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vmillswood's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
jentidders's review against another edition
3.0
It's hard to believe that this is Schaitkin's debut, as it's so skillfully written. Combining beautiful prose with an emotional and suspenseful plot, and different narrative voices, this is a real gem of a book.
When Claire is seven years old, her family take a holiday on the Caribbean island of Saint X. On the last night, her teenage sister Alison disappears, with her body being found days later. Two local men who work at the hotel are held, but released due to a lack of evidence and shaky timelines.
Despite being a tabloid sensation, Alison's death remains unsolved and over time becomes a true crime classic, only pondered over by armchair sleuths. Claire and her family have to move on with their broken lives, without closure.
Years later, having reinvented herself as 'Emily', Claire lives in NYC and unexpectedly crosses paths with Clive Richardson, one of the men suspected of her sister's murder.
Haunted with questions about what happened to Alison, and who she really was, Claire begins engineering a way to get close to Clive, hoping to earn his trust and find out the truth. As their friendship develops, an unlikely bond grows between them
When Claire is seven years old, her family take a holiday on the Caribbean island of Saint X. On the last night, her teenage sister Alison disappears, with her body being found days later. Two local men who work at the hotel are held, but released due to a lack of evidence and shaky timelines.
Despite being a tabloid sensation, Alison's death remains unsolved and over time becomes a true crime classic, only pondered over by armchair sleuths. Claire and her family have to move on with their broken lives, without closure.
Years later, having reinvented herself as 'Emily', Claire lives in NYC and unexpectedly crosses paths with Clive Richardson, one of the men suspected of her sister's murder.
Haunted with questions about what happened to Alison, and who she really was, Claire begins engineering a way to get close to Clive, hoping to earn his trust and find out the truth. As their friendship develops, an unlikely bond grows between them
bookswb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alexiasambrano's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
At first, I liked the book. The pacing in the beginning was definitely a lot faster than the middle, though the pacing picked up again towards the end.
I’ll start with what I enjoyed: I thought the building of the mystery was good, and, though flip-floppy, the perspective-switching from Claire to third-person accounts of the unfolding events, to Clive and other resort-dwellers provided much-needed context for the ongoing mystery.
What I disliked: In general, I intensely dislike books written by white authors that speak on or about the experiences of non-white people. And this book did exactly that. Much about Clive and Edwin’s upbringing, Clive’s experience in New York, and even the language being used to describe other island natives seemed distorted and overexaggerated for a white gaze. The cherry on top was that it was clear from the beginning that the author was attempting to craft a personality in Allison of arrogance and self-righteousness rooted in an “im not like other white people” mentality. At few points, the author does point that Allison herself is aware of this fact and is embarrassed by it, but it still feels icky to read a story of a white girl’s death and her interactions with Black men leading up to her death. I just feel this is an inappropriate story for a white woman to be writing. The author, and thus Allison’s self-awareness in terms of her white privilege isn’t really put to use beyond just identifying that this privilege, and their “discomfort” being surrounded by Black island natives as white people raised in predominantly white communities is somehow “natural.” Newsflash: it’s not natural, you’re just racist at worst, and implicitly biased at the very least.
Side note: towards the end, there’s quite a bit of what I would identify as “victim-blaming” or “slut shaming” in addition to heavily patriarchal values rooted in the sexual conquest of young college-aged girls. I just felt icky reading this, but I kept reading with hopes that it would get better. It didn’t.
I’ll start with what I enjoyed: I thought the building of the mystery was good, and, though flip-floppy, the perspective-switching from Claire to third-person accounts of the unfolding events, to Clive and other resort-dwellers provided much-needed context for the ongoing mystery.
What I disliked: In general, I intensely dislike books written by white authors that speak on or about the experiences of non-white people. And this book did exactly that. Much about Clive and Edwin’s upbringing, Clive’s experience in New York, and even the language being used to describe other island natives seemed distorted and overexaggerated for a white gaze. The cherry on top was that it was clear from the beginning that the author was attempting to craft a personality in Allison of arrogance and self-righteousness rooted in an “im not like other white people” mentality. At few points, the author does point that Allison herself is aware of this fact and is embarrassed by it, but it still feels icky to read a story of a white girl’s death and her interactions with Black men leading up to her death. I just feel this is an inappropriate story for a white woman to be writing. The author, and thus Allison’s self-awareness in terms of her white privilege isn’t really put to use beyond just identifying that this privilege, and their “discomfort” being surrounded by Black island natives as white people raised in predominantly white communities is somehow “natural.” Newsflash: it’s not natural, you’re just racist at worst, and implicitly biased at the very least.
Side note: towards the end, there’s quite a bit of what I would identify as “victim-blaming” or “slut shaming” in addition to heavily patriarchal values rooted in the sexual conquest of young college-aged girls. I just felt icky reading this, but I kept reading with hopes that it would get better. It didn’t.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Pregnancy
alisieb's review against another edition
4.0
So interesting and engaging, not what I was expecting. Like life.
sd227's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
meaghandesigns's review against another edition
4.0
thought it was going to be a “lifetime movie” vibe but ended up being much deeper of a dive on race, class and privilege.
ecl97's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
zimmy12's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25