Shipped by Angie Hockman
Shipped by Angie Hockman was…Fine. It was cute in the way that the concept: workplace enemies to lovers Henley and Graeme were forced onto one of their companies cruises to come up with ideas to pitch for a job promotion. Set mostly in the Galapagos, lots of beautiful vistas and cute animals included. What dropped this book down, in my opinion, was the subtle (was it that subtle, though?) patriarchal misogyny.
The first few pages of this book were pretty wooden, rote, very “I need to get this exposition out” forced. It loosens up pretty quickly and the writer finds her flow, but oof. A few times there were moments when Henley would smirk or be thinking about something and I’d just hate her for it: ::smirk:: it’s so funny when someone hugs Christina who hates to be hugged ::smirk:: or HOW EMBARRASING for Nikolai to be dancing like that at me and I’m SO EMBARRASED TOO. Firstly, she’s just kinda a dick. She finds people’s discomfort funny but not her own. It’s just not a look I like on people. Stand up for your friends’ boundaries and play along in unharmful situations that make you feel uncomfortable. You’ll have a great time, I promise.
There is also a lot of covert manipulation and patriarchal bias in this that was never addressed.
1. Graeme manipulates her by challenging her not to kiss him again. UGH. SO TOXIC.
2. "This is Doug, a scientist, and HIS WIFE, Analisa, a docent.” DOUBLE UGH.
3. Barbara in Act 3 reveals some real lady struggles and it was completely brushed off under the rug.
4. Graeme actually jokes about wanting to ride in on a white horse to save Henley but is surprised she had already saved herself. This moment is supposed to be a supportive, “you’ve got this babe” sort of moment, but he’s just centering himself in it when it’s not about him.
That’s the crux of my issue. Henley tries but never seems to succeed at centering herself, her sister, her other female friends above the implicit values the patriarchy has instilled in all of us.
What I did like about the book:
It had a strong structure. The build from enemies to friends to lovers was very believable.
This book made me feel old when Henley mentioned she and her sister fought over a Bluetooth speaker in high school since Bluetooth didn’t come out for me until after college.
UGLY PETS! Adopt don’t shop!
The moment when Henley had two men hidden in her tiny bathroom. That was a good time!
Lovely last page and an Authors Note that expands on conservation efforts and the incredibleness of the Galapagos. -Ford
This was billed as The Hating Game x The Unhoneymooners and I absolutely agree. It's those two storylines meshed together. Because the story was already known to me I was looking forward to complex characters.
That didn't quite happen for me. Henley was judgmental and uptight at the start. I assumed so she can have a large growth arc, but that arc never really took off. The fact that she felt a woman "had it all together" because she lived in a house with a yard instead of an apartment and that her sister at 24 was a failure for not having a full-time job was really hard to connect with for me.
Graeme was also a bit flat as a character for me, he oscillated between swaggering confidence and shy politeness too much. I couldn't get to like him enough before he did something that was "out of character".
I liked the complexity of the side characters most of all, though the villain was a bit on the nose, the rest of the supporting cast was very solid.
Overall the conversation about gender roles in the executive workplace and men taking credit for the work of women, mixed with the eco-travel and conservation efforts in Galapagos, with a dash of a conversation on domestic violence all felt a bit much for a book with such a playful title and cover.
I applaud any author in their debut effort, so amazing job Angie Hockman, but this one was not for me. It lacked the cute and light escape I was craving. -Sky.
