SAINT X is a very well-written, slow-burning mystery about a woman’s obsessive pursuit to find out what happened to her sister on the last night of their family vacation at a Caribbean island.
Claire was only seven-years-old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappeared on the island of Saint X and was later found dead in a remote spot on a nearby cay. Two Indigo Bay Resort employees were arrested but later released due to slim evidence. Years later, Claire encounters one of the men suspected of murdering her sister and works to gain his trust in hopes of learning what happened to her sister.
I liked that the author employed a variety of different writing techniques to advance the plot. Sometimes the story is told from the third-person viewpoint of an unknown, omniscient narrator; other times, it’s told from Claire’s first-person viewpoint or the viewpoint of one of the other characters affected by Alison’s death.
The author’s writing style is highly advanced without coming across as pretentious. Her writing alone would make this a five-star read! Unfortunately, stellar writing couldn’t make me like or empathize with any of the characters (both sisters were incredibly nauseating.) I also felt the big reveal about what happened the night Alison disappeared was sort of confusing and possibly open for interpretation. While I appreciate that the author didn’t spell things out for the reader, I had to read the relevant section twice to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
Claire was only seven-years-old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappeared on the island of Saint X and was later found dead in a remote spot on a nearby cay. Two Indigo Bay Resort employees were arrested but later released due to slim evidence. Years later, Claire encounters one of the men suspected of murdering her sister and works to gain his trust in hopes of learning what happened to her sister.
I liked that the author employed a variety of different writing techniques to advance the plot. Sometimes the story is told from the third-person viewpoint of an unknown, omniscient narrator; other times, it’s told from Claire’s first-person viewpoint or the viewpoint of one of the other characters affected by Alison’s death.
The author’s writing style is highly advanced without coming across as pretentious. Her writing alone would make this a five-star read! Unfortunately, stellar writing couldn’t make me like or empathize with any of the characters (both sisters were incredibly nauseating.) I also felt the big reveal about what happened the night Alison disappeared was sort of confusing and possibly open for interpretation. While I appreciate that the author didn’t spell things out for the reader, I had to read the relevant section twice to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.