Book Review - Adrift by Lisa Brideau

Title: Adrift
Author: Lisa Brideau
Genre: Mystery/ Science Fiction/ Literary
Published: 2023
 
Description: Ess wakes up alone on a sailboat in the remote Pacific Northwest with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She finds a note, but it’s more warning than comfort: Start over. Don’t make yourself known. Don’t look back.
 
Ess must have answers. She sails over a turbulent ocean to a town hundreds of miles away that, she hopes, might offer insight. The chilling clues she uncovers point to a desperate attempt at erasing her former life. But why? And someone is watching her… someone who knows she must never learn her truth.
 
In Ess’s worlds, the earth is precariously balanced at a climate change tipping point, and she is perched at the edge of a choice: which life does she want? The one taken from her – and the dangerous secret that was buried – or the new one she can make for herself?
 
Review: “Adrift” is set in a nearby future, at the Canadian coast. Ess wakes up alone on a sailboat, with no memory of who she is and how she got there. She finds a note that tells her to start over, don’t make yourself known and don’t look back. Ess is out for answers to the questions of her past.
 
It is a truly horrific idea to wake up with no memory, in a strange place, where no one seems familiar, you don’t know who you are and what has happened. The start of the book is very strong. You have no idea what is going on and where the story is heading. You have no clue, just like Ess.
 
Once the story starts giving you answers, I lost a bit of interest in the story. Although it’s original, it has some sci-fi elements and environmental issues in it, I didn’t feel that invested anymore.
 
The books has excellent character building and the story is complex and well-written. But I loved the mystery at the start. I felt like we weren’t left in the dark long enough. And I didn’t really care for the sort-of romance between Ess and this guy she meets. Her friendship with Yori feels much more real.
 
I also found it kind of weird how easy she talked about her ‘amnesia’ to strangers, when the note clearly stated she shouldn’t make herself known. She doesn’t know who she can trust and who she already knows or doesn’t know. I found that strange.
 
I’m still glad I read “Adrift” because it has a very interesting premise. And it started out really good. It just didn’t keep my full attention throughout the rest of the book.
 
Rating: 3/ 5