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minimicropup's review against another edition
3.5
This annoyed me…why did I like it?! I’m glad I stuck it out but struggled with the way it was told.
Energy: Spiteful. Confounded. Secretive.
Scene: 🇹🇭 Set on the (fictional) island of Koh Sang, Thailand
Perspective: We follow two main characters, both in their twenties. One is an American with a negative reputation who moved to Thailand and became a diving instructor. The other is an aspiring American journalist working as a travel influencer on Instagram. Each chapter alternates between their perspectives.
🐕 Howls: The overly detailed writing style that didn’t contribute much to the story. Lack of atmosphere and culture. Ambiguous characters when the author has a specific appearance in mind. MC lying through…inner monologue?
🐩 Tail Wags: The story. The setting (in theory).
🤔 Random Thoughts:
It was too easy to confuse Brooke and Cass. They sounded the same in their text voice; audio saved me once I picked up on the nuance between the audio narrators.
Finding out a character was dishonest for most of the book was puzzling. We mostly get detailed inner monologues, so why would she think and overanalyze so deceitfully?
The setting was unique but underwhelming. It is not a luxury resort but more of a hostel, which I prefer, but it lacked atmosphere and took awhile to figure that out (it could have been any tropical island). I get the main characters were American, but the setting wasn’t. It was so absent of any cultural authenticity of Thailand.
The narrative pace is slow; it sometimes felt like the story unfolded in real-time. I love that, but the present tense narration made all the mundane day-to-day details seem overly dramatic and diluted the suspense because stretching in the morning had the same build-up as discovering a dead body.
The way-too-late dropping of minor but key details like character or setting specifics (appearance or an off-resort bar…) killed my mind-eye imaginings. It was so frustrating that I started ignoring what the author said about the characters’ appearance and setting later in the book.
Was there even a single Thai character in this book? Is that realistic? I have no idea, but it seemed weird.
----
🎬 Tale-Telling: YA style direct and simplistic. Verbose with lots of spoon-feeding and handholding.
🤓 Reader Role: Deep in the MCs’ minds, overhearing all their thoughts, reflections, and vague scheming as they go about their days, but not getting much context.
🗺️ World-Building: Detailed, but it didn’t capture the atmosphere and unique setting.
🔥 Fuel: Why did our main characters choose to stay on this island? What are their secrets? What are the guests’ secrets? How do they all connect? Who is killing staff on the island? Will our main characters survive? Who can they trust?
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief, plausible-ish
🚙 Journey: Week-long vacay on a tropical island. Starts fun but soon becomes claustrophobic. Looking forward to going home.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
-White sand. Waves rolling in. Sour bar. Ocean salt. Grilled seafood. Suiting up with diving equipment.
-Not-all-is-as-it-seems characters lying and scheming
-Contemporary fiction about ex-pat island life in a hostel-style resort with a of thriller and YA writing style mash-up
Content Heads-Up: Death, dead body. Alcohol, drug use (partying, recreational). Sexual assault. Blood. Rape (on page). Mental illness (bipolar, brief). Drugging. Loss of sibling. Loss of parent. Medical (heart, brief). Adult/minor relationship (off page, mentioned). Gun violence. PTSD. Panic attack. Sexual harassment. False accusations.
Rep: White, somewhat ambiguous British and American. Swedish, Laotian, and Israeli peripheral characters. Heterosexual. Bisexual. Lesbian. Cisgender.
📚 Format: Everand Audio
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Energy: Spiteful. Confounded. Secretive.
Scene: 🇹🇭 Set on the (fictional) island of Koh Sang, Thailand
Perspective: We follow two main characters, both in their twenties. One is an American with a negative reputation who moved to Thailand and became a diving instructor. The other is an aspiring American journalist working as a travel influencer on Instagram. Each chapter alternates between their perspectives.
🐕 Howls: The overly detailed writing style that didn’t contribute much to the story. Lack of atmosphere and culture. Ambiguous characters when the author has a specific appearance in mind. MC lying through…inner monologue?
🐩 Tail Wags: The story. The setting (in theory).
🤔 Random Thoughts:
It was too easy to confuse Brooke and Cass. They sounded the same in their text voice; audio saved me once I picked up on the nuance between the audio narrators.
Finding out a character was dishonest for most of the book was puzzling. We mostly get detailed inner monologues, so why would she think and overanalyze so deceitfully?
The setting was unique but underwhelming. It is not a luxury resort but more of a hostel, which I prefer, but it lacked atmosphere and took awhile to figure that out (it could have been any tropical island). I get the main characters were American, but the setting wasn’t. It was so absent of any cultural authenticity of Thailand.
The narrative pace is slow; it sometimes felt like the story unfolded in real-time. I love that, but the present tense narration made all the mundane day-to-day details seem overly dramatic and diluted the suspense because stretching in the morning had the same build-up as discovering a dead body.
The way-too-late dropping of minor but key details like character or setting specifics (appearance or an off-resort bar…) killed my mind-eye imaginings. It was so frustrating that I started ignoring what the author said about the characters’ appearance and setting later in the book.
Was there even a single Thai character in this book? Is that realistic? I have no idea, but it seemed weird.
----
🎬 Tale-Telling: YA style direct and simplistic. Verbose with lots of spoon-feeding and handholding.
🤓 Reader Role: Deep in the MCs’ minds, overhearing all their thoughts, reflections, and vague scheming as they go about their days, but not getting much context.
🗺️ World-Building: Detailed, but it didn’t capture the atmosphere and unique setting.
🔥 Fuel: Why did our main characters choose to stay on this island? What are their secrets? What are the guests’ secrets? How do they all connect? Who is killing staff on the island? Will our main characters survive? Who can they trust?
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief, plausible-ish
🚙 Journey: Week-long vacay on a tropical island. Starts fun but soon becomes claustrophobic. Looking forward to going home.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
-White sand. Waves rolling in. Sour bar. Ocean salt. Grilled seafood. Suiting up with diving equipment.
-Not-all-is-as-it-seems characters lying and scheming
-Contemporary fiction about ex-pat island life in a hostel-style resort with a of thriller and YA writing style mash-up
Content Heads-Up: Death, dead body. Alcohol, drug use (partying, recreational). Sexual assault. Blood. Rape (on page). Mental illness (bipolar, brief). Drugging. Loss of sibling. Loss of parent. Medical (heart, brief). Adult/minor relationship (off page, mentioned). Gun violence. PTSD. Panic attack. Sexual harassment. False accusations.
Rep: White, somewhat ambiguous British and American. Swedish, Laotian, and Israeli peripheral characters. Heterosexual. Bisexual. Lesbian. Cisgender.
📚 Format: Everand Audio
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape
Minor: Medical content, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault
itstruly_flower's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Addiction, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Rape
Moderate: Drug use, Cursing, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, and Medical content
Minor: Torture, Homophobia, Self harm, Lesbophobia, and Vomit
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