I was excited to receive a copy of this but I ended up DNFing at about 25 percent. It just could not keep my interest. I may circle back and give it a try again and then will update my review. Thank you to Net galley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this.

I truly cannot believe this is a debut book! I loved that everything about it is relevant today, and it's almost like a locked door mystery, except the locked door is the whole ocean...

I don't know why but I love books that involves mysteries on the water. There is something so intense about it. I loved this read and felt like I couldn't trust any of the characters. McGuire did a great job leading us along!

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the digital copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own and freely given.

First of all, I didn't really care for this book. It was too much like Gone Girl (I only saw the movie) and I didn't care for that either.

I didn't like Dani and I didn't really trust Sawyer. All of their "boating" friends were meh, to me. I don't even know if there was anything positive for me say about this book. I was really bored reading it.

3.5 ⭐️’s
Sawyer and Dani are a YouTubing cruiser couple. Dani is extremely ambitious looking for the next big thing to break through the social media barrier. Sawyer sails the boat and videos her. Things aren’t going quite so well for them at the moment. They are in the Bahamas with a group of other cruisers, but rather stuck as the boat needs repairs and Sawyer lost all their money in crypto. When Dani goes missing after a birthday party on another boat, Sawyer is immediately the main suspect, his past isn’t lily white and it’s all about to hit the fan. Their social platform has gone viral and most want Sawyer arrested. Did Sawyer harm Dani? Is she dead? Did she drown on her regular early morning swim or get attacked by a shark? Is there a possibility she’s still alive? This book had some good twists, but was filled with unlikable characters. The YouTube aspect was quite fascinating as it chronicles the depths influencers go to for ratings. The story held my attention throughout, but the ending was a bit of a disappointment. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

What I really liked about On the Surface was the setting of the Bahamas and the insight into the lifestyle of cruisers, along with a porthole view into the minds and actions of fanatical influencers. I also found the author collaboration seemed seamless in the reading and they did a good job with changes of point of view and voice. What didn't work for me is that it felt like Gone Girl fan fiction. The plot lines are too similar and that spoilt my enjoyment.

As someone who is just starting my own Youtube channel, I thought this is a very interesting read when I requested for it. The life of Dani's content creation is a nice one to follow and tquite wishing I can be one, too, one day someday. 😊

If you have not read any mystery books before, this will be an easy read for you and an entertaining one. However, if this is your genre, this will just be a no surprising read. A very used story, plots and twists. And I agree that it was similar to a popular book that I've read before.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC copy of this one, which is out now!

I wanted to like this one so much more. I truly loved the setting and thought the characters had a pretty strong start, but this fell so incredibly flat for me at the end. It also left me with tons of questions that were unanswered. I’m not sure if this needed to be longer to encompass a better ending or if a whole new ending was needed altogether, but this just was bleh.

Majority of the book had a decent pace and I was so interested to see how it was going to play out, so I’m definitely disappointed with the way this turned out.

Maybe the end will work for you, hopefully it does. It was a decent read otherwise!

Dani and Sawyer are the Foxes, a social media team who sail around the world together. At least, they will be. They finally got enough views on YouTube to start making money. But after a party at a friends boat sawyer wakes up with no memory, and Dani is missing. Why can’t he remember what happened last night, did he do something to Dani, or was someone else involved?

I immediately knew what the plot twist was going to be, but I had a fun enough time getting there. We watch sawyer try to navigate life as the police, the cruiser world, and the internet target him for murdering his girlfriend, and we watch the inspector on the island trying to solve the disappearance and find Dani’s hopefully alive.

More than just a simple missing person story. It was enjoyable but totally predictable and the characters were just alright, some I liked more than others.

Interesting book. Although, as a lot of others have stated, it's way to close to an older book....therefore I flew through it, and basically knew where it it was going.
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed the setting and that they were youtubers. That was interesting. The rest was a bit lacking though. Pretty basic and the twists weren't the best.

Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in posting this review, I read this a while ago, but am well behind with my reviews and trying to catch up!

Not really a thriller, and with very foreseeable twists and turns - but an interesting look behind the curtain of the influencer life, as well as the life of those who elect to live on boats full-time.

This was a fast paced story set in the Bahamas. We follow Dani and Sawyer as they try to get their YouTube Channel on its feet displaying their cruiser lifestyle. Everything goes off the rails when Dani disappears one morning…or does it? This book was intriguing and kept my interest despite the fact that both main characters are utterly unlikable and irredeemable. This was different from my normal thrillers and I enjoyed it overall.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

On The Surface is a self-proclaimed thriller about influencer Dani Fox and her boyfriend, Sawyer Stone III, as they chronicle their picture-perfect life on their monohull, Serendipity—but nothing is ever as it seems... After a party, Sawyer wakes up to find Dani gone, and everyone is pointing the finger at him, and everyone is asking the question: where in the world is Dani Fox?

Okay...this book is not really a thriller, and most of the surprises could be seen a mile away. I liked the setting of the story, and I liked the character of the Inspector. I somehow keep ending up reading books with influencers in the center, and it just makes me dislike them even more IRL. Anyways, this book did a lot of telling and not showing, and some of the telling was unnecessary; an author shouldn't write out every single banal action happening in a scene, or explain what's happening...just get to the action.

The people on Hulu or HBO would probably eat this stuff up, though.

This book sounded intriguing to me. Sawyer and Dani live a life as cruisers - they spend their days on their boat, sailing to different islands, meeting up with other cruisers along the way. Dani is trying to make it big with her YouTube channel, documenting their lives and looking for her big break.

But when Dani goes missing, suddenly Sawyer is cast into the spotlight. Did he kill her? Did she drown? Was someone else involved? The twists keep coming as everyone tries to figure out exactly was happened to Dani Fox.

I went into this book because of the premise, and although it was decent, it reminded me too much of another thriller that played this story out much better. I won't name the book because it will immediately spoil the big twist for you, but I definitely got a "been there, done that" feeling during the big reveal and this was a total let down for me.

Although the story read well enough, I just couldn't get over the big let down of the twist. Definitely a meh read for me.

Young couple Sawyer and Dani live on their 42' sailboat and document their life for the world to see. After a boat party with a few fellow cruisers ends up with Dani vanishing without a trace, all fingers point to Sawyer who can't remember a thing. When Dani's pre-recorded YouTube videos start to post, it shows not everything is what it seems.

On the Surface was the perfect novel to escape in; beautiful setting, secrets at every corner, and alternating POVs by unlikeable and unreliable characters had me questioning everything and anything. I enjoyed the writing style and how the author incorporated the social media commentary, so entertaining! At times, the characters were so irritating, I was ready to throw the book at the wall, I'm glad I didn't though.

The ending was interesting to say the least, not quite sure how I feel about the ending. Overall, it was an entertaining, fast paced thriller.

I loved Gone Girl and if that was your vibe, this will be too.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

Two beautiful people have a chance encounter. Total narcissists. What transpires next is a whole lot of crazy.

This was a just fun read! Perfect for beach, pool or long flight. If ‘Ripped from the Headlines’ and Gone Girl had a baby, it would be this book. The author made characters that are so self centered somehow semi likable. Cruisers, baby boomers that live on boats, cruise around and party, meet Internet Influencers. I can’t say there were any shocking twists, but it an easy read and will keep your attention. I was disappointed in the ending, left me wondering if there was going to be a sequel.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

A little bit Gone Girl and a little bit Reckless Girls (by Hawkins), On The Surface is a wild ride; albeit not an outright shocking one.

An aspiring sailing YouTube star goes missing after a wild party, her boyfriend wakes up, injured and alone with no memory of the night before. He becomes the prime suspect as videos she prescheduled keep going live, like breadcrumbs, adding more fuel to the fire.

I really enjoyed On The Surface! Dani was super unlikable in the best way, and I loved the prologue, especially.

A solid 4 star fun read. Unless you’re going diving or sailing soon 😉

On the Surface by Rachel McGuire has such an incredible cover! The colors are so beautiful! This was a summer thriller and I was here for it. This is one of those books you can easily devour in one sitting sitting pool side.

If you love:
Beach Setting / Summer vibes
Multiple POVs
Unlikeable characters
Unreliable narrators
Then this book is most definitely for you!!

I thought the narrators accents and storytelling helped keep me engaged and wondering what was coming next. I highly recommend this audiobook.

A huge thank you to dreamscape media and NetGalley for this ALC / ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What I like was having a full cast narration. That’s a huge win for me with audiobooks. It totally enhances the listening experience and gives the story so much life. I loved the setting and although I enjoyed this one it fell a little flat for me. Here’s what didn’t work for me - it was slow until the middle, then that ending felt extremely rushed. Had I read this when I was new to suspense and thriller reads I do feel like my rating would be higher. Again, very good but not a book I’ll remember long after reading.

This was a fun quick read! We have unreliable and unlikable characters (which is my favorite)! The story is told through multiple POVs and I couldn’t wait to find out how the story would unfold. All in all, a fun quick read!