Member Reviews
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions expressed are entirely my own. A short explanation of the plot (with no spoilers): Esme and her best friend Kayla decide to be councilors in training (CITs) at a summer camp that they went to as kids. However, they are scared to return because of something they did at camp when they were campers there. Things seem to be going okay. The girls make friends, flirt with boys, and enjoy leading the campers. However, things start to get more complicated. The girls start to receive random messages like “The lake knows what you did” and “You’ve been very bad girls”. Esme and Kayla start to fear that someone might want them to leave camp or might want to expose them. My Opinion: Sadly, I DNFed the book at 30%. I DNFed the book because I thought it was really boring. The book also felt very slow paced and I wasn’t a fan of the writing. The book might have gotten better as it went on but after reading 100 pages I knew this book wasn't for me. I am usually a huge fan of thrillers and mysterys and want to know what happens next. However, this book lost my interest.
OMG! IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS, I NEED MORE! Of all the Natasha Preston books I've read, this is definitely my favorite. The camp setting is so well done that it made me feel like I was there. All the chapters left me on the edge of my seat, and the twists and turns never ceased to amaze me. The only weak point are the characters, I would've liked a little more development. But the rest is excellent! I recommend it :)
I fell in love with Preston’s debut novel The Cellar. I was totally wrapped up in the story. I have read every one of her books. They started to drop off a little bit as far as interest/believability. This one was your classic summer camp gone wrong trope. However, waiting until the final pages to let action happen seems sloppy. I feel like there were many missed opportunities, and I can’t say that I would be as excited to recommend this to my students like I would with some of her other titles.
Natasha Preston always takes your heart out. The way she tells a story is to immures yourself into it and feel everything the characters do. I love how she leaves you at the edge of your seat from start to finish and how you can never predict what is to come! She is on of the best writers for Young Adult readers~
I wanted to love this but it read like a parody of another, better YA horror camp story. I felt like it was just plodding along until the last forty pages or so when ALL THE THINGS happened... and it felt like an entirely different story. This was a strange one.
I really wanted to like this, and I feel it had lots of potential, but it missed the mark for me. The dialogue wasn't believable, and I feel there wasn't enough time devoted to the characters. Plot was interesting, though it was ultimately predictable.
Nope. Just nope. Started out sounding very juvenile, didn't get much better. Gave up about 30% through it. Didn't even care to find out the rest of the story. I've liked her other stuff, this one was a disappointment.
Grabbed me initially but then started to get a bit slow and Esme really started to annoy me, but I kept reading because I had to know what happened and what was going to happen. I was disappointed by the ending
This is a story about summer camp secrets.
I enjoyed the setting & tense, suspenseful scenes; however, I didn’t enjoy the antagonist. It was identified immediately, and I was certain there would be a twist... because that felt too predictable? That being said I enjoyed reading this & if you need a quick YA thriller- it’s a solid choice.
3.5 stars. Thank you Netgalley & Random House Children's for this e-ARC!
This was a slow start for me, and I had a tough time really getting into the book. I was intrigued by the summary, but had to wait a while to get into the mystery.
When Kayla and Esme return to Camp Pine Lake ten years after they were first campers there, they come to the camp as CITs (counselors in training). But the last time they came to this camp, something terrible happened and they took a blood oath never to discuss it. So when they return to camp what should be six weeks of fun with the young campers takes a scary turn when odd things start happening . Creepy messages appear and the girls start wondering if someone knows about their secret. And who?
Good story, awful ending, but I think teens will like it.
Holy mother of mercy! What did I just read?!? I love how Scooby-Doo-esque this book is. Is the bad guy that person, or this person? I'm one of those people that have it solved pretty early on in the book, and I was shocked by the antagonist. And the ending?!? I won't spoil anything, but I was NOT expecting that! Best NP book I've read since The Lost.
**I received an ARC from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had a hard time getting into this book. I wanted to like it. It had the promise of a good book but it just fell short. It was well written but there were times when the plot fell through. Also there was times when certain things just didn't make sense. There was chapters that you would fly through, then you'd get to chapters that would drag on and just didn't seem to fit in with the over all story.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review
It was well written, but the something bad the girls did, isnt really that bad, I mean they screwed up sure but i expecting it to be worse...The book was slow to start it was about the last 50 pages were it got intense and interesting. Natasha has written much better stories then this.
The Babysitters Club meets typical horror films. Esme is haunted by the memory of something tragic, which she feels responsible for, at a summer camp she attended as a child. She and her best friend basically agree to not discuss the incident and pretend it never happened. Then they are both invited as recent high school grads to attend camp as CITs (Counselors in Training). Esme suspects someone knows their secrets. Kayla, still her best friend, is just excited to attend and meet some new boys. The narrative does not reveal Esme's secret quickly. It is a slow wait, with the reader receiving small answers as the book goes along. I could have done without The Babysitter Club aspect of the novel. I love TBC but the kids in this book were annoying elements of the read. However, when the kids are spotting mysterious happenings the suspense does intensify and you can't go wrong with creepy kids.
I love a good thriller, especially when it starts out with a crime committed years before that seems to be coming back to haunt and take revenge.
Esme and Kayla are returning to Camp Pine Lake after 10 years. This time they aren't returning as campers but have been invited to be Counselors In Training. They come with a secret that haunts them. 10 years ago they committed a crime and people got hurt at this very camp. Now it seems their old nightmares have awakened and they want revenge. But how far will someone go for revenge. How can Esme keep the kids that she is in charge of safe, make sure they are still having a fun time at camp, and solve the mystery of who is after them all at the same time? This book will keep you guessing as to who is helping in the plot for revenge and how the other characters fit into the puzzle. The ending, in my opinion, was perfect!
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.
I did not like this :( I’m sorry! I really wanted to. It wasn’t well-written and seemed thrown together and not thought through completely. I will say that I enjoyed the setting and could picture the camp clearly in my mind throughout. Also the “something bad” the main characters keep referring to in their past, like...wasn’t that bad? I just expected more.
I love this type of book summer camp, a mystery and a murder. Welcome back to camp for two campers are keeping an extremely dangerous secret. I absolutely love this book I was on the edge of my seat until the end
This book felt a little like a throwback to the YA horror/suspense by Richie Tankersley Cusick. I kind of liked the nostalgic feel of it and the innocence of it. Mild cursing at best, no sex, a slight reference to a fake ID to buy alcohol, but that’s about it. Even when some characters are revealed to have done something terrible, it’s…mild.
It was just so bloodless. Until…
Oddly, in the last 15% or so of the book, we turn from mild YA horror into campy, but illogical slasher horror. I mean…it makes no sense! And the end! It’s like BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM whimper - the end.
It all fell apart.
I keep going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars. I think that the book is suitable for younger YA fans (even when it starts going BOOM BOOM BOOM), but I think a slightly more mature reader will crave something more. 3 stars as it did keep me reading and I did dig the nostalgic feel of it all.
*ARC Provided via Net Galley