Such a fun, witty, and fast read that pulls at your heartstrings. I really liked J. Smith’s, The Unsinkable Greta James, mainly due to its ability to make make you experience the trifecta of smiling, crying and laughing all within the span of 300 pages.

I love how Smith mainly focuses on the relationship Greta has with her father all while experiencing life without her mother who passed unexpectedly, on an even more unexpected trip at sea. Though the majority of the book emphasizes parent-child relationships, Smith throws romance in as an added bonus for the reader and added clarity for Greta. I love Greta’s relationship with the amazing Ben Wilder and wish for a Ben myself, but also respect that Ben and Greta’s relationship didn’t take center stage.

There were scenes that made me laugh and scenes that made me cry (specifically, the “Greta’s Dad” and “Greta’s Mom” scenes… and the Stellar’s Sea Eagle 🥲). I toggle between 4 and 5 stars, but for now Smith earns 4 for a heartfelt read.

I loved Greta James from the minute I started this book. I could immediately envision it cinematically because the writing was so concise and specific without being overbearing. The characters were familiar, yet unique, and the storyline was captivating in its heartbreaking humor. This book made me want to call my parents immediately. I will be recommending this one to everyone I know.

This book has been garnering a lot of buzz. #theunsinkablegretajames #jenniferesmith #netgalley oh y’all. When Greta’s mom passes away unexpectedly and she’s out of the country on tour …. Her and her dad aren’t as close as they want to be/should be. She feels he wishes she was more “stable” like her brother. Married. Kids. Corporate job. But Greta and her guitar have had bigger dreams. Before her mom passed she planned a cruise to Alaska. Her brother tricks her in to going and being with her dad. This trip is about family. Tightening bonds. Grieving the loss of a mom. And so much more. You definitely want to grab this one. It’s all people are saying and more. #ballantinebooks #randomhousepublishing #bookstagrammer #netgalleyreview #readersofinstagram #familybonds #death #love

For a book that handles really heavy topics, “The Unsinkable Greta James” still manages to be a true delight 🌞

Greta James is a famous singer-songwriter who agrees to go on an Alaskan cruise with her father. Her parents had booked the cruise for their 40th wedding anniversary, but her mother died suddenly while Greta was abroad. Greta and her practical, Midwestern dad have always had a fraught relationship, and this cruise really puts it to the test. Along the way, she meets Ben, a separated dad who’s trying to figure out what he wants in life. Sparks fly, even as both Greta and Ben grapple with major life changes.

If you like books with themes of family, loss and romances with significant hurdles to overcome, you’ll love this one. I thought the writing was fantastic and that Smith really captured Midwestern stoicism with Greta’s dad.

(3.5 stars)

A singer on the cusp of the next big step in her career is forced to reset after an embarrassing incident on stage. In her week off, she must learn to connect with an emotionally distant parent and discover her love for music again if she wants to keep moving forward. Author Jennifer E. Smith’s latest book contains refreshing moments of clarity, but some scenes feel a little less developed in The Unsinkable Greta James.

Greta James has achieved her dream: she wanted to be a musician, and that’s exactly what she is. Known for her amazing guitar playing and her unique lyrics, Greta spent years honing her craft so she could reach this place. With her first album behind her and all of the excitement for her second album in the air, it would be easy to assume that Greta’s star has just begun its ascent.

That was before the video that went viral, of course. Not long after the death of her mother, Helen, Greta tries to perform at a concert and has a major breakdown. Her manager is mortified, her publicist is spending day and night doing damage control, and the record label has gotten skittish about what to do with the second album.

Greta just wants to crawl under a rock and stay there. Helen was her number one fan, traveling to her shows and holding up a homemade sign for Greta to see as she performed. The media loved her, and Greta is lost without her.

What’s worse is that her parents were supposed to spend their fortieth anniversary on a cruise. Helen and Greta’s father, Conrad, had planned a lovely vacation with two other couples for a week to the beautiful landscapes of Alaska. No one could have dreamed that Greta’s mom wouldn’t make it.

Conrad decides to go anyway, and Greta’s brother convinces her to go in Helen’s place. Greta would rather get a root canal without anesthesia, but she knows spending time with her father might help their fractured relationship. While Greta’s mom was her biggest supporter, Conrad didn’t approve of Greta’s profession. It didn’t help that her first hit single was about how they didn’t get along.

Helen was always the buffer between them, but now that she’s gone Greta and Conrad find themselves trying to figure out how to be father and daughter again. With nowhere else to go on the cruise ship, they learn that the best parts of their relationship with Helen haven’t gone anywhere. In fact, if they look hard enough, they’ll be able to see Helen there in spirit.

Author Jennifer E. Smith turns from YA novels to adult fiction in The Unsinkable Greta James, and for the most part the scenes work well. Greta shares some three-dimensional moments of clarity about her relationship with her parents and doesn’t just hate her father. When she finds herself attracted to a history professor traveling alone on the ship, Greta recognizes that this could be a one-week fling and that it might be a temporary fix for some very hard feelings.

Less satisfying are the moments between Greta and Conrad later in the book. Greta manages to make impressive emotional strides in her own mind and heart. The scenes with Conrad, by contrast, feel difficult and stilted. While this might be by design early on because of the past, at some point it feels like Greta has made more progress with her dad than he has with her. The end, then, is harder to accept given how distant Conrad has been for the majority of the novel.

The book definitely carries echoes of a YA novel with a similar texture and style, and some readers might find that some of Smith’s secondary characters approach the line of stock character rather than real people. Still, the novel is a fairly enjoyable, if mostly predictable, read all the same.

I love books that take place in vacation settings, so this book set on a cruise ship was right up my alley! I thought it was going to be a romance, but instead it is a story about grief and a woman's relationship with her father.

Greta James is a famous musician who suffers a career setback after the death of her mother. Just months after her mother's death, Greta embarks on a forced cruise vacation with her father. Greta and her father have never had a great relationship, but now that Greta's mother is gone, they may need each other now more than ever.

This was a sweet story, and I really enjoyed it. The characters were real and their struggles, especially the struggles between Greta and her father, felt genuine. There's a little bit of romance thrown in, but mainly I would describe this as a family drama and a book about coping with grief. It felt like a coming of age story to me-- except with a protagonist who is in her 30s rather than her teens.

This is a super quick read, and one I would recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have always enjoyed Jennifer E Smith's YA work, but her adult debut holds absolutely nothing back and I loved it. Greta and her dad navigating their relationship, assumptions, and life after loss is so compelling and real that it jumps off the page. This book is full of such raw emotion and honesty that I couldn't put it down. Simply fabulous.

Where’d You Go Bernandette meets Daisy Jones and the Six with a spin all of its own. This is a love story but not the kind you would expect. The focus is family drama, loss, grief, and finding yourself through it all.

The ending wasn’t conventional, but it liked it exactly as it was; open and optimistic. The overall story was beautiful, and I definitely recommend it.

Read this if you:
•liked Daisy Jones & the Six
•if you’ve ever been [or want to go] to Alaska
•if you’ve ever been on a cruise
•you’ve lost someone close to you

This book was beautiful. It was heartbreaking yet so so incredible. Greta is a rock star who lost her mom recently. She takes her moms place on an Alaskan cruise with her dad that was supposed to be their fortieth wedding anniversary celebration. This book deals with grief, Greta losing herself, and finding herself again in the most surprising way. I laughed, I cried, and more importantly I read this in one day. Pick up this book immediately. This might be my favorite book of the year so far.

The book follows Greta, a successful indie musician who just lost her first fan, her mother, and has a complicated relationship with her dad who doesn’t approve of her career or life choices. However, after her mother’s sudden death, Greta has an onstage meltdown that goes viral. As she tries to avoid it all, she reluctantly agrees to accompany her father on a week-long Alaskan cruise that her mother originally booked to celebrate their anniversary. We follow their weeklong cruise as they navigate their last chance to heal old wounds.

I enjoyed the story more than I expected. For some reason, from the first Chapter, Greta reminded me of Daisy from Daisy Jones and the Six. Greta is successful, stubborn, defiant, independent yet also insecure in a lot of ways and seeks validation.

The exploration of both Greta and her father’s grief was done well but the inclusion of Ben did seem a bit forced. I wasn’t that invested in their love connection as the main plot driving the story is Greta’s relationship with her dad and she barely spent any time with him!

However, I did enjoy the short chapters as it kept me engaged and how everything came together at the end. It was a bit idealistic but I didn’t mind.

It was a wholesome quick read as it was around 300 pages. It also made me want to go on a cruise so that might be added to my bucket list now.

You can't help but root for Greta James as she struggles with the death of her mother and the changes in her family relationships. As Greta reluctantly embarks on this Alaskan adventure, you can't help but feel you are right there with her. I wouldn't mind a little more of Greta's story (which must include the interesting cast of characters we meet in The Unsinkable Greta James)!

Greta James is a musician. After the sudden death of her mother, Greta falls apart on stage while performing. It’s been months and she hasn’t been able to pick up her guitar since.

Greta’s mother was her number one fan. Her father doesn’t support her career and they don’t have the best relationship. She reluctantly agrees to go on an Alaskan cruise with her father, a cruise that was booked to celebrate her parents' 40th wedding anniversary. At sea Greta will learn to confront her father, her career and her heartbreak of the loss of her mother.

This was a beautifully written book about healing, family relationships, self-discovery and forgiveness. There is also a little sprinkle of romance. I thought the author took a realistic approach with Greta dealing with both her relationship with her dad and the loss of her mother. I also loved that the book took place on an Alaskan cruise. It was such a heartfelt read.

A huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Unsinkable Greta James
author: Jennifer E. Smith
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books
genre: General Fiction (adult) Women's Fiction

As a lover of music and travel, I had to read this novel. This was my first book to read by this author, and I quickly knew that I would enjoy the setting of an Alaskan cruise. Smith adds rich character development, along with the strong component of family relationships, resulting in a very enjoyable and original story.

The main character is Greta, who is a singer-guitarist-songwriter from New York City. She is not close to Conrad her father, but they both are mourning the recent death of her mother. Greta signs up for a small cabin on a cruise ship bound for the Alaskan wilderness, taking her mother's spot on what would have been her parents' anniversary trip. Joining them on the cruise are two couples who are her parents' friends. The trip is one of grief and adventure, as the trip progresses to stunning Alaskan landmarks and scenery. Both on ship and off ship, Greta learns more about her father and late mother, their friends, herself, and her music.

This book captures the profound emotions of grief, which affected Greta deeply and took a toll on her career. With each event and stop on the cruise, Greta learns and grows, at times questioning herself and her decisions. Smith described her talents as well as her flaws, making the reader want to follow her journey in both her career and relationships. The lovely descriptions of Alaska, with its natural beauty and wildlife, really put me in the atmosphere of this trip.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#TheUnsinkableGretaJames #NetGalley

I love Jennifer E. Smith. I love her writing and her characters and her emotions. This book was no different, but something didn’t hit as strongly as her previous works for me. This may very well be a personal thing, because the book was very good.

Greta is a moderately famous musician whose mother has recently died. Her music and career, the thing that defines her, now feels shaky and uncertain. Her older brother, who has settled down and has a family of his own, gives a minor guilt trip to convince Greta to go with her father, who she’s never seen eye-to-eye with, on the Alaskan cruise that her mother had been planning for their 40th anniversary. This story is full of Greta processing her grief. There’s guilt and anger and sadness and joy all mixed within this 8 day cruise. It’s awkward and uncomfortable and lonely, but ultimately satisfying and hopeful. There’s a sweet romance in the midst of the story but it’s not the centerpiece by any means. The ending felt very dissatisfying for me, but I recognize that it’s a personal preference. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was such a sweet and compelling story! I flew through the book, about a woman joining her father (with whom she has a tenuous relationship) on a cruise after the death of her mother.
Smith delves into topics of grief, family expectations, self determination and fate with such heart. It was pretty easy to see how things would end, but I enjoyed the journey in getting there. I also thought the characters were wonderfully fleshed out, and I really felt for Greta and her father in their grief and hope.
I highly recommend The Unsinkable Greta James which is available today, AND it is a @bookofthemonth pick for March.👍
The tone of the story has a slight YA feel (which makes sense, as this is Smith’s first ‘adult’ novel) and is very similar to her other book I have read, This is What Happy Looks Like - which also features a famous person thrown into the mundane, and would be a great read alike. This novel would also be great for fans of The Happy Ever After Playlist or The Simple Wild, with similar themes on family, grief, and star crossed romance.
Lastly, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Lucy Knisley’s excellent graphic memoir, Displacement, wherein she is the unwitting family member that is deemed the appropriate escort for her frail and aging grandparents on a cruise. I would highly recommend it as a complementary read to this book. The tone is completely different and it’s pretty emotionally raw, but it also explores fate, family, the idea of seeing our elders for who they are, and not just how they affect our lives (also while stuck on a ship).

Indie rocker Greta James is recovering from a meltdown at her last concert that went viral. She hasn’t been back onstage in several months. Even harder to come to terms with is the reason she had the meltdown: the sudden death of her beloved mother, who supported her from the beginnings of her hard-won career, when success was still just a dream. Now she’s left with a father who only ever communicated to her that she needed to grow up and get a more stable way of life.

When her father, Conrad, is about to depart on an Alaskan cruise that was supposed to be a celebration of his and Helen’s 40th anniversary, Greta’s brother (the dependable one with a wife and children and a solid career) encourages her to go with him. Though Conrad will be traveling with two couples who have been longtime friends, Asher tells Greta she can’t just let her father be a fifth wheel at such an important time. Finally she relents.

So Greta finds herself stuck on a boat (ship! as she is reminded a number of times) with a bunch of old people and families, far away from her previous busy life on the road, performing for thousands of fans. And she’s stuck having the same old conversations/arguments with her father. Both are mourning and desperately missing the woman who was their intermediary. This cruise is really their best chance to try to find a way to understand each other and heal from the wounds they’ve inflicted on each other for years.

On the first day, Greta is surprised to meet and find herself attracted to another passenger, Ben Wilder, who seems to be her opposite in every way. He’s a professor, historian and author of a bestselling novel about writer Jack London. Ben is also trying to find his way after some big changes in his life. The two strike up a relationship as the boat (ship!) takes them far away from their uncertain lives in New York.

The Unsinkable Greta James is a lovely book about loss, grief, family and healing. It’s real, showing the struggles these characters are going through, and how difficult it can be to change after many years of entrenched attitudes and actions. But it’s also sweet and hopeful, showing the progress that can start to happen with love and tough conversations. It’s a romance, it’s a thoughtful family story, and it’s a portrait of a woman digging deep again to find what drives her in the face of heartache and uncertainty. Jennifer E. Smith delivers another book not to miss (I was absolutely charmed by her young adult book Field Notes on Love, for one).

Totally enjoyable! Reminded me a bit of Daisy Jones meets Beach Read but in the best of ways! Humorous and fun to read. It feels like it's going to be an excellent summer read.

This book is so emotional and so addicting to read. The style of writing is beautiful. You really get to feel the grief from Greta and her family after the loss of their mother/wife. You really feel the tension between Greta and her dad. Greta's dad, Conrad, has always made made her feel as if he wasn't the biggest fan of her music/career.

The character development is some of the best I've ever read. Every character was needed. They were all well thought out. They had the perfect role. This book touches on loss, grief, estrangement, and forgiveness. So heart-wrenching yet so beautiful.

There are touches of romance with a man named Ben. He is unlike anyone Greta has ever known. Their friendship right off the bat seems like exactly what she needs.

I loved the setting of Alaska. It was described so well. I just loved the scenes with Ben and Greta exploring.

This is my first read by Jennifer. I will absolutely be reading more for books. Highly recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for the ARC!

Unfortunately, I can only give this novel 2 stars, maybe 2.5.
I chose this book because it is a family drama that takes place on a cruise ship, and I love cruising.
Greta is an indie rock star who is estranged from her father. She joins her father, family and family friends on a cruise that would have celebrated 40 years of marriage, but mom recently passed away.
This is an interesting premise and setting. However, the author tried to do too much in this novel and failed to concentrate sufficiently on the father-daughter relationship that was supposedly at the heart of the plot. Greta got involved with some random guy on the cruise who was separated from his wife. The author focused on this relationship more than Greta and her dad. Flashbacks centered on some other guy named Luke. I would have preferred more history of her relationship with her father.
The book had moments of interest such as when Greta and dad talked about her career choices. According to Greta, she won the career lottery and actually made it as a musician. I wish the author had explored this more thoroughly. However, Greta came across as a whiny, unhappy person with whom I could not sympathize. I did not feel sorry for her at all. Maybe this is what the author intended, but I doubt it. The character simply did not work for me. She had too much angst for no meaningful reason, and most of it deviated from the objective of the novel.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a quiet and meandering book for me and I mean that in a good way. It was gentle and uncomplicated, it made me feel cozy and calm. I really appreciated how it wasn't just one type of story, it wasn't just a love story it wasn't just a family saga it wasn't just self discovery it was everything and more. It was exactly the book I needed.