Rating: DNF
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Two men and a spotted dog restore a vintage Chris-Craft motor yacht and launch across the American Heartland from Texas to Ohio. The restoration, the people they met along the way, and life in an America which few know exists are the story of River Queens: Saucy boat, stout mates, spotted dog, America.

I have read many autobiographies and true-life accounts and I always like a story of people in different and interesting places. But, having that foundation is only the beginning and it has to be conveyed in a way that makes it engaging to the reader. This book sounded like a good way to be transported to Alexander and Dale’s journey by boat, but it didn’t work out for me. One issue was that by halfway through the book, I still didn’t really know Alexander or Dale, and the people they had met at that point did not stand out. It also wasn’t conveyed well why the pair wanted to buy the boat in the first place.

The first 30% of the story is Alexander and Dale buying the boat, fixing the boat, and sailing locally. Seven years then pass and what was conveyed well in this book was how many repairs this boat constantly needed. It’s not until almost halfway through the story that they actually set sail on the journey that the blurb describes. Up until then, they were repairing the boat in excruciating detail. The majority of the conversations they had up until that point, either with each other or with others that they meet, were also about repairing the boat and that did not make an interesting story.

By the time Alexander and Dale set sail on the longer journey, the style of storytelling wasn’t for me. A story has to be told in a way that can engage the reader and that didn’t happen here.