2 out of 4 stars
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John is feeling a bit claustrophobic in the family business and opts to cut ties early. Leaving with his inheritance, he decides to travel the world abandoning his girlfriend Chloe. His father Adam and brother Luke aren't quite sure what to make of his behavior. Where did this decision come from? Why now? As they seek to understand John's motives, he travels to Australia trying to find himself.
Spindrift is a novel classified as romance, though I feel it would be most appropriate in other fiction. Yes, John does have a girlfriend throughout the entire novel. Yet, the plot is not about the two as a couple as you would expect to find in a book in the romance genre. The story is told from the first person perspective; Adam's father narrates the novel, but the plot really focuses on John as he does some soul-searching. Chloe only serves as a reminder of home.
The book explores a number of adult themes including past trauma and abuse. While I believe this is a subject that is important to talk about, I feel that the author could have explored the subject in greater depth. It seemed something that was more discussed in passing rather than taking a rightful place within the book's themes. While there isn't anything overly graphic, I would still not recommend this book to younger audiences.
I found the story line to be engaging. I was genuinely interested in why John would leave a company in which he had invested so much. Following John's journey of self-exploration and wondering if he'd find his way back home kept me coming back for more.
Having said that, John himself seemed to be a bit wishy-washy. He takes some actions in the book that I genuinely did not think he was capable of. The author tries to blame it on alcohol, but I still didn't buy it. In addition, I'm not sure if we ever did explore why he felt the need to change his life so completely. Most of the characters suffered from a lack of depth; even when we learned of their motivations, it was without feeling. Detached. Along the same lines, while John was in Australia, there was no way to distinguish the native speakers. John is from England, and I'm certain they do not have the same slang as would native Australians. This made the whole book feel unrealistic.
I also had a small issue with the timeline. For the most part, the author follows a linear progression through John's journey. However, there was one instance where an occurrence was split up by a chapter's worth of something completely different. Did the happenings in the middle chapter occur before or after the current timeline? It was impossible to tell. In fact, this was the very chapter in which John does something completely out of character. We are even introduced to a new person whom we never see again. Perhaps this chapter should have been cut altogether from the novel.
Sadly, the novel was also not professionally edited. I found mistakes littering just about every page. These ranged from missing spaces, to misspelled words, to run-on sentences, to errors in capitalization. There were enough that they just could not be ignored.
It's for these reasons that I rate Spindrift 2 out of 4 stars. At the end, the author states that this novel was started for Nanowrimo 2013, which I admire. I even see glimpses of brilliance within the pages. These, though, are hindered not only by grammatical issues, but also by the lack of depth in the characters and a slip up in the timeline. I would only recommend it to those who enjoy a light read and don't mind filling in a few blanks.
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Spindrift
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when I get a little money I buy books; and if I have any left l buy food and clothes
