Review: Drowning Is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley

Drowning Is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley

Blurb from Goodreads:

Olivia has spent her whole life struggling to escape her dead mother’s shadow. But when her father can’t even look at her because Olivia reminds him of her mother, and her grandmother mistakenly calls her “Lillian,”  shaking a reputation she didn’t ask for is next to impossible. Olivia is used to leaning on her best friend, Jamie; her handsome but hot-tempered boyfriend, Max; and their wild-child friend, Maggie, for the reality check that her small Louisiana town can’t provide. But when a terrible fight between Jamie and his father turns deadly, all Olivia can think to do is grab her friends and run. 

In a flash, Olivia, Jamie, Max, and Maggie become fugitives on the back roads of Louisiana. They’re headed to New Orleans, where they hope to find a solution to an unfixable problem. But with their faces displayed on all the news stations, their journey becomes a harrowing game of hide-and-seek from the police—and so-called allies, who just might be the real enemy.

Shalanda Stanley’s breathtaking debut novel explores the deep ties between legacy, loyalty, and love, even as it asks the question: How far would you go to save a friend? 

My Review:
 

Drowning Is Inevitable was not for me.  I hate it when that happens to a book I've been as a WoW!  The most honest and first thing I can say about this book is that it was lacking a purpose, a message and a plot.  The beginning of the book was interesting but then it just felt like it went nowhere and everything, EVERYTHING in the book was so depressing.  It ended up with these naive teenagers just wandering around New Orleans to evade the police and getting caught up in drug deals.  I was waiting for some mystery or thriller aspect but everything happened in slow motion and I just felt bereft.  The only likable character for me was Jamie, Olivia's (the MC) best friend and without telling you what happens -- things did not end well for him.

Drowning Is Inevitable was just released this week, and you can purchase HERE!  

Driving through the French Quarter was like entering a new dimension.  Everything had been restored to its pre-apocalyptic-hurricane state.  It was only noon, but people were already in the streets, wearing smiles and beads and carrying ridiculously tall drink cups.  It didn't feel real.  Somehow we had wandered into some play intended to convince the tourists that everything was back to normal.  The shop owners were in on it, with their too-wide smiles, pointing and directing everyone's attention away from anything real.