Unique YA (ish--college students but they act like high school students) mystery adventure set on a cruise ship semester at sea.
This could have been good. The premise absolutely drew me in--a YA retelling of Death on the Nile--and while I did appreciate the nods to that classic novel, this ultimately didn't work for me.
The main premise is that a group of high achieving college students are heading off on a cruise ship for Campus on Board, a semester traveling to various countries and attending classes on the ship. Jade is a Stanford student looking forward to the new adventure and a bit of distance after being dumped and blocked by her boyfriend Silas, who has now hooked up with her former roommate and best friend Lainey. Yet while in the check in line Jade discovers that Lainey and Silas are also on board. When suspicious things begin to occur, all eyes are on the jilted Jade. How can she prove that she is innocent?
For this being about college students, these characters, particularly Jade, are the most immature, whiny people around. Jade spends SO much time obsessing about Silas and Lainey and side-eyeing them across the room that it just got nauseating after a while. These characters all act stupidly and the armchair detective work is HIGH. Seriously, if anyone would have had the common sense or maturity to sit down and have a conversation instead of spying around corners, the melodrama would have been so much more palatable.
Another thing that annoyed me was that there was one point that some characters do meth of all things, and it comes out that one of them had been doing it for a while. This is so incredibly unrealistic. Adderall, I would believe, but meth? I have two kids who just finished college and I asked them if they ever had heard of college students using meth. They listed alcohol, pot, ecstasy, Adderall, Oxy, even cocaine, but meth never entered either of their spheres of reference.
This book may work for some readers who can ignore the utter immaturity of these supposed college students and appreciate the locked room (cruise ship) mystery. I just couldn't.
This could have been good. The premise absolutely drew me in--a YA retelling of Death on the Nile--and while I did appreciate the nods to that classic novel, this ultimately didn't work for me.
The main premise is that a group of high achieving college students are heading off on a cruise ship for Campus on Board, a semester traveling to various countries and attending classes on the ship. Jade is a Stanford student looking forward to the new adventure and a bit of distance after being dumped and blocked by her boyfriend Silas, who has now hooked up with her former roommate and best friend Lainey. Yet while in the check in line Jade discovers that Lainey and Silas are also on board. When suspicious things begin to occur, all eyes are on the jilted Jade. How can she prove that she is innocent?
For this being about college students, these characters, particularly Jade, are the most immature, whiny people around. Jade spends SO much time obsessing about Silas and Lainey and side-eyeing them across the room that it just got nauseating after a while. These characters all act stupidly and the armchair detective work is HIGH. Seriously, if anyone would have had the common sense or maturity to sit down and have a conversation instead of spying around corners, the melodrama would have been so much more palatable.
Another thing that annoyed me was that there was one point that some characters do meth of all things, and it comes out that one of them had been doing it for a while. This is so incredibly unrealistic. Adderall, I would believe, but meth? I have two kids who just finished college and I asked them if they ever had heard of college students using meth. They listed alcohol, pot, ecstasy, Adderall, Oxy, even cocaine, but meth never entered either of their spheres of reference.
This book may work for some readers who can ignore the utter immaturity of these supposed college students and appreciate the locked room (cruise ship) mystery. I just couldn't.