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A review by cala_p
Unseen Messages by Pepper Winters
4.0
3.5 stars
While reading, I was nitpicking a lot of things, but when I finished it I sat back and evaluated the entire book, and as a whole, it's not bad. Overall, I did like it, but it's definitely not a favorite. I'm also not sorry for reading it. Would I reread it? Maybe in the far future when I forgot all the details.
The story starts with two strangers and a family banding together to hire an outside pilot after the airline refuses to fly out due to the storm. They succeed in their mission of flying but unfortunately don't make the crash they have thanks to the storm. The living still consists of the two strangers, Estelle and Galloway, and the two children, Connor and Pippa. The pilot and their parents don't make it. Two kids and two adults make it on this island for years together, eventually becoming a family and creating a new member.
First their motives for flying were off. The family at the top of that list! The reason they were willing to pay extra just to fly out was just to start their vacation early. I didn't find that a good reason at all. When the airline shut down, they were nice, giving everyone paid taxis and hotel rooms with breakfast for the night before flying tomorrow. If I was on a vacation, yeah that may suck compared to arriving in the final destination when I was supposed to, but you can't help storms. in the end, the airline was doing it to be safe. Not like the hotel came from their own money. It just seemed weird. They all claimed that there's no point when the storm died down, but considering they didn't even check online or a news channel for the weather, I'd go with the airline. Guess they were right considering they crashed due to the storm later. And then Estelle's reason She just wanted a extra spontaneous vacation, yet earlier she was so excited to go home. Galloway had the only decent reason: a job he would lose if he didn't arrive on time. Although, if he called the company I would like to think they would be understanding of it since you can't help Mother Nature. I suppose this was the author's way of getting the two together on an island, while adding the drama of two sibling orphans. I just wish it happened in another way.
Estelle and Galloway's romance was cute. And here I'll compare to another survival romance I read recently: Withering Hope. They were acquainted by name, but all in all strangers. No difference than Estelle and Galloway. Only for Estelle and Galloway, they started based on lust. And yes, i'll give it that most relationships happen based on initial appearance, and that's fine. Withering Hope: the characters were attracted to each other sure, but that wasn't the main reason they fell in love. It was more of a side thing. For these two, their romance was all lust at first and overtime they fell in love with each other's qualities. Maybe it was the way it was written but I didn't like how it seemed so driven by appearance and attraction to one another. The good thing is they didn't have sex till 50% in! The bad thing is (but also good) is that the reason is ONLY because of lack of protection and they didn't want a child. Good that the book didn't rush it. Bad that it would have happened if not for that small detail. Which by the way (spoiler) didn't work. and they had a child.
I liked that the book spanned over years and not just months or weeks. I think it really gave all the relationships, not just Estelle's and Galloway's a chance to grow. The children became theirs and it was all very heartwarming actually. At first I didn't like that the author added kids in the mix, but as it went on, I think that was a perfect detail. It really created them to all be a family. And then I cried in the second half when that one person dies.
I liked the ending, that they went back. I mean, after 4 years, civilization would suck. And they have a good system now. He basically built them a functioning house, and now has transportation on and off. What I didn't like was that the remaining child didn't live with them. I get it. Go back to grandma, the only family left. And for a child, that island is a sign of losing parents and then later a sibling. It's traumatizing. But I just wanted a happy ever after where the kid was with them. They became a family and I was sad it broke up, despite the yearly visits.
The major thing I noticed throughout was that I found their voices to be similar. When a book is written in dual POV the point is to have chapters from both character's thinking. With this one, I found it slightly hard to differentiate. If they were not titled for which character it was being told in, I would not have been able to tell the difference.
Besides the voices, the writing isn't too bad, but (and maybe this is just being nitpicky) I found a lot of one sentence paragraphs. One liners is nice for emphasis, but there's no emphasis when everything is its own new paragraph. Some of those sentences could have definitely been grouped together.
All in all, not bad. Things here and there bothered me but it was a long, entertaining read. I was never bored through it, so that's something at least. I will suggest it to people, but I will also say, for me personally, I didn't think it was amazing.
While reading, I was nitpicking a lot of things, but when I finished it I sat back and evaluated the entire book, and as a whole, it's not bad. Overall, I did like it, but it's definitely not a favorite. I'm also not sorry for reading it. Would I reread it? Maybe in the far future when I forgot all the details.
The story starts with two strangers and a family banding together to hire an outside pilot after the airline refuses to fly out due to the storm. They succeed in their mission of flying but unfortunately don't make the crash they have thanks to the storm. The living still consists of the two strangers, Estelle and Galloway, and the two children, Connor and Pippa. The pilot and their parents don't make it. Two kids and two adults make it on this island for years together, eventually becoming a family and creating a new member.
First their motives for flying were off. The family at the top of that list! The reason they were willing to pay extra just to fly out was just to start their vacation early. I didn't find that a good reason at all. When the airline shut down, they were nice, giving everyone paid taxis and hotel rooms with breakfast for the night before flying tomorrow. If I was on a vacation, yeah that may suck compared to arriving in the final destination when I was supposed to, but you can't help storms. in the end, the airline was doing it to be safe. Not like the hotel came from their own money. It just seemed weird. They all claimed that there's no point when the storm died down, but considering they didn't even check online or a news channel for the weather, I'd go with the airline. Guess they were right considering they crashed due to the storm later. And then Estelle's reason She just wanted a extra spontaneous vacation, yet earlier she was so excited to go home. Galloway had the only decent reason: a job he would lose if he didn't arrive on time. Although, if he called the company I would like to think they would be understanding of it since you can't help Mother Nature. I suppose this was the author's way of getting the two together on an island, while adding the drama of two sibling orphans. I just wish it happened in another way.
Estelle and Galloway's romance was cute. And here I'll compare to another survival romance I read recently: Withering Hope. They were acquainted by name, but all in all strangers. No difference than Estelle and Galloway. Only for Estelle and Galloway, they started based on lust. And yes, i'll give it that most relationships happen based on initial appearance, and that's fine. Withering Hope: the characters were attracted to each other sure, but that wasn't the main reason they fell in love. It was more of a side thing. For these two, their romance was all lust at first and overtime they fell in love with each other's qualities. Maybe it was the way it was written but I didn't like how it seemed so driven by appearance and attraction to one another. The good thing is they didn't have sex till 50% in! The bad thing is (but also good) is that the reason is ONLY because of lack of protection and they didn't want a child. Good that the book didn't rush it. Bad that it would have happened if not for that small detail. Which by the way (spoiler) didn't work. and they had a child.
I liked that the book spanned over years and not just months or weeks. I think it really gave all the relationships, not just Estelle's and Galloway's a chance to grow. The children became theirs and it was all very heartwarming actually. At first I didn't like that the author added kids in the mix, but as it went on, I think that was a perfect detail. It really created them to all be a family. And then I cried in the second half when that one person dies.
I liked the ending, that they went back. I mean, after 4 years, civilization would suck. And they have a good system now. He basically built them a functioning house, and now has transportation on and off. What I didn't like was that the remaining child didn't live with them. I get it. Go back to grandma, the only family left. And for a child, that island is a sign of losing parents and then later a sibling. It's traumatizing. But I just wanted a happy ever after where the kid was with them. They became a family and I was sad it broke up, despite the yearly visits.
The major thing I noticed throughout was that I found their voices to be similar. When a book is written in dual POV the point is to have chapters from both character's thinking. With this one, I found it slightly hard to differentiate. If they were not titled for which character it was being told in, I would not have been able to tell the difference.
Besides the voices, the writing isn't too bad, but (and maybe this is just being nitpicky) I found a lot of one sentence paragraphs. One liners is nice for emphasis, but there's no emphasis when everything is its own new paragraph. Some of those sentences could have definitely been grouped together.
All in all, not bad. Things here and there bothered me but it was a long, entertaining read. I was never bored through it, so that's something at least. I will suggest it to people, but I will also say, for me personally, I didn't think it was amazing.