This book was recommended to me by another author. From the tranquil cover to the beautiful writing inside: I was HOOKED

Favorite Quotes:

His stories made it seem as though the past was something I could step into, like a room in the house that was always there, its door unlocked by a combination of words.

This fear did not feel like the sort of thing that came and went; it felt like something that was meant to last, like a rope with a double knot.

His accent made his words sound even and pure. It reminded me of rain falling into a half-full barrel.

He tried very hard not to reveal the details of your file to me, but I’ve cracked tougher nuts on Christmas Eve.

No one had ever spoken to me as Rosalie had— and yet, what exactly had she been trying to tell me? Her words were a gift that I could hold but not yet unwrap.

I wish I were as proud of my finest moments as I am ashamed of my mistakes.


My Review:

Meg Donohue has turned out a beautifully written, lushly and evocatively detailed and heart-rending book that was swirling with atmosphere and sea mist. I was captivated, devastated, and engrossed from beginning to end. Written in the first person POV of Merrow, an adult woman at a significant crossroads and recalling her childhood, which was peppered with a love of the land and ocean yet heartbreaking and cringe-worthy with unpredictable violence, humiliation, intentional neglect, and vicious cruelty perpetrated by her older brother upon her and her best friend, an orphaned boy of the same age who had come to live with her family as her father’s ward. The family was rather isolated and lived like hillbillies in a small rustic cabin in a small rural yet coastal area of California.

Ms. Donohue’s emotive writing was insightfully observant, deviously paced, and conjured vivid visuals that rolled smoothly through my gray matter while squeezing my coronary muscle, stealing my breath, and stinging my eyes. A Five-Star rating feels paltry and nowhere near enough to rate the superlative quality of this compelling tale.

I love when an author can make you forget the real world and completely wrap you up in a captivating novel!!! Meg Donohue had me at hello with You, Me, and the Sea! This is a novel spans decades and is sort of coming-of-age story filled with raw emotions! As the characters take their journey to discover unfiltered truths, my heart felt every bump in the road—I was definitely grabbing for my tissues! The characters and settings are unforgettable, and that combined with the brilliantly written storyline makes this novel a 5+++ star read! Meg Donohue has made a truly wow’ed me and I cannot wait to read more from her!

This book was AMAZING!! I read in one sitting!! Merrow's story of Love and Loss just pulled me into her world.

Many thanks to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tough one to review. I loved the story and the description of Horseshoe Cliff was exceptional, yet I found myself racing through the pages to get to something that would move the story along. This novel has an incredibly simple storyline. On the cusp of her wedding elopement, Merrow is still caught up in her past, living with the fear of something unknown to us. Flashback to her childhood on the coast of California at Horseshoe Cliff and the fear and isolation she endures due to her violent older brother. A new arrival brings joy and friendship that grows into deeper feelings and is then blown apart by misunderstandings and a death. Merrow flees her home to start a new life in San Francisco and finds a family that truely love her, but is it enough.

There were no real twists in this tale, no great announcements or profound moments. The fear that Merrow lives with in San Francisco is rather a let down. I could imagine this as a Hallmark movie with its beautiful landscape and basic storyline. There needed to be more content to fill the pages, more development of characters and a smidgeon more conflict to engage the reader.

This book was received as an ARC from William Morrow Paperbacks in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was absolutely shocked when I finished this book. You have a girl who lost everything, starts to gain it back, and then suddenly tragedy takes everything away from her and she is forced to make a choice. After I finished this book my heart was racing and I could not believe everything that happened. I know what it is like to be Merrow and have your whole family fall apart and when she meets someone such as Amir who potentially be the one to take her pain away, she later finds out he is not the person she thought he was and now she is left alone forced to make a choice to abandon the sea, and abandon the only boy she ever loved. Our community will go crazy for this book because of the fact it is different from any other book we have read in this category.

We will consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.