THE LAST TRUE POETS OF THE SEA (2019)

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Taking my own advice, I decided to read several young adult novels. My choices were Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart and The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake. See May 21, 2019 entry). I should point out that both books won't be available until October 1, 2019.

FIRST LINE: "Fun fact: my great-great-great-grandmother was the lone survivor of a shipwreck."

THE STORY: Drawing comparisons to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Violet has been banished to Lyric, Maine for the summer after her brother Sam attempts suicide and is placed in a treatment center.

There Vi meets Orion (Orsino) and Liv (Olivia), who seem to be perfectly suited to each other. She is fascinated by both of them.

As children, Vi and Sam spent hours planning how they would find the shipwreck someday. Their ancestor Fidelia founded Lyric, Maine.  Now the goal becomes an obsession for Vi. 

WHAT I THOUGHT: In general, I do not often read Young Adult books, but this one came highly recommended. In other reviews no one mentioned the complicated language. How the young people communicated was foreign to me and there were many words with which I was not familiar. Abstract and clever, I still found it difficult to follow.

Obviously the world has changed since I was a teen. Some of the content was unexpected: the discussion of specific sex acts, bi-sexuality, depression, and mental illness. Obviously young people today need to be able to relate to the new world they must navigate.

I enjoyed the theatrical aspects, the search for the shipwreck, and the details about the Lyric Aquarium. I wish I had liked the book better.

BOTTOM LINE: Sometimes choppy, sometimes poetic, I guess I would recommend reading this book before sharing it with someone you love. You'll want to be able to discuss how it affects them and you.

Disclaimer: A copy of The Last True Poets of the Sea was provided to me by Hyperion Press/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher:  Disney-Hyperion (October 1, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1368048080
ISBN-13: 978-1368048088

Julia Drake grew up outside Philadelphia. As a teenager, she played some of Shakespeare's best heroines in her high school theater program, and their stories would stay with her forever. She received her BA in Spanish from Williams College, and her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, where she also taught writing to first-year students. She currently works as a book coach for aspiring writers and teaches creative writing classes for Writopia, a nonprofit that fosters love of writing in young adults. She lives in San Francisco with her partner and their rescue rabbit, Ned. (From Amazon)