Action-Packed, Detail-Oriented, Nautical
The Great Wide Sea has a wild and fast-moving plot. Hey: where there are shipwrecks, you'll usually find some serious action.
One of the most action-packed sequences is (unsurprisingly) the storm that ends up beaching our heroes:
The wind kept shoving us over the waves and shrieking in my ears. The rain kept pummeling me with wet and cold and pounding on my face. The waves kept rising up under us, crashing on top of us, and washing over us. Still we rode on. (26.7)
And the story never really slows down after that.
In presenting all that action, the author is extremely detailed-oriented. Often, she appeals to the reader's five senses. Ben tells us that, in Nassau,
The sun glared off the buildings as we walked back in the noontime heat carrying the heavy bags. The breeze from the harbor was blocked until we walked by the fish market where we caught the sudden, powerful smell of dead fish. (17.4)
Those sentences engage our sense of sight (with the sun), touch (with the heat, the heavy bags, and the breeze), and smell (yum: dead fish).
The author is especially detail-oriented when it comes to anything nautical. (We'll take "Boat Stuff" for 500, Alex.)
Dylan moved quietly through the boat to bed. The rudder creaked in its housing. The boat's braces groaned. A line thumped against the cockpit floor. (8.30)
Much like the sensory details, the intricacies of sailing are meant to ground the somewhat insane action sequences. They help the plot feel more realistic—and, bonus, give you a little sailor lingo to throw around.