As part of my New Years resolution (see this blog post) I am going to write one book review a month. Now I think about it, this is pretty handy because it should keep my ‘read one book a month, every month’ resolution on track.
I actually stumbled across this book by accident. I joined the #travelbookchat on Twitter with GirlTweetsWorld and The Travel Hack and for some reason I thought this was the book for December, so I ordered it straight away. It turned out the book club is taking a break until the new year but I decided to read the book now. I know that GirlTweetsWorld reviewed it, but I’m not going to read that review until I’ve published mine. This is my first book review so I want it to be just that, mine.
When I think about the people in life I admire most, they are typically women who undertaken a life changing adventure (of course they don’t realise this at the time), which pushes them far beyond their comfort zones, way past their breaking points, and on the other side of this struggle, they emerge renewed. I don’t want to sound too lame, but I think the caterpillar to butterfly metaphor is fitting here!
This book is full of adventure, hope, promise and excitement. It reminds you to challenge yourself, to do what scares you or pushes you because you never know who you’ll be on the other side. But it’s more than that, this book is at times, laugh out loud funny, I mean I was lying in bed, hysterically laughing, hoping no one could hear me as tears of laughter slowly leaked from my eyes, dampening my face while simultaneously lifting my spirits.
The slapstick moments described were, at times, brilliant. I can only imagine what it would have been like to actually be there witnessing the events unfold.
Not only is the (real life!) story brilliant, the way DeRoche writes is superb! (I feel like whatever word I use to describe her writing, it won’t do it justice). It’s funny, chatty, witty and pure brilliance in parts. It’s exceptional.
I don’t really know how else to describe it without repeating the words I’m already throwing out there. It’s always to the point, the story is continually being driven forward and towards the end of the book, I was on the edge of my figurative seat! I was reading faster and faster, desperate to find out what happened!
Throughout the book, I felt like I was with her. I felt like I was on the boat and I imagined being there with her, on her journey. I put this down to her exquisite writing and the descriptions she used. I could see that she was changing as I read the words. And at times, I questioned how on earth she managed this journey with severe sea sickness. It’s quite incredible really. (Particularly after my own brief, yet unpleasant, sea sickness experience).
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It has everything I personally love in a book; magical romance, an adventure, a woman finding inner strength and becoming the person she never thought she was capable of becoming.
So this was my first book review, have you read this book? Have you any recommended reads or any feedback? In the meantime, happy reading!
P.s if you are interested in an online book club, I’m joining one later this week with Emily from The Grown Up Gap Year – there’s still time to read the book!
DistractedFlick 