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Swimming with Dolphins

by Deborah Wright

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 37 ratings · 9 reviews

Paperback, 534 pages

Published November 11th 2010 by Headline Review

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Nov 11, 2010 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, books-read-2010, favorites

Do you ever look out of your window and dream of lying on a gorgeous beach with a handsome stranger? Julia Rothwell certainly does. But with a high-powered job as a Hedge Fund Manager, she barely has time to clean her teeth let alone go on holiday. Then the credit crunch hits and Julia is left with nothing but her redundancy pay. Her best friend Reece encourages her to draw up a list entitled: Ten Things To Do Before I Die. Top of the list is to sleep with an Italian. So begins a crazy, wonderfu...more Do you ever look out of your window and dream of lying on a gorgeous beach with a handsome stranger? Julia Rothwell certainly does. But with a high-powered job as a Hedge Fund Manager, she barely has time to clean her teeth let alone go on holiday. Then the credit crunch hits and Julia is left with nothing but her redundancy pay. Her best friend Reece encourages her to draw up a list entitled: Ten Things To Do Before I Die. Top of the list is to sleep with an Italian. So begins a crazy, wonderful, rollercoaster of an adventure that sees Julia crossing countries and continents, and experiencing romance and heartbreak, sushi and surprises, volcanoes and gambling, and – if she can make it to the end of her list – swimming with dolphins. Join her on her unforgettable journey!

A couple of years back I read The Rebel Fairy and Under My Spell by Deborah Wright and I enjoyed the way she added magic into her novels, it reminded me of Cecelia Ahern. Unfortunately, though, Deborah’s last book came out in 2006 and it didn’t seem as if she was going to be returning any time soon. Until I spotted a new novel by her called The Celebrity Mother which was due out in 2010. I was then even more surprised to find another novel up on Amazon due out on 2010 by Deborah called Swimming With Dolphins. It sounded fantastic and exactly what I’d like to read so when I received a copy I got stuck into it almost immediately and it was fantastic!

Swimming With Dolphins is a book that will appeal to a lot of people, because who doesn’t want to write out a list of 10 things they’d like to do before they die? And that is exactly what Julia finds herself doing when she is made redundant from her job in the City. She writes a list of 10 things she would choose to do should she be dying and sets about fulfilling them all. It ranges from telling someone she loves them, to kissing a girl (and seeing if she likes it, as per the Katy Perry song!), to swimming with dolphins and she embarks on her journey looking to come out of the other end feeling not only fulfilled but hopefully gaining some life experience from it after spending so many years concentrating solely on her career. It’s fantastic and I was sucked into the plot immediately.

What I liked best about the book was Julia’s hesitance when it came to her list. Because she has spent the past however many years chained to her desk, suddenly zooming off across the world for an adventure isn’t exactly what she would have chosen to do, and we’re with Julia every step of the way as she sets about doing all these wonderfully crazy things. Along the way, she meets Luke, a bit of a free-spirit and they seem to hit it off, which helps to soothe Julia’s heart after being secretly in love with her best friend Reece’s boyfriend, not to mention Julia’s ex anyway, Ciaran. There’s all sorts of mayhem that goes on during the book, as Reece and Ciaran and Luke tag along on Julia’s adventure and she makes a new friend in Lesbian Lucy, and it truly was like a whirlwind adventure. Not a page passed without some kind of action and I was totally swept away, wondering where it would all end and, more importantly, who Julia would end up with!

I absolutely loved Julia. She was hesitant about her trip at first but really got into the spirit of things and even when the first thing on her list went awry she still didn’t let it get her down; she thought about going back home but decided to carry on. I liked that about her, and I liked living vicariously through her adventures, I’d never be brave enough to do something like that. Julia also seemed so real to me, because she had many ups and downs throughout the book but she stayed true to herself whilst trying to complete all 10 items. Reece, Julia’s best friend, was the one who pushed her into doing the list and I thought it was nice of her to do that, but as the book progresses, Reece isn’t as good a friend as I imagined and by the end of the book I totally disliked her. As for Luke, the guy Julia meets as she’s headed to Italy, I didn’t really know what to make of him. He seemed completely lovely at first, but he had a bit of a shady past and I went off him a bit, because he just seemed completely fake. As for Ciaran, Julia’s ex and Reece’s current boyfriend, I liked him. I didn’t like him at first as he and Julia argue a lot, but he’s the only decent one out of the lot and really came into his own during the last quarter of the book.

I thought Swimming With Dolphins was written really well, told entirely from Julia’s point of view and I thought it was perfect having it written like that. The book takes place in many stunning locations, including Italy, Sicily, India, Las Vegas, New York, and all were written so descriptively that it was as if I was there, alongside Julia as she had her adventure. Honestly, Deborah Wright has managed to transform herself from an author who adds magical aspects to her novels to becoming a very good travel writer, making the destinations her characters visit seem realistic. I applaud her for that, and completely admire how she manages to describe places succinctly (I should know, I’m rubbish at it). I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I truly had no idea how it was going to end. However, I was very satisfied with the ending, and I found it really sweet and it summed up the book perfectly. Despite being released in November (which baffles me, I have to say), it’s the perfect Spring or Summer read and Julia’s adventure is one you really want to be reading about because it’s a corking adventure!(less)

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Oct 11, 2011 Danielle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: red-from-the-library

I loved this book! It was warm, poignant and totally inspiring. Deborah Wright has created a cast of wonderfully vivid characters who are so believable. I adored Julia, and her relationship with best friend, Reece, was one of the highlights of the book for me. Luke - the gorgeous traveller with the Bob Dylan T-shirt - was another great character who leapt off the page. I really warmed to him. There was also a wonderful storyline about Julia's search for her father which I found very moving.

Fabu...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Katja rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: 2010

My first thought after I read the last sentence in the book: "I want a boyfriend like Ciaran!"
Swimming with Dolphins is such an amazing book, because it teaches you to not let go of the fun things and to no let the job/work suck you in. Well, you have to find a fine balance between work and fun.
While I was reading, I could compare myself with the main character, Julia. She's so like me. I'm always the second one, and I too, like her, have work (school) first on my mind.
I also like the book, be...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Bookworm rated it 4 of 5 stars

Awesome storyline! :)
It took me a long time to decide if I wanted to borrow this library book (I still have many unread ones sitting on my shelves) but I'm glad I did! I like how realistic the characters are. I'm sure there are people like Reece and Luke about, though Ciaran seems too good to be true! The author makes an effort to develop Julia's character as the story forms. I felt happy for Julia that despite getting fired from her job, she gained many more things - a chance to meet with her...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

Based on the cover and the blurb I had high expectations. I really liked 'Swimming with Dolphins', but after finishing it I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

First of all, I didn't really like the characters. Especially Reece was just mean, and I noticed right away she wasn't as nice as Julia seemed to think (they are best friends). Then the two guys: Luke and Ciaran. I couldn't understand why Julia liked Luke! Ciaran, Reece's boyfriend and Julia's ex-boyfriend, was much nicer, but on...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Siska Oktaria Ginting rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a worth reading book. I enjoyed every single page of it. Each page will lead you to another surprising story. I hope that I will have a man like Ciaran someday ^^...Julia is a damn lucky girl... This book makes me wanna make my own Ten Things To Do Before I Die lists. I think I'll be the biggest fan of Deborah Wright.

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Feb 23, 2011 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great read...made me laugh out loud a lot!!!
Loved some of the locations....Vegas especially just wanted to be there,bought back fab memories!!
Think I'll be trying another book by this author!

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Dec 19, 2010 Aileen rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Aileen by: Read one of Deborah's previous books

brilliant book, a great story really funny and very easy to follow.

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Dec 13, 2012 Leisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, i-own

I want to actually give 3.5 stars for this.

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May 05, 2013 Amber Mcculloch rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 16, 2013 Igraine marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall

Apr 01, 2013 Brittany marked it as to-read

Feb 26, 2013 Namitha Mathews is currently reading it

Feb 22, 2013 Belinda marked it as to-read

Feb 19, 2013 Lk Isurgrandson marked it as to-read

Feb 19, 2013 Hajar Abidin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

Feb 06, 2013 Eric.l marked it as to-read

Feb 04, 2013 Vellen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 06, 2013 Valery marked it as to-read

Dec 30, 2012 Tanja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dec 14, 2012 Lisa Jaques marked it as to-read

Dec 10, 2012 B rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nov 02, 2012 Eunice Cheung rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oct 29, 2012 Cat marked it as to-read

Shelves: own-tbr

Oct 22, 2012 Sarah Carter marked it as to-read

Sep 06, 2012 Eunice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Aug 17, 2012 Lindsay Anne Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jul 24, 2012 Soroya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jun 06, 2012 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 09, 2012 Lola rated it 3 of 5 stars

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