Welcome to Litsy!

A husband decides to buy a boat and sail around the world with his wife and two small children. He‘s a bit of a jerk, and she‘s a hot mess. Throw in some storms, trouble with the boat, and a mysterious bad thing that‘s referenced in the current timeline…and you get a long winded ride to nowhere. Sometimes a dual timeline is fine, and sometimes you just want someone to get to the point. Also the last chapter is a total needle scratch.

Marriages have failure points, just like boats. . . . If you would rather not know the failure points, do not go sailing.

This was a thoughtful and thought-provoking novel. It was definitely a pick, but there were some things about it I'd have changed. The whole last section seemed disjointed and unnecessary. It was a small section, in a book that was good overall, but it left a bad taste since it came last.

More interesting than I expected it to be! I enjoyed the alternating povs and the little realistic snippets of live. Great details everywhere!

1. A few years ago I saw a boat named Shadowfax, and I don‘t think I can improve on that.
2. I‘d want all the books on my TBR! Unless it‘s about trouble on a boat trip, such as the tagged book. (Just like not reading about a plane crash while flying.)
#two4tuesday

🤣🤣🤣

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s I loved the narration, the wife‘s point of view interspersed with the husband‘s sea log. #book17

Throughout the whole book I vacillated between being terrified and wishing I could sail around the world. Michael convinces his wife Juliet to sail with their 2 children as far as they can go in a year. The descriptions of life on the open sea are amazing. Told through different timelines and the POV of Juliet and Michael. Riveting

I liked the premise, and I was definitely carried along by the story, but it didn‘t exactly all add up. It seemed to point you in one direction and then not quite go there. Is this an examination of a marriage? A political thing? A mystery maybe? A past secret rearing up to cause trouble? All seemed possible at one point or another, but no real follow through. So I guess I enjoyed it but it wasn‘t particularly satisfying.

What a great story. It completely drew me in and kept me hooked until the end. It felt both foreign (I‘ve never even been on a boat on the ocean let alone sail one) and familiar - the experiences of womanhood, motherhood, and marriage. Thanks @BarbaraBB for a great recommendation!

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2021/08/27/the-sea-wife-amity-gage/

Literary suspense slow burn.. family and martial drama, sailing and travel, and murder? Maybe?
Glad I picked this up on a whim at the airport, it fit the bill for what i needed!

Last night. So...this book was an audiobook and as I‘ve mentioned before I have trouble with fiction on audio. I was completely befuddled by this one. I felt nothing for any of the characters, wondered why the wife hung out in the closet, was this a mystery??? I feel pretty dense because I think there was a twist at the end but I‘m not sure. 😳🥴 maybe a physical copy would have been better for me.

Listening to this ocean adventure as I walk by Lake Champlain. #Vermont

This book was interesting enough for me to finish it but not interesting enough for me to highly recommend it. I liked the premise and I like the style of alternating perspectives but I didn‘t really care for the characters and the random, unnecessary political rants thrown in.

On the one hand, this kept me engaged with wondering what happened (to Michael, to Harry, to child Juliet) and I loved the descriptions of family life at sea. On the other hand, it was often bleak and there was too much technical detail about sailing and the occasional political rant seemed to come out of nowhere without adding anything to the story. For me it was just OK. Although I did love the last chapter.

"Where does a mistake begin?"
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Aside from the interesting premise, the narration of the story is what draws you in. We have the log book written by Michael and current day Juliet giving her perspective of both the times shared on the boat but also her insight into past events.
This novel touches on many themes including survival, love and marriage; the trials, the joys and how we can end up so far from where we began.

Couldn‘t put down this #audiobook. A family buys a sailboat for a year at sea. The story told from two points of view: the husband through his captains log of the journey, and the wife in hindsight.

Well, this one certainly packs a punch. If you enjoy the meandering, thoughtful narratives of literary fiction but want something to actually happen this may be for you! Dual perspectives of a married couple, Juliet and Michael while aboard (and leading up to and following) the sea vessel "Juliet". Their two young children are also aboard. Compelling. ?

‘Everyone is hard to love, if you do it for long enough.'

Michael takes his family on a year long sailing trip in the Caribbean. Half the story comes from his wife Juliet (reporting afterwards), the rest from Michael, via the log he kept during the journey. Past and present interweave and against a paradise backdrop this mainly is a pretty dark book about the depths of marriage and motherhood. It was shocking how I could relate to it at times.

That is a truth I never thought of before!

(Thanks for recommending this book to me @Cinfhen 💕)

Audiobook. I really enjoyed the narration until the last chapter; it's a back and forth with both a female and male set of voices. I'm a touch disappointed with part of the plot point and was a little annoyed at how whiney one of the characters was, but overall, I liked the story.

I‘m not sure this book will appeal to everyone, but I found the story compelling, honest and for me, somewhat relatable. Michael convinces his wife Juliette to abandon conventionality and embark on uncharted waters...literally. He sells her on the idea of traveling the seas with their two young children (ages 7 &2) for a year. He promises unknown freedoms & high sea adventures but inevitably things veer off course. #DoubleSpin

My #DoubleSpin is proving to be quite a page turner/ had to stop reading to prepare dinner but now I‘m able to sit back and enjoy the book. I‘ve been highlighting dozens of passages. This book is much deeper than I initially expected. I think you‘d like it @BarbaraBB

Woohoo!!! Starting my #DoubleSpin #KindleTBR #SeaWife so excited for a new month of #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This book was so compelling! It tells the story of a family who heads off on their boat to sail for a year, with their two young children. It‘s told half from the wife Juliet‘s perspective and half from the husband‘s ship log. There‘s so much here - marriage, love, politics, depression, abuse, parenting, and yes, sailing. The ending left me wondering a bit. And it does get dark at times. But it made me want to read more from this author.

Juliet & her husband Michael decide to sail the Caribbean for a year with their two young children. It sounds simple but this book has a surprising amount of depth about what can happen in a marriage and the complicated feelings we have with motherhood. Lots of info about sailing which can be tedious (I know nothing about sailing). The narration is also unique-told from both the husband and the wife‘s POV but it changes even between paragraphs.

This book was interesting and worth the time. I thought the story of their sailing around the Caribbean was well described but it is not a page turner. I was hoping for a little intrigue or crime. Still I enjoyed it.

A couple decides to leave normal life behind and live on a sailboat with their two young children. It does not go as planned. Great concept, but the structure of the wife telling her story interspersed with bits of the husband‘s ship diary made the book far too choppy. It missed the mark for me but I do think the cover is gorgeous.

Taking advantage of the natural sunlight to read during dinner.

Started reading it but quickly swapped to audio due to the quick, interspersed dual perspectives: Juliet‘s first person narration, after the journey, as she struggles to come to terms with the life-changing events that unfolded at sea, and Michael‘s captain‘s log, which provides a riveting, slow-motion account of these same inexorable events, a dialogue that reveals the fault lines created by personal history and political divisions.

“Sea Wife” takes a complex look at marriage and family life whilst sailing the sea around the Caribbean. The writing is beautiful at times but with themes of depression and abuse this isn‘t a particularly upbeat read. I struggled a little with the terminology but enjoyed it nonetheless. This was a strong 3 star read for me!

My full review is up on my blog now 📚

Posting from Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas! It‘s the perfect book pick! #nofilter

Pick
A marriage‘s truths are revealed at sea - the couple and their two young children embark on a months-long sailing adventure. Things, of course, go awry.
I found the political discourse weird, and wondered how a woman can suddenly be surprised after 8 or so years of marriage that her husband has unsettling political ideas.
Still, well done, and kept me turning the pages.

I'm excited about this one! 🧭⛵⚓

I needed an escape from the pandemic, politics, and protests. The Sea Wife is the story of a young family looking to escape suburbia, marriage woes, and a midlife crisis. A sailing trip helps them escape some of their frustrations, but creates different dramas and perils on the high seas.

ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Summer Reading Guide

Fantastic adventure story/mystery. A year off to sail the high-seas doesn‘t quite work out as planned for this family of four. Gripping tension makes this book quite a page turner.

My June aspirations. After not being very focused in March and April, May brought my reading mojo back. Hope it carries forward into June as I have an ambitious stack. Any favorites here?

Unique and singular, I‘ve never read a book quite like this one. So good, I loved reading about a family that risked everything to take the road less traveled. Or, maybe more aptly put, sailed uncharted waters. The way the story unfolds was pure pleasure, I loved Gaige‘s timing and pace. And the funny bits that children are bound to provide offer brevity in a story that might otherwise be unbearably dark. So good! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chores done, lovely day to sit and read 😄

Library holds! So nice to be able to walk through my library doors again. Mask, gloves and antibacterial and all 😄

Today‘s May release due out May 19th. My mom read and thoroughly enjoyed this one, especially since she‘s from the place the real family that inspired the novel is from. #MayARC

Cataloging these books this week. 📚 #librarylife

Sea Wife is a novel that centers around the theme of journeys in multiple ways. It is well written and at times this book is gut wrenching. This is the story of a couple told in a unique structure.

For my full review, please visit my blog at: https://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/04/20/sea-wife-book-review/

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an Advanced Reader‘s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

That was pretty good. I kind of thought the husband was a big ol' jerk and I'm usually not interested in reading about married couples struggling with their relationship, but this was oddly compelling for me. I loved the descriptions of the places where they traveled, and of the actual sailing experience. Not a hugely uplifting book, though.

Thank you to #knopf for the free #arc.

#theunreadshelfproject2020