Early review: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
by Olivia Dade
Pub date: Nov 15, 2022
This one starts out with a bang. (Insert juvenile snickering.) In the very first scene, Peter and Maria are indulging in what she thinks is going to be a one-night stand and what he’s hoping could turn into more. But she takes off before he wakes up. The next day they unexpectedly meet up again when they arrive at their auditions for the TV show Gods of the Gates. And of course they’re both cast for the roles they auditioned for. Roles that will require them to play opposite one another. As a couple. On an island. For a role on a show that’s guaranteed to run for several years. YIKES. That’s awkward.
The way this plays out wasn’t at all what I’d expected. The story is told mostly chronologically but with some jumps backward here and there. The six years Peter and Maria spend working together on the show just breeze by in the first 30% of the book. It’s only after that the romance really begins. It’s around the 60% mark when we get to learn about their personal histories. So it’s a little non-standard in its structure but I really like Olivia Dade’s writing style. I think I felt the same way when I read All The Feels. There’s something easygoing about it. It feels like listening to a friend talk. It was a pleasure to read.
This book, like the rest of Dade’s work, has excellent body image/size rep. Peter and Maria both are large people - tall, broad, and hefty. They aren’t your typical Hollywood actors. Maria, especially, is very comfortable in her skin and refuses to lose weight for her role in the TV show she stars in opposite Peter. I loved how she stood up for herself and stated unequivocally that it was her as she is or nothing. And what’s even better is that Dade writes spicy love scenes that don’t shy away from their fatness. It’s so refreshing to see fat people portrayed as sexy and desirable and deserving of the same attention and admiration non-fat people are usually afforded. This alone is worth reading Olivia Dade’s books for, I think. (Even though everything else about them is also really, really good!)
Maria is a great character. She’s brave, kind, and strong. She’s very close with her family and is willing to put her money where her mouth is when it comes to her beliefs. And Peter is the socially awkward introvert who was way too relatable for me. They both had extremely interesting and heart-rending backstories that flesh out their characters really well and believably inform their actions later in the book. I appreciated how much influence Dade allowed their traumatic childhoods to have on their adult lives. That’s not something that gets acknowledged or incorporated enough, in my opinion.
There’s so much funny stuff in this book! The ongoing Sweden vs. America conversation is hilarious. Peter and Maria provoke one another with jabs about their respective country’s features like questionable food items and socialism. There are several highly amusing appearances by cast members Marcus (from Spoiler Alert) and Alex (from All The Feels). I really enjoyed the cast’s group texts; they were delightful. Another of my favorite things in the book was all the references to AO3 and RPF. Too real. 😂
Overall, This is a very sweet love story between two really lovely characters. I love how Dade presented Peter & Maria’s difficult backstories; it was sensitively done and added a lot to the characters. It was fun getting to see the other cast mates again. Ship Wrecked can absolutely be read as a stand alone but since it overlaps chronologically with the other two books, I think it will be an especially satisfying read for those who’ve read them. (The epilogue is fantastic!)
4.5 stars out of 5
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