Swimming for Sunlight

By: Allie Larkin

Narrated by: Madeleine Maby

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

When recently divorced Katie Ellis and her rescue dog, Bark, move back in with Katie’s grandmother in Florida, she becomes swept up in a reunion of her grandmother’s troupe of underwater performers - finding hope and renewal in unexpected places, in this sweet novel perfect for fans of Kristan Higgins and Claire Cook.

Aspiring costume designer Katie gave up everything in her divorce to gain custody of her fearful, faithful rescue dog, Barkimedes. While she figures out what to do next, she heads back to Florida to live with her grandmother, Nan.

But Katie quickly learns there’s a lot she doesn’t know about Nan - like the fact that in her youth, Nan was a mermaid performer in a roadside attraction show, swimming and dancing underwater with a close-knit cast of talented women. Although most of the mermaids have since lost touch, Katie helps Nan search for her old friends on Facebook, sparking hopes for a reunion show. Katie is up for making some fabulous costumes, but first, she has to contend with her crippling fear of water.

As Katie’s college love Luca, a documentary filmmaker, enters the fray, Katie struggles to balance her hopes with her anxiety and begins to realize just how much Bark’s fears are connected to her own, in this thoughtful, charming novel about hope after loss and friendships that span generations.

©2019 Allie Larkin (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Breathtaking

Everyone has phobias, they made be small, they be overwhelming, but learning to deal with those phobias is the overriding theme of this book.

When Kate's husband divorces her, she's left with nothing but a few articles of clothing and her rescue dog Barkimedes. Bark is timid and afraid of this own shadow (and cardboard). Kate takes Bark and moves to Florida to stay with her Grandma in a wonderful community of active seniors.

This book is heartbreaking, heartwrenching, and the story of starting over and rebuilding a life from scratch. It captivated me at the first page and kept me listening hopefully that all would be okay for Kate and Bark and all the rest of the wonderful characters.

Kept waiting for it to get good

I was kind of bored and felt like I was putting up with the voices to get to the payoff that never came

Another winner from Allie Larkin

Allie Larkin is an incredibly talented author. Like her two other titles, Stay and Why Can't I Be You, her heroine is facing a hurdle she needs to overcome. She quickly draws you into Katie's world and has you rooting for her. I finished the book in a day because I was that invested in it. I wish Ms. Larkin published more books. If you haven't, check out her other two books. She a great find.

Doesn't Disappoint!

Loved it! felt swept up in the story and loved the characters! A sweeping story of loss, recovering, and love.

Disappointed

First let me say I listed to Allie Larkin's other two books and loved them. I was so looking forward to this one! Unfortunately, the narrator is not to my liking. When she speaks in any voice other than the main character's, her voice slows down (almost like the character had a stroke). I sped up the audiobook hoping it would be better, but it's not. The storyline isn't grabbing me either. The premise is nice but I'm not enjoying the book. I'm a little over half way through and have decided to call it quits. Life is too short and there are other books I want to read/listen to. Perhaps the written version would be better. I'm disappointed...

Not her best work, but still entertaining. Narration is not great

The story itself was ok. This is not my favorite book by this author. However, it’s worth a read.

The narration is really irritating. When the narrator is reading the part of the older characters she slows the speech down so much it sounds like she is speaking in slow motion. It’s annoying and distracting. It’s also somewhat insulting to older people, she makes them sound like they are not very bright

She does the voice of a couple of the older lady characters in a way that reminds me of nails on a chalk board.

I would recommend reading this instead of listening to it. If this is the first book you read by this author- don’t give up on her. She has others that are better.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one!

The emotional depth of the lead character and her intern battles had me completely engaged and certain the author was writing from firsthand experience. Whether true or not, it had me riveted.

A little too “Young Adult” for me

I love Allie Larkin’s work and have read everything she’s written. She’s a fine a writer.
This title, however, was too “young” for my reading preferences.

10 hour recitation of anxious woman

I never leave reviews but honestly, don’t waste your time. This was absolutely awful! Ugh.

Couldn’t get past the narration

This may have been a decent novel. I have listened to another of hers that was really great. This time the narration was so bad I couldn’t take it. It’s was slow and robotic especially in the voice of the older characters. I couldn’t imagine an editor let this out the door. Likely better as a novel than an audio book