🎧 Reviewed by LD | Rating: 0.5/5 | Steam: N/A | Standalone
⚠️ DNF at 37% — I made it approximately 5.5 hours into a 15+ hour audiobook before I had to tap out. This review covers everything up to that point, plus a brief summary of how it ends based on research.
The Opening
I want to start by saying that 5.5 hours is a real commitment. That is not a quick skim. That is me genuinely trying to give this book a fair shot, pushing through it past the point where I stopped having any fun, hoping it would turn a corner. It did not. Into the Blue is the most frustrating kind of book — not bad in a dramatic way, just aggressively, persistently not for me, and bloated in a way that made every hour feel like three. There is an interesting story buried somewhere in here. The author just buried it under so much acting content that I could not find it, and at 37% I decided I was done.
What I Got Through
Summer 2000, Coastal Massachusetts
AJ Graves is seventeen, working at a local video store, and dreaming of writing comedy for Saturday Night Live someday. When Noah Drew walks into the shop, she has no idea who he is, but the rest of the world definitely does. He’s the youngest member of the famous Drew acting dynasty, retreated to this tiny town after a scandal and an injury to stay out of the spotlight. Their dynamic from the start is sharp and prickly and electric. They bond over banter, pop culture, Shakespeare, recognizing something restless and isolated in each other.
So far, so good. That part I liked.
Then Noah’s aunt Eudora comes into the picture. She’s the legendary matriarch of the Drew family, and she agrees to do a panel, but only if both AJ and Noah will work with her on acting first. Fine. Except Act 1 then proceeds to detail, day by day, every single beat of their acting training. Every exercise. Every scene. Noah’s mom is sick in the background, getting worse, and they’re growing closer through all of it, and eventually he kisses AJ and it feels like everything is about to change. The next day he’s just gone. Took his things. Took his dog. Eudora tells AJ that their acquaintance has run its course and closes the door in her face.
That should have been a gut punch of an ending to Act 1. It kind of was. Except I had to sit through an entire act of acting exercises to get there, and by the time the emotional moment arrived, I was already exhausted.
Seven Years Later
Act 2 picks up with AJ in comedy writing. The writers’ guild goes on strike, she gets pushed onto a stage in the chaos, and there is Noah. Seven years of silence and he’s just standing there. They end up cast together in an unscripted show that Fox needs to film immediately or they’ll lose the rights, and just like that they have to figure out how to be in the same room again.
I get it. She’s furious. He left without a word and seven years is a long time to be angry. I’d be pissed too. But I barely know these characters by this point because most of what I’ve listened to has been about their acting, not about them. I have zero emotional involvement. Act 2 keeps going and going, because now we’re doing the skit. The whole skit. I’m fast-forwarding. I do not give a shit about their full unscripted comedy show. Little excerpts to show me their chemistry? Sure. The entire thing? Absolutely not. I should not have to sit through an entire comedy skit, day by day, in the middle of a book. And that is where I got off the train.
The character development has been basically zero at this point. The play development has been endless. It genuinely feels like the author really wanted her comedy skit to get out into the world and decided to write an entire novel around it. I have no idea how anybody else liked this book, I really don’t.
How It Ends (From Research — Not From Listening)
For the sake of giving you the full picture, here’s what I found. In Act 3 they work together on a sci-fi project also called Into the Blue, and their on-screen chemistry becomes the stuff of legend. But Noah keeps pulling away every time they get close. The reason: Noah carries the genetic marker for Huntington’s disease, the same degenerative neurological disorder that has been running through his family. He’s been pushing AJ away for years to protect her from having to watch him deteriorate and become his caretaker.
In Act 4 the truth comes out. AJ’s twin sister Emily helps her realize that protecting yourself from grief is just another way of not living. AJ and Noah choose each other anyway, knowing exactly what’s coming, deciding that a life lived in full truth and love is worth the inevitable heartbreak. The book ends with the words “Curtain up.”
It’s a genuinely emotional concept and the core of the story is there. I just couldn’t get to it through everything else.
The Ending — Satisfied or Disappointed?
I can’t call it either since I didn’t get there myself. What I will say is that based on the research, it makes sense for the story. Huntington’s disease is a devastating element and I understand why Noah behaved the way he did. If the book had been about that instead of the acting content, this would have been a completely different review. That is my real disappointment — not the ending itself, but everything standing between the beginning and it. Although, I can’t say I would have loved the ending either.
Would I Reread It?
No. Not a chance. Couldn’t even finish it the first time.
Who Is This For
If you love deep, deep, deep dives into the world of comedy writing, improv, and performance and you want your romance to live inside that world in extensive detail, this might genuinely be your book. The love story underneath all of it is emotional and the Huntington’s element hit different once I knew about it. But if you want your character development to outpace your acting workshop content by at least a little bit, you might want to look elsewhere.
Where to Get This Book
📚 Physical Book
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Bookshop.org
🎧 Audiobook
Audible US | Audible CA
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📱 Ebook
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Plot Twisted. 🔥
🎧 | Genre: Romance | Standalone | Steam: N/A (DNF)