Review: Below Deck

Below Deck by Sophie Hardcastle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A powerful story that will resonate with a lot of women.

Here's the plot:
Before - Oli wakes on a boat with no memory of how she got there. It leads to a lifetime friendship and a love of being on the sea.
Then - A few years later, she takes a job on a boat with five guys which is naturally a recipe for disaster so things go badly for her.
After - Now she has to deal with the consequences.

That's just a summary of the blurb, but it's also the entire story. The novel is divided into three parts and each is richly detailed with colours and descriptions. The language is beautiful and the colours add a vivid quality to a story that's actually pretty dark.

My heart was aching for Olivia from the very beginning, so I was really glad to meet Mac straight up, who was such a loving, warm sort of character. Aside from him and Maggie, it's hard to really love anyone in this story. The rest are either jerks or kept at a distance from Oli and what she's going through.

What's she going through? Trauma.

I don't even know how to properly explain how much I loved the way this was addressed. It's not a black and white incident, and Oli has a lot of thoughts that I think many victims of assault may understand. There are layers to her feelings and it really broke my heart reading it. At the same time, I think this is a really important novel to help explain to people with no experience of sexual assault just how cloudy everything can become. It's a painful story, but necessary.

There are no great action sequences, or adventures, or even that much depth to Oli's background and life. It's mostly a snapshot of one incident, and how it ripples through her life. It's words and images and colours and feelings and is moving and lyrical and emotional. It will make you feel. I really felt this story in my soul.

I do want to talk about the ending, though.

(view spoiler)[I actually hate ambiguous endings. Or endings that I'm supposed to interpret my own way. Because my feeling is that her choosing to breathe in is actually her drowning because, hello, she's under water? But why would she do that when she's finally found a bit of closure? When she's having fun with these other women? But also the prologue talks about her dying. But also it's first person so maybe it's a spiritual death? Is that what happened? She 'died' by getting rid of her burden and now she's born again as a happy, free soul??? I'M SO CONFUSED. (hide spoiler)]

It's a lyrical novel that uses language to convey feeling and depth to a story that you need to be emotionally connected to. If you don't feel for Oli, you're gonna have a bad time. I honestly could not care less about all the boat stuff but I was so appreciative of the way her story was told. I'm rating this higher than I normally do literary fiction because of how much I connected to her story.

If you're after a fast pace, this won't be for you. If your preference is for beautiful words and themes that will have you feeling deeper emotions, this is spot on. If you've experienced trauma, this may be a tough read but it will also make you feel heard and hopefully empower you. I hope you find some meaning in it.

Honestly I'm not a hugger but this book makes me want to hug all women who have ever been through an experience like this. I feel for you, ladies. Your pain is acknowledged. You are loved.

Stay strong.

Breathe.

With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an ARC

View all my reviews