Only the Ocean

by Natasha Carthew

The two girls sat at opposite ends of the boat and Kel dug and stretched the oars into the ocean like her life depended upon it because it did.

'Just so you know,' said Rose, 'everything, I mean everything, is your fault.'

15-year-old Kel Crow lives in a water-logged world, with a family with whom she shares nothing but blood and a heart defect that she knows could kill her any day.

She has a plan to escape, and it's a good one: stowaway on the ship, kidnap the girl, swap the girl to buy passage to America and a life-saving operation. But plans never go how they're meant to …

Breath-takingly fierce, smart and tender, Only the Ocean is a story of innocence (and its loss), survival, and courage in the midst of darkness.

Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fiction, Lesbian, Mental Health

257 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2018

About the author

Natasha Carthew is a working-class writer from Cornwall. She is published by Hodder, Bloomsbury, Quercus and the National Trust. Her new book Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir of Poverty, Nature and Resilience, is out now with Coronet/Hodder.

She is known for writing on Socioeconomic issues and working-class representation in literature for several publications and programmes; including The Booker Prize Foundation, ITV, Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, The Royal Society of Authors Journal, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, The Bookseller, The Guardian, The Observer, Mslexia, The Dark Mountain Project, The Big Issue and The Economist. Natasha guest edited the working-class edition of The Bookseller (Nov 2022) and is recipient of The Bookseller Rising Star Award 2022.

Natasha is Founder and Artistic Director of The Working Class Writers Festival and The Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers in association with Octopus/Hachette.
She is represented by Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedman Literary Agency.

Reviews

[Kathy]

I received this book in a sub box a long while ago and.. I didn't even try picking it up because it didn't sound like my kind of book. But, since then, I've occasionally read outside of my usual genres and found a lot of amazing books so it was only right to give this one a chance.

Unfortunately, I was only able to read eight pages. Eight. I don't even get HOW since I usually succeed at reading at least fifty-ish pages before I want to quit a book. So, here are some reasons why I just.. couldn't..

> The writing isn't my cup of tea at all. The first two pages already show there's going to be a lot of ridiculously long sentences that need rereading to make sense of them. Not the kind of writing I enjoy at all, to be honest.

> The dialogue is written with the accents shown and.. with English not being my first language, that's frustrating as hell. Afterwards it even showed in the "ordinary" text as well, and that was the final drop.

> Before that final drop, though, there was mention of Kel blowing the smoke of her cigarette right at a baby's face. Also some of the thoughts regarding that baby were.. yeah, no. I have a son who's almost 14 months. I just cannot.

I'm not rating this since I only read eight pages but it's a definite "no" for me. Too bad since I really was looking forward to a queer read set on the ocean. Alas. Not going to happen.

[Atlas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing was too much for a girl with nothing to lose

* *
2 / 5

I loved the premise of two girls falling in love in a boat floating on the ocean as the world drowns around them. Unfortunately I found the writing style so incredibly aggravating that it made it really hard for me to enjoy the great aspects about Only the Ocean: fast plot, interesting universe, and cool main character.

Kel Crow belongs to a family of drug dealers in a world where the poor dwell in the swamps of a waterlogged world and the rich literally live in high towers. In return for enough money for her to escape her abusive father, Kel agrees to board a boat and kidnap a rich tower girl, Rose, for ransom. She has her baby in tow, which was definitely a completely unique YA plot point for me: I've never read a YA fantasy novel where the main character has a kid. Unfortunately for Kel, her kidnapping doesn't go quite to plan and her and Rose end up floating on a boat in the ocean.

I'm going to start off with the things I liked about Only the Ocean. I liked how the book wasn't overly length. It kept the plot moving and rolling with the punches. A lot of action happened. The universe itself was intriguing; with towers for the rich, guns, pirates, and too much water, the book felt futuristic and interesting. Lastly, Kel was a unique character with a strong accent that grew on me throughout the book.

Unfortunately, the writing style of the book was so incredibly aggravating and difficult to read. There were virtually no commas, every sentence was overrun with metaphors, and I had to read some paragraphs several times for them to make sense. It didn't have any kind of flow. Here is a couple of examples:

"Kel pulled at what clothes were still holding to hide corners of skin from the bang-bang rain, but no matter what she did the salt-soak still bit biddy bites from her flesh"

"Its orb was so big and fleshy it filled the dark with muscular bounce and Kel sat up to wash herself clean with midnight light"

Everything was so overly described that I felt completely emotionally disconnected from the plot and the characters. I didn't feel like I knew Rose at all. Only the Ocean definitely had some great qualities, but I did not get along with the writing at all.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Only the Ocean

Read this review and more on my blog: https://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.co...

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with Only the Ocean, the prose style just isn’t for me. And while I liked Kel as a main character in places, she’s not always terribly sympathetic. And the awful things that made up her life before the story starts aren’t really dealt with, and I think they should have been.

Rose is easier, but you don’t really learn much about her. Or the world in which the book is set. Really, that’s my biggest issue. What is going on around them? We get no context at all! It’s so frustrating.

The writing can be very pretty, and I do like the relationship that grows between Rose and Kel, but I think the cook could have benefited from fewer “style” choices and from being slightly longer so we could get some of that context.

[Moon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a quick read (I read it in one sitting while I was organising my shelves) but that's one of it's best features. The story doesn't really stand out, it has a F/F romance but it isn't really a surprise and it just seems to be a collection of things happening to them until suddenly everything is fine and they realise they love each other and are now a family.
It does a good job at trying to convey the mind set of the characters and it shows in the difference of how they speak which I found okay and interesting but it gets old fast.

[Elizabeth Emily Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Kel wondered about Rose up there in the prison that was the lighthouse and every thought she had in her head had its roots buried in fairytale. Dare and rescue and heroics were all at play inside, and so was something akin to doing the right thing. Rose needed her and Kel liked the idea of that. It was a new thing, but also a good thing.”

First of all this is a beautiful book. The cover is like something I would frame and put on my wall and Kel Crow is a great name for a character (not gonna lie, that’s probably because of my love for six of crows but I digress).

However I have major conflicting thoughts on this book. In one instance I love the plot and the idea of surviving against the odds. I like both Kel and Rose as they aren’t flat characters. Then in the next instance I find this book frustrating. It took me a while to get into this book and I wasn’t really all that intrigued until about the halfway point.

The main reason that I found this book frustrating was because of the language Natasha Carthew uses. I understand that that is the way Kel and the people from the swamps would speak however at some points I would be reading what Kel is saying and not understanding what it is that she’s trying to say due to her using shortened versions of words and slang. Another reason is that this book is a little short. Not because of how many pages it is but because there’s very little to no world building. We find out the book is set in Cornwall however it’s not the Cornwall that we are used to. For me, I felt like it needed more detail but that could be the fantasy reader in me coming out.

Hence my mixed feelings for this book. This book is about a girl named Kel who is trying to raise money for an operation she is told she needs for her irregular heart. In the first chapter of this book we see Kel run away from home and take on a job from a guy in a bar who wants to kidnap a captains daughter, who is called Rose. We then get to see this play out. Kel also has a baby who she kind of sees as a burden. Which now I’ve read the full book I can kind of understand the way she treats him.

Overall, this wasn’t a terrible read I just found I couldn’t get into it very easily because of the language used. I’m disappointed as I really wanted to like this book as the premise sounded so intriguing.

[Joana Barroca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I admit I've been in a reading slump lately and that may have a lot to do with the fact that I couldn't keep reading this. I got bored and confused. The sentences didn't really make any sense with the lack of commas, and even though this is an arc I think the commas were purposely missing.

I'm also not really a fan of this type of writing so it just didn't get to me.

Maybe when I'm out of the slump I'll give it another try but for now, I really want to find something that gets me going from the start instead of me trying to keep going without wanting to.

[Becci Sheehan]

First DNF of the year. I just couldn't get on with the writing style, the lack of commas infuriated me - I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but it made the sentences so confusing. Just couldn't carry on reading this unfortunately.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you've been following my reviews for a while already, you've probably noticed that a road trip has to be really good to actually convince me. If that road trip sparks some interesting emotional development for example or if it really serves a purpose and leads to some epic conclusion that just blows your mind.

But, this book has a weird kind of sea trip that just leads absolutely nowhere and doesn't come with some great emotional development or conclusion. It all feels a little pointless. It eventually leads not really anywhere and all we get to read is two girls at sea almost being killed a couple of times and then somehow finding a way out again. O, and they fall in love, but I have to admit that I missed the exact point it happened and the chemistry.

The writing style doesn't really serve the story either. It all feels very monotonous and repeating. My mind was drifting of constantly or I was simply zoning out. Quite often I was reading the words, but they didn't really reach or touch anything in me. It was like I was reading a study book on a subject I couldn't quite appreciate. Geography or something.

Doesn't this story have anything interesting? Yes, it has a few interesting elements, among them the world that's being built. It's a pity that we only read about it through memories and dialogues and don't get to see any of it. There seems to be quite a few interesting things going on on the mainland and I wish we got told that story instead of this one.

But well, not all books can be four or five star reads, right?

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kel was an inspiring character to follow through a shit-ton of bad luck. The author's writing style was maybe hard to read at times but I'd imagine this is exactly how Kel would think and speak so I didn't mind it much, it was authentic to the character.
Her constant struggle to survive was inspiring, but especially in every moment where she found her optimism and hope again. If I would've been Kel, I would've just given up, but not her. She fought to survive for Rose and her baby - she fought to live!

I also love the little tidbits about the baby - Rosen - the development from it&the baby, to slowly becoming a him the more Rose shows Kel how precious his little life has the potential to be, to becoming Rosen "named after beauty and courage and grit" (p. 247).

I hope they'll manage to make Kel's dream a reality and find their little cottage in the fields together <3

[katya jw · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will never get over the fact I paid 12,80€ for this book and I couldn’t make it past page 7.

[Kamila Komisarek · Rating 2 out of 5]

'There was nothing to fight for and nothing to fight against. A Quiet drift of motion; it was only the ocean after all.'

I've got Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew form a book box and, considering a beautiful cover, I couldn't wait to dig right into it. It turned out it wasn't that easy. The book is written in a very peculiar way. The author is heavy emphasising different accents and way of speaking for the main character, who is a girl from poor 'swamp folk'. From the very beginning this book is very hard to read. I had to be very focused to understand what exactly was happening, and even though I tried, I often was confused and couldn't imagine it at all. I think only because this book was not long (272 pages) I kept reading. Otherwise I would just put it away and never looked back. Fortunately after about 50 pages it got better... or maybe I got used to writing.
The book takes place in a near future (probably, nothing is said directly about it), where Cornwall was flooded and the whole mainland consists of huge swamps and high towers, where the rich people lives. Our main character is Kel Crow, a teenager who decided to runaway from her home in the swamps, taking with her only a knife and her little baby. She has a very precise plan for her future. She needs to kidnap a rich girl, swap her for a bag of drugs and sail to America to sell them and get money for operation fixing the defect of her heart. Seems easy enough for Kel, but of course nothing in life ever comes easy and two girls form different worlds end up stranded in the middle of the ocean on a small boat.
The whole book is the fight for survival. Kel is very determined to live to see another day and during their many dangerous adventures she's starting to see the error of her ways. She promises herself that she will change her life around, if only she made out of the ocean alive. Of course a bond between the girls is starting to form, going from acceptance, through rough friendship to even something more. For me it didn't really work very well. There were not much indication of their relationship development, just being constantly stranded with each other.
I also didn't really like the ending. I felt that I should be very sad and maybe shed a tear or two, but I felt nothing. The few last pages felt quite ridiculous for me. I also didn't like that there was nothing said about the world around characters. It was only hinted that something big and terrible is happening, but then everything is just left unsaid and you can made it up yourself. I feel like there was a very interesting story there and was completely left untouched. The story also includes tough problems like children abuse, rape and self harm, but all of it is just mentioned and characters don't dwell much over it.
I didn't like the story much to be honest. I think to enjoy it you have to be in very particular mood. I know that there is a lot of people who loved this writing style but I'm not one of them. Maybe if English was my native language I would appreciate it more.

[The Book Lender · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a near-future, waterlogged Cornwall, Only The Ocean depicts a dystopian society where the poor “swamp folk” and the rich “tower folk” do not mix.

Fifteen year old Kel is desperate to escape her life in the swamps - a life of crime, abuse and misery. With nothing but a knife, a baby and a meticulous plan, Kel knows what she has to do: kidnap the tower girl from a ship, get her back to land and use the ransom to pay her way to South America and a life-saving operation on her oversized heart. But we all know what happens to best laid plans. Unpredictable seas, weather and people leave Kel and Rose - kidnapper and victim - reliant on each other in order to survive everything the ocean throws at them, and force Kel to reevaluate not just her plans, but her whole world view.

Only The Ocean will not be to everyone’s tastes. It reads like a post-apocalyptic Cornish folk song - the style may put off some readers, but it worked for me. Long periods of the book are set on a small island, or an even smaller dinghy, and there is a suitably claustrophobic atmosphere to the writing. We get to see very little of the dystopian society up close, what little we know of it comes from contextual clues and conversations. I liked that not everything was made explicit, that there was room for inference and gap-filling.

Carthew’s writing is full of powerful imagery, evoking sights, sounds, feelings and places through her interesting and creative use of language. Only the Ocean is certainly not for everyone - the distinct writing style could take time to get used to and may put off some readers. The novel also deals with some serious issues - rape and child abuse, self harm - so is definitely one for older, more mature readers.

[Ioanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In a dystopian world filled with water, people have little chance of living a good life. Kel Crow, just fifteen, wants to escape the life she's been living with her family. And there's a plan involved. The pan was easy: kidnap the girl from the ship, and swap her in order to gain passage to America and start a new life. But when things don't go as planned, Kel will see a very different outcome to her life..

Only the Ocean is a book with a very unique concept. Kel is undoubtedly a very strong-willed and resourceful individual, and her story is one of resilience and courage. This is certainly a good fit for young adults and teenagers. I only have one objection: the writing. It was actually very bad at the beginning (no commas, lack of necessary punctuation, bad writing), which reduced the readability and made reading an unpleasant experience. However, it significantly improved after the first twenty pages or so. I sincerely hope this happened because it is an ARC, which is why I didn't rate lower; if not, however, and if this is its final form, then I would strongly suggest re-editing the first chapters, as the writing style actually took some of the pleasure of the story away.

Overall a very good concept, with a really interesting protagonist.

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

After receiving this book in a mystery book box it has sat on my shelf for quite some time. Out of the blue it popped into my head and I thought I’d actually give it a try.

The style the author writes in is like no other I have come across before. It was like learning a new language and it left me feeling quite disjointed throughout the whole book.

To be honest, I’m sat here, a few hours after completing this book and I really don’t know how I feel about it…

There was some character development for the main character Kel but nothing you couldn’t see coming from the first few chapters.
I never become attached enough to anybody within the story to really care about their outcome and I think this was due to the general lack of communication between the two main girls.

Points were often repeated only a few pages on making it all somewhat boring.
However I did feel the other kept the pace moving and we didn’t dilly dally too long in one place.

So I guess having given this a little more thought, sadly this book is not one of my favourites and I doubt I’ll be recommending it to anyone any time soon.

[Mia (A Happy Little Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh this book... This book left me with that sweet post-book bliss that only the very best story manage to provide. The (queer) (*squeals*) romance, and surprisingly dark character background (not to mention an ending that made me bawl) helped to make this book memorable and unique.

I, like many of the other reviewers most admit that I found the writing style to be something of a challenge early into the story. However, I found that once I delved into the book for a significant period at a time, the writing would not only begin to make sense but begin to really contribute to my understanding of the novel. Only the Ocean's writing was its own language, and as the story progressed, I became more fluent.

The setting, too, was hard to decipher, and I never managed to settle on where exactly it was set (both location and time wise). In the end, however, it did't really impact the story; just my curiosity.

A great novel with a ship-worthy (puns) couple and quirky plot. A definite 4.5 stars!

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start: stunning book cover, and when least expected, beautiful lines.

Sentences run on and on, unfortunately. Some parts of sentences were wholly disconnected from the rest. This made this book incredibly hard to read in one sitting. I found myself simply skipping lines and paragraphs due to the length and low amount of punctuation.

Both characters were well developed. Kel's personal improvement was very well done. You can see her point of view clearly, and once you finish the book, you understand her hatred of the baby, and why she's doing what she's doing.

The romance was fun. Most of their interactions were insulting banter, which is one of my favourite tropes. You can see them test the waters with each other, and how they eventually learn what to say to each other.
It was also incredibly natural. I could definitely see why Kel liked/loved Rose, and the slight struggle she went through to get to that point felt very real.

It's a shame the book was written the way it was. Good characters and a premise I liked, but it was more than difficult to read.

[Book Box Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a water-logged world, two girls are stranded at sea. Kel is a hardy runaway, threatened by a faulty heart. Rose is a frustrated captain’s daughter, stolen from her father’s ship and soon to be used as collateral in a trade that might save Kel’s life.

We loved this book. Here at Book Box Club we read lots and lots of YA and tend to gravitate towards books that are a bit different and stories that we haven't heard before. Only the Ocean is filled with beautifully lyrical writing and complex characters that are rarely found in a YA Dystopian setting. Natasha's writing style is really unique. Now we can't wait to read all of her other books and will be keeping a keen eye on what she's writing next! We will also continue to recommend this vivid and moving novel full of adventure, friendship and the brutal force of the ocean.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Natasha Carthew uses an interesting prose for which she is often praised - according to the book's opening pages. And I sort of liked it. I certainly did at first, it's got a sort of charm to it. But then I found it tedious, as I found the whole book tedious. I couldn't be made to care enough about the characters, they weren't that interesting, or - they could have been, in another story, but not in this one. And their interactions were stilted which made sense for the story but made for unenjoyable reading. And their relationship progression just made no sense. I've heard of enemies-to-lovers romance but a-bit-feisty-but-mostly-apathetic-interactions-but-you've-only-seen-each-other-for-a-month-I-guess-you're-in-love-now romance - that's a new genre that should never be repeated.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I’ve had to DNF this book at 30% completion. I tried my hardest to get into this book but just couldn’t. The sentences are messy, long, and I found myself rereading some a few times to make sense of them. I hated the stylistic writing choice of the author - the lack of commas in the book was infuriating and was a large factor in struggling to understand some of them easily. I felt that not a lot was happening in this story, and I just found it lacking in a lot of areas. Kel’s backstory? More info on what’s happening on land? The context just wasn’t there and unfortunately ruined a book that could’ve had a lot of potential

[Jamie Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I had a love-hate relationship with the dialogue this was written in, it gave the narration a lot of character and vividness, but at times made the action hard to follow. That aside it was a good read, fast-paced, dramatic in places and poignant in others, with a fierce and original protagonist and great character growth from both girls. There's not a lot of detail about the dystopian world, but there doesn't need to be; the story paints a clear enough picture of the struggles of living in it and if Kel knows any more about how it happened, she wouldn't be thinking about it much anyway.

CW: rape, child/sexual abuse, self-harm, kidnapping

[Xandra Noel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I finished it was because of a book club. The narrative was very simple and did not have a major story line, although some parts were interesting to read.
There is no major character development and their personalities were quite linear, also some facts are not explained very good, there is no backstory of the swamps and the towers, so the reader doesn`t really understand the differences between the two main characters and their lifestyle before the event.

Also thought their journey was a bit pointless, they end up the same place they started.

[Chryso · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way this is written is amazingly unique. Despite the fact the story itself wasn't my cup of tea it was so well written, with such a musical type flow to it, that I couldn't put it down and read it in just over a day. There was something engaging and emotive throughout. I found myself being drawn in to the characters, who are ridiculously realistic, even though I thought the storyline itself felt basic.
It moves quickly, there is always something happening, even in the times where there is nothing happening.
I would definitely say it's worth a read though.

[Emma Rosen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel a bit mixed about this book. In general, there were a few sentances that didn't scan well and the plot was predictable. There were references to giving a baby alcohol (even if only round gums) and to self-harm that I found uncomfortable. On the other hand I liked the setting but felt it could be more atmospheric. I thought the allusions to breastfeeding were brilliantly handled. Unfortunately the tone was for younger children than I felt some of the themes were appropriate for.

[L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good! I loved the writing style, I don't know if they did some editing after the reviews on here, but I didn't find it hard to read or boring at all and the dialect that some of the characters speak in really isn't hard to understand... Island survival stories have been my favourite since I was a child & this definitely holds up. The romance was perfect, too, and the book almost made me cry several times.

[Antheia_studies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I have mixed views on this book. At first I found the plot very boring and dull and it took a long time to actually get me interested in the characters. I found the authors style of writing refreshing as I have never come across a writing style like this before. It took me until 3/4 of the book for me to get invested and the ending brought me to tears. Ultimately it was a good book but it takes a while for it to get interesting.

[Lauren Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of one girls attempt to find a better life and escape from abuse, causes her to make a desperate decision (One that I'm sure would have ended up as a bad experience).

The plan goes horribly wrong and leads to two girls from different backgrounds stuck on a boat with a baby trying to survive.

An easy read that I enjoyed, but I couldn't help but feel that the ending was really, perhaps, 'they all died in the end'

[Bethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this to be so good because I have heard good things about it but I felt like it was four or five stories jumbled up into one and yeah it was hard to try and fathom one story from the jumbled mess that was written out here. I tried so hard to like this book. I even put it down to read something else.
I came back to it and today I managed to finish it. More out of a sense of accomplishment than anything else. This is a book I will not be reading again, at least not any time soon.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really did enjoy this book.

The reason I’ve only given it 3 stars is because I would have loved a bit more world building. It feels like it is set in some dystopian type world but I’m really not sure because it is never explained.

This is definitely more of a character based story which is still great; I love the relationship between Kel and Rose and the character development is so on point!

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had an interesting concept to it but I just could not get into it at all, I had to keep stopping to take a break.

Also to say that this book contains self harming and abuse why is there nothing at the end? Most novels with similar topics have a list of websites or numbers to call if you or someone you know has gone through similar situations.

[Kathryn (Katie) Burlo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aww man I really feel bad giving one stars because the cover is so nice and the idea is lovely, but the writing style sounded like it was written by a beginner writer. The sentences are run-ons and there's no commas, which makes it very hard to understand anything going on. Sadly this is a DNF for me. :(