I was surprised how much there was about sailing in this book! This was neither positive nor negative to me, just interesting. I wish this book had more thriller. I would describe it as a mystery mainly. And it was a slow burn. I think maybe the book was too long. The writing was good.

Ess wakes up in a sailboat adrift in the Pacific Northwest, all of her memories gone. Determined to figure out what happened to her, she sails miles and miles to the nearest town. Here she discovers that she’s not the only person who has woken up in a boat abandoned. As more and more of the story unfolds, Ess uncovers that unlike the others, she might have had a reason for wanting to start fresh… and that there are people after her. A puzzling mystery, “Adrift” by Lisa Brideau is interesting from start to finish.

Kind of love, but kind of stressed about the plot on this one. In general, I’m not a big “end of the world” type reader. This isn’t quite that extreme, but the future world that Brideau has created is stressful environmentally to say the least. That plus the futuristic drugs that can steal your memories. Definitely not stressed about that now…

But Ess’s journey to discover her identity and what happened to her was interesting from start to finish. More of a puzzle than a thriller, but still consuming. Unlike your normal memory loss book, Ess doesn’t have those random flashbacks or glimpses of what her life was like, it’s all just blank. This creates the main drive: who knows what happened?

In the end, this book didn’t have the ending I was expecting. Ess has to decide if she likes the life she has or if she wants to dive back into her past headfirst. Overall, it was a 4 star read for me!

Thanks to Sourcebook Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! This book comes out on May 9th!

This one was more of a mystery than thriller. The premise was cool to see the impact of climate change in the world in the future. But I’m not huge into sailing so it was tough to follow at some points

Is she Sarah Song? And who is Sarah Song? Those are the urgent questions facing a woman who wakes up on a sail boat- an expensive well equipped sail boat- in the Pacific Northwest off the coast of Alaska. There's a note telling her not to look for info about herself, ID, a cash card, and head ache pills. But she wants to know and, after finding a business card, sails alone to Nanaimo (gorgeous place in IRL btw) where she is eventually boarded by the Harbor Police who are looking for Americans hoping to skirt Canadian immigration requirements. Hito, the officer, asks her out and then introduces her to his sister Yori, an unstable but brilliant artist who helps her in the plan to find out the truth about herself. This ha all the elements of a thriller - and the sailing sections are great- but it was a little confusing with regard to why Sarah (or Ess as she begins to call herself) woke up on the boat (even when the answers come). And yes, there's a climate change theme but it largely stays in the background. That said, it was a page turner for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This book pleasantly surprised me. Although it was not a thriller in my opinion, it was still a non stop edge of your seat read. I read this one in one sitting, I just couldn't not know why this happened to her and what would be the outcome. It was a bit on the slower burn side, but it kept its intrigue and mystery throughout.

Ess is a great character that gets to rediscover herself after waking up in the middle of the water with no memory at all. I loved how she grew and the relationships she created with Hito and Yori. I enjoyed the life lessons through it all. It is a big part the mystery of finding out who she was, but also learning to accept her new reality and reinventing herself.

This book was very well written, it was really engaging and the emotions were felt through the pages. Brideau has immense knowledge of sailing and boats, I really loved how it added to the story. The climate change reality was also very interesting and well done in my opinion. Of course her being Canadian and this book being set in British Columbia made me enjoy it even more.

If you're looking for a very well written, utterly engaging psychological mystery definitely don't miss out !

This one had so much potential but almost nothing happened during the entire book. At the very end, the story picked up but by that time I wasn't invested and it ended up being anticlimactic. It's a great premise for a book, but it unfortunately didn't deliver for me.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This book was pretty good!! I enjoyed it. The story was set in Canada in 2038. The climate was changing drastically. Ess wakes up on a little sail boat not knowing how she got there. She found this note telling her not to dig into the past. She has no idea who wrote it or why. She has no idea where she’s going or why she’s on a boat in the ocean. Why has ess lost her memories? And why doesn’t this person want her digging into her past?

DNF at 42%. While this book grabbed my attention at first, I quickly found myself skimming the text. To me it was overly technical with the sailing of the boat and I found the amnesia aspect to be repetitive without giving more information. Unfortunately, this book was just not for me.

Adrift is a fascinating and riveting story that takes place in the future, about a woman who wakes up alone on a sailboat in the remote Pacific Northwest with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She finds a note, but it's more warning than comfort: Start over. Don't make yourself known. Don't look back.

Sarah Jane Song tries to find her way based on the little information left for her. Choosing to go by Ess instead of Sarah, tries to do as the notes say to keep herself in the shadows as she quietly investigates what happened, and where she needs to go to find the answers. Not sure if she is a sailor or not, she reads everything she can about the sailboat she now owns in order to set sail. Nearly drowning in the effort, she sails to a town hundreds of miles away, where she begins again looking for answers.

Ess learns that there are over twenty-five victims just like her, no memory, headaches, and seizures. All of these people are being held in custody until the truth about the Amnesiac Refugees is learned. Ess is determined to discover how she is connected to this group of people and how to survive without her memories as well as staying free from capture.

This is a suspenseful and intriguing plot involving amnesia and the choices that come as a result. I thought it was well written with great characters. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

First off, Thank you to the author and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-arc to review!



It's the near future and the climate of the world is drastically changing. The ocean is swallowing up major amounts of land. The effects of climate change loom in the background of the story as Ess tries to navigate her situation.
It's hard to review this because at times it was exactly what I wanted, and other times it was just off the mark. I think I would have enjoyed it more had there been more going on. The main character had a lot of conflicting thoughts and decisions, and I just couldn't stand that. However there was a lot that I did like, and that kept me reading. I enjoyed the boating parts, the atmosphere, and the friendships Ess builds.

This debut novel by a Canadian author is very good. Set in 2038 in Canada, this is a story of a woman, Ess, with wiped memories who wakes up alone on a boat with a cryptic note to not dig around in the past. The novel focuses on the impacts of climate change in a future world, scientific advancements, and the role of memory - who are we without them? Ess is very likeable and rootable as she struggles to unearth what happened to her all while trying to build a new life. The writing about nature is very descriptive and there are some good tense/suspenseful scenes. A slight dystopian feel but woven through with character development and human relationships made this an engaging, captivating read. There are also some good secondary characters who round out the plot. I really enjoyed this read!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

First I have to say that I just didn't enjoy this book at all. I stopped it at about 55% because it was just too out there for me.

A woman wakes up with no memories. There is a note saying to move on and don't try to remember. Of course that would make anyone want to know what is up right. Then there is the man who is rounding up people with lost memories. What is up with this.. Noting good I suspect.

It seems well written but just not a thriller like I thought.
I just didn't enjoy it enough to keep going. It just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I"m very sorry.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. This is my. own true thoughts about this book.

2/5 stars from me. Read it yourself and decide.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

SYNOPSIS: Ess awakes on July 5, 2038 with a splitting headache on a drifting, unmanned sailboat in an archipelago in British Columbia. Her memories are gone. She doesn’t know her name and doesn’t remember any life events or experiences. She discovers she’s been left a note that tells her, “There are pills in the drawer for the headaches. You want answers, but this has been done to keep you from them. This is the only way out alive. Start over. Don’t make yourself known. Don’t look back.” Not only does Ess have to navigate a boat, she also has to navigate how now to proceed in life, taking extra precautions along the way. What lies ahead for her and how she makes decisions could alter her course in more ways than one!

REVIEW: This debut novel was full of intrigue and suspense, and I loved her writing style! I found myself asking what I would do if I were in Ess’s situation, and how difficult it would be to trust anyone, especially given the instructions she’s left with This story takes place 7 years into the future and discusses the devastating effects climate control has had on the world – worse each year – not allowing communities to recover from floods, storms and fires before the next one. Without giving anything away, the title of this book is perfection in every sense of the word!

This one comes out May 9, and you’re going to want to get your hands on it!

Adrift centers on Ess, a woman who wakes up on a sailboat with no memory of anything before waking. This sounded like such a good premise but the execution left much to be desired. I went into this book thinking it was a thriller but it came across as more of a mystery. There wasn’t a lot of tense or suspenseful moments and I found myself not super invested in what happened. The pace was a lot slower than most “thrillers” although I’d still say it was a quick read.

I did feel at times there was too much sailing talk that left me a little bored. If you aren’t familiar with sailing, some parts kinda drag.

I ended up finding the ending pretty lackluster. Overall this book was just ok for me. I was entertained enough but it was forgettable.

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

What would you do if you woke up with no memory? With a new ID and a note that said to move forward, don't look back?

Half of this seemed like a waste. Boring. And the ending, though predictable, was anticlimactic after finding out what really happened. Did I want it to go another way? Maybeeee. Give me a choose-your-own-adventure and give me the other option too! That would be pretty cool.

Absolutely enthralling thriller from page one. I was unable to put this one down. What an incredible debut.

Do we know what's going on? Nope. But neither does our main character, Ess. Trying to figure it out while she does too was fun. I found it really interesting in the beginning with her knowing things when she didn't think too hard on it. It really kept those earlier pages turning. There's a lot in this but you'll have to read it.

I like the premise of Adrift. Ess wakes up with no memories on a boat. The world is different from our own and on the verge of a climate disaster. As a result people are paying to be smuggled into a countries like Canada that are safer. As Ess struggles to find out who she is and why she has no memories, she has to come to terms with who she might have been in the past. I like the questions that the story raises about our responsibility for our own actions. The story picked up about half way through, and it was worth being a bit confused at the beginning for the ending payoff. While this one isn't quite a thriller in my eyes, the mystery and the story line are worth the read.

When she wakes up alone on a boat, with a raging headache, no memory of who she is and a not warning her not to look into her past Ess does what anyone who can't remember does. She looks through every inch of the boat looking for clues to her identity. She finds out she isn't the only person who has amnesia, and those that have been discovered have been detained by the government..

Ess decides that she has to find out why she has amnesia and why she is different from the others that have been found. This takes her on a journey uncovering her past, while at the same time trying to stay one step ahead of those who would take her into custody.

This is definitely a more character-driven story, and while there are plenty of twists and turns there isn't a ton of action-packed moments. I enjoyed watching Ess try and uncover her past, and her relationships with Hito and his sister Yori. All of the tidbits that we learn about the world that Ess lives in was super intriguing, and Ess herself really kept me interested and wanting to find out how it was all going to end.
I will be on the look out for anything else this author writes.

I did end up loving this book and the message of Ess finding her place in the world despite her lack of memories. However, I wish it would have taken a deeper dive into exactly what happened with the nanotech that caused her to want to wipe her memory. Essentially, I wanted to know the contents of that file folder!

I received a gifted copy of ADRIFT by Lisa Brideau from Sourcebooks Landmark.

ADRIFT is a mystery set in a not too distant future where climate change has had a drastic on the world. Ess wakes up on a sailboat out at sea in the Pacific Northwest with no memory as to who she is or how she got here. She can remember things like how to sail a boat, but doesn’t have a single memory from her past or how she came by the knowledge that she does have. All she has is a note without context telling her to start over and not look back.

Ess learns that a number of people have been discovered in somewhat similar situations. These people are adrift at sea, also with no recollection of who they are. Where she has a nice boat and resources to draw on, these mystery people are left in rundown boats with nothing to live on. With these people getting a lot of scrutiny from law enforcement, Ess must keep her own situation quiet while also trying to get answers about her past that she can’t accept aren’t worth finding.

The mix of climate fiction and a mystery / thriller drew me to this synopsis when I was offered a review copy and I really enjoyed my time with this book. I can’t imagine waking up in Ess’ situation and trying to figure out what comes next. While the note she’s been left is pretty clear that she is meant to move on and leave the past behind, how would you even have the ability to trust whoever left the note?

This book is definitely more character driven than plot heavy and I did really enjoy learning who Ess was as she was figuring it out for herself. There were a few twists to the story that I expected, but it was done in a way that kept me wanting to read more so it was a success.