Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Carry the Ocean

SERIES: The Roosevelt #1

AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan

NARRATOR: Iggy Toma

PUBLISHER: Self Published

RELEASE DATE: May 20, 2017

LENGTH: 9 hours, 6 minutes

BLURB:

Normal is just a setting on the dryer.

High school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The young man with a double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey – and he has autism.

But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When Jeremey’s untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility.

As Jeremey and Emmet find their feet at The Roosevelt, they begin to believe they can be loved for the men they are beyond their disabilities. But before they can trust enough to fall head over heels, they must trust their own convictions that friendship is a healing force and love can overcome any obstacle.

REVIEW:

I’m just so happy right now. I just absolutely loved this book and could go on and gush about it for hours, but I’ll try to spare you from that.

This book was every bit as amazing to listen to as reading it, and it’s easily one of my absolute favourites. It’s just so refreshingly honest and real and at times very raw. It will make you laugh and cry, and wish you could just give both Emmet and Jeremey a great big hug and tell them everything will be all right. (Yes I know that Emmet will protest to being hugged, but I still wish I could give him one.)

Carry the Ocean is not all fluffy and sweet, on the contrary. It’s about fighting for your right to be seen as a person and not your diagnosis. How to thrive when it seems like the world wants to cut you down. How to go on when you feel like you are drowning.

Sometimes I feel like everyone else is carrying a bucket of water but I’m trying to carry an ocean.

I want us to carry our oceans together

I loved both Emmet and Jeremey, they were just such wonderful characters. Yes they were flawed and outside the mean, but they are human. Heart-achingly human. Genuine and caring. I love how they loved each other. They completed each other in such a perfect way it leaves you with tears in your eyes. It was awe-inspiring to see how they helped and supported each other, even when they were clueless. (Those were kind of the best parts.)

Our kisses were never movie kisses with suave bending-you-over, full body clinches. Sometimes our kisses were awkward. But they were always passionate, and they always made me feel good. They made me feel.

Iggy Toma did a fantastic job narrating this book. The way he portrayed both Emmet and Jeremey was spot on, the emotions – or lack thereof was just perfect. He truly captured and portrayed their personalities to a T. It was all very tangible and you were there with the characters experiencing it all with them. Every beautiful second of it.

Carry the Ocean leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings and wanting to see so much more of both Emmet and Jeremey. It was just amazing to watch them overcome some of their obstacles and how they grew, in themselves but also together. That said there will be plenty of times where you want to just rage and vent, and possibly strangle a couple of people. But the overall message from this book is that we are all worth loving, no matter who we are, no matter what our diagnosis might be. They don’t define the person you are.

I am normal. I belong. I have a friend who can kick ass from a wheelchair. I live independently and get good grades. I’m an excellent lover. Like I said. I’m awesome. I’m Emmet David Washington. Train Man. The best autistic Blues Brother on the block.

I will leave you with a friendly warning: After reading this book, not only will you have cravings for watching The Blues Brothers but you’ll also have Pharell Williams’ Happy stuck in your head. But it was so worth it, this is a book that I can, and will both read and listen to over and over again.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

Audible