What was that ending?!? The thing about writing a book about psychopaths, or at least people with similar psychopathic traits, is that none of them are really likable. Elle should’ve been the one exception, but for the most part I found her annoying—she was a pushover, a doormat, totally devoid of true personality, and genuinely pathetic. She was the only one who could’ve gotten a satisfying ending, but…..I guess she can’t even have that.

The premise was very good and I was very much looking forward to reading this book. The start was gripping. The Prologue, I mean.

Post the prologue the book was very dry. Very, very, dry. I kept on thinking on how the prologue is going to be knit into the story to make some sense but at last the book ended and nothing. Thoroughly disappointed with that.

The way the narrative was set for the rest of the book was very slow in its pace. So slow I started skimming because the scenes were extra long for no apparent reason.

Another bothersome thing about the book is the numbering within the chapters. While some may like it, I found it very annoying. I still do not understand the reason why it was needed because quite literally, there were no cliffhangers where passage with one number ended and another began or change of scenes or whatever. So, as I said, it was not serving any purpose.

All of this kind of slowed me down as I read the book and I kept on thinking that maybe the ending will be worth it. But, no. No satisfaction there either. The ending was anticlimactic and l was left with a lot of unanswered questions with this one.

My recommendation? Not recommended.

This book wasn't for me. I got to about 40% in and I couldn't even force myself to read anymore so it was a big DNF for me.

Elle lives with a horrible lazy mother who gets herself a useless boyfriend who ends with taking all her money. So what does so do asks Elle to help her out. Elle uses the money she saved to help her mom out instead of going on vacation until she finds an add online for a paid drug trial in the canary islands. Once the participants get to the island things start to go wrong.

Sounds good right??? I wasn't invested in the characters. I didn't understand the numbers within chapters.

Thank you to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

Elle lives with her selfish mother. Elle is a nice girl too nice because she is always thinking of other people. Elle is also fed up with this life and seeks adventure. Elle signs up to a drug trial for money. The trial is on a deserted island with 10/12 other people. They have all got too finish the drug trial otherwise there is no money. The stakes are high. One by one they begin to act strangely and Elle is seemingly the only rational person on the island.

This book was a complicated read. The middle part of this book was filled with tension and was quite creepy with implied violence and actual violence. However the book subject was complex and the story too complicated. I am still not sure of the ending 3 stars

Was an interesting read, I loved the character Elle and found a lot of the characters interesting. I wasn’t keen on the style it was written, I feel it missed out important information sometimes. Some fast paced parts, just wish there was more.

Elle signs up for a paid medical trial. All
expenses paid, a beautiful location and once the trial is completed 20 thousand pounds tax free. What could go wrong.
I'm not entirely sure what I just read.
I was expecting an action packed thriller with lots of twist and turns but what I got was a story that just plodded along.
There were some interesting parts about two weeks into the trial and people started to go missing or turn up dead.
Some of the characters were great, Elle and Beni especially.
They both seemed genuine and the type of people that love to help people.
The rest of the characters were unlikely and just boring.
The ending made no sense, it was ridiculous and Left me feeling confused.
The premise was fantastic and from that I was expecting something different to what I read.

This is an interesting and fast-paced thriller which kept me gripped throughout. Elle is approaching her thirties and still lives with her mum. Elle does her best to look after her mum and is looking forward to getting some time away on a holiday, but when that falls through and her mum does something unthinkable which upsets her, Elle decides to be reckless and fills in a questionnaire for a medical trial she sees online. The trial is taking place in the Canary Islands, and the payment she’ll receive will help her move on with her life, but while Elle is approved for the trial and gets on a plane to the Canary Islands, she finds herself wondering whether she should be a part of the trial at all.

I really enjoyed this book from the start. Elle’s home life with her mum is difficult with Elle being a kind-hearted character who always wants to do right by her mum. Unfortunately her mum likes to sponge off Elle quite a bit, and then she does something that really upsets Elle, so when Elle finds out about the medical trial that’s happening in the Canary Islands she jumps at the chance of the free money, and free time away from home.

The story is interesting from the start and I liked Elle’s character from the start too. A little naive she ends up getting a place on the medical trial, though she questions whether she should even be there given how she filled in the questionnaire. Elle ends up meeting lots of very different people, and I like how varied all of the personalities are that are heading off on the trial, especially Charlie’s character at the start and his questioning of everything. The different characters continue to be an interesting point of the story especially when it goes on and we start to see how some people’s personalities seemingly change.

There are lots of tense moments throughout and lots of twists which I love. I have to say I didn’t know how this story was going to go and I did enjoy it for the most part. The island setting and the characters were good, and what is later revealed about the trial and area is good too, however the blurb for the book feels a little bit wrong compared with how the story actually ends up going and I was disappointed that there wasn’t more of a sort of unreliable narrator style story, and how straight forward some characters are. The blurb had me thinking that everyone would be a suspect to a murder but that wasn’t the case.

There is a good build up towards the end and a lot happens to all of the characters. I love the twist near the end with one of the characters and what is revealed about them and later about the trial itself. I found myself gripped throughout, constantly turning the pages to find out what happens, and the story is good and the final scenes of action are good too, however the actual ending felt too abrupt for me and I don’t like the fact that we never know for sure what happens to certain characters in the end. It’s like a movie without that last scene that makes you feel like it was worthwhile watching it, and I felt a little cheated in the end because of that.

There is some swearing in this book, uses ofthe f and s swear words as well as some violent and unpleasant acts, especially in the second half of the book. As I said, although the overall build up to the ending is good, the actual abruptness of it made me dislike it. I just wanted more and wish there had been another final scene or epilogue letting us know what happened to some of the characters at the end. I did like the twists in this story though and it’s still a fun read with some very interesting reveals about the trial and some characters later on. Overall a good story, but, for me, it could have been better.

I loved this book and did not want to put it down it hooked me right from the start. I honestly think it could do with a follow up

Elle, who still lives with her mother, works at a mental health facility. She has been saving her money for a big trip. But her mother constantly comes up with excuses to take Elle’s money. So when Elle sees the ad for the drug trial, it is too good to pass up.

Soon Elle finds herself on a remote island with all strangers. She tries to make friends and enjoy the island. But people start complaining of headaches and one man disappears. Arguments break out and Elle realizes that she is not only stuck on the island, she is not even sure she is where she thought she was! She questions the trial, wondering at her gentle acceptance of whatever someone in a white lab coat tells her. Then someone is murdered; and soon, the body count rises and the doctors in charge of the study leave without warning!

The book starts out interesting. I really liked the premise. Elle travels to the island, she even meets a love interest. Then, the story starts to drag in the middle. I guess there were too many strangers with back stories and questions. The ending picks back up, but by that time I was basically just reading to finish the book.

I read this book as a read-along. My thanks to @onemorechapterhc for my digital arc. My thoughts are my own.

I was supposed to read this as part of a readalong with one more chapter but ended up reading it after and absolutely raced through it, this book was so gripping that I don’t think I’d have been able to stop every day. I read this in hours rather than days because I couldn’t put it down.

You spend the whole book wondering who you can and can’t trust, and I didn’t guess the twist coming at all. Some of the scenes were quite eye opening and a bit gory but it just made me even more determined to find out what was really going on.

There was a few little snippets of science to, looking at the psychology of psychopathic behaviour.

I’d seen a few people commenting on the ending of the book so I was wondering what was going to happen but oh boy does it leave you wanting more! It is a bit of a cliffhanger and leaves you wanting, no needing, to know what happens next. I just hope we get a book 2 to follow this!

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this book. I liked the sound of it and the plot is a great idea so maybe its just me as the majority of reviews are good. I just felt like the build up was too slow, I wasn't hooked from the start so I only read it all as I wanted to give an honest review on here.

Elle had saved for a much-needed holiday, but her mother had some troubles with money and it led to Elle giving her mother the money to keep her safe. This was all a rouse and it isn’t long before Elle discovers this and is annoyed. She really wanted that holiday!
She applies when she sees an advert for a medical trial in the Canary Islands for 4 weeks and a payment of £20k at the end of it on her mother’s computer. The first application is turned down so she applies again tailoring her answers and she is accepted and she heads off for the trial.
This was a good book, I enjoyed reading it, there were a lot of twists and kept me guessing throughout. It was interesting too. The only thing I was disappointed with was the ending, which left me feeling a bit flat.

Wow!! What a story, I thoroughly enjoyed this story from start to finish and with so many twists and turns I did not see where it was going at all!! I’m actually still in shock about the ending! Everyone needs to read this story because my goodness it’s a rollercoaster of a story.

When a book has a really good premise I always worry it won’t live up to it. This quirky book more than lived up to my expectations in fact it surpassed them. I read this as part of a readalong and the theories that we were throwing around went from the realistic to completely insane. Every little detail became a possibility from the film stills in the cinema room all being from movies that were experiments and don’t even get me started on the goats.

As someone who was registered for medical drug trials this was always going to be an interesting read. You have a headache? That pill you popped was tested on lots of people before you got to take it safely.

People pleaser Elle discovers her mum has conned her out of her savings, which was meant for a holiday. Coming across an advert on her mum’s laptop she is lured by the offer of 20k and a trip to The Canary Islands to trial a new drug. How bad could it be? I mean they wouldn’t test on humans without scrupulous checks would they!

Arriving at the airport we meet the other trial participants and what a bunch they are and the staff at the island aren’t much better. I didn’t trust any of them and as the trial started I said to the others on the readalong this has vibes of The Stanford Prison Experiment then it was mentioned by the author, go me!

I loved the authors previous book with it’s film references and again it has been deployed here with a real cleverness in the smallest of hints. The characters are given backgrounds that could make them either an asset or a complete liability, that is if they are telling the truth and once the headaches start it’s not just the goats breaking loose it seems hell is too.

Will any of them finish the trial? Will they get back home with their 20k and a lovely suntan? Will Elle finally stand up for herself? Would you sign up for The Trial?

I loved this! Gripping with a likeable protagonist in Elle. It was so very gripping and definitely took lots of unexpected twists and turns!

My only disappointment was the ending - it wasn't bad, it just left a lot of unanswered questions and I prefer closure!

Unfortunately I didn’t get on too well with this book. I did however think the plot was a great idea as well as the setting and the build up of paranoia and tension. For me the ending really lacked any umph and I really just wanted to get it finished and out of the way.
2.5⭐️

Elle works as a receptionist at a treatment facility. She lives with her mother, who always seems to get herself into trouble and is in constant need of help. Elle is goodhearted and empathetic to the point of not seeing when she is taken advanced of.

She saved for a long time and is finally able to book a vacation. When her mother finds out she makes up an emergency, that basically wipes her vacation money. No matter what she did, Elle always managed to forgive her, but this time it might be too much.

When she uses her mother's computer an ad pops up for a trial, that will take her to a tropical island and she would get paid a lot of money for it. She drunkenly fills out the form, as her mother would and gets chosen for the trial.

There is a lot of secrecy with the departure. When they arrive, there are 10 other people and researchers there. There are supposed to take one pill each morning - easy peasy. Until people start to develop headaches and accidents start to happen.

I like the first half of the book a whole more than the second one. The story is set up masterfully, and I was on the edge of my seat, unable to put the book down. However, after about half of the story, it stalled a bit. There was a lot of story, that was focused on descriptions and dialogues, but did not pull the story forward. And that ending... While it fits with the story, I wished there was just a little bit more to it - I kept checking the table of content if I was missing a chapter.

Emma worked at the reception desk for Parkwood. She lived with her mum but was saving up to buy her own place. She wanted a holiday and after an incident at work she went ahead and booked one without telling her mum. Unfortunately, her mum saw the post from the travel agent first and dreamt up a scam to use on her own daughter. Elle was upset when she realised. Her phone died so she used her mum’s computer and she saw an advert for a clinical trial in the Canary Islands paying money for completing it. She thought it was a scam to start with. Later, she went on the advert and entered some details but was unsuccessful.

A week or so later she caught her mum out in the scam. She was so angry she got drunk and tried the trial advert again. This time she was successful, she had got through to the next stage. After a bit of indecision, she filled in the second survey and again was successful. Then she was on her way.

There was a group of them with Benji in charge. Dr Jess Utterson and Dr George Lineker, were leading the Capricorn trial. It involved taking a pill a day and keeping a diary, noting any side effects and how you were feeling. After a day or so, Ricoh, Hallie then Harrison started getting headaches.

After a couple of weeks, Hallie was acting strange so Harrison got Elle. When Elle tried talking to Hallie, she found it difficult so she got her to safety then went looking for help. In the end, she found Dr Lineker and he came to talk to her. Elle left them to it. There was a scream, Dr Lineker’s body was found sprawled on the ground, he was dead. Hallie was missing!

Where had Hallie gone? Had Hallie pushed him? What had happened to Dr Lineker?

This was a gripping read from the start, a real page turner. The plot was very good and the writing was superb with good descriptive text the whole way through, very good for the imagination and setting the scene. I liked Elle but didn’t like her mum who treated her like dirt. Definitely worth a read.

I loved the sound of this quirky new thriller, and the author did not disappoint. As soon as I picked it up I was hooked and couldn’t put down.

A gripping psychological thriller that will keep you awake until you’ve read it all.

Elle is desperate to get out from the grip of her mother. A woman who spends her life lying and cheating to get what she wants at the expense of everyone else.

After her mother scams her out of her holiday fund Elle finds an advert for a clinical trial on a holiday island. Could it be too good to be true?

Elle starts of as someone you feel sorry for. She comes across are rather weak willed, struggling to stand up for herself. Holiday Elle is a different sort of person. Once she gets to know some of the others on the trial Elle soon discovers that maybe she has a future to look forward to. That is until things on the trial take a turn for the worse. By the end of the book Elle has developed into a much more complex character. Multi layered and not easy to predict. I enjoyed the develop of her character.

A series of disasters threaten to ruin not only the trial but the very foundations of their beings.
How far would you go to save yourself and the one you love? And will Elle have to test that limit for herself.

This is definitely a book to add to your TBR pile this summer.