Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Saltwater is an interesting novel for several reasons. The prose is constructed with true lyrical intent, the first person narrative reads less like a book and more so like the inner most thoughts of the mind. Andrews has an incredible talent for designing scenery and taking us through the hardships and the wants of the main character Lucy, as she strives for a normal life

Saltwater has an interesting non linear narrative and this playing around with time is reminiscent of the way memory works, which I enjoyed. Jessica Andrews skilfully tells Lucy’s coming of age story in a unique and moving way. There was much to admire in this book and I look forward to her next novel.

loved this book - would 100% recommend and am looking forward to reading what this author writes next!

This wasn't for me. I tried to start it multiple times and found that it was a real struggle to make any progress in the book. The premise was interesting and i appreciated what Jessica Andrews was trying to do but this book wasn't for me.

To mine the internal conflicts particular to a person’s coming of age for material isn’t new. From J D Salinger to Sally Rooney, it’s a subject matter that has attracted novel writers for decades. Jessica Andrews may follow suit, but that’s where the comparisons end. Her voice is truly new, so clearly breathing new life into a relatively old theme.

The fragmentation caused by the short chapters can feel a little off-putting, and the intensity of Lucy’s thoughts could ideally be broken up with a focus on the other characters. Overall, this hugely original take on a standard trope is an intriguing glimpse into an exciting new voice.

I really enjoyed Saltwater by Jessica Andrews. I kept seeing the cover and knowing that it was waiting in my kindle library, it still took me far too long to get round to reading it.
I admit, I didn’t know much about the story before I started it but something in it made me want to read it.

It’s a non linear narrative told in the first person, in short chapters which feel like flashes of insight. It felt like reading under a tree where the sunlight winks through the leaves, revealing more of the story each time.

Lucy, the protagonist, chafes with ‘real life’ – a standard Mum and Dad, a straightforward family situation. Luckily she doesn’t have that, with a free spirited Mum and an alcoholic Dad. But in the same way, she is desperate to be in a ‘normal’ family where her Mum shows her affection appropriate to a mother-daughter relationship and a Dad who can show her affection. I might be projecting slightly.

So while it took me ages to get into it and read, the last half sprinted by as the writing pattern clicked in with me. Jessica Andrew’s writing is really beautiful – she describes surroundings and feelings perfectly, especially when she’s talking about her mind and her body are disjointed, she feels like she’s living in her head. I didn’t know anyone else has felt like that, and I haven’t been able to explain it either.

I will definitely be interested in her next writing, and will be looking out for it. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read it!

A story of maturing relationships - in purple prose.
There are lots of examples of emotionally expressive words and phrases. Some are imaginative, such as 'memories like blisters under the skin' but there are lots of cloying and mawkish ones like being 'soft like syrup'. The level of sensitivity reflects a young girl as she grows up, leaves her northern English hometown and goes to university in London.

The chapters are disjointed and short, a few being little more than a couple of paragraphs, perhaps an indication of the process of snatched memory. Or maybe an attempt at the poetic novel. The time hop combined with different locations (Sunderland, London and Ireland) and the occasional nameless man, keeps the reader on their toes.

The relationships theme starts at the beginning - birth - 'I am wet and glistening like a beetroot pulsating in oil' and chronicles how mother and child separate from then on. There is a deaf brother, an estranged alcoholic father and a 'silver' grandmother as well as sexist colleagues and new experiences with boyfriends. None of the characters are drawn deep, rather their interactions with the girl as she sees them.

The strain of poetry is too obvious although fairly original. The story of a girl growing up without anything significant happening is treading a familiar path without anything new to offer.

#NetGalley #Saltwater

I found the writing in Saltwater to be lyrical and well-crafted, but it was a rather more vague story than what I had been hoping for. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy short novels which verge on prose poetry, such as The End We Start From.

This reads like a journal.
It's supposed to be refreshing and all that. But think - how many people (and how many have already written about it) have moved when young, or established themselves in a new city, or experienced sexuality for the first time, or felt out of place...need I go on?

I think I expected something else from this book (but that is/was my personal problem).

This will speak greatly to teenagers struggling with similar issues and is a very recommended reading for that. It's honest and genuine and quite entertaining, regardless of her hurdles.

I received this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Most count Sally Rooney as the voice of my generation but, at least in my mind, I think Jessica Andrews more easily adopts the millennial crown in this truly stellar debut novel. In Saltwater, she manages to effortlessly and evocatively give voice to the messiness, confusion and sometimes absolute chaos, of our teenage and early young adult years.
Each short chapter becomes almost something like a memory-fragment; flitted through rapidly and with no sense of coming to even the slightest of pauses. Whereby, turning the buzzing, overstimulated mind into a thing that the protagonist is trying to hopelessly outrun; but from rural Sunderland, to busy London, to finally peaceful Donegal, her memories, fears, hopes, dreams, constant anxieties remain. The outward stimuli recedes, but the internal questioning remains.
Far too often, millennials are looked-down upon for their tendency for excess but, in Saltwater, Jessica Andrews shows that is just an inevitability in their patterns to err on the side of too-much: too much stress, desire, chaos, anxiety… Too much telling us that, to be successful and happy in this world, you need to be too much.
Andrews expertly focuses on issues that have near-universally plagued us all at one point or another (the desire to carve out our own place in the world, to fit in, for our lives to start and be something bigger than what we are) and, through the vivid and precise detail in every single part of this lucid, raw novel, it is easy to find oneself in its pages.

Lucy, the main character, doesn’t know who she is, she's constantly striving to fit in, to be seen; the struggles of finding one's self and become an adult are the main themes of Andrew's "Saltwater". However, the writing is dangerously close to being perceived as wax poetry, whilst the non-chronological manner the novel is written in does not work all that well.

A lovely written coming of age story about growing up and finding your place in your world. Contains beautiful contrast of the bustling city of London and the wild countryside in Ireland as the backdrop to Lucy's struggle to accept that she no longer fits with her working-class background.

I really enjoyed this book - it felt very real and was brilliantly written to be able to bring you into Lucy’s emotional coming of age turmoil. I was hoping there would be a bit more of a twist or a reckoning, but I’ll definitely be looking out for another by the same author.

Saltwater is a coming of age novel following Lucy after she has moved to Ireland after her grandads death. 
It floats in between past and present following Lucy through her childhood in Sunderland and later in adulthood moving to London.

The writing is stunning, told in a poetic vignette style which works effortlessly with the plot. The way in which Andrews deals with topics like alcoholism and family dynamics are handled extremely well.

I absolutely flew through this novel and it’s made its way not only as one of my favourite reads of this year but one of my all time favourite reads.
Sometimes a book feels like it’s just made for you and this is one of those stories!
I’ve defiantly got a soft spot for this book as a lot of the story takes place in the North East and references places where I live and visit often.

*I received a free copy of Saltwater from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, however I have also purchased a physical copy of the novel.*

I need to preface this by saying I didn’t finish this book. I tried, I struggled but I really did not enjoy it. This should be taken into account when reading this review but as my issue is more with format and style, it shouldn’t skew my overall review.

Lucy doesn’t know who she is. Constantly striving to fit in, to be seen. Saltwater is somewhat of a fresh take on the regurgitated/overplayed story of a girl struggling to become an adult and to find her herself.

Written in a non-chronological manner and extremely short chapters. The book jumps forward and back with no context or format. Some chapters consist of only a couple of sentences, usually sharing a nonsensical errant thought and then it’s back to it.

This structure is the what makes the book different from other coming of edge stories but other than that you’ve read the story at some point before.

The writing is dangerously close to being wax poetic. “smuggling secrets in her eyes through the smoke.” “I am wet and glistening like a beetroot pulsing in soil”. When you try this hard to be profound, it comes across less lyrical and more obnoxious.

I’m sorry to say I really didn’t like this book. I tried but I had to add it to my DNF list.

1/5 stars.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for providing an e-ARC for me to read in exchange for an honest review.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

An excellent portrayal of a young woman growing up. Taking place in Ireland, Sunderland and London, we follow as Lucy struggles with her changing life, family and class struggle.

Saltwater by Jessica Andrews is a coming of age novel about Lucy, a young woman who has fled her life in London to live in her recently deceased Grandfather’s cottage in Donegal, Ireland. Originally from Sunderland, Lucy is brought up by a mother distracted by an alcoholic and depressed husband and a young son who is hearing impaired. Lucy is bright and works hard to achieve her place at University leaving behind an upbringing that has been at times very difficult.

Written in a stream of consciousness style this book examines Lucy’s life now and her life growing up. This style of writing seems to be de rigeur, most notably in Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends and Normal People. I know it is unfair to compare, but the narrative style is so similar in some respects that I found it difficult not to mentally refer to Rooney.

Saltwater features a poetic, rambling and non-linear narrative with some chapters consisting of only a line or two. For the most part it works but there were times when I felt the structure overtook the plot and it became a little frustrating. There are references to ‘she’, ‘he’ and ‘the man’ with Lucy using her internal to monologue to sort through long held thoughts and feelings which are perhaps the most poetic aspects of the book.

There are some beautiful and lyrical pieces of writing which frequently made me pause and absorb. Observations of the role of women, the relationship between mothers and daughters and female friendship are laid bare in stunning prose. I particularly enjoyed Lucy’s growth from child, to young woman, to grown up. Her awkwardness when she realises that

My body is the wrong kind of body. I have full breasts and a small waist and grown men stop and stare in the street. At first it is thrilling when boys from school touch my bum on the stairs but soon it turns sour. I want it and I do not want it.

was a real sucker punch moment. I think most women can identify with those kinds of feelings of that moment when you are ‘seen’ for the first time. It is a powerful, heady, dangerous and thrilling feeling which Jessica Andrews encapsulates perfectly.

The moments where I could relate really affected me. I felt the words deeply but then, there were other instances which felt distant. Much of the book is set in Sunderland which is about 30 minutes away from me but it felt like an unrecognisable place. The Sunderland in this book is one which would give Victorian London a run for its money. The North East gets a bad rep and I’m not sure Saltwater did much to dispel the myth that we all have flat caps, whippets and live hand to mouth. I was disappointed with the depiction and recognise that I may be too close to the location and therefore unable to read objectively but at times, to me, it read like poverty porn.

I’m unsure how much of the book is autobiographical (if any), but it does feel like very personal writing. It is an intimate and evocative read which I think many people will love. I ‘enjoyed’ it; the writing is wonderful, the depiction of a family at breaking point is emotional and heart breaking and Lucy is one of those characters who will stay with me for a long time. It’s just, I’m not sure if I liked it very much. Perhaps it was the descriptions of the North East or that some of the coming of age references were slightly off kilter as I am older than the protagonist and author. I did enjoy the reference to Goth Green in Newcastle, or Mosher Square as it was called in my day, but overall I was left feeling a bit ‘meh’.