Wow! Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. It was my first experience reading Jill Tew and will be back for more.

Eden Lowell is living in the Marshes, a future world where the Everglades are sinking under water after a hurricane. While some tough it out on land with limited access to food, medicine, and clean water, the privileged upper crust and corporate families live out their days sailing away on cruise ships with everything they could possibly need. On a path the change the fate of the Marshers, Eden enters a competition to win the heart of the son of the heir to the fresh water empire. Will she be able to stick it to the Cruisers and help her home?

YA is for everyone, and I truly enjoyed this as an adult but I know teenage me would have zoomed through this dystopian world in one sitting! It felt like The Hunger Games and Hoot combined. A 3.5/5 star read for me!

I really enjoyed An Ocean Apart and had to make myself savor it one or two chapters at a time. The love triangle of likeable characters makes the reader root for each one. This story is full of rich, descriptive language that really helps the reader picture each scene. While the "love match reality show" vibe was fun, one could sense there was something deeper going on. Classism, ecowar, and personal convictions give plenty of discussion topics for a book club. I definitely recommend it!

This started off super promising.... then just went downhill in the last 30%.

Pros:
- The futuristic dystopian world the author created was so compelling, I loved the idea of water/food being the resource that has become scarce and what the "elites" are hoarding/making a market out of.
- The writing was very well done! It was straight to the point and easy to read and i loved that it wasn't super flowery.
- Our FMC, Eden, up to the ~70% mark... Eden is a compelling character who is essentially fighting to keep her family safe by overworking herself to be able to put food on the table and provide for them.

Cons
- The love triangle. I did not believe eden and theos relationship... and it did kinda feel like cheating at times so i just simply couldn't get behind it. Unfortunately this love triangle was at the centre of everything so it ruined the thing i really loved about this book which was the dystopian world/politics.
- The ending was so rushed it made it feel kinda unrealistic in that time frame?

Overall, I don’t think this is a terrible book per say, the writing is well done and it of course highlights some important themes. I just simply did not believe how quickly everything was resolved. I would've def enjoyed the book more if it was a trilogy or a series - I just needed to see more characters development and growth from all the characters.

AN OCEAN APART is a quick and fun dystopian romance, which I majorly enjoyed. However, I would say it’s very light on both the dystopia and romance elements (which some might call underdeveloped). This dystopian world is cruel and unfair, to the point that our main character Eden starts out very angry at the ruling class (“Cruisers”). But once the love competition starts, her anger starts to feel like high school drama, particularly in how she falls for Theo (Cruiser Heir) in a matter of days and quickly befriends her competition. In sum, the dystopian part of this book suffers due to the romantic part, and in the ending wraps up far too nicely for a world that is still environmentally screwed. Nonetheless, it's a hopeful ending, which young readers will likely appreciate.

I loved The Dividing Sky, so I was excited to read this one. I enjoyed the story and I like Jill’s writing style but this one felt very young YA. It also gave me Red Queen vibes and I’m not sure if it was the outsider pretending to be an elite or if it was the love triangle or something else.

It was an enjoyable story, although the plot wasn’t entirely unique, I still had a good time with it.

"An Ocean Apart" is a dystopian YA novel following a teen named Eden, who gets involved in a plan to take down the 1% so that the rest of the world can have the resources they need to survive. Following severe world flooding, the richest of the rich take to the seas on their yachts and have a monopoly over basic resources such as water and food, while driving prices astronomically high for anyone who still lives on land. When someone in Eden's family get's severely injured, the only way she can see to keep her family afloat is to turn the tables. With the help of a mysterious "ringmaster", Eden gets herself into a bachelor style competition to win the heart of the heir to the "Aquaticum" empire and steal his fortune. But when she finds he's not as shallow as she expects him to be, will she follow through with her plan?

This was a fantastic novel with fresh ideas! Some of the things I loved about it include:
-BIPOC main character
-LGBTQ side couple
-Love triangle trope
-Standalone novel

Because it's so short (350) page the one thing I would say is that some parts felt a bit rushed, and I didn't really feel like the main love interest had enough time at the end to come to terms with all that had happened. But even so I really enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it! Teens 13-18ish would be the perfect age range, but even as an adult I found this to be enjoyable and refreshing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed Jill Tew’s previous work, The Dividing Sky, so I was curious to see what she would do with this one. While the concept had promise, overall it ended up being just an okay read for me. I liked The Selection style plot with the secret identity element, but the writing style and characterization felt more middle grade than YA, which made it harder for me to fully get into it. The world itself intrigued me, though I felt it could have been developed a lot more to really pull me in. I also never felt fully invested in Eden and Theo’s relationship. I kept wishing for a stronger emotional connection between them. What disappointed me most was how quickly and easily the resolution wrapped up, which made the ending feel rushed. It’s a shame, because it had a lot of potential to be something much stronger.

This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. Interesting, unique, timely, and fun. The author got me with that third act twist. I had no idea [redacted] was [redacted].
There’s so much I want to say about this book, but no spoilers so you’re just going to have to read it.

If you love characters who are more than you expect, shocking twists, delightful twists, and a believable enemies to friends to lovers, you’re going to love this book.
It grabs you from the first page and you will find yourself swearing “just one more chapter” without being able to stop.

There’s action, adventure, intrigue, secrets, sweet moments, and most of all hope.

I really loved this dystopian standalone,especially as a fan of The Bachelor!

Eden leaving behind the flooded Marshes to infiltrate a Cruiser heir’s televised contest was so fun and I really enjoyed her interactions between the contestants.

The romance was FUN. Excited to see what people think! I don’t want to spoil anything.

This was a true standalone that wrapped up with a great ending and exactly the kind of conclusion I was hoping for!

Thank you NetGalley and Joy Revolution for the arc!

This is such a fun combination of an anticapitalist MC, pageantry, secret identities, a televised dating competition, and a love triangle, all wrapped up in a story about finding your own way. The pacing is tight and makes for a quick read, even as Jill Tew tackles big issues.

I had the absolute privilege of beta-reading an early draft of Jill's sophomore YA novel, "An Ocean Apart." This book was utterly enjoyable and unputdownable. If you're looking for a fast-paced YA dystopian romance, this is your book. The romance will tug on your heartstrings; first one direction, then the next (such is the way with well-written love triangles). But whether you're Team Henry or Team Theo, you'll undoubtedly be Team Eden.

By pure chance I just finished Jill Tew's first book The Dividing Sky last week so it was a complete delight to step back in to her dystopian world-building with An Ocean Apart. Eden Lowell has grown up in The Marshes of former Miami. She's lost touch with her parents but is settled with a committed foster family who she works hard everyday to support through any opportunities that come her way. Water is a main priority for survival and as the price increases weekly Eden's distrust of the the corporate elite, the Cruisers, grows even though others around her actually enjoy tuning into their idealistic lifestyles broadcast through the freely distributed vids. When tragedy strikes Eden's found family she concocts a plan to infiltrate a Cruiser dating competition with the help of the anonymous anarchist The Ringmaster. Once the contest for the young water-heir's heart begins the plot soars with stylists, events and deceit. I cannot wait to share this delicious book with my teen readers. It is a total snack!

I just didn’t like this story at all. It was not what I thought it was going to be. I am just disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for this review copy. This was an interesting book. The real-world future apocalyptic stories are always fun because you never know how close it’ll hit to home. Having lived in Florida, I could definitely put myself in this world. I liked the dating game aspect and that even though Theo was trying to “save the world,” he needed Eden to bring things to a reality. The twist ending was unexpected to me which is always a delight. I wish the big world was fleshed out a bit more but there are Easter eggs for her first book in this one so maybe some answers/clarity will be there. 3.75 stars.

Honestly kind of just okay. I’m sure someone out there will like it tho. It really just felt like bachelor on water edition with hunger games call backs.
FMC thoughts were meh.

This was such a quick, fun read. Pick it up if you enjoy:

✅ Dystopian
✅ Love triangle
✅ Reality competition
✅ Gorgeous gowns

This world building (150 yeas in the future) was easy to picture and follow (unfortunately??). Very timely. Loved Eden as a character; would love to read about her as an adult as well.

I’m kind of hit and miss on love triangles, personally. I definitely connected with one MMC over the other. I almost wish we had more time in this world to spend with the characters.

The interactions between the contestants were great (and I’m really glad that other couple ended up together!). And I loved reading about Natalia helping Eden/Skye get ready for events.

Tew did a fantastic job explaining how the water shortage would affect our every day life; living in the desert myself, I started to look at water a bit differently.

I don’t post spoilers in reviews where I can help it, but I did feel the ending was a bit rushed and wrapped up almost too neatly (especially for a dystopian novel). I think we would have benefited from another 25-40 pages or so.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the eArc.

JILL TEW SAID SHE WOULD DELIVER SND SHE DIDDDDDD.

As a big fan of her previous works, I just knew that this book was going to give me absolutely everything I wanted. The romance was romancing and the plot was plotting. She cooked and left no crumbs!!!

If your looking for a romantasy/ dystopian book that is diverse, and will sweep you off your feet then what better way to start then by picking up “an ocean apart”?

Theo and Eden captured my heart. Their love, their story, was truly one worth reading. And although the romance is something to look forward too, this dystopian offers real world situations that will have you reflecting our current society. Completely, deep, raw, and emotional.

Lately I have not been reading as much dystopian novels as I had previously and I’m so glad I read this one. It definitely sparked my interest in dystopian books again. This was a little slow at first, but speeds up about half way through. It’s a great read and kept me interested.

I really enjoyed this YA dystopian novel!

Tew created such a cool, well-developed dystopian world. Our main character, Eden, struggles daily to survive in the Marshes—the climate ravaged areas around Miami. She infiltrates the wealthy elite, who live on massive cruise ships, undercover to compete on a bachelor-like reality show in hopes of getting revenge.

There is a love triangle that kept me guessing and had me switching up who I was rooting for!!

Though on one hand it was refreshing to read a standalone, I think this would have made an amazing duet or trilogy. The plot felt rushed at times and I would have happily spent more time in this world.

Thank you for an eARC via NetGalley!

An Ocean Apart took me little bit for me to get into. I felt that the pacing at the beginning was a little slow, and was worried that I would DNF. However, I decided to press on, and I was glad I did! I ended up really enjoying this book, and devoured it once I got into it.