A review by amberslibrarycard
She Started It by Sian Gilbert

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

In "She Started It" by Sian Gilbert, a group of friends embarks on an extravagant bachelorette party for an old "friend", only to have hidden secrets and betrayals emerge, turning the trip into a perilous ordeal. As the suspense builds, they are forced to face their past and the unsettling truths that threaten to unravel their lives. I found this book to be very middle of the road. The concept was very fresh, but the execution was a little bit of a miss for me. I found the foreshadowing to be too much, I knew the big twist before they happened which destroyed most of the excitement for me. For example, the big reveal by Poppy was very obvious to me
As soon as Poppy mentioned in diary that Wendy wanted to pursue medicine, I know that it was Wendy and not Poppy on the island. Also, the lack of a body made it obvious to me that Poppy wasn't dead.
. Also, the "accomplice" revealed at the end was not a surprise. For me, it took too long to get some of Poppy's perspective through her diary entries. I was initially turned off by Poppy's behavior at the island because I didn't have the right connection to Poppy's character at that point. I will say that I really liked the end of the book, starting around chapter 32 it picked up in quality to me. I thought the final chapters were really good, even if the initial story was too drawn out for my taste. Not bad if you want something mysterious but easy to read. 

Be warned, this book does tough on some sensitive topics! I didn't know that but thankfully they were not triggers for me. 
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