It's migraine season with the weather changing, so I figured picking up a supposedly gripping YA mystery would distract me while I waited for the triptans to kick in. Imagine my sense of cosmic irony when I realized the narrator spends a big chunk of the book describing headaches...

Now, onto the book itself. There be mild spoilers ahead (that shouldn't ruin the initial reading experience, unless you're a spoiler purist).

The good: this is an extremely readable book. I tore through it in an evening. It kept my interest in spite of several flaws (outlined below). It was very clearly building towards a big twist which I was curious about but wasn't putting too much effort into guessing. Some folks claim it was obvious but I disagree - many of the foreshadowing hints could very easily be explained by age, wealth, and self centeredness of the characters involved.

The bad: I spent so much time reading the 1 and 2 star reviews for this book and absolutely loving them. They really highlight the major issues with the book better than I could. I think it boils down to: social commentary this book is not (I just mentally checked out of the race and class issues this book touched on tbh). Also, rich teens on a private island are fundamentally unlikeable and shallow characters, as are their romances and relationships. They don't have the brightest of ideas.

Ultimately, this just barely scrapes a 3 stars from me. I enjoyed my reading experience in the sense that it was easy to read and I was surprised by the twist. I would recommend it only if you want a quick accessible read that's plot-only (and, frankly, twist-only), enjoy unreliable teenage narrators, are willing to overlook unlikeable and flat characters, and want to cleanse your pallette of more serious reads.