A little too sappy for my personal taste. Also very predictable, but in that feel-good story way, which I know appeals to many people. Fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea would probably love this. I was expecting some hardcore competition with serious rivalry and maybe even danger, but there was none of that.

I found the first two parts to drag a little bit, but once Lucy got on the island, it picked up and I was much more interested in the story. I wish Lucy wasn't such an obvious favourite from the start, that I could have at least pretended that the playing field was more level than it actually was. I also wish it had focused more on the games and riddles, but there were the first two and the rest were just glossed over, except the very last one, which is a bummer because the games were the most exciting part.

There's also a mishap with the points towards the end where it says that

both Melanie and Lucy had five and Andre had six, but Melanie had five points earlier, with Lucy and Andre on five

.