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babygirl_01's review against another edition
3.0
Remember, in my previous review; I told you that Summer 2020 was the summer of reminiscing? Well, this little book brought me all the way back to my R.L Stine days of 120-page books and Goosebumps where things go bump in the night. The Lifeguard was a book suitable for two things, keeping you guessing and alternating POV. I'm sad to say that's about it. I know this book is old, and so I shouldn't hold it to the quality of books today, nor should I be about to pop off like I'm about to, but well, I am.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! (This part should be read after you finish the book, but it doesn't give away too much information and so get ready boys and girls for a rant and some TEA!)
SO BOOM, we have Kelsey Tanner, our main character, and well an absolute idiot. Okay, that sounds harsh, but reading this as a kid then again as an adult has my head reeling. You are telling me that Kelsey just found out that her mom's boyfriend's daughter is missing. You get a note from her saying someone is trying to kill her, and you say oh well, this must be a joke. GIRLLLLLLLLLL bye. Did a few brain cells fall loose when you were rocking on that boat? Because baby, I can't.
My next issue with this book is the way Kelsey is portrayed. She is so in love with one brother, and she claims that he calms all her fears and make her feel warm and toasty. He's her peace and sanity blah blah blah. Then she is saved by another brother at the end and kisses him. GIRLLLLL, so he saves your life now you got to give him the cooch, and you are so in love. I get so frustrated when female characters are displayed as this type of floozy. I know the author didn't try to make Kelsey seem that way, but I've had a lifetime of books, shows, and movies displaying women as hoppers, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes when I read the closing scene between Kelsy and her savior. He was so scary, aggressive, rude, snarky, and a little rough with her, but no girl drop them panties. You got you a good one, boo.
Why did no one believe Kelsey nor Donna in this freaking book? Someone is telling you that they think someone killed your sister, weird things have been happening, they saw a body, but now the body is gone, someone attacked Kelsey and was in her room, but nope they are all delusional. If someone had some type of information about a missing person, and weird things have been happening to everyone. Wouldn't you listen? Apparently, not these idiotic boys. Like did Kelsey and Donna need to be the scooby doo gang to get someone to believe them?
My second to last point is, why are we not addressing the potential incest in this book?? If Kelsey's mom marries Eric, that will make Justin and Neale, her stepbrothers. So why is everyone out here smacking lips? Even her mom was cheering her on like baby girl either mama has to give up Eric or Kelsey has to break it off with her future stepbrother. Here I am reading this book as a kid so happy Kelsey got a boo, and now that I am an adult, I'm like honey; this is incest!!
Also, the book failed to capitalize off the revealing of the killer. We were waiting so long to figure out who he was only to get a quick ending. We should have found some crazy diary entries, got a testimony from the sister, got the killer explanation dialogue, and the aftermath of having a family member being a serial killer. There could have been at least an epilogue giving us more. We stuck through the mystery; therefore, readers deserved a better payoff. The ending was rushed, and it showed.
All in all, this book is great in suspense, and despite my critiques, I did finish it in a few hours, so it does have promise. I am an over-analyzer, so that's my burden to bear, but I wouldn't say I will be rereading this book, which is disappointing because I loved it so much as a kid. I guess some books are better left in the past.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! (This part should be read after you finish the book, but it doesn't give away too much information and so get ready boys and girls for a rant and some TEA!)
SO BOOM, we have Kelsey Tanner, our main character, and well an absolute idiot. Okay, that sounds harsh, but reading this as a kid then again as an adult has my head reeling. You are telling me that Kelsey just found out that her mom's boyfriend's daughter is missing. You get a note from her saying someone is trying to kill her, and you say oh well, this must be a joke. GIRLLLLLLLLLL bye. Did a few brain cells fall loose when you were rocking on that boat? Because baby, I can't.
My next issue with this book is the way Kelsey is portrayed. She is so in love with one brother, and she claims that he calms all her fears and make her feel warm and toasty. He's her peace and sanity blah blah blah. Then she is saved by another brother at the end and kisses him. GIRLLLLL, so he saves your life now you got to give him the cooch, and you are so in love. I get so frustrated when female characters are displayed as this type of floozy. I know the author didn't try to make Kelsey seem that way, but I've had a lifetime of books, shows, and movies displaying women as hoppers, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes when I read the closing scene between Kelsy and her savior. He was so scary, aggressive, rude, snarky, and a little rough with her, but no girl drop them panties. You got you a good one, boo.
Why did no one believe Kelsey nor Donna in this freaking book? Someone is telling you that they think someone killed your sister, weird things have been happening, they saw a body, but now the body is gone, someone attacked Kelsey and was in her room, but nope they are all delusional. If someone had some type of information about a missing person, and weird things have been happening to everyone. Wouldn't you listen? Apparently, not these idiotic boys. Like did Kelsey and Donna need to be the scooby doo gang to get someone to believe them?
My second to last point is, why are we not addressing the potential incest in this book?? If Kelsey's mom marries Eric, that will make Justin and Neale, her stepbrothers. So why is everyone out here smacking lips? Even her mom was cheering her on like baby girl either mama has to give up Eric or Kelsey has to break it off with her future stepbrother. Here I am reading this book as a kid so happy Kelsey got a boo, and now that I am an adult, I'm like honey; this is incest!!
Also, the book failed to capitalize off the revealing of the killer. We were waiting so long to figure out who he was only to get a quick ending. We should have found some crazy diary entries, got a testimony from the sister, got the killer explanation dialogue, and the aftermath of having a family member being a serial killer. There could have been at least an epilogue giving us more. We stuck through the mystery; therefore, readers deserved a better payoff. The ending was rushed, and it showed.
All in all, this book is great in suspense, and despite my critiques, I did finish it in a few hours, so it does have promise. I am an over-analyzer, so that's my burden to bear, but I wouldn't say I will be rereading this book, which is disappointing because I loved it so much as a kid. I guess some books are better left in the past.
azebrareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
sydboll's review against another edition
3.0
This book was wild. I'm not sure if I like it better or worse than The Mall; this was not nearly as scary as The Mall, although the overall plot of this book made a bit more sense.
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