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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 ✨
This was a fun read! We follow a group of teens on a luxury yacht at the end of high school. Most of them are well off, and there’s gossip and scandals in the group.
Then someone turns up dead. And another. And another. Will our main characters, two former best friends, be able to survive this night on the murder yacht?
I enjoyed following the antics of the killer and who would end up dead next, and how. It’s basically a good B-list horror movie.
Perfect for almost spooky season 🤭
This was a fun read! We follow a group of teens on a luxury yacht at the end of high school. Most of them are well off, and there’s gossip and scandals in the group.
Then someone turns up dead. And another. And another. Will our main characters, two former best friends, be able to survive this night on the murder yacht?
I enjoyed following the antics of the killer and who would end up dead next, and how. It’s basically a good B-list horror movie.
Perfect for almost spooky season 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Vomit, Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’ve read a lot of high stakes YA thrillers this summer, and this was the one that kept my interest the best. Although maybe that’s because all of the ones I read weren’t that good.
The pacing of the plot was good overall, keeping things interesting without slowing things down too much, even as backstories are revealed. The entries from the gossip website add intrigue, and there’s enough action to keep my interest.
However, some of the murders required a lot of suspension of disbelief, and the way the characters jump into a relationship as soon as a pretty hurtful situation was cleared up is a little unrealistic.
My biggest problem with it is the lack of realistic responses to what’s going on. All of these people are getting murdered left and right, and yet the main characters are pretty chill about it and trying to sort out their love lives. There are a few moments where the characters panic, but overall nobody seems to care about what’s happening. They don’t even seem that freaked out by the fact that if more people keep dying, they might be the next to go. Even when the killer is revealed, the main characters basically go, “huh, interesting,” and get to business of stopping them instead of having a realistic, emotional response to the betrayal and strong emotions they should experience. Especially at the end, the remaining characters are seemingly just fine, having a great time and not at all emotionally traumatized by the things they saw and had to survive. I get that characters can’t cry and scream the entire time because things have to happen, but some reaction is important! These characters must have been on some medication that made them numb to the entire world around them.
The killer’s motivations don’t completely make sense either, and I’m not sure how some of what they did was even possible. I didn’t understand why any character was doing anything, and the reason the best friends stopped being friends was ridiculous.
Seasick is melodramatic and unnecessarily angsty, and the number of murders and the characters border on absurd. But I still have to admit that I thought it was a quick, fun read when I wasn’t thinking about it. Seasick has a lot of problems, but if you’re looking for a campy YA thriller, this could be a good choice.
The pacing of the plot was good overall, keeping things interesting without slowing things down too much, even as backstories are revealed. The entries from the gossip website add intrigue, and there’s enough action to keep my interest.
However, some of the murders required a lot of suspension of disbelief, and the way the characters jump into a relationship as soon as a pretty hurtful situation was cleared up is a little unrealistic.
My biggest problem with it is the lack of realistic responses to what’s going on. All of these people are getting murdered left and right, and yet the main characters are pretty chill about it and trying to sort out their love lives. There are a few moments where the characters panic, but overall nobody seems to care about what’s happening. They don’t even seem that freaked out by the fact that if more people keep dying, they might be the next to go. Even when the killer is revealed, the main characters basically go, “huh, interesting,” and get to business of stopping them instead of having a realistic, emotional response to the betrayal and strong emotions they should experience. Especially at the end, the remaining characters are seemingly just fine, having a great time and not at all emotionally traumatized by the things they saw and had to survive. I get that characters can’t cry and scream the entire time because things have to happen, but some reaction is important! These characters must have been on some medication that made them numb to the entire world around them.
The killer’s motivations don’t completely make sense either, and I’m not sure how some of what they did was even possible. I didn’t understand why any character was doing anything, and the reason the best friends stopped being friends was ridiculous.
Seasick is melodramatic and unnecessarily angsty, and the number of murders and the characters border on absurd. But I still have to admit that I thought it was a quick, fun read when I wasn’t thinking about it. Seasick has a lot of problems, but if you’re looking for a campy YA thriller, this could be a good choice.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
fast-paced
*Seasick* kicks off with an enticing premise: Naya Morgan and Yana Bunpraserit, ex-best friends and outsiders in their small Oklahoma town, are inducted into an exclusive society of Yatesville High’s top graduates. The novel sets the stage with the promise of unimaginable opportunities, beginning with a celebratory yacht trip to Bermuda. Naya and Yana, despite their rocky past and the inevitable microaggressions and backhanded compliments from their peers, are ready for an epic voyage. However, what starts as an adventure quickly spirals into a nightmare when one of their classmates is brutally murdered, leaving them stuck at sea with a killer on board.
Initially, the novel seemed perfectly serviceable. The suspense builds as Yana and Naya find themselves trapped at sea, forced to rekindle their strained friendship to survive. However, as the story progressed, certain elements began to unravel for me.
One particular detail that was hard to overlook was the fact that the two main characters, Naya and Yana, have names that are anagrams of each other. While this might seem like a minor detail, it felt contrived and started to detract from the story as I continued reading.
The novel tries to tackle significant societal issues like classism and racism, all within the framework of a young adult thriller. Unfortunately, the representation of these themes felt somewhat superficial to me. Rather than offering authentic portrayals of diverse characters, the novel seemed more focused on ticking diversity boxes. While I appreciate the authors’ effort to address these important topics, the execution left something to be desired.
The setting—a luxury yacht adrift in the ocean—holds potential for a gripping thriller, but *Seasick* doesn’t quite make it feel unique or memorable. The isolation and looming danger of being stuck at sea are elements that could have been used more effectively, but they didn’t fully deliver the tension I was hoping for. The same goes for the novel’s death scenes, which were so elaborate and over-the-top that it was difficult to suspend disbelief. It was hard to imagine how the antagonist could have realistically pulled off these murders without being caught.
Ultimately, *Seasick* isn’t a bad novel, but it falls short of its potential. While it started off strong, the flaws became more apparent as the story unfolded. It’s not a book I would go out of my way to recommend or read again, which is why I’ve decided to give it a three-star rating.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes