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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
I was sure that I could predict much of this book, but the truth was that I was often surprised by the plot twists, which was a nice surprise. I often confused many of the characters, though, and that made this book a little less fun for me. While I don't think this will be my favorite book of 2020, I enjoyed reading it.
emotional
fast-paced
A solid 4.5 stars that I read in one sitting. I'll definitely look for more books by this author.
This is a story of a cruise gone wrong. Not, mind you, at the all-you-can-eat buffet. But instead when three mothers on the cruise lose the six children between them during a shore excursion. Needless to say, those mothers DO become alarmed, but I never really did.
Children-in-peril is usually a sure-fire way to get me, and probably most readers, to care. But the problem with this novel was there were so many characters to keep track of-- the aformentioned six children, but also three mothers, three fathers, three gangsters, one maid, one maid's son, one refugee, one refugee child, and various police officers and embassy officials. I literally lost track of one character until someone mentions him near the end. "Oh right!" I thought. "Him! What happened to him?" It's never a good sign if not only you lose track of a character, and then don't even care what happens to him.
I always feel slightly guilty slating a novel, given how hard it is to write one. But this one just wasn't very good. The author Maile Meloy was trying to make a point about American wealth, third-world countries, the resilience of children and the dangers of overeating at unlimited buffets (I made up one of those things), but didn't quite pull it off.
The title of this novel declares, "Do Not Become Alarmed". Guess what? I didn't.
Children-in-peril is usually a sure-fire way to get me, and probably most readers, to care. But the problem with this novel was there were so many characters to keep track of-- the aformentioned six children, but also three mothers, three fathers, three gangsters, one maid, one maid's son, one refugee, one refugee child, and various police officers and embassy officials. I literally lost track of one character until someone mentions him near the end. "Oh right!" I thought. "Him! What happened to him?" It's never a good sign if not only you lose track of a character, and then don't even care what happens to him.
I always feel slightly guilty slating a novel, given how hard it is to write one. But this one just wasn't very good. The author Maile Meloy was trying to make a point about American wealth, third-world countries, the resilience of children and the dangers of overeating at unlimited buffets (I made up one of those things), but didn't quite pull it off.
The title of this novel declares, "Do Not Become Alarmed". Guess what? I didn't.
I listened to this book and found it to be mostly entertaining. While on a cruise expedition, 6 children go missing. They are in a foreign country, and they find themselves in a harrowing position when they stumble on an active crime scene.
My biggest issue with this book is that the white kids fared way better than the brown kids. Why? Why did the author make this conscious choice? It really bothered me.
Otherwise, if I could ignore that aspect, it was a decent thriller. Be forewarned, there are some triggers in this book.
My biggest issue with this book is that the white kids fared way better than the brown kids. Why? Why did the author make this conscious choice? It really bothered me.
Otherwise, if I could ignore that aspect, it was a decent thriller. Be forewarned, there are some triggers in this book.
Quick paced and engaging, but I thought some of the situations were too unrealistic and were just convenient plot devices.
I really picked this up on the basis of the intriguing plot; figured it would be a diverting action-y read. It was, though the plot is a bit too farfetched and though propulsive gets a little tiresome. There are too many stupid bad guys-- those kids'd be doomed in real life.
What did surprise me were the musings on parenthood. The way the four parents (who I have to say were not very well drawn overall; I kept getting them mixed up) tried to articulate their fear and grief were good. One passage in particular, where a mother reflects that in the instant she thought that maybe her children were dead, it brought her a feeling of peace and calm. The joy and fear in becoming a mother were intertwined and inescapable.
What did surprise me were the musings on parenthood. The way the four parents (who I have to say were not very well drawn overall; I kept getting them mixed up) tried to articulate their fear and grief were good. One passage in particular, where a mother reflects that in the instant she thought that maybe her children were dead, it brought her a feeling of peace and calm. The joy and fear in becoming a mother were intertwined and inescapable.
This was one of those hard to put down, “what happens next?!” types of book. I was reading really fast to find out how it was all going to turn out. The characters are very flawed and human and generally unlikable -seriously, what parent of young kids falls asleep while the kids are swimming? - but I found myself rooting for them all the same. I felt like the end was a little off and felt kind of sudden, but then again it wasn’t an easy story to wrap up in a neat bow.