This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
Clem and Johnny are a young couple enjoying their honeymoon as they backpack through Turkey, earning a little money when they can and camping in their tent before moving on. They are blissfully happy, especially when they meet Annie and Frank, a couple in their 30s who are living the kind of life they aspire to. Annie, Frank and their four-year-old daughter live on a boat, sailing wherever they want to and live by their own rules. They invite Clem and Johnny to join them on the boat for a while and they set off for an adventure in paradise.
Clem and Johnny idolise their new friends, but it soon transpires they are not what they appear to be; however, by the time they realise this, the boat is in the middle of nowhere and they have no means of escape.
From the beginning of the book, even before Clem and Johnny meet Annie and Frank, we know things are not going to end well as we are given a taster of what is to come. Because of this and the blurb’s hints that all is not well on the boat, an uneasy feeling was created as I read the book, waiting for the trouble to begin. I wasn’t sure what that trouble was going to be, but the uneasiness built as the couple began their journey with Annie and Frank. When I found out what was really going on, I found it all extremely disturbing and uncomfortable to read. I was tempted to stop reading due to the subject matter, but I kept going to the end. I thought the writing was very good and certainly compelling, but the content didn’t make an enjoyable read for me. I also thought the ending was a little ambiguous and I would have liked a couple of loose ends to have been tied up.
Overall, I was impressed by the writing, but The Boat wasn’t for me.7/10