What do readers think of Flat Water Tuesday by Ron Irwin? Write your own review.

I read this novel in one sitting and found myself weeping at the end of it. While it is a novel about rowing---a sport I knew nothing about when I started reading--- the love story at its center broke my heart. The story of Rob and Carolyn resonated with me. It felt incredibly real, raw, emotional and true and there were times I held my breath while I read about the two of them struggling to stay together. I enjoyed the rowing segments and felt they were woven beautifully into this romantic tale about two people finding each other despite it all. I think this is one of the best novels of the year.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book but found the ending disappointing. The author did a great job of developing the characters of the rowing team. The descriptive quality of the rowing itself was superb. The story was interesting. Unfortunately, the ending left me thinking, "what the heck does that mean?" After the great job in the rest of the book, the ending felt as if the author didn't know how to bring closure. Two weeks after finishing I still find myself thinking about the main character and wondering what his decision was. Some books do this purposefully, but that did not feel like the case this time. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise very good book.

Love this book. Beautiful language, beautiful scenery, beautiful story. Loved the way the author weaves the past and the future with layers of intriguing relationships. Not your typical coming of age story. Well done!

I didn't think I would like this book when I first started reading it..I didn't know anything about rowing and it really wasn't a subject I was interested in learning about. But this book was really more than that and I did like it. I would definitely recommend this book for a book club. There are many topics in here that would make for a good discussion. Plus, you might, like me learn something that you knew nothing about!

Flat Water Tuesday is the story of Rob Carrey. As a senior in high school, Rob is recruited for his rowing skills to attend a post graduate year at Fenton, a private boarding school in CT. A scholarship student, Carrey is an outsider in this world of privilege and feels the need to constantly prove himself. The expectation is that Carrey will excel on crew and go on to crew at Harvard. The story alternates between the year at Fenton and present day, however even the present day is narrated in flashbacks as Carrey travels the globe filming documentaries. I found all of the back and forth very distracting; the story would work much better told chronologically. I failed to see how the events at Fenton noticeably impacted Carrey's present day life, and found neither of the women in the story particularly memorable. None of the characters pulled me in, and I did not find Carrey particularly interesting as an adult.

Something about the preview description had made this book sound more like a version of "A Separate Peace" - that high school classic assignment. Private school boys, a rowing team, a reunion, etc. However, I liked this first person narrator and the story in general a lot more. Plus there's a female character, and Carolyn seemed very believable to me. I also enjoyed his position with National Geographic.

Being a high school athlete, I really looked forward to this book about 5 high school seniors and their coach. Although the story had opportunities to be a great novel, I was so distracted with descriptions that I to re-read a number of sections. This book is not a complete disappointment, one will gain an appreciation of the sport of rowing. Now that I've finished the book, I thought that it was just ok.

I really enjoyed this book. I was skeptical before starting my read since I know very little about crew and I was wondering how the subject could be exciting or produce an interesting novel. Boy, was my skepticism ill placed. I credit the author for creating a story that is interesting, exciting, suspenseful and most of all, entertaining. The characters are diverse but each has their good and bad qualities revealed to us and I was able to identify with them. The three main characters (Rob, Ruth Anderson and Connor) interact in ways that produce a story worth telling and certainly worth reading. Thanks Ron Irwin for authoring a great debut novel. I will anxiously await your next book.