Hello Treasures. It’s surely been a while. I am now going to be a fourth grade teacher in a private Christian School. It’s amazing how God took care of me this summer. I want to share it but for now (because this review is due soon) I’m going to share with you my thoughts on Beyond the Tides by Liz Johnson.
When Meg Whitaker’s father decides to sell the family’s lobster-fishing business to her high school nemesis, she sets out to prove she should inherit it instead. Though she’s never had any interest in running the small fleet–or even getting on a boat due to her persistent seasickness–she can’t stand to see Oliver Ross take over. Not when he ruined her dreams for a science scholarship and an Ivy League education ten years ago.
Oliver isn’t proud of what he did back then. Angry and broken by his father walking out on his family, he lashed out at Meg–an innocent bystander. But owning a respected fishing fleet on Prince Edward Island is the opportunity of a lifetime, and he’s not about to walk away just because Meg wants him to.
Meg’s father has the perfect solution: Oliver and Meg must work the business together, and at the end of the season, he’ll decide who gets it. Along the way, they may discover that their stories are more similar than they thought . . . and their dreams aren’t what they expected.
I went into this book half unmotivated and uninspired and came out quite happy with it.
The Character
Meg and Oliver. So Meg I actually liked a bit… I usually don’t love female characters. Meg was ok. She was a distant sort of emotionally closed off character, but not to the point where it made me annoyed. Her arc in this story felt pretty realistic even if it was slightly cliche.
Her relationship with her mom and dad was so cute. The way she handled the situation felt VERY real and relatable, and from Oliver’s prompting she did something super hard but very worth it. And I loved that the author took time in the story to bring those heartfelt moments in, even if they were not perfectly important in the main plot line of the story. They drew out the heart of Meg, which I appreciated.
Oliver’s story was hard. His personality and heart was so clean cut and well portrayed but realistic too. This whole thing felt very real. Like it was happening across the states, but like it was a real account of something that happened. He seemed to be the static character in the book, not so much having a personality arc, even though his mindset and goal changed. I loved it.
And then of course, their relationship to each there was sweet and crisp and warm and complicated. Somehow I didn’t get the feeling of a tension between them, which was nice because usually with characters that come into a story hating each other there’s a tension. Meg’s hated Oliver, but Oliver had moved past it for the most part and made himself someone new. Someone worth himself and his time and work.
The Plot
This story was a romance. That was the main drive of the story. It was well written and very cute. I liked their chemistry. The crabbing business and the water and the sunrises and the salt felt so real to me I loved going out and “working” with them. The descriptions were not overboard, and yet I really got a feel for what they were going through. Oliver’s conflict and Meg’s stubborn determination was a funny angle to see them both approach the same objective.
The Content
For the most part, this book was clean. There was no language, no graphic violence (there was a scene where Oliver recalled his dad hurt his mom).
There was, however, some romantic content. In addition to two heated kisses, there was a near kiss, Oliver and Meg’s slept (together but in separate beds) on the boat to watch for a saboteur. Personally, I felt it was clean for the most part, but I would not recommend this book to anyone younger than 16 (if it were my sister, 18) simply because as I say in all my reviews, I don’t think romances should be read by younger ages.
All in all I’d say its a 4 star for me. I’ll be keeping it on my shelf for now. Thank you to Revell and the author for providing a copy of Beyond the Tides for me. A positive review was not required and all opinions were my own!
I have another review coming later this month, so I’ll see you all again soon. If you want to read preview reviews you can do that here!