by Tobias Madden
Page Street YA, 2024. 384 pages. Young Adult
Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.) And even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself, about his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions. But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing, in every possible way, it’s time for Marco to get a few things wrong.
It's no secret that I love to go on cruises, so the premise that this book is largely set aboard a cruise ship seemed like a perfect match. However, there was a considerable amount of suspension of disbelief required, and perhaps Madden went a bridge too far for my taste: Hunter's decision to engage in a sexual relationship with someone who is essentially a passenger would definitely have gotten him fired, full stop. It's worth noting that this work definitely doesn't classify as a romance; it's more closely a bildungsroman, and it focuses on Marco's sense of self (including a realistic depiction of grappling with anxiety), as well as his family and friend relationships. Madden also sheds light on generational differences regarding views on homosexuality, which definitely rings true.