Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
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Attention all bookish people that have seen this book ALL 👏OVER 👏 BOOKSTAGRAM 👏: This is not a thriller. It is more of a mystery and character analysis. So if that's your cup of tea, this book will work for you. 😉
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Indigo Bay is your typical lush resort on a beautiful island in the caribbean. Here, families gather to get away from their everyday life and relax a little. Here, is where Alison, a teenage daughter with a magnetism like few naturally have, goes missing and is found dead soon after.
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Definitely not a thriller, more of a mystery...a verrrryyyyy looooong mystery. 😐 I loved how it started with the detailed description of the setting before zeroing in on everyone that will come into play, but felt that it dragged towards the middle. The entire book we are told what could've happened based on the POVs from everyone she came across during her week-long stay at Indigo Bay. However, there is a BIG focus on Alison's little sister, Claire, and the effects that the death had upon her life, as well as her trying to figure out exactly what happened that fateful night. This is where it slowed down plenty, but you kind of just want to push through to get some answers.
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Interestingly, the book made me think outside the box and question how I view those around me while on vacation. I thought I had all the characters pegged for certain stereotypes and they all surprised me. Helloooo character analysis and self-introspection. 😬 I KNOW this book will be on my mind every time I vacation now.
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Big thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read it in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: 2/18/2020 🌅🏝️❤️

First thing you need to know about this book is that it is deeply unsettling. The main character is the sister of a dead girl who by chance gets into a cab driven by a man who was a suspect in her death. Obsessed with learning the truth, she begins to stalk him, neglecting every other aspect of her life. And as the story unspools, the two begin to interact in ways that feel too intimate to be comfortable given the context.

But don't let that disuade you, this is a smart writer who subverts the trope of the usual “murder mystery” and delivers a book that is thought provoking in ways you likely won’t be expecting.

I liked the premise of this book and even enjoyed quite a few chapters.
The big push for the low rating was that if you chopped most of the chapters out of the middle of the book and only read the first couple and the last few...
Nothing changed for the story.
I still would have learned the "mysteries" and I would still know all the connections. I just would have saved myself a lot of time and frustration trudging through long-winded filler.
Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for my DRC.

Overall - I'm giving this book a 2.5 stars... here's why:

Things I kind of liked
- I liked a lot of the author's choice in words. I thought that for the most part the choice in words sounded clever and well thought out.
- I liked the ‘lingo’ of the people who lived on Saint X. I found it authentic and seemed well researched. However, nearer to the end it became confusing to know when exactly Clive lost the way he spoke and I found some inconsistencies.
- The alternate points of view were an interesting idea but they did tend to jump around a lot. I wasn’t sure who was speaking until a few sentences or even further in.

Parts that could have been removed:
- Too many visits to The Little Sweet before anything happens and too many more where really still nothing happens. The writer takes far too long to create a relationship between them and it just feels boring reading about it repeatedly.
- Details of each roommate are unnecessary - I didn’t understand why we needed to know about them as it didn’t give me any more insight into Clive’s life that I didn’t know already.


Things I didn’t like:
- I didn't love the narration at the beginning of the book “the father does this”, “the family does that”, I found it monotonous and repetitive. It went on for far too long that I found myself skimming.
- I felt cheated that this is the way you “tell” me the story rather than show me the story through better writing.
- Throughout the middle part when Claire/Emily is in NY, it drags on a bit. Her following Clive loses its excitement well before anything happens between them.
- Atmospherically, I never felt like I was in New York (I live between NY and Toronto) and found the descriptiveness of the city to be off. I can’t pinpoint what it was but I just never got a resounding feeling that it was where most of the book took place.
- I’m confused when Clive lost his ‘island’ speak? Some passages from around the time of Alison’s death he seems to have it, but shortly after he loses it, but it comes back in other passages. I thought there were some inconsistencies in this.
- The ending - just didn’t wrap it up well enough for me. I waited the whole book to hear what happened to Alison and it was really never revealed - bit of a let down.
- After I read it and wrapped up with the authors notes, I felt like she wrote from a place of what she thought was superiority - like she is better than everyone else. This didn’t sit well.

Claire, who now goes by her middle name Emily, has grown obsessed with her sister Alison's death. It is taking over all aspects of her life. So Schaitkin reveals the story in the time Alison was alive and the media spectacle that followed, to the current time, where Emily is living out her story. Saint X is also told in multiple points of view, to give us Clive, a man who was a suspect in Alison's disappearance.

For me, there's a story here, but then there are dozens of side stories, of Clive, Alison, and Emily's life that meander along and don't necessarily relate to the arching story or move the story forward. I requested this book because it kept being advertised in my email, recommended by various editors and while the writing is indeed lyrical, there isn't much of a story. The description of the island, Saint X, are vivid and rich. Other's are saying it's a slow-burn mystery and I guess that is apt, though you definitely don't leave the book feeling as satisfied as you would hope.

Saint X is a mystery but also includes messages of class, economic and racial inequities.
Alison and Claire are from a wealthy family that has a yearly tradition of visiting a different tropical location during the holidays. Claire is a shy, introverted 7 year old who puts her older sister Alison on a pedestal. She was looking forward to this vacation because Alison has started college and she missed her. Alison is a young girl testing her boundaries and enjoying the effect she has on men which leads her into trouble. On their last night on the island, Alison goes missing and her body is found shortly after. Two local men who were employed by the resort are arrested and released when no evidence turns up.
Fast forward 25 years and Claire is now living in NYC and while she thinks of Alison occasionally, it is not something she dwells on.
That changes when she is in a taxi and notices the name on the drivers ID, Clive Richardson, one of the men who had been a suspect in her sisters disappearance. She becomes obsessed with learning what happened to Alison but also wanting to know more about this man.
This story weaves the stories of many of the people they were in the resort and how this tragedy changed their lives. We also follow the lifelong friendship between Clive known as Gogo and his lifelong friend Edwin. We see the stark differences in the life of the wealthy tourists and the natives of the island.
Alison is the victim but she is not a truly sympathetic character, she is overindulged and pretends to be embarrassed by her privilege while clinging to it.
There were parts of the story that were slow and I would put it aside but there are others where you keep reading needing to find out what happened.
I do think that an appendix explaining of the terms used by Edwin and Clive would be helpful.
Thank you to #netgalley and #celadon for the free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is due for release February 18, 2020.

This book was a trip. I devoured it, finding times where I could sneak in some pages in order to finish it quickly. Clarire’s older sister Alison disappearance when they are on vacation on Saint X continues to haunt Claire for the rest of her life. She is only seven years old when the college-aged Allison disappears and spend the rest of her formative years hearing about the disappearance and trying to craft her own life that is separate from that trauma. However, one day she encounters Clive Richardson, one of the men suspected of her sister’s murder and her world changes.

Schaitkin really has a way with words and has crafted a story that is both well-written and gripping. I loved how the book switched between the different POV and in doing so also switched the voice that was being used to the tell the story. I know that narrative choice for the opening of the book bothers some people but I appreciated its almost cinematic quality. I wanted to know what happened to Allison and was pleasantly surprised when my predictions did not come true throughout the book. She seamlessly weaves in discussions of class disparity and race alongside the mystery. These themes are unavoidable when you are writing about the disappearance and death of a wealthy white girl on a predominantly poor island and I think that Schaitkin handled them well. The only part where the book lost me was Clarie’s emotional journey in the middle, where her paragraphs of observations of New York City were often a bit of a distraction from the rest of the story (though might be more appreciated by someone from the city).

Overall, I highly recommend the book and think it is going to be a big one of 2020. 4.5 stars

When she is only 7 years old, Claire’s older sister Alison disappears while the family is vacationing on the Caribbean island, Saint X. When Alison’s body is found, two local men are arrested, and later released, under suspicion of having killed her. Years later when Claire comes across Clive, one of the men initially arrested, she becomes obsessed with following him in the hopes that she will discover what really happened to Alison.

This was such an interesting book and I’m still not positive of my overall opinion on it. Based on the synopsis I would have expected a suspense/thriller but thanks to earlier reviews I knew that wasn’t the case. I think that helped, so that I went in with the right expectations. I was quickly drawn in to the story through the author’s beautiful writing and enjoyed the way each section shifted from POV and provided some flashbacks for backstory.

Saint X really explored the connection between the sisters and the lasting effects of this trauma and grief on Claire, as well as Clive. It also touched on topics such as class and race - at times in a very realistic and poignant way, and at other times in a way that felt it served no purpose as part of the story. Overall, interesting, well-written, but a little all over the place too.

3/5 stars

Maybe my expectations were too high for this book since it's been touted as one of THE new books to read. It started off with an odd style of writing but it laid out the basic premise for the story. In the beginning, the characters were fairly interesting.

Then the book went on. And on. And on. More and more characters, irritating jumps in chapters with no identification as to who is talking. Lots of details. I mean LOTS of details. Reading became quite tedious.

And then - we come to the end of the book. And it was underwhelming. To be honest, I sort of resent all the time I took reading this book.

"Saint X" had all the potential in the world to be a great book, but unfortunately this one didn't deliver in the slightest. First off, I didn't like all the racial overtones. There were also homophobic overtones as well. These didn't sit well with me and totally ruined my reading experience. Second, the writing was painful to get through. The writing wasn't awful, but it's so long-winded and over-detailed to death. I felt like I was reading a screenplay rather than a novel. The dialogue was a little laughable to be honest. Do people really talk like this? This book was way too long! "Saint X" would've worked better as a short story. A long, bloated mess of a silly, flimsy plot. No, thank you.

Thank you, Netgalley and Celadon for the digital ARC.

Release date: February 18, 2020

3.25 Stars

A missing teenage girl’s body found washed ashore the beach on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Was it an accident, murder or death by suicide?

For the family who went to Saint X on vacation, no answers are found and no peace is given. Eighteen year old Alison will never take another breath.

Claire was seven years old when her sister Alison washed ashore on Saint X. Now, Eighteen herself, going by the name Emily, living in New York City, there is never a day that goes by that Emily doesn’t think of her sister and what happened. Of the boys that Alison went off with during her vacation night after night and of who might have been responsible.

Then Emily gets into a cab and has a flash of recognition. A plan falls into place and nothing else matters.

Told both in flashbacks to Alison and Claire’s vacation in Saint X and in the present day, with Emily’s life in New York City, “Saint X” is a character study, a true crime novel and a thriller all rolled into one.

“Saint X” is extremely descriptive and at times the pacing is quite slow. While some of the descriptions of the sand, the water, the falls, etc., swept me away, some are a bit too lengthy for me. That said, my favorite parts of “Saint X” are those in which Claire/Emily interacts with others or where we get to know Alison, specifically: 1) the flashbacks in where Alison and Claire spent time together and we could see how much they loved each other; 2) Alison’s diary entries (which Emily read in present day); and 3) Emily’s encounters in NYC with someone from the past (no spoilers!) (which is a huge part of this novel). Though the novel has strengths and weaknesses, the character development is by far its greatest strength. Knowing that this is only Alexis Schaitkin’s debut novel, I look forward to seeing what she comes out with next.

This was a buddy read with Kaceey - one that gave us both much to talk about.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the arc to read and review.

Published on Goodreads on 1.25.20.

In 1995, 7- year old Claire and her family go on an island vacation. Her college aged sister, Alison, goes missing towards the end of the trip and is later found dead. Alison's death went unsolved and her entire family was changed forever.
Nearly 20 years later, Claire, now known as Emily, runs into someone from the island. Clive was one of the staff t Saint X, and one of the people questioned in Alison's death. This familiar face causes Emily to go on an obsessive quest for truth about what really happened to her sister that night.

I watch a lot of murder documentaries. I read a lot of true crime. I know the stories of these murdered people, but I rarely wonder what happens to their families afterward. Saint X is a look into the family of the deceased and how life goes on for them. I wouldn't consider it a thriller necessarily, it's more of what I'd call "literary fiction," The prose is beautiful, and rather than a chain of events to get you to the end as in a regular thriller, the focus is more on the characters. Because it didn't follow the normal flow of a thriller, it did take me longer to read, but it was no less enjoyable. As I said, the prose is lovely. Sometimes I'd just reread sections because of it.

I suppose what I'm trying to get to is- this debut novel deserves the praise it's been receiving.

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my review.

A family of four go on a tropical vacation to Saint X. A wonderful island surrounded by exotic fauna.
Little do they anticipate that when they leave only three will be returning home.
Claire's perfect older sister is feeling the exoticness of the island. She wants to mingle with the natives. Two of the islanders are Edwin and Clive. They have been best friends since grade school. The College age girl finds it exciting to befriend these men who work as waiters at the resort she is staying at. She joins them for drinks and smoking weed. A wild young woman in her own right. She is still discovering who she is. Claire watches from a distance as her sister sneaks out of their bedroom each night.
Then one night she doesn't come back.
A story of letting go, guilt, love and hate.
How one moment in your life can either define you and make you stronger or destroy you.
This is a story that brings strong characters. Characters that are living with the guilt of some of the choices they made in their lives.
How they may learn to let these choices be a life lesson. To let go of the bad and enjoy the good.
Well written!

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Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher (Celadon Books) for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

3 ⭐️

This book seemed to have an identity crisis. So many different POVs ... I actually did enjoy the mini-chapters the various minor characters had . But overall between Claire/Emily, Emily’s. Erosion of what she thinks happened ( all in her mind), the narrator’s version .. .Clive’s version .. it just got to be too much .. Emily/Claire and Allyson both came across as spoiled little brats and I had little to no sympathy for them . The big reveal was a bit of a let down ...

Generally it was an ok read

I had high hopes for Saint X because I’m all about thrillers and mysteries. I really enjoy slow burn thrillers as well, that lead up to this insane plot twist or something crazy. This book was just a slow burn full of nothing. I really didn’t care for any of the characters, I felt they were all so shallow and quite annoying. I was just very bored reading this, I kept thinking this is going to get really good in the next couple pages and it never did. When I finished the last page, I was honestly relieved that it was over.

I really love the concept of this book, but I just couldn’t get past the plot itself. I was either annoyed or found myself skimming the pages and had to go back and reread. I don’t know if maybe I read the synopsis wrong and took what this book was going to be in a different way, so I don’t want to say this was a bad book. Maybe most people will really enjoy it, but it just was not for me.

DNF

The premise of this book has me hooked, but as soon as I started reading, the aerial view had me nose diving!

Not only was I bored, but I quickly forgot what the story was about.

**Thank you Celadon Books for my ARC and opportunity to read this **

🌴BOOK REVIEW🌴⁣
Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin⁣
Publication Date: February 18, 2020⁣
352 pages⁣
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-DESCRIPTION-⁣
A college age girl goes missing, and is subsiquently found murdered, on the last night of their family vacation. The younger sister, 7 at the time of the murder, later runs into one of the men accused. She then goes on an obsessive quest to find the murderer.⁣
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-THOUGHTS-⁣
1. This was definitely a slow burn type of book. Which I am ok with. Do not go into this thinking it's some type of page turning thriller. It's just not the case. But again, thats ok. ⁣
2. In the end, the main points really are more about the country's obsession with young, wealthy, girls being kidnapped or murdered. How differently these cases are handled. How much more the media collectively values these lives.⁣
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-RATING-⁣
⭐⭐⭐⭐⁣
I recommend this book.⁣
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-SIMILAR RECOMMENDED READS-⁣
The Perfect Couple ⁣
The Wife Between Us⁣
The Woman in the Park⁣

I will admit the entire reason I even looked at this book was because of that gorgeous cover! But I'm glad I did--it was an engaging, page turning story that kept me interested from the very beginning! In the beginning of the book you almost feel like you're on Saint X, the writing and description of the island is so great. The different perspectives from all the characters really worked in this book as well to tell the story. I listened on audio and all the different voices were excellent. A solid mystery/thriller!

great easy read for me! love the characters and the story. good book club discussion. would recommend totally

Upon reading the description of this book, I was very intrigued and had to read it and find out "whodunit". I'm a sucker for murders, thrillers and mysteries and wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on your views), I got a whole different story.

At the beginning, we get a very detailed story about a vacation that Alison and her sister Claire were enjoying with their family on a remote island in the Caribbean. They are obviously a well to do family but the girls are separated by their age. I was waiting for longer than I thought I would before we got the news of Alison's demise. But all the details were important into building up what type of people were involved in this case. It was a case of wealth, of privilege and race.

After the murder of Alison, we go on a journey to see how her family and friends fared through the years and how Claire is still looking for answers she didn't know she needed. When she stumbles upon a man that may have had something to do with her sister's death, I was definitely hooked and waiting for the other ball to drop. But I didn't exactly get that. I got a lot of point of views from people that may or may not have had something to do with Alison, or maybe just people that were from the island and Alison's life. This is where I would have to take off stars from the story. Too many characters and too many stories being told.

BUT, with that being said, with how the story was being told I could SEE this whole story being played out. I could see a movie or tv series being made about this very story. The descriptive narrative along with all the characters and their background, it HAD TO be slowly building up to something. This is where my star rating is a little confusing. I felt the story drifted from where it needed to go and had too many characters POVs. I wanted more action and not this slow build to what I thought was a mediocre climax. But if we didn't have all these characters and their history and thoughts, the story would have fell a bit flat and wouldn't have been as visually appealing. For this reason, I have to give the book 3.5 stars since it created such a visual impact by the characters and their narrative. I just wish it was more climatic and put together in a slightly more interesting manner.


Overall, the book intrigued me but didn't excite me as I wish it would. I liked the way it was told and how we got to see a bit of how the sisters lived and who they were. Claire was an interesting character in that she felt a bit confused about herself, all her emotions and the way she was living her life. I just wanted more of a 'punch in the gut' feeling from her or from another important character she encountered.

"Alison's death is a mystery like God or Stonehedge or intelligent life in the universe-if you aren't careful, that sh$t will consume you, and in the end you'll still be no closer to solving it. I'm 37 years old, and if I've learned anything it's that you can live a pretty decent life without unpacking life's mysteries."