Review of Beyond the Sea

[Diana Lowery]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Beyond the Sea" by Nina Purtee.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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I​f you want to experience an extravagant lifestyle vicariously, this is the book for you. Annie, the protagonist in Beyond the Sea, has no money worries. Supported by her wealthy grandparents and two rich suitors, she travels the world on private jets, luxury sailboats, and fancy sports cars. She stays in luxurious accommodations, drinks expensive wines, and enjoys haute cuisine.

B​eing financially secure does not mean she is worry-free, however. Annie faces many personal conflicts such as her father's disappearance, a boating accident that seriously injures her best friend, and questionable romantic encounters. Annie is supported during each crisis by a network of friends and family. The author, Nina Purtee, has a degree in philosophy, and that is demonstrated through the advice meted out to Annie during her troubled times.

R​eaders who enjoy travelogs will appreciate the diverse settings of the story. I was originally drawn to the book because I saw that one of the settings was Marbella. I fell in love with that beach town on my trip to Spain. One of my favorite parts of the book was reliving my train ride from Madrid to Malaga on the same high-speed train that Annie took. Annie also vividly describes her trips to places such as Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Portugal, and Thailand.

Although I enjoyed reading this 286-page novel, at times the unreality of how everything always turned out perfectly felt too much like a fairy tale. This aspect was not enough to deduct a star. My rating is five out of five. There are some love scenes, and readers who might be offended by the vivid sexual descriptions might want to skip this book.

T​his is the first book about the 26-year-old, bold traveler. The author has given hints about where Annie's adventures will take her next. If I can't make it to South America and Bali myself, I will enjoy seeing it through Annie's eyes.

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Beyond the Sea
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[Amy Luman]

I am interested in Annie’s adventures. Book about travel don’t really appeal to me, however. It would probably be difficult for me to relate to Annie’s problems, as well.

[Ivana_5]

Anny is protoconid she only think about money. She bay expensive wine , go on exclusive restorant an journeys. She have a conflict of father, but when met a love, her avantyre get started. This is a amazing colour illustrations novels about love and indipedent woman, and when yuo reading a book you will be enjoy.

[Okocha Victor]

That's definitely everyone's dream life and we have to work exceeding hard to get there. I'm still lying to decide if this book will help fuel my passion to be wealthy or if it'll mess up my mentality of not having exceeding wealthy grandparents.

[Odichimma Okoye]

I find it truly amazing that the author's protagonist and the reviewer share some memories. I can imagine how engaged the reviewer would've felt while reading the book. Annie's life is the typical kind of life everyone wants to live. I might not like her as a character because I love the concept of hard work, so if all she does is rely on rich suitors and grandparents for her exotic lifestyle then I might not click with her.

[Vicky Wynn]

I have just finished reading Annie's story, and agree with others that her lavish, care free travelling is unrealistic for most. I'm sure we all wish we could travel in such style, but I'd have much rather have read about her sailing from country to country than jumping on private jets with wealthy suitors. In fact she hardly does any actual sailing herself, which I found a bit disappointing considering how the story begins. The author's philosophy background does come out in the story however, in my opinion, it was too much and made the dialect come across scripted and unnatural.