Review: Left Drowning by Jessica Park

Title: Left Drowning
Author: Jessica Park
Published: July 16, 2013
Publisher: Skyscape
Source: Publisher via Netgalley

What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?

Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.

*This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.

Note: due to mature content recommended for Ages 17+

After reading Flat-Out Love I fell in love with Park's writing style.  Her humor in that romantic story completely won me over.  When I saw the synopsis for this one I was instantly curious to see how I would like this side of Park, which obviously was going to be very different from what I experienced last time.  After reading this, it's still hard for me to believe it's the same author that wrote Flat-Out Love, simply because of how uniquely different they are from each other.

Left Drowning started off a bit slow for me, but I later was able to see why that was.  It was basically setting the ground work for later on, as a lot of stories do.  I almost felt at the end that I should go back and re-read the beginning to get the full effect.  I still may do that.

Blythe and Chris had a bit of a strange relationship (I'll talk more about that later) that at times I had trouble following.  I did enjoy their unique personalities though, and watching them grow emotionally was great.  The group of characters known as the Shepherd family, Chris' brothers and sister,  were so much fun!  I instantly fell in love with Sabin and all of his kookiness.  He had my heart from the beginning.  The twins, Estelle and Eric, were equally awesome.  Estelle was such a spaz!  I loved her whole "Neon Jesus" painting ritual.  And the way they all kept screaming "Shitting rainbows!" was perfect too.   Eric was quiet and sensitive, and didn't really leave that big a huge impact on me... other than him being quiet and sensitive.  ;).  The group as a whole was a complete train wreck.  All of them were broken, emotionally shattered, and looking for a way back to normalcy.  This was such a thought-provoking and emotional story that at times I felt myself really taking their feels and struggles to heart.

My one complaint is kind of a big one... the whole insta-love in this book just seems almost too unrealistic.  It was bordering on obsessive and it was honestly a bit creepy.  I had a hard time accepting that part of the story.  There were a few things in the second half of the book that I wasn't a big fan of either that had to do with Blythe and Chris, but I don't want to go into those and risk a massive spoiler.  You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there yourself.  I'm happy to say though I was able to look past it and still enjoy the story regardless of their weird, for lack of a better word, relationship.

Entirely dark and tragic, Left Drowning left me reeling.  It was an emotional roller coaster and one I'm glad I decided to partake in.  After reading Jessica's two wholly different stories I'm eager to see what she comes out with next.

My reflection in the small black screen confirms my suspicion.  My already messy curls have popped out of my ponytail so there's a frizzy halo around my head, and even on my dark phone I can see the puffiness under my eyes.  I look bananas.

- loc. 104

"If you don't show up on Friday night, I'm going to gouge out my eyes with a spork so that gazillions of tears cannot fall and drown the entire campus population."

- loc. 1416

I cross my arms.  "Extra froth and no porn?"

"'Extra froth' and 'no porn' do not belong in the same sentence."

- loc. 3176

Jessica Park is the author of the young adult novels FLAT-OUT LOVE and RELATIVELY FAMOUS; five Gourmet Girl mysteries (written as Jessica Conant-Park); and the e-shorts FACEBOOKING RICK SPRINGFIELD and WHAT THE KID SAYS (Parts 1 & 2).

Jessica grew up in the Boston area and attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. After spending four years in the frigid north, including suffering through one memorable Halloween blizzard, Jessica hightailed it back to the east coast. She now lives in (relatively balmy) New Hampshire with her husband, son, bananas dog named Fritzy, and two selfish cats. When not writing, Jessica indulges her healthy addictions to Facebook, Rick Springfield, and super-sweet coffee beverages.
(Information taken from Jessica's website)


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