As a music lover, I enjoyed this. This wasn't one of my favorite reads of the year, however, I would still recommend it to people. I think I read this at the wrong time and because of that, I should probably re-read it one day. But it wasn't a bad book by any means, I just don't think I enjoyed it as much as I should've because of when I read it.

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I listened to it as an audiobook and while I loved the narrator, I struggled to connect to Greta as a character.

For anyone still looking for a great summer read, this is a good option! It's a quick read, though it's not exactly lighthearted -- it deals with grief pretty heavily as the main character has just lost her mom. But it's got everything: Great side characters, an Alaskan cruise, a handsome love interest and music. I read it in one sitting!

There is a reason she is one of my favorite authors. The way Jennifer writes you just see and feel everything. What a delight her first novel for adults was. I read it in two sittings and loved it so much.

When Greta’s mother passed away, she takes her spot on a cruise to Alaska that was a bucket list item of her mother’s. Greta is a musician who had a setback after her mother’s death… understandably… but social media is hounding her. She views the cruise as an escape. Predictably, bonding between father and daughter ensues, as well as a love interest. Even though the story is predictable, the execution is well done and fun and poignant. The excursions into Alaska are also a delight. I enjoyed the book and recommend it, especially to those that enjoy the women’s fiction genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing and Ballantine Books for this advanced reader’s digital eCopy to review. I’m so grateful for the opportunity.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This was a really sweet book and reminded me a lot of One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (which I also loved) I loved the characters and found it to be a perfect beach read. I’ll read more by this author in the future!

📄 Greta James in an indie music superstar who recently lost her mother. Guilted by her brother (favorite-child-father-of-three-with-a-day-job), Greta agrees to go on an Alaskan cruise with her father—which was an anniversary dream trip planned by her mother before she passed. Grappling with her own feelings regarding her mothers death, Greta struggles to bridge the seemingly impossible divide between her and her father, who never quite understood her life choices and hasn’t exactly been her biggest fan.

💭 This book is FULL of so many emotions & heartache & healing. It was a JOURNEY—and not just because it takes place on a cruise. If you need a good family drama to break your heart, put it back together again and make you want to call your Mom or Dad—read this one.

This book is so warm and so heartfelt and so so good! I loved the way we learned about events in the past as we're moving forward in the future. Greta's relationship with her father has so many cracks and we get to learn about them while they are both trying to heal separately and together after her mother's sudden death. This book will make you laugh and cry and give you all of the good feels.

This, ultimately, is a book on grief, on forgiveness, and on second chances.

Greta James has found some success as a songwriter and performer, but when she loses her mother, her primary supporter, Greta has a viral downfall and she retreats, trying to find her grounding before venturing in front of the public eye again.

A cruise trip ultimately meant to celebrate her parents' anniversary is instead attended by Greta and her father, whom she's been at odds with for years. The experience forces her to confront her grief, her past, and her ideas for her future. Along the way, she gains insight on parenthood and she sees glimmers of hope and of healing.

This is a gentle book that, at times, fell flat for me but wrestles with important themes.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Greta James is a well known singer who embarks on an Alaskan cruise with her father shortly after her mother passed away. The story has a cast of characters who are much enjoyed and Greta’s journey through her grief while making new connections is engaging and heartfelt. This is the first time I’ve read a book by this author and I look forward to reading more!

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE ERIE READER.

When Greta James was young, she could only dream of becoming a successful musician. When her father bought her a guitar and she began practicing in the family’s garage, those dreams started to take a more meaningful shape.

But it wasn’t an easy path. From dive bars and small venues, Greta grew her fan base and eventually achieved indie stardom, featuring on magazine covers and playing sold out venues. Her mother Helen was there every step of the way, supporting her daughter as her first and biggest fan. However, her father Conrad was not so supportive, only seeing an unpredictable career path for his daughter, worrying about her financial and professional stability.

Greta spends most of her career trying to prove him wrong, creating a rift between them that only grows larger over the years. But following Helen’s sudden death and only weeks before her sophomore album is set to release, Greta finds herself spiraling and has an epic meltdown onstage, leading to an embarrassing video that goes viral.

Humiliated and still reeling, she finds herself grudgingly agreeing to accompanying her father on a week-long Alaskan cruise that her parents had booked for their fortieth anniversary. With the rift between Greta and her father larger than ever since her mother’s death, this cruise could be the last chance they have to make amends and heal their now smaller family.

Alongside historian Ben Wilder, an author aboard the ship who catches her attention, Greta must figure out how to move forward and together try to make sense of the difficult choices in life.

The true spotlight in this book, though, shines on Jennifer E. Smith’s writing: characters with larger-than-life personalities, heartbreaking and heartwarming moments, and breathtaking landscapes painted so delicately but vividly through prose are all the stars of this novel. For those looking for adventure and emotion, you’ll find it in The Unsinkable Greta James.

A tale of grief, love and the rise to fame. Greta James is healing from an on stage breakdown after unexpectedly losing her number one supporter, her mom, Helen. She joins her father on a pre planned trip where they must confront the past and move forward without Helen. This book is sweet and would be great to read after a loss or going through a difficult time.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. Whether it was timing or what, I wasn't able to connect with the characters and did not finish. I won't be leaving a full review.

The Unsinkable Greta James was a little moody. It was fairly good. It took some time for me to warm up to the story.

Right after the sudden death of her mother—her first and most devoted fan—and just before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing, her career suddenly in jeopardy—the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always predicted; the kind he warned her about when he urged her to make more practical choices with her life. Months later, Greta—still heartbroken and very much adrift—reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary.

I was really excited by the premise and really wanted to love this one (and I did). I also lost my mom and had trouble connecting with my dad afterwards, so this story really hit home.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Losing someone you love is made all the more difficult if you have to share your grief with the limelight. Indie musician Greta James finds herself grappling with maintaining her public persona as a rock star while also mourning the death of her mother in Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel The Unsinkable Greta James.

In an attempt to get out of the spotlight after she has a meltdown on stage while grieving for her mom, Greta decides to accompany her widowed father on what was supposed to have been her parent’s 40th anniversary Alaskan cruise. However, things have always been tense between Greta and her dad, especially since he doesn’t support her career as a musician. Will they be able to survive a week together aboard a cruise ship?

Then there is Ben Wilder, a historian who is giving a lecture series aboard the cruise. He and Greta get to know each other after she attends his talk, and pretty soon sparks are flying between the two. Ben could just be the thing Greta needs to get over a recent break-up, but he has brought his own baggage aboard this cruise ship. Can two broken hearts make a whole?

Jennifer E. Smith ventures away from her typical YA fare to the world of adult literature in The Unsinkable Greta James, a reflective novel of love and loss. With a gorgeous cover and set aboard a lively cruise ship, The Unsinkable Greta James gives Greta room to explore her relationship with both her mother and father, as well as determine what she wants for her career moving forward. Smith even leaves enough space for a little romance, although this is arguably the least intriguing part of this novel. More interesting is Greta’s damaged relationship with her father, her mother’s unwavering support as Greta pursued her music career, and Greta’s career itself, although disappointingly, Smith only touches on Greta’s celebrity in bits and pieces.

The Unsinkable Greta James read as a mixed bag to me. Smith had all the pieces to create a thought-provoking, engaging novel; however, this book feels underdeveloped and mildly flat. Smith didn’t push her characters far enough to elicit something truly heartfelt in her readers, and as a result, this book, while entertaining enough, falls short of being truly memorable.

Jennifer Smith is always fantastic and The Unsinkable Greta James is no exception. It's full of heart, Greta is terribly sympathetic, her relationship with her father is incredibly relatable, and the ending is jusy the right amount of bittersweet.

Greta is an up and coming indie artist. Her mother unexpectedly passes away while she is in Germany. They were very close and her mom was her biggest supporter. She wasn't close to her dad who felt that Greta should get a "real" job and not pursue being a musician as it was so uncertain. At a concert a short while after her mom passes away she has a melt down on stage while singing a song she wrote about her mom. Of course in this day and age there is video and it went viral and the song was panned by critics who felt it wasn't her usual style. What happens to her career now? A few months later her brother convinces her to go on an Alaskan cruise with her dad and some of their family friends and reluctantly she agrees.

I liked Greta. She didn't seem to fit the mold of a 36-year-old up and coming rock musician. She kept a low profile, hung out with her Dad and his friends and didn't have a look-at-me attitude. She was genuinely touched when a young girl on the ship told her she was her biggest fan and inspiration. Her dad was hard for me to like. He seemed to always be taking digs at her and her life style and pretty much hated her boyfriends but I had to like him because he had loved his wife, Helen, so much. This trip was something Helen always wanted to take and it was actually planned to coincide with their 40th anniversary. Their relationships shows how different each person deals with grief and how hard it was at times to understand each other. On the cruise Greta meets a nerdy professor, author of a book about Jack London and they hook up. It seemed an unusual pairing but they were both dealing with grief. Her the loss of her mother and Ben the demise of his marriage and not being with his daughters daily.

I really enjoyed the story. The parts about Alaska were beautiful and even the activities on the boat were great. I've never been on a cruise but I have been on a ship so I loved hearing about all the venues and the food and activities. I only wish that I knew more about Ben, Greta and her dad. Oh and the music. Titles of her songs were mentioned and I know I couldn't hear them but even knowing some of the lyrics would have been a way to learning more about Greta.

I would recommend this to anyone that just likes a good, solid story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for providing me with a digital copy.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. All opinions are my own.

Yea, it was okay. These kind of books are the hardest for me to review.

Not much else to say. I got a little annoyed that we kept repeating the same issues over and over. Like we get it. Your mama passed away. You are terribly sad. Your dad and you don't have a great relationship. You don't want to really be on a cruise with your dad. Your career is in peril due to a very public break down (regarding your mom). I get it. All valid. I did however get bored. Sorry, not sorry.

Now, having said all of this. I think some people (shoot, I've seen them) will really love this book. At this time. It was meh for me. Not terrible, but not noteworthy.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I loved the relationship change between Greta and her father. I love the little bit of a love story. I identified quite a bit with Greta since I also lost my mother within the last year and still trying to work through it. I laughed and cried while reading.
3.5