Interesting Premise, Poor Execution
I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely feel sick leaving negative reviews for books. I know how hard the authors work on their books so I hate to be someone that diminishes their efforts. However, as I was asked to provide an honest review for this book, I must admit that it was not for me - and it’s definitely not for everyone.
When I read the premise of this book and the first-look excerpt, I was actually very excited. The entire plot felt very ominous and I wasn’t sure exactly what sinister force the girls would encounter to turn this into a thriller. On several occasions, there is talk of the threat of not only bears, but also humans. The beginning was slow, but I was also very excited to see how the story unfolded.
After having finished this short book, I can’t help but be both disappointed and disturbed. There sadly wasn’t much that I enjoyed. While there was good tension and build up to the actual plot of the story, I think it just didn’t come together well in the end and ended up being an underdeveloped story. I figured out the twist very quickly and it didn’t end up being as suspenseful or exciting as I was hoping for. Ultimately, my favorite part of this book was that it was only 221 pages.
The two main characters, recent high school grads Neena and Josie, were pretty unbearable at times. I liked them a little towards the beginning but then they quickly devolved into frustratingly petty and immature girls. It was hard to root for them at times, particularly Neena, and they ultimately didn’t have much character development to redeem themselves in my eyes.
There were also some parts of the book that I found to be both disgusting and unnecessary. I’m not sure how this can actually be considered YA. In my review of the content, I would NOT recommend this to teens.
Finally, I found the ending to be very dissatisfying and such an immense letdown. I personally feel that this book would have seriously benefited from an epilogue because there was more story to be told.
Overall, this book may appeal to some readers but, in my case, I did not enjoy this story.
When I read the premise of this book and the first-look excerpt, I was actually very excited. The entire plot felt very ominous and I wasn’t sure exactly what sinister force the girls would encounter to turn this into a thriller. On several occasions, there is talk of the threat of not only bears, but also humans. The beginning was slow, but I was also very excited to see how the story unfolded.
After having finished this short book, I can’t help but be both disappointed and disturbed. There sadly wasn’t much that I enjoyed. While there was good tension and build up to the actual plot of the story, I think it just didn’t come together well in the end and ended up being an underdeveloped story. I figured out the twist very quickly and it didn’t end up being as suspenseful or exciting as I was hoping for. Ultimately, my favorite part of this book was that it was only 221 pages.
The two main characters, recent high school grads Neena and Josie, were pretty unbearable at times. I liked them a little towards the beginning but then they quickly devolved into frustratingly petty and immature girls. It was hard to root for them at times, particularly Neena, and they ultimately didn’t have much character development to redeem themselves in my eyes.
There were also some parts of the book that I found to be both disgusting and unnecessary. I’m not sure how this can actually be considered YA. In my review of the content, I would NOT recommend this to teens.
Finally, I found the ending to be very dissatisfying and such an immense letdown. I personally feel that this book would have seriously benefited from an epilogue because there was more story to be told.
Overall, this book may appeal to some readers but, in my case, I did not enjoy this story.