Synopsis: When Kate’s boyfriend of 12 years takes her to breakfast only to break up with her, she’s left reeling and lost. Left without a place to live, Kate decides to return to her hometown, Sea Point, to live with her parents for the summer. While home, Kate devises a three-point plan to get her life back on track, but soon she finds purpose working at the local library and finds friendship bartending in the evenings with Miles, heir to one of the largest Sea Point businesses. And then there’s Ziggy, her childhood neighbor and close friend, who she drifted apart from. The sudden passing of Ziggy’s dad left him with a struggling business and a lot of questions.
Over the course of the summer, the three characters combat their sense of restlessness, recognizing that their thirties aren’t going as imagined. Kate reckons with the life she thinks she wants versus the life she actually wants, Ziggy must figure out how to keep his father’s legacy intact while also forging his own path, and Miles needs to figure out what he wants and how to get it because, up until now, it’s come so easy.
My thoughts: I loved Beck Dorey-Stein’s memoir, From The Corner of the Oval. Her writing was poignant, memorable, and vulnerable. When I had the chance to read Rock the Boat, her first novel, I was delighted. I am a fan of the “big life event sends the main character back to the home town she only ever wanted to leave” storyline, and this did not disappoint. While I thought I knew where this story would go, it went a slightly different direction and had layers that were insightful and fresh. Dorey-Stein’s characters felt authentic. Kate’s personality could be grating, but Dorey-Stein gives her enough empathetic traits to allow readers to root for her. The character development is paced well—each character reckoning with their respective struggles through their own timing. The plot was woven tightly but maintained messiness, which made it real.
I received an e-galley from @netgalley and @thedialpress ahead of publication.
I recommend to anyone in search of an airy summer read with depth.
Have you read this? 💛
rock the boat by beck dorey-stein
Read It Like Rory 