Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Publication: HarperTeen (April 25, 2023)
Description: Yellowjackets meets One of Us Is Lying in this masterful survival thriller from award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst.
Claire’s grown up triple-checking locks. Counting her steps. Second-guessing every decision. It’s just how she’s wired—her worst-case scenarios never actually come true.
Until she arrives at an off-the-grid summer camp to find a blackened, burned husk instead of a lodge—and no survivors, except her and two other late arrivals: Reyva and Mariana.
When the three girls find a dead body in the woods, they realize none of this is an accident. Someone, something, is hunting them. Something that hides in the shadows.
Something that refuses to let them leave.
My Thoughts: This was an entertaining story about girl friendships with more than a touch of horror.
Claire, Revya, and Mariana are late arrivals at the Lake House. All have been pressured by their parents to go to this summer camp for and "enrichment retreat." None expected to find themselves alone on an island in Maine with the camp burned to the ground and something chasing them.
I liked the way each girl exposed herself to the others as they began to trust each other. Claire has a pessimistic viewpoint on life. She's the first to identify all the things that can go wrong in any situation. Sometimes these circular thoughts cause her be suffer panic attacks. Her parents don't know what to do with her and make her feel that these attacks can be overcome with a more positive attitude. This only makes Claire feel worse about them.
Mariana and Revya are hiding secrets of their own.
But all three girls have to develop their own sorts of survival skills if they want to live through their summer camp experience. I loved watching the girls grow while learning to depend on and accept each other for what they are.
The horror aspect was also a nice addition to the story in a very creepy way.
Favorite Quote:
Favorite Quote:
I'm a puzzle solver, she thought, turning the words over in her head. She liked that a lot better than "paranoid mess." I've hidden who I am and been ashamed of who I am for so long...But I'm not week. Maybe I'm broken, maybe I can never be "fixed," at least not enough to please everyone, but I am not fragile. I am not powerless. I am strong, no "despite" or "except for" or any other conditionals. I am enough exactly as I am.
OOoh interesting! I was immediately drawn to this one with that cover! I even saw it at the store last weekend, but realized it was out almost 2 weeks early so I refrained from picking it up! Sounds like a good one though! Nice review!
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