Loved this family bonding story. Loss. Love. And definitely figuring out who you are after trauma. Greta is N instantly likable character and the book was very heart breaking and healing.

This is the story of a young woman who accompanies her father on an Alaskan cruise that would have celebrated his 40th anniversary but his wife, her mother, passed away just before the trip. The young woman is a musician who has taken time off since her mother passed, but is scheduled to play a concert right after the cruise.

I was preparing for a lot of aching sadness going into this book, knowing from the description that the protagonist’s mother has recently passed away. Don’t get me wrong, the sadness was there, but what I didn’t expect was how tender and heartwarming it would be as said protagonist works through her grief and tries to connect with the father she feels worlds apart from. I love a good family drama, and I could relate to many aspects of this book. I absolutely loved watching Greta and her dad work to try and see each other through the eyes of the woman they’re both grieving. Their entire relationship feels complicated, honest, raw, and authentic, and I couldn’t get enough of it!

While there is a romantic aspect of the book, I don’t feel that it overshadowed the title character’s search to rediscover her passion and to connect with her father. This book has so many plot events that could have become mushy and saccharine, making it more rom com than anything else, but I think the author kept the perfect amount of tension and focus to prevent that from happening! Instead we get to witness three very different people at their own crossroads, each one struggling with which direction to go as they figure out what moving forward will look like in their own lives.

All of this takes place in an absolutely stunning backdrop, with vibrant and atmospheric descriptions that allow the reader to feel as if they are actually witnessing the majesty of Alaska.

Sentimental and sweet, raw and emotional, this was a beautiful debut into the world of adult contemporary literature for this author who typically writes for younger audiences.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for this advanced readers copy!

This is a sweet yet complicated story of Greta and her family after the sudden death of her mother. It’s emotional, hopeful, inspiring and most of all it’s about healing and moving forward.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a little of everything : vacation, complicated relationships and even a little romance. It even got me at the end with one line and I lost it and started balling.

“Maybe the point isn’t always to make things last, maybe it’s just to make them count.”

4 stars for @jenniferesmith and her new book. Definitely pick this up if you enjoy a great story with well developed characters and growth.

Really adorable and sweet! I love Greta and enjoyed following along on her journey.

*ARC provided courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley

“So to her, this is what making it feels like: its not the albums or the crowds or the money. It’s getting to say-clearly and straightforwardly, without asterisks or qualifications- that yea in fact, this is what she does. She’s a musician. Simple as that.” -Chapter 7, page 57

✨Greta our main character is a musician and just recently lost her mother, Helen. Both Greta’s parents and their small group of friends have an Alaskan cruise planned. Last minute, Greta decides to take her mom’s spot on the cruise at the urging of her brother. It’s really the last place on the planet Greta wants to be. Her father doesn’t support her choice in career and her mother, her biggest supporter, is gone. 

✨This is a poignant and heartwarming tale of healing after loss. For Greta, it’s not only healing from the loss of her mother, but healing of the broken relationship she has with her father, Conrad. It’s about following your chosen career path and having the gumption and perseverence to continue doing what you love when support isn’t always there. That’s an even harder thing to manage if the lack of support comes from someone very close to you, like a parent.

✨There’s romance in this book too when Greta meets Ben aboard ship. Ben is a single dad giving a lecture on a recent book he’s written. Greta is intrigued by Ben, who is vastly different from most of the guys she has dated before. Low steam and almost closed door for those wanting to know spice level.

✨The bulk of the story is set amongst the lush and vast backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness and the open sea. The ship was the perfect setting to force some needed and hard conversations between Greta and her dad.

✨I would’ve loved a bit more at the end, including an epilogue, but I can’t complain too much. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and once I started the pages just flew by. That’s always a good sign. I’d highly recommend this one! Beautiful and touching.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars 

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine books for providing this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just so so for me. I felt like the relationship between the professor and Greta was very superficial and very one dimensional.. I am not sure what connected them together, other then the initial attraction.
The relationship between Greta and her father was better, and I love the way that conflict was resolved in the end.
The setting was fantastic and made me want to take an Alaskan cruise. I am glad I read it, but it is not one of my favorite books from this author.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A beautiful story about a complicated father-daughter relationship. Greta James is a famous indie musician whose father has never understood her career choices. After her mother's sudden passing, Greta joins her father on the cruise her parents were supposed to take together. We follow Great and her father, Conrad, as they navigate their grief and have tough conversations that should have been had years ago. Very heartfelt. Thank you, NetGalley!

I’ve read every YA and MG book by Jennifer E Smith, so I had high expectations going into The Unsinkable Greta James and yet I still wasn’t prepared for how much I’d absolutely love this story. Not only did I love the flawed title character and her struggle through personal and professional trauma, the relationships in Greta’s troubled reality were honest, dimensional, and believable.

The imagery from the stops on the Alaskan cruise was a true escape as I read this in January ‘22, having cancelled travel again thanks to COVID (also I did have some pandemic PTSD thinking about Greta getting in an elevator and moving throughout the ship unmasked…. But I also appreciated that we could be in a current timeline where we *didnt* have to worry about these things anymore… I digress). — back to the Alaskan landscape: Smith does a remarkable job of reminding readers that you’re on this cruise without taking away from the main storyline of Greta and her shattered life. Remarkable glaciers? Whale watching? Here for it. Seedy local bars in tiny villages? Also here for that.

Many moons ago, I heard Smith on a panel explaining what makes a good (YA) story and she said “focusing on whatever it is that cracks the universe open for the main character” - and boy does she deliver with Greta. If forthcoming adult stories by Jennifer E. Smith continue in this style, I’ll be adding them all to my shelves, alongside one of my new favorite flawed heroines, The Unsinkable Greta James. .

The Unsinkable Greta James is a heartwarming and cathartic read - it is the story of indie musician Greta James who is trying to make sense of her life after her mother’s death. She finds herself on an Alaskan cruise with her father, with whom she has a strained relationship with. Both have no idea how to deal with their grief and fix their father daughter relationship at the same time.

This was my first read by Jennifer E. Smith and I really enjoyed it! Her writing is simple yet emotional, which was the perfect style for this story of grief, forgiveness, and hope. I think readers will also enjoy the surprise romantic aspect of this book; it is an important part of Greta’s story without being too overpowering. Fans of The People We Keep and Daisy Jones and the Six are sure to love this book!

THIS is how to write a book. Fun, heartwarming and contemporary. I read this in one sitting and could just imagine the movie!

This was a lovely surprise! I didn't quite know what to make of the premise, but it ended up reminding me a little of Maria Semple's style which I like. Quirky characters, a unique setting and engaging plot, I'm looking forward to reading more by this author!

Greta James is a talented rock star who has family issues like everyone else. Her mother who holds the family all together dies suddenly leaving a big hole in Greta and in her father. He has never understood her lifestyle and this has caused years of misunderstandings between them. She decides to accompany her father on an Alaskan cruise which had been her mother's dream. There are lots of rocky stops and starts but they eventually understand each other's points of view.

This book caught me by surprise because while the description wasn't totally calling me. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this read - the story of Greta, a successful guitarist and musician, who joins her father on an Alaskan cruise, taking the place of her late mother, who died unexpectedly.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Greta's difficult relationship with her father unfold, the unlikely romance that she found on the boat, and her return to music and herself. I also enjoyed the peek into Alaska through the breathtaking descriptions of the scenery and cruise. This book was unlike anything I've read lately and I recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sharing this gifted review copy with me.

A really beautiful story about a young woman struggling with loss, anxiety and a complicated relationship with her dad. I laughed, cried and was sad when it was over. Highly recommend this purchase when it's released.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this arc.

The Unsinkable Greta James tells the story of Greta and her Father, Conrad, as they embark on an Alaskan cruise while battling the grief of losing the matriarch of the family. The trip was meant to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Conrad and his wife, but in her place, his daughter, a rockstar attends. Greta and Conrad have never seen eye to eye about much, this trip forces them to spend more time together than they have in the recent years.

This is a story of grief, self-awareness, and acceptance.

I found this to be a pretty quick read. There were moments where my heart would break for for Greta and Conrad. While I enjoyed the story, I did find it a bit lack luster.

A brilliantly told story of a daughter who has lost her mother and though she thought she knew her father learns so much more about him while on a cruise with him. Jennifer E. Smith does a wonderful job of showing how relationships change with the parent that is left especially when the one that died is the one that was their anchor.
Thank you so much to #netgalley and the publisher for my requested ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. #theunsinkablegretajames #jenniferesmith

I thoroughly enjoyed Greta! She was a great example of how one can come back from past missteps. This was a heartwarming story of Greta and the relationships she had with those around her!

I don’t know if I was the intended audience, I struggled to get into the book. I thinks it’s wrong time: wrong place for me.

I'm a sucker for a book that has any mention of "cruise ship" in the synopsis, so naturally, I picked this book up as soon as I could! Greta James, an indie musician, is dealing with a major loss in her life. She picks up the pieces enough to spend time on an Alaskan cruise with her father, someone she has been at odds with in the past. I loved the idea of bringing together family at a time needed most. The family dynamics made for an interesting read, and the love interest that Greta encouraged helped to spice things up a bit. This was Jennifer Smith's first adult novel, though I haven't read her YA novels. There were some minor things that I didn't love about this story, but overall this was a wonderful read.