Review: Learning to Swim

Book: Learning to Swim by Annie Cosby
Publication Date: March 1, 2014
Series: Hearts Out of Water (#1)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: When Cora’s mother whisks the family away for the summer, Cora must decide between forging her future in the glimmering world of second homes where her parents belong, or getting lost in the bewitching world of the locals and the mystery surrounding a lonely old woman who claims to be a selkie creature—and who probably needs Cora more than anyone else.

Through the fantastical tales and anguished stories of the batty Mrs. O’Leary, as well as the company of a particularly gorgeous local boy called Ronan, Cora finds an escape from the reality of planning her life after high school. But will it come at the cost of alienating Cora’s mother, who struggles with her own tragic memories?

As the summer wanes, it becomes apparent that Ronan just may hold the answer to Mrs. O’Leary’s tragic past—and Cora’s future.


Overall Review:
I'll admit that Learning to Swim was a book that I had been dying to read as soon as I discovered the main character's name was Cora, same as my dog's. Seems like a silly reason, I know, but I couldn't help it! When I got Learning to Swim in the mail after winning it from a friend's giveaway, I had to read it right away. Given the synopsis, I was expecting more of a paranormal story line about a secret selkie community that Cora discovers or something similar to that but that wasn't at all the case. Learning to Swim is more about a rich girl who has had practically everything laid out for her until finally she wants to go her own way but can't seem to figure out what exactly it is she wants to do or where she wants to go. She begins to uncover the answers to these problems after winding up in a small town she never wanted to be in and meeting a sweet hearted old woman named Mrs. O'Leary and her teenage helper of sorts Ronan. Mrs. O'Leary spins tales of all sorts of wonder and fantasy, stories that took while for Cora to fully get invested in, and helps Cora discover there's more to things than meets the eye, including Cora herself. Ronan on the other hand isn't afraid to shove the harsh truths onto Cora about who she is and who she ought to be. While Learning to Swim wasn't quite what I was expecting I still very much enjoyed it with Cosby's captivating story-telling, a colorful cast of characters that are not at all as they appear, and a deep sub story that's hidden away (but done very well) beneath the main plot. I was addicting to reading Learning to Swim and didn't ever want to stop, so when it came to a closing I was so disappointed that I couldn't continue! The only thing that really got me was the ending because to me, it made no sense. Cora was finally discovering some deep and, depending on how you look at it, horrible truths about her new friends yet I couldn't quite guess what exactly it was she had discovered. I have the tiniest of suspicions but given how Learning to Swim had turned out, I doubt I'm right. I can't wait to read the sequel so I can figure out, hopefully, what exactly happened during that ending!

I happened to like Cora a lot, even though she was supposed to be depicted as a snotty spoiled rich kid. I thought she was sweet, kind, though sometimes stuck up, and hugely misunderstood. Sometimes her logic for things was entirely too faulty and it got her into some pretty bad situations, not that it surprised me, where she either got hurt (emotionally) or got into trouble. There were also times when I thought her emotions were completely out of whack. She refused to cry over something super serious, yet when something that hurt but wasn't a big shock to her happened she would just bawl her eyes out. Another thing that really confused me was how Cora was depicted. I get that she was supposed to be a spoiled rich kid, it showed quite a bit sometimes, but there were times when she was supposed to appear to be selfish, rude, self centered, mean, etc and I just didn't see it. I didn't even notice this behavior until Ronan or Cora brought it up and I just sat there like, "When did this happen?!" because I truly just did not see it as often as they claimed it. Yes, I will admit there were times that her selfishness and richness showed like a neon sign but overall she wasn't that bad of a person so I don't get why Ronan and even Cora herself made her out to be so awful. I'm guessing Cora just expected herself to be perfect in every way and when she wasn't for whatever reason perfect, she felt the need to point it out and dwell on it. But I liked her as a character and didn't find her nearly as bad as she was supposed to be made out to be.

There's some definite romance between Ronan and Cora but I'm confused as to why there is. They spend a huge majority of the first half of the book arguing, glaring at each other, and making sly and not so sly insults at each other. They treated each other like crap at every turn, not sure exactly why, and I think they hurt each other more then they intended to. It's not that I think they hated each other, but they had that dislike for each other based on personality but mostly based on what part of town they lived in along with how much money they had. As petty as it sounds, their social and financial status was a huge factor in all the drama they made with each other. However, all of a sudden that changed. Like literally all of a sudden. Ronan was being super nice to Cora, telling her secrets and being super nice to her. Cora became a tad obsessed with Ronan, wanting to talk with him, hang out with him, just be friends (and possibly more) with him. I'm not sure where the sudden change in behavior and attitude came from so while I thought Ronan and Cora were super cute together, I was confused through the whole thing. I liked seeing them together, I really did because they were adorable and helplessly romantic to each other, but I just couldn't figure it out! It bugged me to no end!

The pace wasn't too fast nor was it too slow, it had a nice steady pace to it. Some parts were really slow, more particularly towards the beginning, but once I read past those parts the story immediately picked up! Learning to Swim wasn't at all what I was expecting it to be and while I was a little disappointed by that, I still really adored reading Learning to Swim all the same! I wanted it for a silly reason of the fact that my dog (my baby really) shares a name with a main character of a book, I never thought I'd see that happen so I knew I needed to somehow get my hands on it! I'm so glad I did because I was addicted to reading it and it went by far too fast for my liking! I want the sequel now! Besides the ending being entirely too confusing, while Cora seemed to discover everything going on I was drawing a major blank, and was perhaps a tad bit rushed the whole book was so enjoyable and all around fun to read! I liked Cora a whole lot. She had her stuck up, spoiled rich kid moments that annoyed me a bit but they were very few so overall it wasn't too bad. I thought she was a nice girl who has been used to her entire life being made for her and now she's finally trying to take control over her life like she should have awhile ago. Cora's really trying to discover herself in terms of who she really is and what she really wants. I didn't think she was nearly as bad as she was made out to be. Sure, she had her selfish or self centered moments here or there but really she wasn't that bad at all so it made no sense to me that Ronan and even Cora herself constantly brought up these moments where she was selfish or bitchy or something because I honestly just didn't see it. I also didn't quite see the romance between Cora and Ronan. They were adorable together, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't make sense. They treated each other like crap, insulting each other, yelling at each other, make mean comments about the other practically every time they came into contact. Yet out of the blue they were suddenly really nice to each other, wanting to spend time together, wanting to actually be together in terms of being in a relationship. I liked it, but I was so confused by this sudden change. I have no idea how it happened! The title has a lot of meaning to it which you won't completely understand until you get into Learning to Swim. It came off as a bit of a surprise to me actually! I also adore that cover! It's very pretty, though the cover models aren't how I picture Cora and Ronan!


Overall Rating:
I give Learning to Swim a 4 out of 5 star rating. I really had tons of fun reading Learning to Swim, I enjoyed reading it a lot more than I thought I would! Not that I was expecting it to be bad or anything but after I discover this wasn't some paranormal, secret selkie civilization story I wasn't sure what to expect anymore! But this was a really good book and I'm still a little upset that it's over! I would totally recommend this to people who like stories about characters struggling to find themselves, doing a complete 180 with how they act and what they want in life. There's such a fun and color cast of characters and tons of Irish mythology, so if you're into that you should really check out Learning to Swim! Now can I get the sequel yet? Thanks for reading!

4/5 stars

~Kayla~