Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Open Water

SERIES: Scandinavian Comfort #2

AUTHOR: Sophia Soames

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 338 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2019

BLURB:

Meet Lukas Myrtengren, Mentor Teacher in Biology and Maths at Östra Real Senior School in Stockholm. This isn’t how his life is supposed to turn out. In your late thirties you are supposed to have your life figured out, right? Somehow, Lukas has lost his compass, his life spinning aimlessly out of control. He still gets up in the morning and goes to work every day without fail, making sure his students pass his classes and that his schedule is right on track. His love life is a shambles, his head is a mess, but he is trying to sort it all out. Honestly. He can’t keep living like this.

Meet Tom Andersson. Emergency room doctor and single dad. He has no idea how he has managed to mess up parenthood this bad. He tries too hard, has no patience and can’t even hold a normal conversation with the seventeen-year-old son he loves to the point of insanity. Tom knows that he is drifting out to sea without a paddle, he just doesn’t know how to stop it.

Meet me, Max Andersson. Seventeen. Gay AF. An emotional wreck with no future, no skills and no clue. All I know is that I am in love. Helplessly. Desperately. And, unrequited, of course. What else can you expect from a loser like myself? It’s not like my life is going to get better. The truth is, I’m just another disaster waiting to happen. A ticking time-bomb full of stupidity. That’s just the way it is.

Welcome to Open Water.

REVIEW:

Whew. I swear this story reminds me so much of my kid and I, it’s ridiculous. Being a single parent myself, I get where Tom is coming from. You look your kid in that sweet little face and just know you’re going to love them forever. Not that there aren’t days you don’t want to knock their block off (and don’t, but still), but you still love them with all you are. Somehow, they complete you. And just like in Tom’s case, my kid saved me too.

We also have our issues like Tom and Max. We both deal with depression and anxiety, but her anxiety is much worse. Like Max’s. Not quite as bad, but pretty close. So this book was deeply personal for me. We cuss each other out like they do and everything else. Meds are involved and therapy. But like Tom, I know what it feels like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. There’s always that what if I had done this different, and what did I do to make this situation the way it is? Why am I not a better parent and so on. No matter how much love is involved, we’re human and make mistakes. We just have to learn from it and go forward. 

Max has known he’s different at an early age. Having meltdowns and panic attacks with pools of water or other things. He’s had to change schools. He quit getting invited to things. It was just him and his dad and lately things don’t seem to be going well with them or with him himself. And now his dad has to meet with his mentor from school because he’s failing classes. But that blows up as something has happened between his dad and his teacher years ago. They end up getting through the next session, but with a mediator and still things are bad. Until the boy of his dreams walks into his life and begs him to come back to drama class and things just move forward from there. Max’s life takes on a different meaning now, because he has someone else who knows how to deal with his anxiety and all that comes with it and on top of it, he’s interested in Max. Little by little, their relationship blooms and things seem to get better. But his dad, Tom, is trying to work things out with his teacher and it finally seems to work. Until too many changes are causing Max’s anxiety to go through the roof. And between himself and Matteo, his boyfriend, Max knows things need to change. Because as strong as Matteo is, he has severe issues of his own he’s trying to deal with. And now, with all of them, they need to learn, one step at a time, and get through each day minute to minute, step by step, knowing they have each other’s backs and are loved. All four of them.

Like I said earlier, I seriously relate to this story. It really is the male versions of me and my kid. It’s good though, because it’s a reminder to me, that even through all the crap of day to day life, I still remember that little face for the first time and fell in love. Doesn’t mean there aren’t some very bad days, because just like you will read, there are VERY bad ones. Doesn’t mean the love isn’t there. Just sometimes we get on different wavelengths. Kids and adults don’t often think alike. And it throws us off. Plus not being able to be in your kid’s shoes, you never really know what is going through their heads. Even when they are telling you things, there’s still stuff left out. So I totally empathized with both Max and Tom. Tom had his own crap he was dealing with and I get what he was going through. I wasn’t on Tom’s side of things, I was on Lukas’s, to a point. And it still leaves you with scars and things to work through. But one thing in this book that I loved, regardless of what was happening, is there was always a small sliver of hope and a will to never give up. Even at the lowest points. Something kept them moving. And that’s what we all have to remember. And let me tell you, it’s a HARD, HARD thing to do. But you have to keep fighting and moving forward. 

This is a very intense book. It has such a wide range of emotions it will take you through. You will need tissues and maybe even need to punch something, who knows. But it’s worth it. The ending alone makes it all worth it. Because it’s a reminder, face your fears, keep moving, don’t give up and most important, one step at a time.  

RATING: 

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