8/10

The Boys in the Boat is a nonfiction novel about the boys rowing crew from the University of Washington who went on to compete in the 1936 Olympics. This book exceeded my expectations with the writing style, particularly because it is nonfiction. The author who wrote the book in a way that felt like a fiction book but was still telling the history of events in a factual way. The only issue I had with the book was that it was somewhat slow to get going, but that was to be expected. It is telling a real life story, not a made up narrative, so the slowness in the beginning is an appropriate stylistic choice to show how life progresses. Another thing that I appreciated about this book was the message contained in it. Multiple members of the rowing crew that was being followed in the story came from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, and in the story, they are repeatedly contrasted with the more wealthy people who never had to work as hard as they did. This was an inspiring message, showing how hard work can pay off to raise youo above people whose privilege has made them lazy. The story of the book as a whole had a very tumultuous feel, not following the typical narrative plot, recognizing how real life doesn't follow a strict narrative. Instead, it has ups and downs, all of which were realistically represented in this book. All in all, I thought this was a good book which I would definitely recommend for people looking to get into nonfiction but not sure where to start.

November 23rd, 2022 Review by Penny