The first love might be her last.
In her wildest dreams, Ophelia Montague never imagined she would leave the city, her friends, her school and move to a seaside village. But when her parents die in an accident, that’s just where she finds herself – ensconced in a rambling house on the beach, with her uncle Sebastian, his boarder – nineteen-year-old Adam Ferrier, and two Great Dane dogs named after shipwrecks. By the ocean's edge she meets Jack Denham who seems to command the sea and the moon—and if he has his way—Ophelia, too.
*Generously received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
*This work will have a sequel: Ophelia Aground*
*This review does contain spoilers. Please read at your own discretion*
(Disclaimer: I, as a reader, have to remind myself that Ophelia is about 16/17 in this work, so thoughts in terms of formations of friendships and relationships are different then that of an adult. I will try my best to keep her age in mind during my review.)
This book contained many things that were a turn off for me, but it still held enough qualities that I liked for me to not completely hate it and finish the book.
One of the big quirks with books and I've stated it before and I will state it again, is rushed romance! Everyone loves a slow to burn romance. The heat leading up. The foreplay! The reader wants to get to know the couple and wants the couple to get to know each other. We, as the reader, need to connect to the couple, just like the couple needs to connect with each other. It is a loss to the reader and the book when the opportunity and time isn't given to have a fair chance at a good romance.
Because of the lack of buildup to the relationship and the time for Ophelia and Jack to get to know each other - the romance read unbelievable, at times creepy, and weird.
After the death of her parents, Ophelia Montague, is forced to abandon her previous life and move to a small town along the sea with her uncle, Sebastian. Here she becomes acquainted with a new school, new friends, and a mysterious history of shipwrecks. She is quickly welcomed at the school, by her new "brother" Adam, and it seems almost everyone and everything. It seems like everyone immediately liked her without really knowing anything about her and every guy around her was interested in her.
The house shared by Ophelia, Sebastian, and the tenant/"brother", Adam, played an unnecessary role in the work, in my opinion . With the location and history of the house, there was potential for this setting, but it lacked any sort of buildup beyond what was told and not shown. The house is beach front, so it really is an ideal setting, but the scenarios were too forced. The house would make noises and everyone would just respond or talk to the house. It seemed like the characters had to communicate with the house for the reader to be reminded that the house is supposed to be "alive."
There's multiple perspectives between Ophelia, Jack, Harry, Adam, and Holly. Each point of view also features Chayse, Peggy, and Uncle Seb would pop-up every now and then to reinforce that Ophelia was supposed to have a guardian. The multiple perspectives between Ophelia's friends did not really provide too much to the stories. They were more like point of views to remind the reader that everyone likes Ophelia and worries about her. Well - I guess that it does demonstrate to the reader that Ophelia's behavior is strange even to her peers, but remember - she is pretty and going through some tough times!
One perspective we receive is Jack, a "boy" with an extremely possessive attraction to Ophelia. Goltz immediately has Jack tell the readers that he has been following her even before she got off the train. There was no absolute understanding of his nature and his psychotic thoughts toward Ophelia. Jack clearly describes how he is preparing his quarters for Ophelia.The reasoning behind his actions felt far too simplistic and one-dimensional. Jack wanted Ophelia, so he was going to have her. He didn't even like her talking to Adam, when she doesn't really have a choice. She lives with the guy. Jack did have some moments that were interesting. He was really good at manipulating Ophelia to keep her coming back even when she wanted nothing to do with him.
Initially Ophelia is unaware of Jack, until she starts noticing him lurking outside her house. And what does she do? She decides to venture into the middle of night to meet him. I'm sure that's what any sane person would do, right? From then on, he consumes her life. He is all she can think about. She loves him, which we don't really know why. Never mind the fact that she hardly knows him, and he's disturbingly jealous. I was kind of hoping at the end that she would go down to see his ship. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but when half of the book is about this ship in the ocean and Jack has been preparing the ship for her, well, let's see it! But the reader never does. :/
Instead, we are left with an empty feeling of "what-ifs", probably similar to how Ophelia is feeling. Alas, like I said there will be a sequel about investigating the history of Jack with more interaction with Jack. I will say that I am kind of glad that there is not a HEA. We do get tons of insta-love, but without the HEA. I think that this could be read as a stand-alone and the sequel can be read for those that really loved the story and want more of the characters, but if you feel so-so about it, then you can just read the first book and go on with your day.
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