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mmajer's review against another edition
2.0
I was immediately drawn to this book because of the lush setting (and helloooo cover porn!). I could easily picture myself on this Caribbean island as the author described the scenery, and then kept describing it, and then continued to further describe the setting. Then things get a little juicy with the murder of a college girl who’s family is vacationing on the island. This book goes into how this murder affected everyone who was on the island at the time of the murder. At first I was intrigued. The book then jumps forward time, focusing on the victim’s sister, Claire, who is obsessively trying to crack the case. I liked how the story was told from different perspectives and even incorporated internet threads of people who followed the case (I too go down Wikipedia black holes of various crimes, so I could relate). But goodness this was slow. How the book is described and how it starts, it seemed like it would be a good thriller. It was not and it took me two months to finish because I was bored out of my mind. I didn’t find any of the characters likable and overall this was just a total snoozefest.
Many thanks to the publisher and Bookish First for providing me with an ARC.
Many thanks to the publisher and Bookish First for providing me with an ARC.
abi_laura's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
bookswithregan's review against another edition
Thank you Celadon Books for sending me an ARC for Review.
I have so man things to say and I only made it to page 80 something....
First off, This book is VERY physiological and really isn't much of a Thriller.
Second, the writing is extremely hard to get into.
Thats as far as I made it....
Okay, so the first Chapter threw me off, the writing was NOT what I was expecting and I didn't really like it. While I think the writing described the island, setting & world extremely well. I don't like how it used "The Dad" or "The man and his wife" without really giving a lot of context on who we were reading about and it was always a sudden change. I had to read it a few times to try to understand who we were talking about but really it was just talking about random people.
Alison seemed like an extreme brat but also the normal college kid who's on vacation and the last thing she wants to do is hang out in the hotel room with her sister. I never made it far enough to see if she was or wasn't a brat.
Claire, I don't even know what to say. I've never read a character like her in this situation. While I LOVE her outlook on death and how she is picking apart her past. I do think she lets it define her WAY more than she realizes and needed to realize she needed to focus on herself and not her sister.
This is really all I have because I just could not keep reading. I want to love this SO bad and I'm hoping to give it another try in the future! I'll be looking out for the Audiobook and WILL be back for a better review!
I have so man things to say and I only made it to page 80 something....
First off, This book is VERY physiological and really isn't much of a Thriller.
Second, the writing is extremely hard to get into.
Spoiler
This story is about Claire, who's sister goes missing/is murdered on their family vacation when she is 7. For obvious reasons, it traumatized her and changed every aspect of her life. X amount of years later she runs into one of the accused/last person to see her sister alive and quickly becomes obsessed.Thats as far as I made it....
Okay, so the first Chapter threw me off, the writing was NOT what I was expecting and I didn't really like it. While I think the writing described the island, setting & world extremely well. I don't like how it used "The Dad" or "The man and his wife" without really giving a lot of context on who we were reading about and it was always a sudden change. I had to read it a few times to try to understand who we were talking about but really it was just talking about random people.
Alison seemed like an extreme brat but also the normal college kid who's on vacation and the last thing she wants to do is hang out in the hotel room with her sister. I never made it far enough to see if she was or wasn't a brat.
Claire, I don't even know what to say. I've never read a character like her in this situation. While I LOVE her outlook on death and how she is picking apart her past. I do think she lets it define her WAY more than she realizes and needed to realize she needed to focus on herself and not her sister.
This is really all I have because I just could not keep reading. I want to love this SO bad and I'm hoping to give it another try in the future! I'll be looking out for the Audiobook and WILL be back for a better review!
allyson_e's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
muckl3t83's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Child death, and Drug use
kaylananci's review against another edition
4.0
pretty good. pretty devastating and if i didn’t know what happened already from the show i would have cried a little
suburbancatmom's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lizziesharpee_'s review against another edition
2.0
I originally watched the TV series (Same name as book on Hulu) before reading this book and the series was better. She spent 100 ish pages describing bloody beaches. I was just skimming through the whole book. It was only towards the end when it was getting good. I knew what was going to happen, but it was such a disappointment.
stitchinthyme's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0