Review of Sip Lake

[AntonelaMaria]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sip Lake" by Joe Basara.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Sip Lake by Joe Basara is a fiction novel set in Florida from May until September of 1977. The story is told from Owen Cloud’s point of view. We follow Owen as he moves to a small town and starts a new job as an orderly in the hospital. There, he encounters many engaging staff and patients. Owen develops friendships with his co-workers and tries to form romantic relationships, too. What are life lessons Owen learns along the way? How will he adapt to the new job? Will he find love? Those are some of the questions we get answered while going on this reading journey.

This book is slow-paced and oriented to mundane life moments. It is a very relatable story despite being set in the past. Owen faces things we all can understand, like struggling to find passion in work, dating, and adapting to new surroundings. I like the juxtaposition between his job and his hobby. Owen likes to write in his free time. I always find artistic lead characters fascinating and quirky. Because this is a character-driven story, a reader has to connect with characters to care about the storyline. I didn’t have any trouble accomplishing that. Moreover, I enjoyed the natural progression of Owen’s character and the flow of the story. The development of Owen’s relationships felt true to life and made this book captivating.

There are many side characters in this book. It was hard to remember their names. They have unique and often ridiculous names that didn’t help either. For example, we have Tina Gardenia, Sugar Cane, Marlin Monroe, Vera Peach, and Nikki Kissimmee, to list just a few. Furthermore, the author likes to use em dashes. I had to get used to it while encountering it, especially in dialogue. I didn’t mind it, as it is his style, but some readers might find it distracting. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t change anything about this book.

There wasn’t anything I disliked about this story. Even though the author’s writing style choices need time to get used to, I didn’t mind them. For all those previously mentioned reasons, I can’t rate this book with anything less than perfect 4 out of 4 stars. Nonetheless, I encountered some errors but not enough to lower my rating.

I loved the male perspective on relationships, as I rarely read romance books written by male authors. Even though this wasn’t a romance novel per se, it had a significant aspect of them in it. If you are a curious reader like me, I happily recommend this book. Otherwise, readers interested in fiction books will enjoy this story too. There are no explicit scenes. However, there is some profanity, so if that bothers you, be aware of it.

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Sip Lake
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[Ememreb11]

The name of the book caught my interest and this review made me more interested. Will want to know more about Owen. A good review

[Mbenma Esther 080]

Reading books with lots of names seems boring to me because I always find it hard to catch up. Thanks for the review

[Nwadinso Michael]

From the review, Owen is an interesting character who is involved in a lot of things. I'd love to read so as to know if he was able to find love within the environment of the hospital. The character development of the book was quite nice, kudos to the author. Thanks for your review.

[Umesh Bhatt]

Seems to be an interesting story. The review has nicely brought out the plot and flow of the book. Thanks.

[Destiny Freedom]

From your review, this book tends to focus on the life of one character and how he connects to the others, I think I'll love this book. Thank you for this review.

[Amenrodion]

Fascinating title, good storyline, good review

[Walter R]

This seems like quite an intriguing storyline. Would definitely love to add this to my shelf. Great review.

[AntonelaMaria]

The name of the book caught my interest and this review made me more interested. Will want to know more about Owen. A good review

Thank you. I hope you give it a chance and enjoy it too.

[AntonelaMaria]

Reading books with lots of names seems boring to me because I always find it hard to catch up. Thanks for the review

Thanks for reading!

[AntonelaMaria]

From the review, Owen is an interesting character who is involved in a lot of things. I'd love to read so as to know if he was able to find love within the environment of the hospital. The character development of the book was quite nice, kudos to the author. Thanks for your review.

I hope you enjoy this book too!

[AntonelaMaria]

Seems to be an interesting story. The review has nicely brought out the plot and flow of the book. Thanks.

Thank you for your kind words.

[AntonelaMaria]

From your review, this book tends to focus on the life of one character and how he connects to the others, I think I'll love this book. Thank you for this review.

Yes, the book is focused on Owen's life. I hope you enjoy it too. Happy reading!

[AntonelaMaria]

Fascinating title, good storyline, good review

[AntonelaMaria]

This seems like quite an intriguing storyline. Would definitely love to add this to my shelf. Great review.

It is, and I hope you enjoy it too.