The Lifeguards - Amanda Eyre Ward

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Despite a promising premise, "The Lifeguards" was a book that didn't work for me from the start and fell apart even more so as it went on. It felt like this book was trying very hard (too hard) to be something akin to "Big Little Lies" and "Little Fires Everywhere." Even with a diverse character ensemble of well-do-do suburban moms, wanna-be well-to-do moms, teenagers, and a blue collar cop investigating a mysterious death in his community, I wasn't able to connect to a single character. Collectively, the ensemble was unlikable and lacked so much depth that even by the end of the story, I didn't feel like I had a good grasp on who each character even was. 

From a plot perspective, this felt very clunky and disjointed. While the title suggests that this story focuses on a group of lifeguards (our teenage characters), I found the chapters centering much more on a trio of moms who did little to propel the plot forward in an interesting or suspenseful way. Ultimately, I'm surprised I was able to move through this book as quickly as I did, given that it fell totally flat for me. 

Unfortunately, Ward's writing and plot conception were the real culprits here for me; this book felt like an unpolished rough draft (in character development, dialogue, everything) that left little impact on me as a reader. 

Rating: 2 Stars
Publication Details: Out Now, Random House Publishing

Huge thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing my review copy!

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