THE BREATH BETWEEN WAVES by Charlotte Anne Hamilton
- Publisher: Entangled Publishing, August 9th, 2021
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
- Format: Paperback (eARC)
- Page Count: 270 pages
- My Rating: ★★★ (3/5)
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
The Titanic journey lasted for six days from April 10th to 15th, 1912. It was supposed to arrive at New York on the 17th. To make the main characters fall in love within the timeframe is a huge challenge, and unfortunately, the chemistry between them wasn’t enough for me to be fully invested in their story.
Penelope Fletcher doesn’t want to leave Scotland, but she joins her parents onboard Titanic after being heartbroken by her ex-girlfriend. Her roommate, Ruby Cole, is traveling with her sister’s family. As they spend more time together, they realize there might be something brewing between them, but the clock is ticking as they get closer and closer to their destination.
When I picked up this book, I only knew that it was sapphic, set on the Titanic, and that it is a romance. So, even though I knew that the main characters would remain alive and stay together by the time the book ends (as long as there was no false advertising of it being a “romance”), I still found myself on the edge of my seat as the Titanic hit the iceberg. Despite not being very convinced by the relationship between Penelope and Ruby, I did like both characters and got really worried for them when the ship started sinking. Hamilton captured the anxiety of Titanic sinking incredibly well: the panic, the heartbreak after separation, the sense of dread, etc. I love that some characters are casually queer in this book set in 1912, and even though there is a pressure of getting into a cishet marriage (comp het), there were no other homophobic comment or action.
Not only did I care for the main characters, I was also worried for Ruby’s sister Victoria, brother-in-law Frank, kid brother Liam, niece Julia, as well as some of the partygoers in the Third Class. Despite the book spanning only a few days, Hamilton captured the relatability of the characters and made me care about most of their well-beings.
I didn’t understand why Penelope’s parents seemed to become different people from the couple in her memory on the Titanic though. It was relevant to the story but I didn’t feel like it was explained. Also, I had a little trouble understanding the dialogues in the beginning of the book (not because of the Scottish words), but everything smoothed out a few chapters in.
All in all, The Breath Between Waves was a decent story with likable characters. Make it to the end of the book and you’d be rewarded with the super cute epilogue!
content warnings included at the beginning of the book
Buddy read with Gabriella! Check out her review here!
I received a digital review copy from Entangled Publishing via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
