Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
Listened to 19% of this one. Just do not care to hear a story about any kind of “influencer” doing anything. Just an increasing amount of vapid people doing dumb shit.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Finished reading: May 10th 2025
“Hope. It was a tricky thing, powerful enough to lure you across an ocean, and so easy to lose.”
Right... I admit that I was already a bit worried something similar would happen to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the sound of the premise and it is what made me want to put Close Your Eyes And Count To 10 right at the top of my TBR. The extreme hide-and-seek game sounded like SO much fun to read about, and especially with a bout of bad weather to spice things up... Then I saw the surprisingly low rating on Goodreads, and suddenly I wasn't so sure about my choice anymore. Still, I was in the mood for a fun and action-packed thriller, so I decided to just dive in and see what happens. Let's just say that I can understand why this book has been receiving so many lower ratings now. I can't deny that I still love the premise and idea of the game itself, and the Falcão island setting and bad weather made for the perfect backdrop. This was probably the main reason I kept reading... Because the execution was rather lacking for me. I think part of the issue is that there are just so many different POVs and characters, and this makes it very hard to start rooting for them. To make things worse, the majority isn't even likeable at all; as a result, I can't say that I cared about what happened to them. I think that if the story would have just focused on Adele and maybe a couple other POVs, the story would have worked a lot better. That said, the whole jumping back and forth in time was very frustrating as well, and especially as there is no proper indication and some flashbacks are only hours apart. The characters themselves were quite one-dimensional as well, and I basically guessed the majority of the big twists early on. The pace was also a lot slower than expected, but this was probably partly due to the overdose of POVs in the first place. All in all it took me a lot longer than planned to actually make it to the final page of Close Your Eyes And Count To 10, and the journey was almost painful at times. Definitely not her best work, that's for sure! I'm starting to believe I might just have to leave this author be in the future... Although since she is the only author on my reading list beginning with an U, I might have no other choice if I want to keep doing an author ABC challenge in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I typically really enjoy Lisa Unger's books, but this book was just OK for me. It is the story of a mom, Adele, whose children encourage her to enter a "hide-and-seek" contest which will give a large payout to the winner. After her husband left their family, because he was guilty of crimes, they struggled to make ends meet, so this was an opportunity to help their economic needs.
But, the contest isn't what it seems. A woman had gone missing in another contest and one of the contestants is searching for her. The other contestants aren't all above board either. The high-stakes contest is a race for survival in this game.
This one was a bit twisted, and I really didn't care about the characters.
But, the contest isn't what it seems. A woman had gone missing in another contest and one of the contestants is searching for her. The other contestants aren't all above board either. The high-stakes contest is a race for survival in this game.
This one was a bit twisted, and I really didn't care about the characters.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes