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pandafan7's review
4.0
Seventeen-year-old Mona Perry goes to the small, touristy island of Sandown to be a seasonal employee. She is determined to get to the bottom of a missing person’s cold case. What happened to Roxy Raines in 1986? Mona’s one goal for the summer is to find out.
I really enjoyed this one. The mystery was really good. The setting of Sandown was intriguing. I enjoyed all the different characters. I highly recommend it to those that enjoy a good mystery with a surprise ending! I give it 4/5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I really enjoyed this one. The mystery was really good. The setting of Sandown was intriguing. I enjoyed all the different characters. I highly recommend it to those that enjoy a good mystery with a surprise ending! I give it 4/5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
hauntedvictoria24's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cass13's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I started this book with no expectations, just a love of thrillers and YA fiction. I really struggled to get into this book. Usually thrillers and YA have something in the intro and beginning chapters that really hook you, but this book started with a lot more metaphorical language (which after reading it, I realized in the acknowledgements that the author has written poetry before so some of that makes sense; however, it still didn’t make the intro any more exciting in my opinion.)
I gave this book an honest 3 stars. It wasn’t bad, it just dragged on in the beginning especially and didn’t contain as much excitement as it could have. I guessed the “twist” from about 30% into the book so the mystery element was lacking to me. I didn’t love the main character, and I didn’t feel any more connected to her after I learned more about her past. Booker was the only character that I felt connected to, and I enjoyed his persona in the story. All in all, it wasn’t my favorite book, but it was a mystery worth reading (especially if you’re ever on vacation to an island during hurricane season!)
I gave this book an honest 3 stars. It wasn’t bad, it just dragged on in the beginning especially and didn’t contain as much excitement as it could have. I guessed the “twist” from about 30% into the book so the mystery element was lacking to me. I didn’t love the main character, and I didn’t feel any more connected to her after I learned more about her past. Booker was the only character that I felt connected to, and I enjoyed his persona in the story. All in all, it wasn’t my favorite book, but it was a mystery worth reading (especially if you’re ever on vacation to an island during hurricane season!)
catreader18's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoy reading YA and I was interested in this book as soon as I saw the cover. Mona takes a summer job on an island where a famous singer disappeared thirty years ago. Mona has a podcast about missing people, started after her own sister went missing. Mona is determined to get the story for her podcast and starts digging. This is a solid YA story that anyone who listens to true crime podcasts would enjoy.
readwithjuna's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
leeez's review
3.0
The writing was good if not overly flowery, although I know the author is a poet so I can't blame her. My problem was with the main character. Mona was hell-bent on opening the old wounds of the town after people begged her not to look into Roxy's disappearance. She was deeply unlikeable and hurt so many people in her process of selfishly solving the mystery by any means necessary at the expense of the townies. I don't understand how anyone was on her side by the end, and she didn't seem to realize anything she did was wrong. The last 50 pages of the book were a whirlwind with Ellis, the hurricane, and her dad all at once. The stakes were so unrealistically high it became silly. The ending was... unexpected but not really in a good way.
It was a fast read and I didn't not enjoy it, but I was questioning what was going on a lot.
It was a fast read and I didn't not enjoy it, but I was questioning what was going on a lot.
hollyk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Mona heads to an island off the coast of Delaware to get answers about what happened to indie singer Roxy Raines over 30 years ago. But the islanders are secretive and don't appreciate Mona stirring up trouble, and with the island bringing up memories of what happened when her older sister went missing, Mona's in a lot deeper than she thinks.
This was certainly a book. I liked the podcast elements, but after the first part, they all but disappeared. I liked hearing the snippets of what Mona thought initially juxtaposed with the information she was finding out. Mona and Ellis (sunshine boy, must be protected at all costs) team up to get answers, but they seemed to have a very easy time getting them?? People would say "why are you doing this?" and proceed to spill their guts. Also the ending made literally no sense. It wasn't even a left unresolved on purpose sort of ending, it just abruptly cut off like the author hit a character limit and just gave up.
Topics like ableism and sibling abuse are skirted around and not addressed head-on, which was frustrating, especially in the case of the former because the treatment of Ellis is brought up so much but NO ONE talks about how it's not just because his family is "cursed"--it's because people are ableist and Ellis has a stutter. There were really no stakes, the mystery wasn't very interesting, and the writing was overly purple and too descriptive in a way that did not enhance the book, rather, it took away from the plot.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)
This was certainly a book. I liked the podcast elements, but after the first part, they all but disappeared. I liked hearing the snippets of what Mona thought initially juxtaposed with the information she was finding out. Mona and Ellis (sunshine boy, must be protected at all costs) team up to get answers, but they seemed to have a very easy time getting them?? People would say "why are you doing this?" and proceed to spill their guts. Also the ending made literally no sense. It wasn't even a left unresolved on purpose sort of ending, it just abruptly cut off like the author hit a character limit and just gave up.
Topics like ableism and sibling abuse are skirted around and not addressed head-on, which was frustrating, especially in the case of the former because the treatment of Ellis is brought up so much but NO ONE talks about how it's not just because his family is "cursed"--it's because people are ableist and Ellis has a stutter. There were really no stakes, the mystery wasn't very interesting, and the writing was overly purple and too descriptive in a way that did not enhance the book, rather, it took away from the plot.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)
msmariamichelle's review against another edition
3.25
3.25/5
Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS fire and NetGalley for my gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The pacing of this book might be very slow at the beginning as the author is setting the scene, but once it picks up, you wouldn't be able to put it down. I did not see the reveal about Celeste's life (and eventually her death) coming at all. I really spent an entire chapter worrying about Ellis and about the possibility of him vanishing into thin air in the woods when there's a hurricane coming, only to be smacked with THAT instead? For two chapters in a row? Overall, this was an enjoyable read, I recommend everyone to push through the slow-ness of the beginning because it's worth it.
Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS fire and NetGalley for my gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The pacing of this book might be very slow at the beginning as the author is setting the scene, but once it picks up, you wouldn't be able to put it down. I did not see the reveal about Celeste's life (and eventually her death) coming at all. I really spent an entire chapter worrying about Ellis and about the possibility of him vanishing into thin air in the woods when there's a hurricane coming, only to be smacked with THAT instead? For two chapters in a row? Overall, this was an enjoyable read, I recommend everyone to push through the slow-ness of the beginning because it's worth it.
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