Review: Swimming for Sunlight by Allie Larkin

Swimming for Sunlight

by Allie Larkin

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 352

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Aspiring costume designer Katie gave up everything in her divorce to gain custody of her fearful, faithful rescue dog, Barkimedes. While she figures out what to do next, she heads back to Florida to live with her grandmother, Nan.

But Katie quickly learns there’s a lot she doesn’t know about Nan—like the fact that in her youth Nan was a mermaid performer in a roadside attraction show, swimming and dancing underwater with a close-knit cast of talented women. Although most of the mermaids have since lost touch, Katie helps Nan search for her old friends on Facebook, sparking hopes for a reunion show. Katie is up for making some fabulous costumes, but first, she has to contend with her crippling fear of water.

As Katie’s college love Luca, a documentary filmmaker, enters the fray, Katie struggles to balance her hopes with her anxiety, and begins to realize just how much Bark’s fears are connected to her own, in this thoughtful, charming novel about hope after loss and friendships that span generations. 

Kritters Thoughts:  A book that starts in a divorce, but that is only the first chapter.  Katie moves back in with her grandmother and decides to reevaluate her life and figure out where she wants to go for herself.  She ends up entangled with her grandmother's friends who are remembering days of the past and decide to recreate some of the things they used to do.

I have recently decided to avoid all books about cheating and divorce - just not something I want to read about, so I was nervous about the basis of this book, but it really only is the first chapter and the book is more about Katie's arc to find herself and her passions again.  There are peaks of Katie reflecting on a relationship gone wrong, but they were dropped in at just the right moment and I felt as though they helped to drive Katie and the story forward.  

The characters were just great in this book.  With a large cast I wondered if I would feel lost in the shuffle, but the author does a great job of giving every character their own backstory, so the reader can feel connected to each one in a unique way.  

I loved this book.  It was the perfect escape during a busy season of my life.  It was easy to pick up and put down and not miss a thing.  I need to read more of Allie Larkin's backlist!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 46 out of 100


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.