Review: Rock the Boat by Beck Dorey-Stein
I have never been shy about my love for Beck Dorey-Stein’s memoir, From the Corner of the Oval. It was so compelling and read like fiction, so when I heard Beck was writing her first fictional novel, I knew I had to read it. Thank you to The Dial Press for my advanced and finished copies of Rock the Boat!
I love stories set in seaside towns. There’s always something special about them, the quaintness and quirkiness is always so charming and makes the town feel like a character itself. I liked Rock the Boat and it surprised me a lot. It’s a very character driven story, full of flashbacks and character growth.
Synopsis: When Kate Campbell’s life in Manhattan suddenly implodes, she is forced to return to Sea Point, the small town full of quirky locals, quaint bungalows, and beautiful beaches where she grew up. She knows she won’t be home for long; she’s got every intention (and a three-point plan) to win back everything she thinks she’s lost.
Meanwhile, Miles Hoffman—aka “The Prince of Sea Point”—has also returned home to prove to his mother that he’s capable of taking over the family business, and he’s promised to help his childhood best friend, Ziggy Miller, with his own financial struggles at the same time. Kate, Miles, and Ziggy converge in Sea Point as the town faces an identity crisis when a local developer tries to cash in on its potential. The summer swells, and white lies and long-buried secrets prove as corrosive as the salt air, threatening to forever erode not only the bonds between the three friends but also the landscape of the beachside community they call home.
Full of heart and humor—and laced with biting wit—Rock the Boat proves that even when you know all the back roads, there aren’t any shortcuts to growing up.
What I Liked:
The Town—Like I said, the town of Sea Point was a delight to get to know and I could see it
The Writing—Beck’s writing is out of the world. It’s lyrical, descriptive and rich.
What Didn’t Work:
The Romance—I wanted more! I know this book isn’t a Romance, but it seemed like the story was asking for the love story to be more prominent.
The Individual Character Dominated Story—This is definitely a me thing. I think I read this book at the wrong time because I just wasn’t in the mood for literary fiction. By the end, I was so invested in Miles, Kate, and Ziggy’s story, but we’d spent so much time on them individually that it felt like it wrapped up too quickly.
CW/TW: death of a parent, grief
Character Authenticity: 3.5/5 Steam Rating: N/A Overall Rating: 4/5