Seasick by Kristin Cast
Product Details
Web ID: 18496925A Thriller on the High Seas
This review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley Seasick by Kristin Cast and Pintip Dunn is a YA contemporary mystery where Naya and Yana, two former childhood best friends are on a megayacht on their way to Bermuda when some of their classmates end up dead. Yana is Thai-American while Naya is a biracial young woman in small town Oklahoma; both have had their ups and downs with their classmates and there are references to microaggressions and Thai culture, but it takes more of a backseat to the plot. Naya’s boyfriend, Etienne, a French exchange student, is also on the ship as well as Yana’s almost boyfriend Gabe, several of Yana’s friends, and Everly, a popular girl who runs a blog exposing other people’s secrets. Naya, Yana, and the others are inducted into an exclusive society formed by Seraphina Yates, a multimillionaire who is leaving her entire fortune to her secret grandchild…until the discovery of a second grandchild risks splitting the fortune in half. Seasick is fairly fast-paced and isn’t as focused on feelings for the interiority so much as focused on the past friendship between Naya and Yana and how they stopped being friends and the relationships between Yana and Gabe and Naya and Etienne. Naya and Yana really carry the book and the dual-POV aspect lets you see from both sides how much they miss each other. I would recommend this to readers looking for a YA mystery with strong romance and friendship subplots.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A YA mashup of Mean Girls and Scream.
SEASICK is a mashup of Mean Girls and Scream where high school graduates get a super exclusive trip on a glamorous yacht to the Bermudas. What should be the best ever epic graduation party for this circle of popular and rich friends, turns into a nightmare when they start getting murdered. The friends try to figure out what is going on and who is after them while trying to stay alive in this harrowing thriller. A definite page-turner! There are two main POVs in this story, both girls with multicultural backgrounds who didn't grow up in the rich, popular circles of their small town. They were best friends until one of them joined the circle in eighth grade while the other remained outside. Both get invited into this exclusive group of graduates who take a congratulatory trip on a yacht. Even though neither really needs to go, they both want to fit in and receive the advantages of the elite group and so they go. The story starts off between their two perspectives and gossip posts from one of the popular girls. Everything is pretty superficial with all the drama, manipulation, competition and bullying that readers would expect from this type of story and then turns into a bloody murderous rampage while the characters try to figure out who the villain is and how to save themselves. I didn't love either main character. I think part of that was the type of story this is and that they didn't really ever feel genuine. They were always trying to fit in with this other group regardless if these other people deserved to be their friends or to have their opinions count. They didn't always choose to be kind or stand up against their friends who were being mean. It's all very materialist and caring a lot about what others think of them. Both POVs were also a bit similar to me in background, voice and choices so they blended together sometimes. I would have liked them to be more distinct and at least one of them to be more confident. They felt a bit lackluster for characters. Because of this, the beginning dragged a bit for me while the story was being set up and all the gossiping and backstabbing was going on. However, once the first murder happens, this story becomes much more intense. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what would happen and who the murderer was, even through all their stupid, cliche choices that you would find in most teenage thrillers like this one (like not being alone when someone is trying to kill you!). The story does keep readers guessing a bit, which is always good, with a few twists. There is also a sweet ending, even though it's tied off a little too prettily. In a nutshell: Read if you like... - Movies like Mean Girls and Scream - Suspenseful mysteries in close proximity, think Death on the Nile - Stories where you're not sure who to trust - Suspense with a few twists - Gossipy tidbits thrown in and secrets uncovered - Multicultural characters - Romance with a bit of heat - Characters who aren't safe from being murdered - More than a bit of bloody violence - A super sweet, prettily tied up ending Some things I didn't like... - The characters were a bit flat and not overly likable - The POV's voices felt and sounded very similar - The characters and story were fairly superficial - There was nothing that really made me think or challenged me - There were a lot of blunt, descriptive, suggestive parts - The ending was tied up too perfectly In the end, was it what I wished for? This isn't my type of read, but it still held my interest once the mystery and murders got going. For those who enjoy these types of stories, this is definitely worth adding to your list. Content: Swearing, innuendo, suggestive content, crude references, racist comments, some bloody violence. Source: I received a complimentary copy through TBR and Beyond Tours, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com