Rating: 4 Stars
Release Date: October 10, 2023
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Random House,The Dial Press
From the Publisher: Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.
Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout ( manifesting, wild swimming; drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).
When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?
Review: This is the first book in at least a year that has made me want to stay up until 1AM reading and I just couldn't put it down. That doesn't mean that there are zero faults with it, I just found this book to be hilarious at specific points and had enough chapter cliffhangers that I just had to keep reading.
The book was a bit predictable but honestly, that is what made it so good, sometimes you don't want the next great American novel you just want a fluffy book where the characters grow, get better and fall in love at the end.
The love interest, Finn, is a grumpy, angry man, who is so nasty to Sasha at the beginning. He judges her and mocks her for drinking kale smoothies and practicing yoga. They argue with each other, and find out they are the only residence at the hotel and are both there because of burnout at their jobs. From there they grow and learn from each other to become better versions of themselves and to work out what they really want from life.
There were definite Stars Hollow vibes with the hotel workers, you know that no one in their right mind would actually act like this in the real world but I didn't hate it. I found all of them to be highly loveable in their own right and they made me laugh out loud multiple times. My favorite character had to be Terry, the surfing guru from Sasha's childhood. He gave advice about surfing that could be applied to life in general, and maybe it was the time of night I was reading but the final scene with him had me tear up a little bit with how sweet and wholesome it was.
🌶️ Spice Meter 🌶️ : 1 out of 5 Peppers
Final Thoughts: Overall, this was a very enjoyable read, I had trouble putting it down and found it to be an enjoyable read. The Ride Is It!
TW: Toxic workplace, death of a parent (prior to start of novel)
Disclaimer:
Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House,The Dial Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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