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labunnywtf's review against another edition
3.0
Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review
The first thing I thought after finishing this book:
But what the hell does the title mean?!
Seriously, the title has literally nothing to do with what happens in this book. WTF.
The premise for this book is pretty intriguing. Still grieving teenaged girl spending her 17th birthday on a cruise ship with her three best friends and her parents. Suspicious stuff happens, and there's no use doing anything but figuring it out, because this is a cruise ship, and there's certainly not anything else going on at the time.
This book reminds me quite heavily of the Christopher Pike-esque books of my teenagedom. In saying that, I admit that this would be an excellent read for the junior high-high school age bracket looking for some light thrillers.
But also, they could do better.
This book is all over the place. So much of it doesn't make sense, and it gets to that convoluted magic-but-not-magic, we-know-readers-like-supernatural-so-how-do-we-do-this-in-a-contemporary sort of plotting that is just going to throw off your average reader.
Now, there is a twist literally right at the end that I was pleasantly surprised by. I saw some other reviewers who didn't like it, and I acknowledge it comes out of left field, but after the labyrinth maze I walked through reading this book, I found the prize at the end completely perfect.
I can't diss this book, as I said, there is a market for it. I just think a few pinches and tweaks and a firm editor could've done wonders.
The first thing I thought after finishing this book:
But what the hell does the title mean?!
Seriously, the title has literally nothing to do with what happens in this book. WTF.
The premise for this book is pretty intriguing. Still grieving teenaged girl spending her 17th birthday on a cruise ship with her three best friends and her parents. Suspicious stuff happens, and there's no use doing anything but figuring it out, because this is a cruise ship, and there's certainly not anything else going on at the time.
This book reminds me quite heavily of the Christopher Pike-esque books of my teenagedom. In saying that, I admit that this would be an excellent read for the junior high-high school age bracket looking for some light thrillers.
But also, they could do better.
This book is all over the place. So much of it doesn't make sense, and it gets to that convoluted magic-but-not-magic, we-know-readers-like-supernatural-so-how-do-we-do-this-in-a-contemporary sort of plotting that is just going to throw off your average reader.
Now, there is a twist literally right at the end that I was pleasantly surprised by. I saw some other reviewers who didn't like it, and I acknowledge it comes out of left field, but after the labyrinth maze I walked through reading this book, I found the prize at the end completely perfect.
I can't diss this book, as I said, there is a market for it. I just think a few pinches and tweaks and a firm editor could've done wonders.
totallytae_23's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was easy to read, short no chapters but lots of skipping around to short scenes. I personally really like the format, with all the itineraries, it really helps you feel like your actually there. The characters and the storyline fell short for me. None of yhe characters were very lovable, Natalie was strong but not much else. I’d like to say the characters are made for the plot. Although the plot was kind of all over the place. The story was casual, and mysterious but not super thrilling. Ironically, The best part about this book was the ending. I’ve read lots of reviews and people either loved it or hated it. It was really the only part of the book that made it worth reading. The foreshadowing was there! Which is another positive! It was plain and not too memorable otherwise. Wouldn’t say I regret reading it, but I probably won’t read it again… since the shook factor was the best part. So yeah 2.5, interesting concept, and shocking, but the characters and plotline fell short.
Edit: this book has definitely left an impact because a week later I’m still thinking about it. I personally think it’s genus how the author sets up the ending and you get to decide what you do or don’t believe happened based on your opinions onHipnosis . I’ve bumped it up to a 3 star book now. While I still stand by the fact the story was just okay, I think the impact of the ending is just enough reason to read iy.
Edit: this book has definitely left an impact because a week later I’m still thinking about it. I personally think it’s genus how the author sets up the ending and you get to decide what you do or don’t believe happened based on your opinions on
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit
infinite_tbr's review against another edition
1.0
Yikes. I should have made this a DNF but it was short and I was at work with nothing better to do.
I'm not convinced there was really a plot in this book. Things just jumped from one thing to another. I also wouldn't really consider it a mystery or thriller. Considering the blurb on the front calls it "a taut, evocative thriller that's surprising to the last page", there was a bit of a disconnect between my expectations and what I actually read.
Okay, the premise is that Natalie's boyfriend died in a car accident 10 months before as he was driving to her house. Now, her parents are taking her and her three best friends on a cruise to celebrate Natalie's birthday and hopefully get her to feel better about everything. The first night of the cruise, she meets a mysterious guy who she later begins to think may have fallen overboard. Her suspicions seem reasonable when the captain calls for a headcount.
Here's the thing, this book was just not good. Natalie was an annoying character to read and all of the so-called-twists, I saw coming. Turns out the guy she met (Ray) has a twin and Ray is actually a bit crazy. Natalie does start to get over herself and her ex, which is good. But then it turns out he was cheating with one of the friends also on the cruise. Okay, fine I can deal with some teenage drama. It was annoying, but whatever if it drives the plot along. It didn't drive the plot along.
In the end we somehow end up with a "twist" that seems pretty lame considering how the story was all over the place. Spoiler alert for the end: Natalie's boyfriend died because Ray heard he was cheating and hypnotized him. So after spending the last 50 pages having Natalie decide that hypnosis isn't real (it didn't work on her), we find out that it is? It really didn't make narrative sense. Also, there is such a thing as trying to hard to tie up loose ends. Not once did I really wonder what caused the boyfriend's accident. Part of my disinterest was that Natalie didn't really care. And then there's the fact where it happened almost a year before the events of the book so it's old news and I don't care.
As for the "mystery" on the cruise ship? That's figured out half-way into the book. Ray threw an inflatable doll over the edge and made people think it was a person. We don't know why this happened until a bit later on, but I honestly didn't really care why he did it.
Finally, Natalie and her friends have all been given an assignment by their film teacher. (Natalie is a big Hitchcock fan so the entire book is filled with Hitchcock references.) They have to each make a two-line film while on the cruise. Natalie spends half the book daydreaming (brainstorming involves more brainpower than anything she did) up the scripts of her film. Half the time, the scripts fill us in on the events happening with/around her. The other half, they're just imagined scenarios. Rather than making me think Natalie was cool or something, these scripts typically had me rolling my eyes.
Overall, I found this book highly predictable, random, and not that well written. I would not recommend this to anyone. Also, I'm pretty sure this book doesn't pass the Bechdel test even though the characters mention the Bechdel test!
I'm not convinced there was really a plot in this book. Things just jumped from one thing to another. I also wouldn't really consider it a mystery or thriller. Considering the blurb on the front calls it "a taut, evocative thriller that's surprising to the last page", there was a bit of a disconnect between my expectations and what I actually read.
Okay, the premise is that Natalie's boyfriend died in a car accident 10 months before as he was driving to her house. Now, her parents are taking her and her three best friends on a cruise to celebrate Natalie's birthday and hopefully get her to feel better about everything. The first night of the cruise, she meets a mysterious guy who she later begins to think may have fallen overboard. Her suspicions seem reasonable when the captain calls for a headcount.
Here's the thing, this book was just not good. Natalie was an annoying character to read and all of the so-called-twists, I saw coming. Turns out the guy she met (Ray) has a twin and Ray is actually a bit crazy. Natalie does start to get over herself and her ex, which is good. But then it turns out he was cheating with one of the friends also on the cruise. Okay, fine I can deal with some teenage drama. It was annoying, but whatever if it drives the plot along. It didn't drive the plot along.
In the end we somehow end up with a "twist" that seems pretty lame considering how the story was all over the place. Spoiler alert for the end: Natalie's boyfriend died because Ray heard he was cheating and hypnotized him. So after spending the last 50 pages having Natalie decide that hypnosis isn't real (it didn't work on her), we find out that it is? It really didn't make narrative sense. Also, there is such a thing as trying to hard to tie up loose ends. Not once did I really wonder what caused the boyfriend's accident. Part of my disinterest was that Natalie didn't really care. And then there's the fact where it happened almost a year before the events of the book so it's old news and I don't care.
As for the "mystery" on the cruise ship? That's figured out half-way into the book. Ray threw an inflatable doll over the edge and made people think it was a person. We don't know why this happened until a bit later on, but I honestly didn't really care why he did it.
Finally, Natalie and her friends have all been given an assignment by their film teacher. (Natalie is a big Hitchcock fan so the entire book is filled with Hitchcock references.) They have to each make a two-line film while on the cruise. Natalie spends half the book daydreaming (brainstorming involves more brainpower than anything she did) up the scripts of her film. Half the time, the scripts fill us in on the events happening with/around her. The other half, they're just imagined scenarios. Rather than making me think Natalie was cool or something, these scripts typically had me rolling my eyes.
Overall, I found this book highly predictable, random, and not that well written. I would not recommend this to anyone. Also, I'm pretty sure this book doesn't pass the Bechdel test even though the characters mention the Bechdel test!
michellehenriereads's review against another edition
2.0
Actual stars 2.5
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of The Opposite of Here, in exchange for an honest review.
Once again I am stuck with writing a less than stellar review. In the books' defense, I don't believe I'm the target market and a teenager would probably enjoy it more than I did.
The format of the story is blocked out with the itineraries for the cruise ship's activities. After reading through the first few studiously and not finding clues to the mystery, I started skimming these parts, and so, if there were clues for upcoming events I missed them. I was left with never wanting to go on a cruise if this is the approach to herding people around for fun.
Natalie is interested in Hitchcock movies and the scenes are interrupted with notations as if it's a movie script. The denotations were not always clear and it became confusing if Natalie was relating an imaginary scene or something actually happening. This may be the fault of my reading an ARC and hopefully is fixed in the final version. There were other mistakes where the "movie scene" in Natalie's head flowed right into a paragraph that was actually happening. I had to read those twice, which always annoys me when reading a novel, and affects my overall rating.
I didn't love the characterization. Natalie was whiney - and I know she was getting over her boyfriend who had died, but I needed more empathy for her. However, I did like her explanation of why she wasn't as broken up over him as she "should" have been. Several boys were mentioned on the cruise. I felt like Ray, the darkest character, was the most interesting because we slowly learned his motivations for his actions. He is fascinated with hypnotism and shows his skills at a talent night on the boat - but his act has an undercurrent of danger.
Nora was the most interesting of Natalie's friends because of her flaws. I'm not convinced that Natalie could forgive her easily for those flaws, but Nora certainly stirred the pot in an interesting way. I would have liked to feel more connected to any of the friends. I thought the bit with the necklace was interesting - it seemed like Nora had considered pretending that the necklace had been a gift, but Natalie would know that wasn't true from first hand experience. I thought this was a point where the two friends could reconnect more deeply after being hurt by one another.
The end could be seen as a big plus or a minus. After some consideration I've decided I'm on the plus side. So as not to give away the twist and spoiler, I will only say that the final details tie up the plot ends neatly like a package (which is why some won't like it), but it also provides the motivation for the majority of characters as a big reveal (which is why I decided I liked the end). Regardless, the final twist is what made this book memorable.
I haven't read many contemporary mysteries with teens as the protagonist, so this could cloud my point of view. I was also offended when Natalie has a huge epiphany about her identity and doesn't need her dead boyfriend or any boy as the measure of her value, and then she jumps right into bed with a guy. What's up with that? It seemed like her actions took away the life lesson learned that she was actually valuable for more than her body. I can't really recommend this mystery.
For other reviews and suggestions go to www.talesuntangled.wordpress.com
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of The Opposite of Here, in exchange for an honest review.
Once again I am stuck with writing a less than stellar review. In the books' defense, I don't believe I'm the target market and a teenager would probably enjoy it more than I did.
The format of the story is blocked out with the itineraries for the cruise ship's activities. After reading through the first few studiously and not finding clues to the mystery, I started skimming these parts, and so, if there were clues for upcoming events I missed them. I was left with never wanting to go on a cruise if this is the approach to herding people around for fun.
Natalie is interested in Hitchcock movies and the scenes are interrupted with notations as if it's a movie script. The denotations were not always clear and it became confusing if Natalie was relating an imaginary scene or something actually happening. This may be the fault of my reading an ARC and hopefully is fixed in the final version. There were other mistakes where the "movie scene" in Natalie's head flowed right into a paragraph that was actually happening. I had to read those twice, which always annoys me when reading a novel, and affects my overall rating.
I didn't love the characterization. Natalie was whiney - and I know she was getting over her boyfriend who had died, but I needed more empathy for her. However, I did like her explanation of why she wasn't as broken up over him as she "should" have been. Several boys were mentioned on the cruise. I felt like Ray, the darkest character, was the most interesting because we slowly learned his motivations for his actions. He is fascinated with hypnotism and shows his skills at a talent night on the boat - but his act has an undercurrent of danger.
Nora was the most interesting of Natalie's friends because of her flaws. I'm not convinced that Natalie could forgive her easily for those flaws, but Nora certainly stirred the pot in an interesting way. I would have liked to feel more connected to any of the friends. I thought the bit with the necklace was interesting - it seemed like Nora had considered pretending that the necklace had been a gift, but Natalie would know that wasn't true from first hand experience. I thought this was a point where the two friends could reconnect more deeply after being hurt by one another.
The end could be seen as a big plus or a minus. After some consideration I've decided I'm on the plus side. So as not to give away the twist and spoiler, I will only say that the final details tie up the plot ends neatly like a package (which is why some won't like it), but it also provides the motivation for the majority of characters as a big reveal (which is why I decided I liked the end). Regardless, the final twist is what made this book memorable.
I haven't read many contemporary mysteries with teens as the protagonist, so this could cloud my point of view. I was also offended when Natalie has a huge epiphany about her identity and doesn't need her dead boyfriend or any boy as the measure of her value, and then she jumps right into bed with a guy. What's up with that? It seemed like her actions took away the life lesson learned that she was actually valuable for more than her body. I can't really recommend this mystery.
For other reviews and suggestions go to www.talesuntangled.wordpress.com
minniemueller's review against another edition
2.0
That was just not for me. An easy read though and young adults might like it.
kawarwick's review against another edition
4.0
Quite a page turner! Can’t say much else without giving away spoilers. Big plot twist!
vklover's review against another edition
3.0
I started out really liking this book. I thought maybe her friends had something to do with this guy's disappearance... but no... he didn't disappear. He just... is some weird teen obsessed with hypnosis and trying to get revenge for his dead sister? I dunno. This book went in a million different directions and half of them were awful. I dont think I'd read this again.
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review against another edition
3.0
What did I just read??? This book was a trip, but not in a good way.
notlikethebeer's review against another edition
4.0
Blimey, this was a bit trippy! Altebrando has an incredible knack for melding realism and scifi-elements to create novels that really play with your head, and this one is absolutely no exception. It's very absorbing: get ready to do very little but read until you've gotten to the end! Filled with amazing plot twists, and an ending that ties everything up without feeling rushed or too picture-perfect. Would absolutely recommend.
bestdressedbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
As far as thrillers go this one had me hooked, I had non idea what was going on, I didnt trust any of the people ever, and that ending was killer! Did not see it coming although all the signs were there and i probably should have picked up at least some of it. I was too enthralled by the story!!! Bravo!