A woman washes up on shore of a remote island, where few people remain to preserve the world’s seed banks. In the throes of extreme climate change, a family finds themselves stranded in Shearwater when they find the body. Unable to reach the mainland, they care for until she awakens. As their lives become intertwined, she becomes a threat to the secret they’ve been harboring. Still, they must depend on each other for the last remaining weeks, before a boat brings them to safety. Will they survive the sinking island?
This novel is a thriller. Who is this woman? Why is she there? How did she hear about or find this place? Each chapter switches narratives between the characters, adding pieces of the puzzle regarding what the Salt family is hiding & what Rowan has to do with it. Between finding out who she is and their inevitable intimacy on this stranded island, relationships become complicated. As they decide how much to keep from her. Causing a friction of mutual distrust between her and the patriarch. Which is made more difficult by the mutual adoration of his motherless children. This book received a lot of hype, but does it live up to the fan fare?
Spoiler:
Charlotte McConaghy’s “Once There Were Wolves” became a favorite of mine. This book didn’t have the same caliber of storytelling. Revolving around a secret that could easily have been explained to Rowan the moment she woke up, but wasn’t, because they didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Rowan came there to find her husband, who sent three SOS emails before completely disappearing. They wouldn’t tell her where Hank was to coddle her feelings, after he cheated with a teenage girl, who he later tried to kill her. Leaving them no choice but to imprison him for everyone’s safety, until the boat came. Nothing nefarious was going on, making the entire plot anticlimactic. Unnecessary. Futile.
Rowan got the ending she deserved. She was endangering people’s lives successfully. After hearing what her husband did, she still chose to give him a chance at life. Resulting in the near death of a child. Realizing Hank would drown in the lodgings he was held in, she told a child to handle the situation. Placing guilt on him to move her husband, who in turn left the child to die after being rescued. The fuck is wrong with her?
She’s also the reason the fisherman who got her there, Yen, died. Same with her baby brother, River. Thirteen is old enough to know you need to keep an eye on a child in the water. Like her husband, Rowan is a villain. She also almost had the kids risk their lives in the tumultuous ocean to get a radio from the sea, in hopes of contacting the mainland. Poor decision making. She needed to die before she harmed anyone else, tbh. Didn’t shed a tear. Via: Time
