Six teens, one dog, a ski trip gone wrong . . .

Oh come on, who DOESN'T love the whole genre of survival thriller a.k.a. beautiful people stuck in the middle of nowhere, getting picked off one by one? I loved the setting and the story was a lot of fun. I would definitely be interested in seeing what else this author has up their sleeve.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this book. It was well thought out and put together. Very well written. Nice characters that fitted well. Would make a great movie

So enjoyed having Rektok Toss on the Exploring the Blank Page Podcast. Ski Weekend is just the perfect blend of spine-tingling thrills and "holy cow what is going to happen next?!" Def can't wait for more from Rektok Ross!

A great read by this author. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher SparkPress in exchange for an honest review.

This book was intense! Ski Weekend is the story of Sam and her group of friends who get stranded on their way to a winter ski break. Stuck in their car while a snow storm rages outside, things quickly turn south as it becomes an intense survival situation.

I was really impressed with how this book managed to suck me in. I'm not the biggest fan of survival stories but I thought the closed location premise and the wintery setting would make this the perfect read for my Christmas break, and I was right. The real strength of this book is its characters. When you have a bunch of people stranded together, their relationships and dynamics are what really drives the story and Ross has done a fantastic job of creating nuanced and realistic teenagers. Sam was a perfect main character and I found her interactions with the other two girls (Lily and Brittany) particularly compelling.

This book also does not shy away from the gruesome. It definitely reads as a YA and is more survival than thriller or anything else, but some of the things the teenagers go through are pretty graphic and provide a good dose of physical and psychological horror. Again, there's a real sense of dread and desperation that just sucks you in as a reader, and I genuinely didn't know what kind of an ending there would be which I think is particularly great. Usually you know the protagonist is going to survive no matter what, but I never felt that sense of security with this book.

Overall, this is a great read for those colder months. The characters really carry the survival concept and there are some interesting, if brief, examinations of human nature found here. I really enjoyed it and I recommend giving it a try if you want that kind of experience.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Not a fan of the writing for this - felt choppy to me and just not super engaging. I wanted to like the characters but didn’t.

Not what I was expecting, which I think was mostly my fault. I thought this was going to be a murder mystery/thriller like One of Us is lying. But it was more a survival story and lacked the action/thrill I was looking for.

I loved the setting and the whole, trapped in the middle of a snow storm trope. It was right up my alley. But unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. I really wanted to love it though. I could see it working out well if it were turned into a limited series on Netflix or something.

Thank you Netgalley, SparkPress and Rektok Ross for the arc of this book.

Six teens and a dog head to the mountains for their senior ski trip. Deciding to brave the roads and drive, it's not long before they find themselves having to take a detour. Unfortunately they crash their SUV in a snow bank in the middle of nowhere. With no cell service, a sick injured passenger and a serious lack of food, the group must use their wits to survive until they are rescued.

This was a decent YA novel, a genre I don't find myself reading very often.
I enjoyed the snowy landscape and the isolation it brings to mind.
I think, at least for me, it was just a bit too YA. I kept expecting something to happen but it just didn't. Even when something did happen I didn't get too excited as I wasn't all that invested in the character's.
That being said, it was a fast read and it was enjoyable, but I needed something more!

3 stars

Suspenseful and quick read. I had fun with this and from other reviews, I’m not alone. I think I’ll be recommending that our school library pick this one up (high school) because I can see our students enjoying it.

📚 book review 📚

Ski Weekend by Rektok Ross

Six teens head to the snowy mountains for a ski trip. The weather turns bad and they become stranded.

I love books set in the winter. The more snow the better. I enjoyed this one. It was fast paced and kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next. Curl up with some hot chocolate, a blanket and this wintery read. You won't regret it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Spark press for this ARC.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Available Now!

#skiweekend #netgalley

This is a survival story that had me on the edge of my seat. Six diverse teens and a dog are forced to survive a snowstorm. The harrowing setting of isolation gave the story an authentic feel of desperation. The story is suspenseful with mystery and a sense of foreboding throughout. Thank you NetGalley and Spark Press for my copy.

I decided to push this up my tbr and read it on a weekend when a storm was raging outside. Nothing like setting the scene.

And it worked. I thoroughly enjoyed this. I wouldn't class it as a thriller, more of a survival story but I kept turning the pages to see if they would come out of it alive as day by day the situation got bleaker.

It made me very relieved the storm passed...

Thank you Netgalley & Sparkpress for an eARC of Ski Weekend!

I was really excited for this book - I love YA books and snowy stories gone wrong. That being said, I gave this one a good shot but it ultimately wasn't for me. It felt a little more junior than the YA books I typically read and I had a hard time becoming invested in the characters. It's a quick read though and great for the winter - especially if you're snowed in. ❄️

This is a well-written fast read. These are characters you will care about and want them to find their way out of what seems to be a hopeless situation. Different personalities react in different ways - characters are sometimes likable, sometimes not. Ski Weekend should be a movie. In fact, the characters all think it will be and discuss who will play them. Plan to read this thriller straight through and be prepared. The Christmas scene will make you cry. 5 stars.

*Thank you to Rektok Ross, NetGalley, and SparkPress for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Well, I will forever have nightmares about being stuck in an avalanche after this book. Ski Weekend is about a group of six teens and one dog who set out for a ski weekend but ends up getting stuck in a storm. This book is both suspenseful and frightening. There is Sam, who is a senior in high school, watching out for her younger brother, who has scoliosis. Then Gavin, his best friend and Lily, Sam's best friend. And then we have Brittany, the homecoming queen and football player, Hunter. Each person struggles with insecurities and hunger as they battle storm after storm. They have minimal food and no cell service.

As some have stated, something missed the mark here. We want to care about these teens who are literally dying, but we keep waiting for something to happen; an animal to appear, or a serial killer in the woods or something. But nothing does. And I felt the last part of the book, where a major character dies, felt flat. As a reader, I wanted more. Perhaps more searching for food or getting lost in the wilderness. This was well written and I would definitely want to read another book by the Author, but in the end it left me unsatisfied.

This book was so realistically scary! I don't read many thrillers that could actually happen and maybe I should keep it that way with winter coming up and already having a fear of the roads. This was an emotional book so be prepared. Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. I enjoyed this book so much. It is definitely in the my top 10 favorite thrillers of the year. The writing style is phenomenal. If you guys have not read this book yet go get your hands on it right now it is that good. This book is set between California and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page. This book is in stores now for CA$22.99 (CAD).

First up I want to thank the tour organiser + publisher + author for allowing me to read this book. Sadly, this book and I didn't click. I have been trying to read more of it since October and I keep getting stuck at the same part. I just cannot read further. The characters don't really work for me and that scene with our MC having to help out her friend because she knows how animals work was just weird. Plus, I found it a bit too fast how our characters got stuck. I mean, one moment they are driving the next boom, stuck. And of course nothing works.
So yeah, this was one of my most hyped books.. but we just didn't work out.

The premise of this book and its tagline captured my interest immediately. Six teens, one dog, a ski trip gone wrong . . .

After taking a shortcut while heading away for a ski holiday leads to a crashed car in a snowy embankment the six teens must use their wits and the survival skills they have to keep themselves and their dog champion alive.

The trials and tribulations they go through and how they overcome them I found fascinating.

Our main protagonist is Sam who volunteers in her spare time at an animal shelter. We see the story unfold through her eyes and are introduced to the 5 other characters from her perspective of them. It was a fascinating addition to the story about how her prejudices of each character changed as the story and the peril of the situation they were all in progressed. It really showed how every one of their personalities affected her and changed her way of thinking.

The story itself was unlike any fiction or YA that I have read before. I was fascinated by the slow burn horror that gradually increased in intensity as the teenagers situation progressively gets worse.

A simple premise that was executed well resulting in a thrilling and suspenseful survivalist thriller.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a suspenseful thriller and wants a wintery read as the days get colder.

Thank you to the author Rektok Ross and Spark Press for the opportunity to read this story before it's release.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I had a love and hate feeling with this. I really wanted to enjoy it and connect with it, but there were some times that just irritated and frustrated me.