Review Detail

When I put down Amber Dermont’s “The Starboard Sea” I knew I had just finished a book that changed my life. That sounds like such a dramatic statement, I know, but it’s really true. Dermont’s characters resonated with me so much that I’m still mulling over the lessons I’ve learned from reading her book.

“The Starboard Sea” follows Jason Prosper, a high school senior who on the outside appears to live in the lap of luxury. His parents are outrageously wealthy, and he attends an elite private school filled with other privileged children. What Jason’s outward appearances don’t detail, however, is that he has just transferred to Bellingham Academy to deal with his best friend Cal’s suicide. The matter becomes even more complicated as readers discover that Jason and Cal explored their sexuality together, and could at times be classified as lovers.

Dermont’s detail of her characters’ strengths and struggles is outstanding. She doesn’t oversimplify any single character. It’s not as if Jason is just the kid who is gay and trying to deal with it. Instead, he’s a young man who is trying to discover just what his sexuality is, trying to deal with the responsibility he feels for his best friend’s death, trying to make himself stand out in a privileged life that has been predetermined for him, and trying to find the best aspects of life at a time when it seems as if the entire world is working against him.

Even Dermont’s minor characters are as well thought out as her protagonist. For example, Jason’s mother is a woman who has not worked a single day in her life, but has so many more problems than her “Real Housewives” appearance would suggest. She is a woman dealing with her husband’s infidelity, dealing with her own feelings of love lost with another man, and dealing with her son’s depression after losing his best friend. Dermont seamlessly puts readers into the lives and minds of her characters that you can’t help but find bits and pieces of each character’s story that have some correlation with your own.

This intricate character development is all set in an endearing seaside east coast town, the perfect location for Jason to lose himself in his love of sailing. Dermont’s description of Jason’s time sailing seems almost as therapeutic as being on the open water yourself. Ultimately it is Jason’s connection to sailing and the sea that help him discover himself at this pivotal time in his life.

I’m sure after reading this review I seem just overly dramatic and potentially groveling to Dermont and her work. I have to tell you, I’m just utterly in awe of this and can’t think of any other way to review “The Starboard Sea.” My jaw is still dropped, and I’m already diving into this a second time to discover new details and connections I may have missed the first go around.