Reviews

Blutige Bucht by Allie Reynolds

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amorri27's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense

4.0

litwithleigh's review against another edition

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2.0

Thank you Putnam books for the beautiful gifted hard copy in exchange for an honest review. IYKYK, my reviews are always honest.

Writing: 3/5 | Plot: nonexistent/5 | Ending: I mean I guess??/5

SYNOPSIS

Kenna flies to Australia to rescue her friend Mikki, who she suspects is being abused. Instead, she ends up joining The Tribe, a group of questionable folks (including Mikki) who are fiercely protective over their secret surf spot. But when bodies start to appear, Kenna is more desperate than before to get Mikki out of this surf cult.

MY OPINION

LE SIGH. I requested this book because my husband loves surfing, so I wanted to learn more about his interest in a way that's enjoyable to me (reading). I really wanted to like this at least enough to slap a good ole Honda Civic Reliable rating on it, but Allie Reynolds was really fighting against the current (see what I did there har har har) and I landed on a two star rating.

The writing quality itself wasn't bad, hence the 3/5, but the content left a lot to be desired. For one, this was not a thriller. This was a surf drama with no plot. Dead ass nothing happened until the last 15% or so of the book. Just Kenna going around being rude and tactless.

Everyone was unlikeable, even Kenna, the alleged protagonist. She should work for US customs and border protection the way she was so pressed about everyone's immigration status. Damn. Also, she was the most boring adrenaline junkie ever. She had the personality of a wet cardboard box. The only thing I knew about her was that she was DTF (down to fornicate). She literally was eye-fking every guy, including Mikki's man. Every 30 pages Kenna reminded us how she wanted to climb Mikki's man like a jungle gym. WE GET IT!!! YOU'RE A BAD FRIEND WITH NO STANDARDS!!

SPOILERS SO SCROLL AHEAD IF YOU PLAN ON READING THIS

I had many questions when the book finally ended: how did Sky become the leader when she was grandfathered into the group? Why was Clement so chill about two of his lovers dying and Sky (actually Greta) assuming his dead wife's name? If Mikki was willing to murder to keep Kenna all to herself, why was she so resistant to leave and drive off in the sunset with her? Did Ryan even have a family or was he just a big time scammer? If Mikki was so obsessed with Kenna, why did she treat her like shit? I had a hard time believing these two were BFFs.

PROS AND CONS

Pros: I did learn some new stuff about surfing I guess so I can flex on my husband now

Cons: no plot, juvenile drama, everyone sucked, the ending didn't math