me a copy of Ship Wrecked! This review is my own thoughts and opinions

Wow, this really snuck up on me. It feels a bit strange to say this as this is the third book in this series, especially one that I'm already a huge fan of (And pre-ordered) but the deft character work Dade does in this book is just outstanding to me.

Maria is amazing, fat and strong, confident and smart, just ICONIC. I want her to be my life coach. Peter, on the other hand.. It took me a while to love Peter compared to the insta-love I had for Maria. He's a quiet, awkward man and proud moments. He's also so desperate for this particular role in Gods of the Gates (The Game of Thrones-eque show that's a massive garbage fire) that he essentially abandons Maria a few times. Still, slowly, he redeems himself and I fell in love with him along with Maria. 

What was interesting to me is how despite spending as much time with these characters, they still played things close to the chest  Peter is a quiet person but Maria is seemingly an open book (She regularly talks about how she doesn't understand prudish Americans because EVERYONE HAS NIPPLES, YOU GUYS! Stop being weird about it!)  As a writer myself, I'm pretty observant about character motivations and I'm not often surprised by curveballs but ugh, this got me good. Dade handles these characters with such skill that I felt like I knew them. Only to be slammed by particular sentences and revelations about them. After finishing the book, I spent the next day analyzing certain scenes with new eyes and it's just so good!

And the humor! I loved the "pet-names" our pair called each other and the island shenanigans (DOLPHY MCBLOWHOLE!!) The parts with the other Gods of the Gates cast (Including my sweet boy Marcus and beloved chaos Demon Alex) was a blast. I'm actually tempted to reread the series now that I know what all happening behind the scenes.

That said, this isn't the slam dunk Spoiler Alert was for me. I'm not big on slow burn (6 YEARS OF YEARNING, Y'ALL!!) and the time jumps were a little weird to me but those are absolutely a me thing rather than the fault of the book.

In conclusion, this might not be my favorite of the series but wow, this might be her best work yet.. I can't wait to read more from her.

TW: Off screen death of parent(s), fatphobia, misogyny,