Goodreads says, "The night Clay Lockhart’s wife dies, a violent storm tears their home—and the eight hectares of land beneath it—away from the Scottish coast, sending it adrift into the Atlantic. Thirty years later, twelve-year-old Ellie Mills discovers the fabled floating island off the coast of Nova Scotia and finds Clay still living in the weatherworn farmhouse perched on its highest hill.
When the island vanishes overnight, Ellie is left questioning whether it ever existed at all. But decades later, now in her thirties, the island resurfaces—and Ellie returns, determined to uncover the truth. What she finds is even Clay hasn’t aged a single day.
Faced with the impossible, Ellie learns that some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved—and that a life shaped by wonder may hold more promise than one bound by certainty.
Spanning centuries and coastlines, Habits of the Sea is a haunting, romantic journey through time, memory, and the invisible tides that pull us home."
Clay Lockhart's wife dies on the night a storm ravages his home along the Scottish coast, and the storm is so strong that it tears apart the strip of land his house is on and forms an island. This island floats away into the sea, adrift forever. People question Ellie's version of the story until one day twelve-year-old Ellie Mills spots the floating island off of Nova Scotia and ends up meeting Clay. The next day, the island is gone, and it has Ellie wondering if it even existed. Years later, the island returns and is spotted by many. Now Ellis is a grown woman and she wants to meet Clay once again and finally get some answers to her long-awaited questions. When she does, she finds out Clay hasn't aged at all. Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw is a beautifully written and genre-bending sort of romance that transports readers.
Immediately the premise of Habits of the Sea sucked me in. I mean, what a concept! I was intrigued. People were even making comparisons to Outlander, and if you know me, you know that is right up my alley. Plus, Ernshaw, who is a new-to-me author, writes beautifully and lyrically. However in the end, Habits of the Sea had so much potential, but the romance really fell flat for me. I just didn't feel connected to the characters as much as I wanted to, and in turn, the pacing of the story felt slow to me at times.
What truly stood out in Ernshaw's work was her genre-bending and atmospheric storytelling. I appreciated the magical realism woven into the narrative as well as the Gothic elements, and her lyrical writing brought those elements to life beautifully. However, despite her outstanding writing, I found Habits of the Sea to be just okay in the end. Have you read Habits of the Sea? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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