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Comments (39)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 39 items
Oct 29, 2021johannaharlen rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Boring.
May 03, 2021Alex_198 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book. Written well and compelling. I highly recommend it.
Mar 06, 2020alleycat rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Very well done. Unreliable narrator and complex female character. Interesting philosophical situation of a too-full lifeboat, and who should stay in it versus who should jump off for the sake of others. Great book club read.
Jul 14, 2019EljayJohnson rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Two years after the Titanic, another ocean liner sinks leaving our narrator, Grace, and 38 other people left adrift in a lifeboat. Grace is telling her story after her rescue and in response to her lawyer's request that she write a diary…
Jan 27, 2019Tony_Jeffers rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This novel is set in 1914 I didn't realize this at first and had to read on before I finally understood this. The author might have stated the year from the start instead of forcing the reader to discover the year this takes place in. If…
Jun 17, 2018ArapahoeAnnaL rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The perfect combination of a psychologically suspenseful plot, believable flawed main character, and wider questions of how to behave in a world of limited resources where there is not enough for all. The first person narrative works…
May 21, 2016uncommonreader rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
This is a story of a survivor, in a lifeboat and in life generally. The appeal of the book is in the voice of the unreliable and memorable narrator.
Sep 13, 2015sloanelCPL rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
Some interesting thought experiments and invitations to explore philosophical and ethical issues, but very anti-woman and anti-feminist. I found no sympathetic characters.
Sep 06, 2015brangwinn rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Silly me. I chose to read this on a cruise ship! Actually, it didn’t frighten me. It made me think about all the people on the ship and how would the group react who was assigned to my lifeboat during the safety drill. Bringing a group of…
Jun 15, 2015stacyhiggins500 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Did nothing for me. I finished it solely because I kept expecting it to interest me eventually because it had gotten such good reviews. It felt totally flat to me, like the narrator was speaking in a monotone the whole time.
Aug 20, 2014KateHillier rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
You don't realise how much you've probably been misled until the final third or so of the book. Grace Winters, 22 year old survivor of a ship sinking and three weeks on an overcrowded lifeboat, is in jail for murder. The book takes the…
Jul 14, 2014occy rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Definitely found this novel compelling & couldn't put it down. It's written in a very simple and believable manner. Really enjoyed it.
Mar 18, 2014runfastread rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Survival of the fittest....makes you wonder what you would do if you found yourself in a situation like this....what responsibilities do we have to each other? Would anyone be blameless when it's a matter of life and death? Lots to think…
emerald2pac
Feb 17, 2014emerald2pac rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Takes you on an adventure into the human mind that you won't soon forget. Makes you question morals and beliefs and what you would truly do to survive.
AmandaVollmershausen
Nov 02, 2013AmandaVollmershausen rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I found that there were a lot of elements in this novel that were presented but not explored to their greatest potential because of other, less important plot elements. For example, the setting of the book during world war 1 was frankly…
Aug 28, 2013bkilfoy rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I’m still not sure how I feel about this book. The main narrative itself is riveting in the way that most survival narratives are. Having a sense of where the narrative is going from beginning provides a slow sense of dread as Grace…
Aug 22, 2013chanlynn rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
I only finished the book because I thought perhaps something interesting might happen, it didn't. I wasn't very interesed in the characters.
Aug 16, 2013
Fun read-- author really captured the personality of the central character, who tells the story. Would be fun for book groups because there are haunting questions at the end.
Aug 11, 2013rockylynn rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A tale of survival that takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride. The reader can't help thinking "what if that happened to me, how would I react, would I survive?" A fast, easy read, but one that leaves you thinking about your own…
cgloden
Aug 07, 2013
Soo boring! I was waiting for something more and it never came! I will never get that time back!!!
Jun 26, 2013Sneakers47 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Although the concept was interesting I found that the booked dragged in the middle.
Jun 06, 2013WVMLStaffPicks rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
In the summer of 1914, Grace is twenty-two, newly married, freshly widowed, and on trial for her life after spending 21 days adrift on the Atlantic in a lifeboat overburdened with passengers. A terrifying, morally complex story of survival…
Mar 19, 2013GooF620 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A great read. It is suspenseful. You keep getting bits of what's coming, and at the end you still can't say what the truth is. I really enjoyed the moodiness and indecency of the main character. Someone I would love to have as my…
Jane60201
Dec 28, 2012Jane60201 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What an unusual subject for a novel! At first I was kind of afraid to read it because I don't like reading about suffering. So I dipped into the end first and then went back and read the whole thing. Glad I did.
Sep 17, 2012Basileus rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Not a bad book for it's kind, but it could have been better. Told in first person narrative, it never really fleshes out the actions and reactions of the survivors on a lifeboat. The "murder" referred to in most of the book was…