Name: Moth's review of The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
Item: The Last True Poets of the Sea
Rating: 4
Author: Moth

Julia Drake

From a stunning new voice in YA literature comes an epic, utterly unforgettable contemporary novel about a lost shipwreck, a missing piece of family history, and weathering the storms of life. "Profound and page-turning." --Madeline Miller, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Circe The Larkin family isn't just lucky-they persevere. At least that's what Violet and her younger brother, Sam, were always told. When the Lyric sank off the coast of Maine, their great-great-great grandmother didn't drown like the rest of the passengers. No, Fidelia swam to shore, fell in love, and founded Lyric, Maine, the town Violet and Sam returned to every summer. But wrecks seem to run in the family: Tall, funny, musical Violet can't stop partying with the wrong people. And, one beautiful summer day, brilliant, sensitive Sam attempts to take his own life. Shipped back to Lyric while Sam is in treatment, Violet is haunted by her family's missing piece-the lost shipwreck she and Sam dreamed of discovering when they were children. Desperate to make amends, Violet embarks on a wildly ambitious mission: locate the Lyric, lain hidden in a watery grave for over a century. She finds a fellow wreck hunter in Liv Stone, an amateur local historian whose sparkling intelligence and guarded gray eyes make Violet ache in an exhilarating new way. Whether or not they find the Lyric, the journey Violet takes-and the bridges she builds along the way-may be the start of something like survival. Epic, funny, and sweepingly romantic, The Last True Poets of the Sea is an astonishing debut about the strength it takes to swim up from a wreck.

The Last True Poets of the Sea

Caitlin Miller 

Moth

Lost one star for not getting Maine correct. But luckily the rest was so amazing I could over look it for the most part

eve 

krasna. kouzelná. uveritelna. moje nova komfortní četba. nemám moc co říct just pure magic

From a new voice in YA literature comes an epic, utterly unforgettable contemporary novel about a lost shipwreck, a missing piece of family history, and weathering the storms of life. Fans of Far from the Tree, We Are Okay, and Emergency Contact will love this stunning debut. "Profound and page-turning." --Madeline Miller, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Circe The Larkin family isn't just lucky-they persevere. At least that's what Violet and her younger brother, Sam, were always told. When the Lyric sank off the coast of Maine, their great-great-great-grandmother didn't drown like the rest of the passengers. No, Fidelia swam to shore, fell in love, and founded Lyric, Maine, the town Violet and Sam returned to every summer. But wrecks seem to run in the family: Tall, funny, musical Violet can't stop partying with the wrong people. And, one beautiful summer day, brilliant, sensitive Sam attempts to take his own life. Shipped back to Lyric while Sam is in treatment, Violet is haunted by her family's missing piece-the lost shipwreck she and Sam dreamed of discovering when they were children. Desperate to make amends, Violet embarks on a wildly ambitious mission: locate the Lyric, lain hidden in a watery grave for over a century. She finds a fellow wreck hunter in Liv Stone, an amateur local historian whose sparkling intelligence and guarded gray eyes make Violet ache in an exhilarating new way. Whether or not they find the Lyric, the journey Violet takes-and the bridges she builds along the way-may be the start of something like survival. Epic, funny, and sweepingly romantic, The Last True Poets of the Sea is an astonishing debut about the strength it takes to swim up from a wreck.

tina

"the world is a big place. there's space for you in it."


tw: suicide attempt (mention), eating disorders, statutory rape (mention), underage drug and alcohol abuse

juno

jess

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When I first saw The Last True Poets of the Sea, I found myself hooked on the premise--I'd read the first few chapters and was drawn into it. It sounded like the kind of story I would like, and in many ways, I was right. The Last True Poets of the Sea is an deep exploration of family, friendship, mental illness, and survival.

Our main character is Violet, who's been sent to live with her uncle in the town of Lyric, Maine, after a rough year for her family. When we first meet her, Violet's reeling from the past year coping with her brother's mental health problems by partying and promiscuity. The Last True Poets of the Sea is about Violet putting the pieces of who she is together, solving the problem of her family, and finding the self who she's lost. Violet is such a realistic character to me, with so many contradictory

The book also throws readers a proper love triangle with two of the side characters, Liv and Orion, two of the teenagers that Violet meets in Lyric. Violet finds herself attracted to both of them, who are a will-they-won't-they couple, and both find themselves attracted to Violet. I wasn't expecting this book to be queer, which makes me glad that it was. Orion is the sweetest boy, and Liv is smart and ambitious, and I enjoyed the dynamic of all three of them together. 

When it comes to the discussion of mental illness, The Last True Poets of the Sea goes the avenue of leaving a named diagnosis out of the book for any of the characters. However, Violet is heavily implied to have bipolar disorder; meanwhile, Sam has a "complicated" diagnosis implied to be something more, which I personally read as autism (Violet constantly saying there was "more" to Sam, sensory issues, special interests, and general rigidity in schedule). I'll be honest: I'm not really a fan of the Ambiguous Disorder trope. I understand why authors do it; in this book, it's to show the connection between Sam and Violet, as well as hereditary mental illness.

I'm also not a fan of the Problem Sibling trope, though The Last True Poets definitely does deconstruct it and show how both Violet and Sam are both going through their own separate struggles and that they're likely both neurodivergent in some way. If -- and I do stress the "if" -- Sam was written to be autistic, the comparison of autism to mental illness does make me deeply uncomfortable. Obviously, autistic people can certainly be mentally ill, and have what Sam was diagnosed with (we love comorbidities), but I wish there was a distinction. Because to me, it felt like Sam was being presented as the Problem Sibling, who destabilized his family, and that narrative does quite bother me, especially if Sam was meant to be autistic. Of course, I could always just be reading Too Far Into It, so take these last two paragraphs with a salt shaker!

The writing is really gorgeous, though, and lends so much to the atmosphere of sleepy small-town Maine in the summer. Julia Drake gives Violet a really strong voice, which is good because this book is so character-driven and emotional.

I would definitely recommend The Last True Poets of the Sea as a great YA contemporary. It's a book that makes you feel things, a messy family and messy people trying to put themselves back together.

content warnings | suicide, eating disorder, grief, drug and alcohol use

representation | unspecified mental illness/neurodiversity

Latitude Tamarind

this is one of the best books of the year

Ella Patterson

It took me a while, but as I'm finding recently, most books that make an impact on me do. Violet was unlike most protagonists and was such a fully dimensional, flawed, conflicted character. I loved her and her found family of friends, though I wished we explored Felix and Mariah a little bit more as characters. Her relationship with Liv was sweet and endearing and something I really needed as I have been feeling a little melancholy at the moment. Violet's internal monologue and the way in which she interacted with her family felt very grounded in reality and whilst it made for a harder sad read at times, in the end it gave the story a lot more impact than if it had been a more simple fantastical contemporary.

siblings... am i right, ladies?

EDIT: here's a playlist i made for the last true poets of the sea: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RR...

Dani Gale

This was a very interesting read. The main character's search for the shipwreck that her family is descended from, and her belief in the "shipwreck gene" that plagues her brother and herself. It's equal parts coming of age (kind of), summer love, and personal growth. I'd 100% recommend.

Flavia Louise

I was SO hyped for this and it was good but sadly not as good as I was expecting. This has been compared to Summer of Salt which I absolutely loved. This one was good but something was just missing. :(

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: Julia Drake

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Main is bisexual, one of the female characters is straight but then goes into a F/F relationship

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 17+ (TW suicide mentioning and possible food control/anorexia/bullimia) 

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 400

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The Larkin family isn't just lucky—they persevere. At least that's what Violet and her younger brother, Sam, were always told. When the Lyric sank off the coast of Maine, their great-great-great-grandmother didn't drown like the rest of the passengers. No, Fidelia swam to shore, fell in love, and founded Lyric, Maine, the town Violet and Sam returned to every summer.

But wrecks seem to run in the family. Tall, funny, musical Violet can't stop partying with the wrong people. And, one beautiful summer day, brilliant, sensitive Sam attempts to take his own life.

Shipped back to Lyric while Sam is in treatment, Violet is haunted by her family's missing piece - the lost shipwreck she and Sam dreamed of discovering when they were children. Desperate to make amends, Violet embarks on a wildly ambitious mission: locate the Lyric, lain hidden in a watery grave for over a century.

She finds a fellow wreck hunter in Liv Stone, an amateur local historian whose sparkling intelligence and guarded gray eyes make Violet ache in an exhilarating new way. Whether or not they find the Lyric, the journey Violet takes-and the bridges she builds along the way-may be the start of something like survival.

Review: I am so perplexed by this book. I loved the writing, I loved the character development, and I loved how the author made something so complex but simple at the same time. I love the world building and the relationships between the family members.

However, I feel like the plot of the story isn't there? Like it felt like a lot of the story was circular and the pacing was super slow and nothing really happened, but yet I liked it and I felt like we were getting somewhere? I don't know, this was a trip lol.

Verdict: I definitely believe this is worth the read.

damla

kinda spoilers i guess but I'm not sure?
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violet is korra, liv is asami, and orion is mako.

Caitlin Miller &
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

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