It\u2019s the start of summer, and Jill\u2019s family has decided to celebrate by going on their annual boating trip to Lake Koda. The day starts with laughter as the kids soak in the sun, water ski, and build sandcastles. All seems perfect, and after lunch at their favorite cove, the group splits up for a last bit of fun. However, a thunderstorm soon rolls in, bringing unexpected lightning and violent waves. As things worsen, they realize the importance of moving off the water to safety, but Jill\u2019s motherly instincts kick in as she thinks of her two younger sons likely freezing in the cove with their grandmother. She urges her father to turn back into the roaring waters, and they soon pull the boys to safety. Yet, just as Jill feels relief, her father guns the gas into an oncoming wave, flipping the boat and throwing the passengers into the churning water. In the horrific accident\u2019s aftermath, each family member deals with their trauma separately, locking up their pain and laying blame where it shouldn\u2019t be; however, at the point when they feel they\u2019ve hit rock bottom, they find new strength. Shaeffer\u2019s use of multiple third-person perspectives creates a well-paced, engaging plot that will hook readers in. Also, the character development throughout feels realistic; for example, when Jill collapses after terrible news of a death, her loving, strong, and supportive spouse, Matt, \u201cheld her up when she crumpled into him\u201d\u2014but he reveals later how much he, too, is struggling. The various points of view, including that of Jill\u2019s teenage son, show how unique and individual the effects of grief can be, and they bring a sense of community to what could easily be portrayed as a lonely process.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s the start of summer, and Jill\u2019s family has decided to celebrate by going on their annual boating trip to Lake Koda. The day starts with laughter as the kids soak in the sun, water ski, and build sandcastles. All seems perfect, and after lunch at their favorite cove, the group splits up for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}