Review: Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Thank you to Berkley for my copy! All thoughts are my own.
Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz was one of the books I was most looking forward to this year! I love books set around water so this story about a yacht stewardess on a fancy boat seemed right up my alley. I definitely enjoyed this book and thought the portrayal of grief was VERY good and raw. I wish I hadn’t lost interest in the romance halfway through, but I do think this is a very enjoyable book and a lot of people will really like it!
Synopsis:
“For the last year, yacht stewardess Jo Walker has been attempting to complete a bucket list of thirty things she wants to accomplish by her thirtieth birthday. Jo has almost everything she's ever wanted, including a condo on the beach (though she's the youngest resident by several decades) and an exciting job (albeit below deck) that lets her travel the world.
Jo is on track until the death of her nephew turns her life upside down, and the list falls by the wayside. But when her two nieces show up unannounced with plans to stay the summer, they discover her list and insist on helping Jo finish it. Though the remaining eight items (which include running a marathon, visiting ten countries, and sleeping in a castle) seem impossible to complete in twelve weeks, Jo takes on the challenge.
When she summons the courage to complete item number five--kiss a stranger--and meets Alex Hayes, all bets are off. As her feelings for Alex intensify and Jo's inability to confront difficult emotions about her family complicates her relationships, she must learn to quit playing it safe with her heart before she loses what matters most.” —NetGalley
What I Liked:
The Concept—If you know me, I grew up sailing and absolutely love the water. I was ready for this book to feel like Below Deck meets Float Plan. It was so much more than that!
The Characters—I found Jo to be really relatable. I think we all feel like we’ve lost a lot of time in the last two years, so following someone who wanted to “achieve” small things before her 30th birthday landed HARD with me.
The Theme of Grief—I had read a review somewhere saying this book leaned more towards women’s fiction than romance and I’d have to agree. The theme of living with grief after the loss of a loved one is the central plot, with a sweet romance on the side.
What Didn’t Work:
Started off strong, dragged a little in the middle—I was totally sucked in for the first 40% of this book! Then things petered off a bit. Things moved so well at the beginning and then the middle dragged a bit for me.
Wish there had been less miscommunication—There was an instant attraction between Alex and Jo so i thought we’d get more from their budding relationship, but instead it became a lot of miscommunication which is why I think the middle dragged for me.
Content Warnings:
Grief, death of a parent, death of a child