As soon as I started reading the book it made me think back to the Natalee Holloway story, and how she disappeared from the island of Aruba and her body was never found. I remember the story so well because it coincided with my move to NYC from London, and followed the news closely at the time. Saint X isn’t a murder mystery though, it’s a beautiful journey into the trails of life, loss, obsession, and the destruction that our actions, and the truth, sometime cause on our own lives and those of others.

Alison and Claire’s family spend a week on a tropical island every winter, and in 1995 they spent an idyllic break on a resort on the island of Saint X. Alison was 18 years old at the time, and Claire, 7. At the end of the vacation Alison disappears, and her body is found a few days later. A couple of men from the island are held as lead suspects for a few days and then released, and Alison’s death remains an unsolved mystery. Until years later Claire, now named Emily, randomly runs into one of those men in NYC…

The author’s writing style was a little jarring for me at first, but it didn’t take me long to get into the book, and appreciate how she describes the island and the people. You can honestly imagine yourself right there, taste the salt on your lips, sitting invisible there between the tourists and the sea. And once we moved to present day Emily (Claire) narrating her story I was hooked. Alexis Schaitkin has a way of describing settings in such a way that you are plunged into them, recognize them, even relate to them. So many of the NYC images are one that I recognize from my own 12 years of living there, and pulled at my heartstrings. Reading this book felt at times like reading my love story of NYC and it felt wonderful to read something where you felt like the author knew the city in the same way you did.

I did not read this as a murder mystery book, and I don’t think it is meant to read as that. It is much more a deep dive into humans and how we react at the fact of sudden death, at how our lives are never exactly as they appear to others, and how, in the end, we are all mysteries to each other. I felt for each of the characters, mainly both Emily and Clive, and wanted to shake them both so many times too: what on earth were they doing?? The story is haunting, sticks to you, makes you wonder how you would react if something like this happened to you or someone close to you.

The attention to detail in this novel is simply amazing. No stone is left uncovered, every person who may have had a part in Alison’s story gets to say their piece and talk about their own lives. I really enjoyed the way the narrators changed through the book, while Emily/Claire is the main protagonist we are also able to hear the voices of those who were affected by Alison and by her death in different ways. This is a giant of a book and I fully appreciate how invested the author must have been in the story and how long this must have taken to write. This is why I took my time reading it and savored each page - it’s not a novel you can rush through, but one that you live through.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Saint X is an island where people come to relax and unwind. We meet The Thomas Family during their vacation on Saint X at the Indigo Bay Resort. During that trip, Alison, the eldest daughter, goes missing and is presumed to be dead. Her sister, Claire, is very young at the time. When Claire grows up, she starts to go by her middle name (Emily). Emily moves to New York City as an adult, and one evening, get in a cab driven by none other than one of the men who Alison was last seen with. She then starts to ask questions and dig into Alison’s life, and learns more about her sister than she ever thought.

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Saint X. Because they are so all over the place, I’m going to list them out.

- This was an interesting read. I wouldn’t call it bad, but it’s not my favorite.
- Claire is a fascinating character. At times, I wanted to commend her on her determination, but at other times, I wanted to have my own intervention with her! Or, help her find a therapist to work through some of her thoughts and feelings.
- The point of view from which the story was told jumped around, as did the time in Alison and Claire/Emily’s lives. As the book went on, it was HARD to follow this.
- Alexis Schaitkin’s writing is very descriptive, which makes it easy to picture Saint X and the various settings, the Thomas’s house, and the New York City scenes.
- I did NOT see that ending coming.

Thanks to Celadon Books and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read this book and maybe part of my problem was that I went in with too high of expectations. Whatever the case, I was quite letdown by this book. Do I think it covers some important topics and gives the reader something to think about? Yes. However, in the end I just don't care enough about the characters. I struggled keeping interest in this slow moving plot. Occasionally something or someone would gauge my interest and then it would fad away again. This is unfortunately not one I will recommend or remember long after.

What a stunning debut novel this is! Claire is only a young girl when her sister, Alison, 11 years older, goes missing on the last day of their beach vacation on the fictional island of Saint X The police initially make arrests of two men but must release them due to lack of evidence. The case goes viral in part because it is a white girl who has gone missing and the suspects are people of colour. Move forward several years and Claire is now in New York. In a chance happening, Claire comes upon one of the two men initially charged with Alison’s murder. This may be her only chance to find out what really happened.

I completely loved everything about this book. The writing from the third person perspective with first person inserts from peripheral characters in bold type was unique and clever. Schaitkin takes on victim blaming, race, grief and unlikely connections in this beautifully told story.

Claire’s character is one I haven’t seen in other stories. There is a self-awareness that likely comes with tragedy but also a hidden bitterness that one might not expect. You can sense a little bit of this in this quote from the book: “they [the parents] thought they wanted to raise another kid. Really, they wanted to raise Alison again.” One is left wondering if Claire could change the course of history for Alison, would she have?

Each character in this book is left questioning their actions and omissions all for different reasons.

The tension in this book was high with lots of tidbits to tide you over until the next moment of enlightenment. The flow of the story was seamless and the narrative totally believable. I appreciated the addition of island folklore. The book’s conclusion was not tidy but gave the reader some meat to chew on.

This is a great book to read if you are in a book club and/or like mysteries, literary fiction and also coming of age stories.

Thanks to @CeladonBooks for this advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

I went into Saint X expecting a beautifully dark Dateline episode, and Alexis Schaitkin handily upended that expectation. What starts as an all too familiar story of a teen girl going missing on vacation soon turns very deep, exploring themes of colonialism, grief, and beauty itself. Impressive debut.

A missing girl on a Caribbean Island, what more could you ask for? This book focuses on the case of a missing girl on Saint X. Claire must deal with the disappearance and death of her sister Alison. After many years Claire comes into contact with one of the men that had been suspected of killing Alison in NYC. After many weeks of following him around Claire confronts him and wants to learn the truth of what happened to her sister on that night many years ago.

This is a suspenseful book that will have you waiting for answers and also wondering what Claire is going to do next! I really enjoyed this book as I felt that the pace and events in the book were different than other murder/suspense reads.

2.5 stars.

I received Saint X in exchange for an honest review -- thanks Netgalley and Celadon Books. I also received an audiocopy from Libro FM, so I mixed reading and listening to form an opinion.

I went into this book having read a short description and made the assumption that it would be a thriller...but it wasn't. This story isn't fast paced or full of twists that keep the reader guessing what happened, and at some points, I was having a hard time figuring out what the author was going for. There is commentary about race, privilege and gratitude that was unexpected but elevated the book's depth. It felt similar to the vibe of "Searching for Sylvie Lee' in that it's more literary than thriller, and that it's about a sister trying to make sense of her sister's disappearance/death.

Unfortunately this book was too much of a slow burn for me, and it felt like it dragged on. While I liked that it featured different perspectives, some felt under-developed.

On the audio front, I liked the ensemble of voices (14 total!) and I hope this continues to be a trend in audiobooks.

Overall - I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't my favorite.

A brilliant and beautifully written tale by this debut author. The story tells the what of after a tragedy . This book was graciously provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was overly excited to start this book. The cover of the book was appealing to the eye, the storyline of Alison going missing on a fictional Caribbean island was intriguing, however the book fell short for me.

I felt like the chapters were too long. The first couple chapters and the last couple chapters I enjoyed. I enjoyed the descriptive beach vibes of this island and felt as if I was there. Finding a dead girls body and having no idea what happened, with this unique little sister in the background seemed suspenseful, but I found the chapters to be too long and somewhat boring and repetitive.

I didn’t particularly like some of the narrative being in third person as well as the use of “we” instead of “us,” and “she and he” instead of “him or her.” I thought that was a bit odd.

There were too many characters, with chapters based on characters that I felt didn’t really serve a purpose toward the story line and just made the story too long. This was not the fast paced suspenseful thriller I was anticipating.

I liked Claire “Emily” as this intriguing little girl with odd tendencies, but as an adult she was somewhat boring and kind of a stalker.

3 stars for me

I wanted to love this story, this was the one book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. While it was written very well I am not a fan of SJW and I felt like this was what the center point was.

Possible spoiler Alert:

Alison is a self righteous girl whos attitude is pity me because I’m white and have white privilege but also look at me I’m cool and need to be center of attention. If the resort would have done a good job investigating they would have see who she was last with on that day. The white guys poor judgment to save himself is what the issue is. We need to work on moral character and stop blaming race. I felt for Clive but I also feel he never had anyone to guid him into being a strong man.

At 28% I'm throwing in the towel on this one. I just can't get into it. I am not of fan of this Author's writing style. It's too wordy, in more than one way, almost as if she's trying too hard. At this percentage, I've already highlighted 11 words that I've never seen used in anything I've ever read. I'm not saying they aren't actual words, I'm saying why use a word that's so obscure...that it takes someone out of the story trying to figure out what it means. When crafting a story it should bring the reader in deeper, not take them out completely. It also has the kind of prose that gets deep into everything, going off in tangents in different directions that loses me too easily. I just needed her to get on with the story...sadly it took too long to go anywhere for me.

I should mention that others have really liked this. It's why I didn't DNF at 5% like I originally wanted.

NO RATING SINCE I DNF'D

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for ARC. 4⭐️ Fantastic writing and narration devices. It’s a mystery that also explores grief, obsession and white privilege.

I just finished reading Saint X, by author Alexis Schaitkin

This book started off very intriguing for me, and was a good book from start to finish
The storyline was well written, and the characters all complex, and interesting
It did seem a bit long for me particularly about mid point, however I did thoroughly enjoy it

I would rate it 3.5 stars, and was a superb debut novel

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and the author for an early copy, in exchange for my honest review!

#SaintX #NetGalley

There was nothing inherently bad about this book. My problem with it, and the reason I stopped reading at 40% is because the pacing was so slow. When I read a thriller I need it to be very plot driven and this was very character driven. The writing style was phenomenal, it was simply too slow for me.

I had a lot of anticipation about Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin and it was just one of my 2020 books I was the most excited about. Unfortunately, after a really great start, it ended up being a reading letdown for me. I think my lack of connection with this book has to do a lot with what my expectations were when I read the book summary compared to my actual reading experience. I was just expecting something very different!

I love a slow burn with highly detailed characters but this one totally threw me off with the fast-paced beginning. I think if I knew it was going to be less plot-driven I would have had a very different expectations for it. I don't need twists and turns but this was ending up being so wordy and after a dramatic beginning just lacked any oompf for me after the beginning set me up with so many questions I needed answers for.

Because the characters weren't likable and even though it was rich with text, I never ended up feeling like I "knew them" which just made me feel uninvested in the storyline. I think this book did have some powerful messages regarding race, class, and privilege, but these fell flat for me with the particularly wordy writing style.

I think this is going to be one of those books that there are strong feelings about. Even just reading the initial ARC reviews on Goodreads, there is a whole range of reactions, some that are very positive. I think, all in all, this just was a case of being the wrong timing and expectations for me.

Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley and LibroFM for advanced copies. All opinions are my own.

Saint x is a story of loss, grief, determination and the love between to sisters.

When Clair a seven year old is on a family vacation her eighteen year old sister disappears and her body is found two days. Two men who work at their resort are arrested only to be let go because there is not enough evidence. The family must return home with the huge loss and no closure.

Years later Clair runs into one of the men originally arrested in the case. This sparks a fierce determination in her to find out once and for all what really happened to her sister.

This book was a hard to put down twisty mystery. The authors writing style was very detailed and painted the perfect pictures for you. The book makes you question inequality in classes and races.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Alison is 19 when she disappears while vacationing with her family on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Her body was found the day they’re meant to travel home. Two local men are arrested but later released due to lack of evidence.

Alison’s younger sister Claire is only 7 years old when this happens. As an adult, Claire is living and working in NYC when she’s unexpectedly faced with one of the men suspected of her sister’s murder. She becomes fixated on him, and delves back into the still unsolved mystery of her sister’s death. The sister she never really got to know.

The story follows multiple points of view in timelines before and after Alison’s death, a pivotal point in many lives. The characters were all very well written, each with a unique voice. The ending was completely unexpected and in my opinion, perfect. You’re going to want to read this one.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy

This one was too slow for me unfortunately... I wanted to love it but felt like nothing happened and it was a slow drudge to get through it.

This book was awesome! There is a lot of different feelings running through this book and all of te characters are well described and I just had to sit and read it until the last page. This book was like reading a psychological suspense novel, which I am certain it is. This is also a debut book for Alexis Schaitkin, and it was so good I will be waiting for her next book!

In the beginning, a wealthy family goes to a tiny island called Saint X, the mom, dad, a 7 year old little girl named Claire, and her college aged sister Alison. They are having a good time, but Claire is keeping secrets about her sister Allison, who i leading a whole different life at night when everybody is sleeping and she sneaks out.

The night before they leave, Alison sneaks out for the last time, but this time she doesn't come back. A huge search for her discovers her body floating in a nearby cay. This is so terrifying to Claire, as she is asked questions by the police and does not say anything- she is afraid her parents will blame her for not saying anything the whole time they are there.

Clive and Edwin, their waiters from days spent at the beach have secretly been partying with Alison, and later the last night when she disappears, are arrested, but later released as their is no evidence to really convict them. However Clive is arrested when a search warrant is served at his Grandma's house and drugs are found.

Many years later when Claire is living and working in New York, she hails a cab, and Clive is the driver! Claire feels this is a sign for her to try to talk to Clive and see what he remembers and if he did harm to her sister.

This is where Claire starts acting like she is psychologically damaged. She starts trailing Clive. After some time passes, she goes into the restaurant he goes to every single night, gets behind him in line, and she acts like she is surprised to see him. She buys him a drink and they sit down together. Claire starts going to the restaurant every other day or so, and after they leave she follows him wherever he goes.

The thing that stands out to me in all of this, is through doing all of this, it becomes less of trying to find out what happened to her sister. This is really what she is doing without realizing this. Claire is trying to live through the memory of her sister. Eventually Clive realizes who she is, and they have a talk about what happened and he disappears.

Claire is devastated but comes to realize that what she knew as a little girl and what she remembers now, are two totally different things.

This book was a real page turner, and I am so glad I read it. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat, and I will put this book in my "read again" pile of books. The writing captued my attention from the first page to the last.

I gave this book 5 suspenseful stars!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Saint X - Alexis Schaitkin out February 18, 2020


Thank you so much to Celadon Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

The concept of this book really worked for me! A beautiful girl going missing then turning up dead while visiting a beautiful resort?! YES PLEASE! I loved that Schaitkin managed to create a beautiful fictional vacation destination, it all felt very realistic and the characters all had unique personalities. The book is written in many different styles from several perspectives, first person, narration, blog posts, recorded diary entries, etc. Although I really wanted to like this aspect of the novel, I didn’t love it. Some sections I ended up finding a little dry and struggled to get into while I thoroughly enjoyed the story from other perspectives.

Saint X is definitely a slow burn and I loved the ending, which is the opposite of what I’m hearing some say! It took me a while to get into but I absolutely flew through the second half of the book.

Make sure to add this one to your 2020 TBR lists!