Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Received an arc from Net Galley for an honest review.
Expected Release: July 9th 2019
This book had so much potential. I heard it was supposedly a Lord of the Flies retelling and when I read that sophomore year of high school I loved it, but I didn't think that this book even came close to that one.
**This link will provide the list of Trigger Warnings as mentioned by the author
Summary
It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her.
It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.
But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.
The synopsis and cover really had me intrigued about what this book would end up being. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, but I'm not sure the story quite lives up to it. Don't get me wrong, I did like the story because it was unique to most of the things I've read recently, but when it comes to being labeled as a Lord of the Flies retelling, I expected more. I understand that in a way it was a retelling but my expectations might have been set too high by the original.
I found this book grasping my full attention because I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen and what the Tox was. And I was disappointed with the end result. However, the hype leading up to it was gripping; The flare ups and when Byatt goes missing, ooh I was intrigued. Something I didn't fully expect but enjoyed was the alternating perspectives once Byatt went missing because we weren't completely in the dark even though Hetty was. The one thing I did find similar to Lord of the Flies was the increasing amount of subtle chaos as the story progressed.
I also enjoyed the friendships throughout this story. Not just the main characters but the detail in mentioning that the other girls had groups and that nobody was really alone. I don't know why but that provided me with some comfort. When it came to the main characters, I really did enjoy their friendship and how we learned pieces about how it came to be and tiny bits about each girls background. I do think the part where things almost(?) turned romantic was kind of strange. It didn't really fit for me compared to the rest of the story. I do enjoy the LGBTQ+ rep but I think in this books case, the hint of romance only made me more confused for the rest of the book. I kept wondering if they were even still romantic or if they just let that one encounter go and moved forward as friends? Maybe that was something I missed somewhere in the story but still.
Next is the end result. There were a lot of turns and they all seemed really fast and there with some with little explanation. Starting from the last boat shift is when everything truly went downhill and fast. But the one thing that really bothered me was the research people giving up. There wasn't really an explanation for them giving up on a cure for the Tox other than someone breaking quarantine. Is that really enough to give up on all the research already done? It just doesn't make sense how that one little part will make you throw away everything you've already done. It also could've been because of Teddy, but that was his own fault in my opinion. Then all the sudden Reese and Hetty escape and leave everyone else behind to be bombed essentially? This whole part happened so fast to me it was hard to keep up. Then all of the sudden they are on the island where Byatt is and they find the place and then her but she's dead and they have to hurry her back to the boat before they also get bombed. Like it was all so fast. Then it ended with them on the boat with no resolve. It left me wanting a lot more than I got. But just because I wasn't fully satisfied with this book doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it or think it was decent.
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