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Looking for your next read? Welcome to Bazaar Book Chat, an inside look at our editors’ Slack channel, where we candidly review the latest literary releases.
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Rip Tide: A Novel
amazon.com
$22.39
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Rip Tide: A Novel
amazon.com
$22.39
Rosa Sanchez (senior news editor)
Hi @here! Welcome to another edition of Bazaar Book Chat! This month we read Rip Tide by Colleen McKeegan, an absorbing novel about twisted family dynamics, life-shaping traumas, and love-fueled delusion.
The story particularly follows one family, the Devines, well known in their small town of Rocky Cape on the Jersey Shore. When successful older daughter Kimmy moves back home after 15 years to help her ailing dad with the family business, she finds herself falling back into old habits, and old relationships, eventually finding comfort only in the people who’ve always been there for her, including her little sister, Erin.
When you guys started reading, what were your first impressions, and did that change as you got deeper into the story?
Joel Calfee (editorial and social media assistant)
Okay, I gotta admit, I was not into it for like the first 20 or 30 pages—it seemed a little too young adult for me. But then, once the flashback sequences started, something just switched. I was totally invested and I saw what McKeegan was trying to do in the way she was building the characters and their dynamics. I think she does a bit of a sleight of hand and makes this seem like any Summer I Turned Pretty story, but it turns out to be so much more (not to say that I don’t eat that show up too).
❤️1
Carl Kelsch (managing editor)
The two sisters—Kimmy and younger sis Erin—definitely had my attention, being back in their hometown together for the first time in a while. I had a curiosity about this rekindled romance between Kimmy and Justin, her high school obsession. She literally faints the first time she sees him again after being away for 15 years. And I felt the rush that she was feeling. … It was startling to see, in flashback chapters, how ugly and messy their HS romance really was.
😮💨1 ❗️1
Joel Calfee
That scene was so good, why was my heart fluttering! One of McKeegan’s greatest skills, in my opinion, is the way she writes romance! The interactions felt so genuine and flirty, and I believed every dynamic that she built. It made the complicated relationships feel even more twisty, and I was sooo invested.
❗️1
Rosa Sanchez
When Kimmy comes back and immediately feels that rush of feelings for Justin, I truly felt like I was being transported back to high school, with the petty teenage dramas and the delulu. But as their rekindled romance progressed, it made me think of the typical high school story about bullies or people from our past who we used to idolize back in the day, but who, when we seen them again years later, seem to be in exactly the same place, whereas we have moved on and evolved.
🔥1
Carl Kelsch
One sentence I read in the book description used the phrase “blinded by desire,” which tracks with the plot. But in her style, it’s not just desire. And not the stuff of romance fiction. It’s just real, messy, ambivalent, and human.
🔥1
Rosa Sanchez
It’s so so messy, but I think it’s hard to make you root for the messy, and she does that well.
❗️1
Joel Calfee
Couldn’t agree more! I literally felt like I was at a high school reunion while reading this, and it put knots in my stomach, lol.
😩1
But I know that there’s certain people that if I saw … I’d fall right back under the same spell, at least at first.
Rosa Sanchez
100%
Carl Kelsch
In so many ways, this was not my HS experience. I’m coming to this novel as a guy who was gay and closeted in high school and college and largely did not go through these rites of passages. I didn’t drink or party because I was afraid of doing something in a blackout state and being outed before I was ready. Reading this book made me understand what I was deprived of, being gay in the ’90s and not having to even be able to talk about my crushes, let alone have experiences. Even if some of that would have been awful.
❤️2
Rosa Sanchez
That’s so interesting, Carl, and I feel like the way this is written, too, is every character at that age is so afraid of being judged or ridiculed for simply doing what they want and loving who they love—which, no matter who you are, I think is a major high school experience. And just a part of growing up.
Joel Calfee
That perspective is really interesting to me too, Carl, especially because of when this story takes place. I feel like the early 2000s is when there started to be a slow transition towards progressivism among students, but there was still lots of bullying. That scene where Brian says the homophobic slur while Nick’s puking was so shocking to me, just because I couldn’t imagine someone saying that while I was in school. And yes, I still grew up in a time where I was afraid to come out for years.
Carl Kelsch
The wild thing is that teen life has already morphed into something different than the mid-2000s culture shown here.
❗️1
I loved the reference to Young Life, a Christian youth group, not so different from the Catholic youth group I was in during HS. You NEVER see this stuff in books.
❗️2
Joel Calfee
I think the two timelines do a great job of showing the ways in which as teens, and as adults, we can fall prey to peer pressure, bullying, dumb decisions, and even feelings that sweep us up.
Rosa Sanchez
[SPOILER AHEAD]
Yes! And when we find out that Kimmy is dealing with the trauma of having been raped as a teen, I think it’s so telling that she realizes that when she was younger, she knew no one would have believed her even if she had told, and that instead she would have been slut-shamed and ridiculed. But now, post–Me Too and after a whole lot of therapy, she is able to stop blaming herself for it, accept it, and move past it.
🔥1
And the timelines also show just how much has changed in the world, even as the characters try to come back to their old lives or fall into old habits.
Carl Kelsch
It was powerful when she shared this with her sister 15 years after it happened.
How did people feel about the relationship between Erin and Kimmy, and their moments of hating each other and coming together?
Rosa Sanchez
Seeing them mature individually and alone was very sweet. The only love story that actually worked out.
💯1
Carl Kelsch
💯
Joel Calfee
I think McKeegan does a great job of showing their different perspectives. Sometimes they misunderstand each other or interpret things differently, but in the end there’s so much love for each other.
💖1
As someone with two siblings, I thought she developed their relationship really well.
Carl Kelsch
I think in real life, not all siblings cross this line and really get to know each other intimately as adults. And it’s something to aspire to.
❗️2
Rosa Sanchez
She did, and also the subtle jealousies, et cetera, that happen between siblings, especially sisters, was very easy to relate to (even though I don’t have a sister).
❗️1
Joel Calfee
What did you guys think of the meaning of the title? And how that referenced their relationship as sisters?
Carl Kelsch
It was great when they recall a moment where the younger sister did almost get sucked out to sea, and the exchange that happens as they recall it: that the older one’s lessons to the younger made all the difference.
Rosa Sanchez
First of all, I love how we get the first mention of riptides right at the end. When they explained that, in order to keep from drowning, you need to swim sideways, it just made me think that there is no linear way to evolve, or no linear path one should take, but there is always a way out.
❗️1
Carl Kelsch
Yeah. Writing-wise, there’s a passage that jumped out at me where Kimmy, I think, is looking back and wondering how she and her friends were so in the thrall of these unremarkable guys … standing at the sidelines of football games and cheering for them, pining after them, and giving into them constantly. That was a big takeaway for me. These hierarchies where guys are in the spotlight, making the rules, and ostracizing their peers who don’t play along … it’s sooo ingrained.
💖2
Joel Calfee
I think it also works in other ways, too, like how the riptide of our past can pull us in, but we have to learn how to swim out of it.
💖1
Yes, @Rosa Sanchez! I was thinking the same thing.
I saw a tweet recently that said, “I can’t be attracted to adult men because they never age out of their teenage selves.” And I kept thinking about that while reading this book, lol.
❗️1 😬1
Rosa Sanchez
That’s so real.
Carl Kelsch
[SPOILER AHEAD]
And the reveal about the rift between Kimmy and her HS bestie Stevie—the REAL reason behind their friendship falling apart is so sad.
❗️1
Rosa Sanchez
I think we can spoil. It’s sad that it was because of Kimmy’s rape situation, but it’s also so telling of that time (not believing victims) and of complex female relationships that often are based on competition.
Carl Kelsch
There’s a detail about said rapist hiding roofies in a hollowed-out copy of Infinite Jest that is darkly hilarious.
🫠1 💀1
Rosa Sanchez
What did the story make you think about rehashing the past and dealing with trauma?
Joel Calfee
I like that this book argues it can be healthy to revisit your past. While we often say you don’t want to dwell on it, I think it takes a certain amount of bravery to look at who you were as a person and grow and learn from it. As we learn from Kimmy, there can also be terrible things from our past that we’re not emotionally equipped to process, but revisiting them can help us become more liberated in the long run.
❤️2 💯1
Also, it’s like Kimmy had run away from her home to get away from these things, but then returning also made her even closer to her family. Sometimes we need to get away, but eventually, the past will pull us back in. (Like a riptide! Lol.)
Carl Kelsch
Luckily, the conclusion of the book isn’t that they’re doomed to repeat all of their HS mistakes, even though for most of the book, they kind of are.
❗️2
Rosa Sanchez
Yassss, Joel, hahaha. No, I really feel that. And her story specifically also proves that even when a place has such a heavy meaning for you or carries such a dark past, you can come back and change that for yourself—you don’t have to carry the trauma forever and just stay away.
💯1
Speaking of the ending: It was so funny to me but felt a bit rushed, kind of like the ending of Gossip Girl, when it seemed Dan being GG was a total afterthought. I do like what we learn at the end, of who is responsible for the biggest tragedy in the book, but I wish we had a bit more story to go with it.
❗️1
Having said that, I thought the mom’s words, in the end—about how following the Trump administration she felt the country take many steps back in terms of women’s rights—were very timely, especially as we look at what’s on the ballot come Election Day.
❗️1 💯1
Carl Kelsch
LOTS happening in the last couple of chapters, for sure.
Joel Calfee
Totally agree—the ending was a whirlwind; I wanted it to slow down a bit, hahah. The GG reference is good. But you’re right, it felt very apt for what’s happening right now. Unfortunately, the entire arc around assault still felt very raw and present in a post–Me Too era too (if we can even call this period that).
❗️1
Carl Kelsch
BTW, you ruined GG for me. I have never seen it…. Guess I don’t have to now.
💀1
Joel Calfee
DEAD hahhah
Rosa Sanchez
Okay, Carl, you’re too late, I’m not sorry.
😂1
Carl Kelsch
😂
Rosa Sanchez
Any final thoughts?
Carl Kelsch
It feels like McKeegan is probably drawing from personal stuff and memories, and I like fiction that is rooted in the real.
❗️1
Rosa Sanchez
Definitely. It feels much more raw
Joel Calfee
All in all, I thought this was a really good read! It masquerades as a light summer beach read while digging into some deeper themes, and I thought it was very arresting and moving. It’s nice to see a book that explores family dynamics that don’t end tragically.
Carl Kelsch
Yes. Bittersweet is the tone.
🔥1
Rosa Sanchez
For sure. I would say: an intense beach read that makes you go down your own memory lane and see how far you’ve come. I was actually so into it on the subway that I missed my stop by, like, a lot. So, def recommend, ha.
😂1
Carl Kelsch
The magic of the book for me was the structure. I would have had some judgments about the relationships, but the flashback structure lets certain truths sneak up on you.
💖2
Rosa Sanchez
Totally agree. Reading on to find out the context is such an interesting way to structure a story and makes you want more.
❗️1
Joel Calfee
100 percent agreed, the structure really kept me on my toes. Def recommend!
Our Bazaar Book Chat pick for September is The Most Famous Girl in the World: A Novel, by Iman Hariri-Kia. Pick up your copy of the book here, and read along with us.
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Publish date : 2024-08-30 07:41:00
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