4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, YA fiction, paranormal, horror
I liked the concept of a semi-sentient island with creepy bugs, magically blooming flowers, and ghosts who want to play children’s games. There was definitely a feel of something Not Quite Right about the island, though at first it’s easy to brush off. The more time the characters spend on the island though, the clearer it becomes that it’s dangerous, and hungry. I liked seeing how the island changed and grew more insistent that Addie do what it wants (though she isn’t sure what that is for most of the book). I do think the island could’ve been a little more creepy, but it does come off as threatening, so maybe that’s enough.
Addie is a character who is struggling at the start of the book. She’s a free diver who had a lung injury on her last dive and is now unsure if she’ll ever be able to do what she loves again. She’s also obsessed with watching the video of her death that’s plastered all over the internet, which is both understandable and morbid. Suffice to say, Addie comes to the island and is struggling with staying away from diving and with understanding what her life is and what it means that she died. She doesn’t always make the best decisions, and I was definitely yelling at her in my head at times. But she’s also someone who loves her mom and makes quick friends with one of the kids on the island, Billy, and who is willing to set aside her initial thoughts to befriend the child ghost on the island.
I was definitely curious to see what the island’s magical pain-free waters were actually doing. I think I’ve read too many fantasy books where ‘pain-free’ means ‘doesn’t hurt but still causes damage,’ because I was expecting the entire time that Addie was going to discover that her lungs were getting worse after doing short dives in the magical cenotes. That never actually happened, so maybe the waters just hold your body in relative stasis, because Addie didn’t heal over the course of the vacation either.
The ‘enigmatic boy’ goes by the name Sean and gets along almost immediately with Addie. The two bond over a love of diving and Sean is happy to show her around the island and through the cave systems. But something isn’t quite right there, and as the book progresses, Sean and Addie’s meetings take on a more sinister feel.
Violet is the child ghost on the island, and she behaves just about how you might expect a child ghost to. She’s happy that Billy is around to play with her and is even more happy when Addie is willing to play hide-and-seek too. However fun she can be though, she also is a 4-year-old ghost and when she throws tantrums man she throws them, complete with fire and terror. Violet is a key part of the island’s mystery, as is the other ghost that lurks about unseen.
While predictable in some ways, I enjoyed the mystery and found that there were enough twists to keep it entertaining and not wholly predictable. I thought the setup for it was good, and I got even more interested the more Addie began doing research into it. There are a bunch of different layers to what’s going on, and while they’re interconnected, not all the layers are for the same purpose or have the same end-goal, which made things interesting.
Overall this is a good quick read if you’re looking for something spooky. It definitely reads YA, but that’s fine, especially if you’re looking for a contemporary fantasy book. It’s enjoyable and fun, which is what matters.
Reading Queen E Reviews 