haptism 's review for:

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger

4.0

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I generally liked it until the ending. Sure, I understand that Mako was supposed to be a bad guy, but the way crimes and Bad Things kept piling up all of a sudden made him feel comically evil— like Unger was desperately throwing things in and going "See! He's a bad guy!!" Especially that part about "predators using Redworld (the game) as a way to groom children" ... what?? You expect me to believe he did that INTENTIONALLY? Because I don't. With the reveal of every bad thing Mako had ever done was shoved into the ending, it made it feel like this was a last second change— which judging by Bruce's minimal plot relevance, it wasn't actually. Sure, he was an entitled man-child who thrived on attention and awe, sure, but almost everything else felt out of nowhere.