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missprint_'s review against another edition
5.0
"There's always somewhere else I want to go, but when I get there I always want to leave."
The last thing Natalie wants to do for her seventeenth birthday is go on a "sail-a-bration" cruise with her parents and best friends. Even nine months after her boyfriend died in a car accident it still feels too soon.
But once the plan is in motion, Natalie realizes there's nothing she can do to stop it.
Her best friends Lexi, Nora, and Charlotte are excited so Natalie tries to be too. Lexi is ready for all the fun the cruise has to offer--especially if her boyfriend Jason never has to hear about it. Nora has been down for a while and Natalie hopes that maybe the cruise will do her some good. Maybe she'll even find a new guy to like, it's been a while. Charlotte is used to keeping a low profile at school and following the rules. On the cruise no one cares if she's black enough or white enough--she can just be herself.
Natalie's low expectations for the cruise rise when she unexpectedly meets a cute guy. He's funny and exciting and Natalie's attraction is immediate. But she doesn't see him after their moonlit conversation and he blows off their plans to meet later.
At first the rejection stings and Natalie is prepared to move on. But then she starts to wonder if there might be more to it than that. How can a guy disappear on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean? Is it crazy to think he might have jumped?
Natalie isn't sure where to start when she doesn't even know his name. But she knows she has too look. The only problem is that the harder Natalie looks for answers, the more questions she seems to uncover in The Opposite of Here (2018) by Tara Altebrando.
Altebrando's latest standalone thriller is a perfect balance of suspense and intrigue as Natalie begins to investigate the bizarre disappearance of the guy she meets on the first night.
Instead of chapters the novel is broken into days with the cruise itinerary marking the start of each new section. Natalie is a film buff and examines the cruise with the detachment of an observer as she tries to piece together what's really happening. Assigned by her film studies teacher to shoot a two line film during the cruise, Natalie also imagines various scenarios in short screenplay snippets.
While not quite unreliable, Natalie is a restrained narrator holding back information from readers and maybe even form herself as she tries to move past the worst events of the last year. She is sardonic, capable, and singular in her search for the (possibly) missing boy.
Because of its short length and close focus on Natalie the rest of the characters in The Opposite of Here can feel less dimensional by comparison although they do each have their own arcs--something Natalie and readers realize together as Natalie comes to understand that she wasn't the only one affected by her boyfriend's death.
Taut pacing and menace imbue the pages as the narrative toes the line between reality and the power of suggestion in this story that asks readers to separate fact from fiction. The Opposite of Here is a tense thriller sure to keep readers guessing right until the last page. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda, Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roerhig, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
The last thing Natalie wants to do for her seventeenth birthday is go on a "sail-a-bration" cruise with her parents and best friends. Even nine months after her boyfriend died in a car accident it still feels too soon.
But once the plan is in motion, Natalie realizes there's nothing she can do to stop it.
Her best friends Lexi, Nora, and Charlotte are excited so Natalie tries to be too. Lexi is ready for all the fun the cruise has to offer--especially if her boyfriend Jason never has to hear about it. Nora has been down for a while and Natalie hopes that maybe the cruise will do her some good. Maybe she'll even find a new guy to like, it's been a while. Charlotte is used to keeping a low profile at school and following the rules. On the cruise no one cares if she's black enough or white enough--she can just be herself.
Natalie's low expectations for the cruise rise when she unexpectedly meets a cute guy. He's funny and exciting and Natalie's attraction is immediate. But she doesn't see him after their moonlit conversation and he blows off their plans to meet later.
At first the rejection stings and Natalie is prepared to move on. But then she starts to wonder if there might be more to it than that. How can a guy disappear on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean? Is it crazy to think he might have jumped?
Natalie isn't sure where to start when she doesn't even know his name. But she knows she has too look. The only problem is that the harder Natalie looks for answers, the more questions she seems to uncover in The Opposite of Here (2018) by Tara Altebrando.
Altebrando's latest standalone thriller is a perfect balance of suspense and intrigue as Natalie begins to investigate the bizarre disappearance of the guy she meets on the first night.
Instead of chapters the novel is broken into days with the cruise itinerary marking the start of each new section. Natalie is a film buff and examines the cruise with the detachment of an observer as she tries to piece together what's really happening. Assigned by her film studies teacher to shoot a two line film during the cruise, Natalie also imagines various scenarios in short screenplay snippets.
While not quite unreliable, Natalie is a restrained narrator holding back information from readers and maybe even form herself as she tries to move past the worst events of the last year. She is sardonic, capable, and singular in her search for the (possibly) missing boy.
Because of its short length and close focus on Natalie the rest of the characters in The Opposite of Here can feel less dimensional by comparison although they do each have their own arcs--something Natalie and readers realize together as Natalie comes to understand that she wasn't the only one affected by her boyfriend's death.
Taut pacing and menace imbue the pages as the narrative toes the line between reality and the power of suggestion in this story that asks readers to separate fact from fiction. The Opposite of Here is a tense thriller sure to keep readers guessing right until the last page. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda, Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roerhig, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
story_sanctuary's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea when I requested this book for review that it would be so timely! My family has decided to view some Hitchcock movies for our weekly family movie nights this summer, so I was super excited when I realized this story incorporates some of that famous Hitchcock suspense/sense of weird. The way things would happen and be… off… really reminded me of a Hitchcock movie.
While Natalie’s grief over her boyfriend’s death feels very real, the story doesn’t idolize him. Natalie discovers some uncomfortable truths about herself, her boyfriend and the relationship, which the story forces her to confront through the mystery surrounding the new boy she meets.
Twists and turns abound in The Opposite of Here. Every time I thought I had things figured out, the story turned on its head. Even things which seem trivial or unrelated often played an important role—which only added to that dense, old-movie vibe I love!
My only complaint is in the attitude of the girls, who all seem to approach the cruise as a great place to have these one-night or one-week romantic encounters because that’s what a good time looks like. This is not a story about celebrating the importance of girl friends or even moving on from grief to a new love. The total confidence and prowess of the girls didn’t resonate with me.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to older suspense lovers as a nice beach or poolside read this summer.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
While Natalie’s grief over her boyfriend’s death feels very real, the story doesn’t idolize him. Natalie discovers some uncomfortable truths about herself, her boyfriend and the relationship, which the story forces her to confront through the mystery surrounding the new boy she meets.
Twists and turns abound in The Opposite of Here. Every time I thought I had things figured out, the story turned on its head. Even things which seem trivial or unrelated often played an important role—which only added to that dense, old-movie vibe I love!
My only complaint is in the attitude of the girls, who all seem to approach the cruise as a great place to have these one-night or one-week romantic encounters because that’s what a good time looks like. This is not a story about celebrating the importance of girl friends or even moving on from grief to a new love. The total confidence and prowess of the girls didn’t resonate with me.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to older suspense lovers as a nice beach or poolside read this summer.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
michelle_pink_polka_dot's review against another edition
5.0
This author knows how to mess with her readers' heads & I love that.
In the past few years, I've read [b:The Leaving|26073074|The Leaving|Tara Altebrando|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464526602s/26073074.jpg|42308587] and [b:The Possible|31450942|The Possible|Tara Altebrando|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472702681s/31450942.jpg|52153776]-- and I thought both had interesting concepts and twisty reveals. Reading this book, I could totally tell it was an Altebrando book. There's just something about the way her books flow and the way the main character isn't exactly someone who you want to like, that makes her books stand out.
Natalie is on a cruise and meets a guy-- which is exciting because she's been very unfeeling since the death of her boyfriend. Before she can even ask his name, he's gone. He stood her up after saying odd things and taking an even odder selfie. When the cruise ship starts doing a headcount, Natalie is convinced he jumped. Her friends are more skeptical. The mystery is too strong for Natalie to ignore, and as she gets deeper into the mysterious boy's life & family, things get complicated and romantic at the same time.
Natalie was one of those girls that I root for despite the fact that she got on my last nerve. She really would rather believe that a dude jumped than think that maybe he just ditched her. She was obsessed with the entire weirdo-dude thing to the point where she wasn't enjoying her vacation or being present with her friends in any way. That alone made me want to shake her. Snap out of it, mind your business, and actually BE IN THE MOMENT with your girls!!!
The friends were a whole other thing. I went back and forth from being super annoyed at them for not being supportive (and pissed at them for hiding shit), to agreeing that I would've been annoyed at Natalie too. I do think this book has some strong friendship & forgiveness messages that were heartwarming-- and I liked them!
What I loved: Holy Jesus Moly. Every single time I started to get bored with the "missing" guy, the author would drop a bomb to get me back into it. When the ending came, it felt like a completely normal ending-- better than normal even because it wasn't the typical "a guy fixed my life" ending-- but then I read the last page. And !!!!!!!!!! That last page made me remember why I love Tara Altebrando's books. She GOES for it. She made me read a whole book, feel good about it-- and then it got flipped turned upside down in 2 paragraphs making me question EVERYTHING!
OVERALL: I am in it for the twists!! The author's books rarely have any characters in them that I like, but they make up for it with PLOT. I love reading a book that tries for something different-- something shocking. I totally 100% recommend this book. It's so SUMMER and TWISTY and ADDICTING.
My Blog:
Pink Polka Dot Books
In the past few years, I've read [b:The Leaving|26073074|The Leaving|Tara Altebrando|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464526602s/26073074.jpg|42308587] and [b:The Possible|31450942|The Possible|Tara Altebrando|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472702681s/31450942.jpg|52153776]-- and I thought both had interesting concepts and twisty reveals. Reading this book, I could totally tell it was an Altebrando book. There's just something about the way her books flow and the way the main character isn't exactly someone who you want to like, that makes her books stand out.
Natalie is on a cruise and meets a guy-- which is exciting because she's been very unfeeling since the death of her boyfriend. Before she can even ask his name, he's gone. He stood her up after saying odd things and taking an even odder selfie. When the cruise ship starts doing a headcount, Natalie is convinced he jumped. Her friends are more skeptical. The mystery is too strong for Natalie to ignore, and as she gets deeper into the mysterious boy's life & family, things get complicated and romantic at the same time.
Natalie was one of those girls that I root for despite the fact that she got on my last nerve. She really would rather believe that a dude jumped than think that maybe he just ditched her. She was obsessed with the entire weirdo-dude thing to the point where she wasn't enjoying her vacation or being present with her friends in any way. That alone made me want to shake her. Snap out of it, mind your business, and actually BE IN THE MOMENT with your girls!!!
The friends were a whole other thing. I went back and forth from being super annoyed at them for not being supportive (and pissed at them for hiding shit), to agreeing that I would've been annoyed at Natalie too. I do think this book has some strong friendship & forgiveness messages that were heartwarming-- and I liked them!
What I loved: Holy Jesus Moly. Every single time I started to get bored with the "missing" guy, the author would drop a bomb to get me back into it. When the ending came, it felt like a completely normal ending-- better than normal even because it wasn't the typical "a guy fixed my life" ending-- but then I read the last page. And !!!!!!!!!! That last page made me remember why I love Tara Altebrando's books. She GOES for it. She made me read a whole book, feel good about it-- and then it got flipped turned upside down in 2 paragraphs making me question EVERYTHING!
OVERALL: I am in it for the twists!! The author's books rarely have any characters in them that I like, but they make up for it with PLOT. I love reading a book that tries for something different-- something shocking. I totally 100% recommend this book. It's so SUMMER and TWISTY and ADDICTING.
My Blog:
Pink Polka Dot Books
meubanks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
bookishanjali's review against another edition
1.0
The Opposite of Here is my first one star book of the year, but to keep this review fair I'll state I'm not much of a thriller reader and I was in a huge reading slump this year so I haven't read that many books so far.
I'm pretty scared of cruise ships so I thought this would be the perfect read for me and maybe this will have to do with an unreliable character which would have made things much more interesting but that wasn't the case.
The book was just weird and all over the place. All the secondary characters were one dimensional, Natalie's friends, if their names weren't mentioned I would not have been able to tell them apart. Then there was Natalie, so many of her actions rubbed me the wrong way, seeing how this is a thriller I feel if I go in depth about what those actions are might ruin the read for some so one example is treating the people who were there for her like they were nothing while chasing after some random guy she just met on the ship who was playing head games with her.
I ended up marking this book DNF at one point, but decided to pick it up in case the overall grand scheme of things (mystery aspect) would make up for it. It didn't. The reason behind everything was disappointing and this book just left me shaking my head wondering what did I just read and not in a good way.
Overall The Opposite of Here was not for me. If you are mostly a non mystery/thriller reader like me don't even bother this is not the book for us to convert us into reading the genre more but if you live for thrillers then I'd say go take a look at the reviews from people who love thrillers and then make your decision if this is a book for you.
I'm pretty scared of cruise ships so I thought this would be the perfect read for me and maybe this will have to do with an unreliable character which would have made things much more interesting but that wasn't the case.
The book was just weird and all over the place. All the secondary characters were one dimensional, Natalie's friends, if their names weren't mentioned I would not have been able to tell them apart. Then there was Natalie, so many of her actions rubbed me the wrong way, seeing how this is a thriller I feel if I go in depth about what those actions are might ruin the read for some so one example is treating the people who were there for her like they were nothing while chasing after some random guy she just met on the ship who was playing head games with her.
I ended up marking this book DNF at one point, but decided to pick it up in case the overall grand scheme of things (mystery aspect) would make up for it. It didn't. The reason behind everything was disappointing and this book just left me shaking my head wondering what did I just read and not in a good way.
Overall The Opposite of Here was not for me. If you are mostly a non mystery/thriller reader like me don't even bother this is not the book for us to convert us into reading the genre more but if you live for thrillers then I'd say go take a look at the reviews from people who love thrillers and then make your decision if this is a book for you.
xokristim's review against another edition
4.0
I am a huge fan of cruises, and haven’t read any books (maybe one?) that takes place on one. You can tell the author has been on many, or has done a ton of research.The plot line was very unique and I loved it. You never saw what was coming and the twists and turns were executed wonderfully.
Natalie was very relatable to me. She was trying to deal with the grief that goes along with losing someone you love so suddenly. She was very closed off and difficult to deal with in the beginning and I loved seeing her transition throughout the book. Her friends annoyed me and I found that I was getting very frustrated by them, which I feel like was the point. Her parent were wonderful and you can tell how much they love their daughter and her friends.
Overall I really enjoyed the plot and definitely was questioning all the secondary characters. I am a a huge liver of thriller/mysteries and am loving getting into young adult books in this genre. I didn’t really find myself scared, which I was expecting, I was more so confused most of the book. I would absolutely recommend picking this one up.
Natalie was very relatable to me. She was trying to deal with the grief that goes along with losing someone you love so suddenly. She was very closed off and difficult to deal with in the beginning and I loved seeing her transition throughout the book. Her friends annoyed me and I found that I was getting very frustrated by them, which I feel like was the point. Her parent were wonderful and you can tell how much they love their daughter and her friends.
Overall I really enjoyed the plot and definitely was questioning all the secondary characters. I am a a huge liver of thriller/mysteries and am loving getting into young adult books in this genre. I didn’t really find myself scared, which I was expecting, I was more so confused most of the book. I would absolutely recommend picking this one up.
jackiekeating's review against another edition
1.0
This book made no sense. We didn't get enough character development to care about any of them, and the "mystery" was hard to follow the entire time. A disappointing read.
nataliesboooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
take_me_awayyy's review against another edition
3.0
That was... weird. Probably not the best thing to read when your husband will be on a cruise ship soon with his family..... Real review to come!
**EDIT 01/05/19**
You can find more of my reviews here at my blog: Take Me Away...
I'm still not even sure why I gravitated to this one. Her debut was a little too weird for me and I don't even remember reading her second one because of it. But something made me want to read this one. And this one was just as weird as her first.
After "the accident," Natalie and her friends go on a cruise to help her move on with her life. She just knew that she wouldn't have a good time. However, she meets someone on the first night and they fall for each other. Hard. But then, he disappears. People begin to speculate that he jumped, but as more information comes in, there's something a lot more weird going on than Natalie originally thought.
This book was so weird. There was just too much going on for me. From the sad beginning, to the weird information that comes up about the friend, to the weird stuff that happens on board, to the super weird ending. It was all really strange. And it just made me slog through it.
As for the plot, the first part of this book, it kind of feels a bit too weird and I wanted to quit reading it. But somewhere along the way I got really interested in the story and was swept away into the mystery. And it turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought. I'm not sure I've ever read a book with this type of "accident" ever. In YA or adult. It's an interesting concept for a book and I actually kind of liked what Altebrando did with it. Weird or not.
As for the characters, I wasn't crazy about them. Really I didn't like any of them. I really wanted to reach into the book and strangle most of them. And I was really upset at the end with how they were handling the situation that was happening between them.That's not normal. But I'll just leave that alone smh
But the writing style is why I didn't rate this a bit higher. Sometimes the language was too flowery. Sometimes it was straight to the point. Other times it was told through a film script. It just made me lose focus sometimes; like I found myself re-reading lines over and over trying to make sure I got the wording right.
This book wasn't a favorite, but it definitely made me think of people and cruises in a completely different way. I've already told my husband, (who's going on a cruise with his sister and nephew while I'm stuck at summer reading) not to volunteer for anything while there. If you don't know what I mean, I guess you'll have to read it to find out!
**EDIT 01/05/19**
You can find more of my reviews here at my blog: Take Me Away...
I'm still not even sure why I gravitated to this one. Her debut was a little too weird for me and I don't even remember reading her second one because of it. But something made me want to read this one. And this one was just as weird as her first.
After "the accident," Natalie and her friends go on a cruise to help her move on with her life. She just knew that she wouldn't have a good time. However, she meets someone on the first night and they fall for each other. Hard. But then, he disappears. People begin to speculate that he jumped, but as more information comes in, there's something a lot more weird going on than Natalie originally thought.
This book was so weird. There was just too much going on for me. From the sad beginning, to the weird information that comes up about the friend, to the weird stuff that happens on board, to the super weird ending. It was all really strange. And it just made me slog through it.
As for the plot, the first part of this book, it kind of feels a bit too weird and I wanted to quit reading it. But somewhere along the way I got really interested in the story and was swept away into the mystery. And it turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought. I'm not sure I've ever read a book with this type of "accident" ever. In YA or adult. It's an interesting concept for a book and I actually kind of liked what Altebrando did with it. Weird or not.
As for the characters, I wasn't crazy about them. Really I didn't like any of them. I really wanted to reach into the book and strangle most of them. And I was really upset at the end with how they were handling the situation that was happening between them.That's not normal. But I'll just leave that alone smh
But the writing style is why I didn't rate this a bit higher. Sometimes the language was too flowery. Sometimes it was straight to the point. Other times it was told through a film script. It just made me lose focus sometimes; like I found myself re-reading lines over and over trying to make sure I got the wording right.
This book wasn't a favorite, but it definitely made me think of people and cruises in a completely different way. I've already told my husband, (who's going on a cruise with his sister and nephew while I'm stuck at summer reading) not to volunteer for anything while there. If you don't know what I mean, I guess you'll have to read it to find out!
kez91's review against another edition
2.0
2.5* Some spoilers. I'm a bit meh about this book. It was entertaining, it was a quick read and I wasn't bored coz I wanted to keep reading to figure out what was going on. But the characters were a bit flat, and so much was just overly dramatic where it didn't need to be. I mean, the evil twin trope is so cliche, the hypnosis storyline was odd, Michael was all secretive and mysterious where he could have just gone "hey my bro is a bit unhinged, here's why, don't obsess over him, have a nice cruise". Natalie was super obsessed with boys for the whole book in some way or another, which got a bit irritating and it's no wonder her friends were getting a bit frustrated with her. Andh the assault storyline seemed a bit out of place and forced, like it was trying to push some kind of 'girl power' theme but didn't quite work. I didn't hate the book, but after quite enjoying The Leaving by this author I'm a bit underwhelmed by how choppy and average this one is.