What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars**
What We Did to Survive is a YA Survival Thriller from well-loved author, Megan Lally. I’ve read both Lally’s previous works and was excited to get to this 3rd-book from her.
This story follows best friends, Hannah and Emmy, who while on vacation in Mexico take an ill-fated sailing charter, along with Emmy’s brother, Jackson, and her current love interest, Ben, a boy she met at the beach.
The charter is towards the end of their week-long vacation, and the girls only convince Emmy’s parents to let them go sailing with Ben, if her older brother, Jackson, also goes along. He’s not really jazzed about it.
Emmy and Jackson have their own history, so all-in-all it’s an uncomfortable traveling bunch to begin with. As they approach the docks it’s clear inclement weather is coming in. They’re even warned off by a captain of another boat, but Emmy and Ben insist they’re going, and all will be okay.
Against their better judgement, both Hannah and Jackson also agree to go along. We follow their journey from that moment until the very bitter end, and what a journey it is.
This was good. It’s very fast-paced and definitely kept me motivated to keep reading. The concept was fun, but I have to be honest, the character interactions were so grating and annoying for me. I would have tossed them all in the ocean if I’d been on this boat.
I had a hard time even believing that Hannah and Emmy would be friends, let alone best friends. They’re total opposites, with the only thing holding them together seeming to be their shared history.
Additionally, the whole plot is based on a series of dumb choices, which isn’t really bad in and of itself, I just had a hard time connecting with it, or understanding the characters motivations.
That would also be fine in a Survival Thriller if the Survival elements were front and center and kept me engaged. Here I felt the survival part played second fiddle to all of the absolutely OTT-interpersonal drama.
I found all the fighting and yelling so grating. It was like 96% of the character interactions. Also, there was too much ‘let’s air all our grievances’, instead of ‘let’s come up with a plan’ happening for my tastes.
I know this sounds a little doom and gloom, and I don’t mean it to be. This still kept me entertained and I did read it quickly, I just don’t feel like I had as much fun with it as I have with Lally’s previous books.
Nevertheless, I would still recommend it. The action is intense and there is a lot of action. I think if you’re just looking for a Popcorn Thriller, if you want to be glued to the pages, if you love stories set at sea; any of things, you absolutely need to check this one out.
As for me, though it’s not my favorite from Megan Lally, I’m still glad I read it and I look forward to whatever she writes next. I do love how varied her plots and scenarios have been. She has a lot of creativity and it’s anyone’s guess what she’s going to focus on next.
Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I enjoyed my time with this one.