Thank you Random House and Jennifer E Smith for an advanced copy of The Unsinkable Greta James. This is an excellent book. I would give more than 5 stars if I could.

Greta is a musician and just lost her mom. When her mom died, Greta had a meltdown at a concert and her confidence is gone. Prompted by her brother, Greta goes on an Alaskan cruise with their dad that their dad would have been on with their mom. Greta and her dad have had a rocky relationship because of his disapproval of her choice to go into the career she’s in.

All of the characters are great. You get to know Greta’s mom via flashback and when they talk about her. Greta is terrific. She’s true to herself. She’s going through so much with her mom’s death. She interacts with her dad. There are two couples who are friends of her parents and who she’s known since she was a kid. They are all supportive. She also meets Ben on the trip - an author giving lectures on the cruise.

The relationships are fully explored. You root for Greta and Conrad, her dad, the whole way. There are laughs and tears. Such a terrific book! This is definitely a book to reread and keep enjoying. You’ve got to read it! You’ll love it!!

All the feels!! Love, loss, family, grief. Can we forgive those we love the most, who can hurt us the most? This book has you questioning all of those feelings and all of those truths!!!

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith is my first Smith novel to read. Smith introduces us to indie-folk star, Greta Jones. Greta,, originally from Ohio has worked her whole life to get where she is today; propelled by her mom who never gave up on her. Greta gets the call she has always dreaded, her mom is sick and she needs to come back home. Greta will never forgive herself for not leaving the tour immediately. Why didn't she just stop everything and leave? Arriving back home after her mom's death is just another sign to her dad that she can't do anything right. After the funeral, Greta somehow ends up accompanying her father on the anniversary trip to Alaska that her mom had planned. She'll get Asher, her brother, back later. But for now, she is stuck on a cruise ship with her dad and two other couples from back home. Can she make it a week in her dad's presence? Although after a chance meeting with Ben, who thinks he is Jack London, maybe the ship won't be entirely terrible. Greta just may be able to turn this around.
I really like when I start reading a book with no preconceived notions. I had not heard much about the storyline yet and I actually prefer it to be that way. I really enjoyed The Unsinkable Greta James. Although it didn't have any wow moments for me but was just a nice easy read. Smith breaks the books into sections based on the days at sea, which I really liked. I would be interested to read another work by Smith and I will recommend this to my other book reading friends. Special thanks to NetGalley, Jennifer E. Smith, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 3. 5 stars for me.
#TheUnsinkableGretaJames #NetGalley

This was the perfect read that did an amazing job of combining grief, romance, and travel without feeling cheesy in anyway. This book follows Greta who is a famed musician who had some recent issues in concerts and recently lost her mom. Greta and her father end up going on an Alaskan cruise that was intended for his parents 40th anniversary. This book does a great job of focusing on the grief of losing someone while also focusing on finding joy after. loss while also a closed romance. If you need a light and joyful read for this summer, I cannot recommend it enough.

I was not sure what I was expecting when I sat down to read this but what I did get was a full on 100 percent enjoyable reading experience! I loved the characters and the plot flowed very well. Addicted to the authors writing as well! ALL THE STARS!

Such a good book, I think people are gonna really love this one. Keep me wanting more the whole way through. Thank you!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I am dealing with the loss of a parent and found this book to be healing and moving. It had romance, family drama, character introspection, and a nice epilogue that wrapped things up while leaving me wanting a sequel. The Alaska backdrop was also a nice touch.

Great story of dealing with grief and healing within a family. Loved the characters and felt like I was on the cruise with them. Very enjoyable read!

Thank you everyone for this gifted copy of The Unsinkable Greta James!

While skeptical at first, this book gets a high rating from me in the end! This book was beautifully written. It made me feel at home and cozy, all while tugging at my heartstrings. I laughed, I cried (multiple times), I felt so at peace while reading this book.

I notice that this is mostly a 4 star book, but it gets 5 stars from me because how I felt reading this book is how I want to feel while reading. I felt connected to the characters and their stories, and I just thought it was so well written.

You can also find me picking up a copy of The Call of the Wild to reread.

Oh my heart!!!! I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I requested this from netgalley but apparently the universe knew I needed it and someone how I ended up with it ! The father daughter relationship def struck a cord … the loss of her mom hit me in relation to the loss of my grandmother …I don’t want to be a spoiler so I won’t say what I want to but there was a line (on “loc 3815” per kindle) that choked me and punched me in the heart and I was here for it!!! Honestly Jennifer Smith broke my heart like 7 times but mended it 8….I loved this story I honestly fell in love with Greta, Ben, Preeti and Conrad …. There is honestly just so much to love about this - lessons on grief, lessons in love , lessons on faith and bravery , lessons of change and just freaking LIFE lessons … I honestly just adored it and you will not hear me say or get me to say one bad thing about it !

The Unsinkable Greta James is a sweet story of an indie rock star, who's just lost her beloved mother. At the suggestion of her brother, "the favorite child", Greta joins her bereaved and difficult father on a weeklong cruise to Alaska. Along the way they both explore their love and loss, both new and old. Jennifer E. Smith is a beautiful writer who understands the difficult relationship between parent and child. This would be a very good book group read.

I really enjoyed Jennifer E Smith’s first adult fiction book The Unsinkable Greta James. It is such an uplifting story that many readers will enjoy. The story was not predictable and it had a satisfying ending. I think this would be a good book club book and I see it being made in to a movie. Hope Ms. Smith writes more adult fiction in the future.

Greta James is not in a good place right now. It's been 3 months since the sudden death of her mother, the parent she is closer to. This loss has caused her mental health to deteriorate; a meltdown on stage; and her and her boyfriend breaking up.

Now, instead of using the coming week to prepare for the upcoming festival, the worst has happened; she has to begrudgingly spend it with her unsupportive father on a boat in Alaska. Nothing could be worse, could it?

Over the course of the week, old wounds will be healed and many of the things Greta thought were true will be challenged. Particularly when she meets fellow lost soul and sexy professor, Ben.

It is important to note that if you are familiar with this author, that Greta is a grown woman. I, having only read YA by this author, did not realize this at first and was very confused for a bit.

Overall, this was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the tales of adventure that Greta finds herself on and I was rooting for her to find what she needed. However, the book, much like the main character, is very subdued.

Greta is reeling from the loss of her mother, she is not excited to be on a boat, or “ship” with her father. She is anxious about their relationship, and she is enjoying the company of Ben, but not sure if it's going to be a long term thing.

She is not excited or invigorated by much of anything in this book, and it makes the story stay very monosyllabic. The one thing she loves is playing guitar, but since her bad show she also has anxiety around that as well.

I am glad I read this book and I enjoy this author, though I wish there was more emotion beyond the still healing sadness and melancholy of the main character.

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith is a novel about indie music star Greta James. She was enjoying her newfound fame when her mother died, and she had a breakdown on stage. Since then, she hasn't know what to do with herself. Her brother convinces her to go on a cruise with her dad--the cruise that he was supposed to go on with her mother. She reluctantly goes and ends up learning and growing so much from the experience. This book was a delight to read--it was so well-written and inspirational. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This story has a lot to say about grief and family relationships, all wrapped in a delightful tale of a week-long Alaskan cruise. Greta James is an indie musician who seems to have made it, but after her beloved mother (and biggest fan) dies suddenly, Greta has a meltdown on stage that goes viral. She hasn’t performed since and is due to release her sophomore album shortly: pressure! Her relationship with her dad isn’t great; he’s always been concerned about the lack of stability of the life she’s chosen. But Greta agrees to join him and her parents’ best friends on what would have been her parents’ 40th anniversary cruise through Alaska, something they’ve longed to do. There are some great, awkward moments between Greta and her dad, and Greta and her parents’ friends. While on board Greta forms a relationship with Ben, a professor who is on board to give lectures about Jack London and his classic novels. Ben is going through his own family and career crisis.

The Alaskan setting came alive for me, as I reminisced about being on a similar cruise a few years ago. The descriptions were spot on. I appreciated the not-quite happy-ever-after ending - very realistic.

While I received the eARC from NetGalley, I wound up partially reading it and partially listening to the published audiobook by Random House Audio. The narrator, Mae Whitman, did an excellent job with the many voices.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I love Jennifer E. Smith and was thrilled when I was able to get an ARC from NetGalley. A cruise ship is a big part of this story and I love cruising so it made it even better. A musician ends up on a cruise with her dad after her mom dies. So many emotions and feelings to work through. I enjoyed the journey of the relationships through this book. I'm sure I will read it again.

I was so excited to read this book! I am fascinated by everything Alaska so when I read that’s where this book partially takes place I was so excited. I also love family dramas so this book sounded perfect to me.
Unfortunately this book was just ok for me. I didn’t fall in love with the characters, I didn’t connect with the story, and there really wasn’t much about Alaska. I did enjoy the story, but the true test of a great book for me is wanting to get back to the book when I’m doing other things and I kind of had to make myself go back to it every time. I know other readers do and will love this book, but I just don’t think it was for me.

Thank you #netgalley and #randomhouse for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this story! Honestly, the characters and dialogue were so relatable and beautifully crafted. If you like tragic, moving stories that focus on dysfunctional relationships surrounding family and love -- this book is for you!

I honestly didn’t expect to love Greta and her story of redemption as much as I did. It kind of surprised me. But, when I started reading it, I realized that I couldn’t stop thinking about Greta and her dad. I was fully invested and even had a few tears when I finished it.

Greta James is just a girl from Ohio who made it big as an indie rock star and never looked back. Greta can’t believe she is doing shows in Europe and the US to sold-out crowds. She can’t believe that she was on the cover of Rolling Stone or that people care who she is dating or watch her videos online. She just wishes one certain video wouldn’t be making the rounds.

Greta has been reeling from that recent incident that went viral. She’s afraid her career is over but her manager is working hard to get her back out there. Next up is a performance at the NY Governor’s Ball. She just needs to stick to the plan. But, a call from her brother, Asher, has her going on an Alaskan cruise with her dad just a week before she is to perform again. She wasn’t supposed to be going on this cruise. It was her mom’s dream and for her parent’s anniversary, but sadly, her mom died before she got to take that dream trip. Asher asked Greta to go along on the trip with her dad. The problem is that Greta and her dad have had a prickly relationship at best for the last several years. But, Greta decides this just might be the thing she needs, a getaway while all the buzz about her incident settles down.

“It’s a particularly strange kind of loss, when something you don’t think you even want gets taken away from you. “

Jennifer Smith is a new-to-me author but has well-known books in the young adult genre. I’m thinking this might be her first in the adult fiction category and I hope there is more to come. Smith writes with a strong sense of place and mood. My heart ached as Greta missed her mom and felt hurt by her dad’s lack of praise. My stomach flip-flopped as she started to feel a bit flirtatious with Ben. I cheered for her and cried with her as she traveled through the Alaskan landscape coming to terms with her career, her grief, and creating a new life without her mom.

You can’t be on a cruise ship without a bit of romance and I felt it was the right kind of relationship for the story. It didn’t feel contrived or forced, but instead was natural and realistically moved through the story. Greta’s strained relationship with her father was relatable and was a source of so much pain, for both of them. The moment where each of them was able to finally have their say was pivotal and such a character-building moment. Greta wasn’t the same person when she left the ship and this conversation with her dad was a large part of that. Many of us have hard family relationships and readers will be able to connect to Greta and her dad in this scene.

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

This story is very sentimental as readers watch Greta struggle with the loss of her mom, a recent breakup, a possible damaged career, and a strained relationship with her dad. But, they will also see Greta be able to dig deep and find she isn’t the person she thought she was. She will emerge from this trip stronger and more sure about the direction of her life than ever.

I see a lot of comparisons to Daisy Jones and the Six going around and I highly disagree. This isn’t written in an interview format and doesn’t include multiple band members and their falling out. It’s Greta’s story. Greta is a grieving daughter who just happens to be a musician. Greta will inspire you to go after your dreams and reflect on how far you have already come.

I loved this story so much. Musician Greta James is trying to find her way just months after the sudden death of her mother and a very public breakdown that went viral. Going on an Alaskan cruise with her father is the last thing she wants to do, especially considering their strained relationship. The author does such a good job of describing grief and the difficult father/daughter dynamic. The Alaskan setting was gorgeous and Greta’s on board romance was sweet and not too cliche. I thought it had a perfect ending that brought tears to my eyes. Highly recommend!