- I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book given to me by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own -

This was both very different from typical YA literature and still felt all the same - the biggest surprise was probably that the main protagonist Alaia has OCD and the book both explores her and her condition really beautifully, making sure that people who not have OCD can understand her struggles and also see how strong she is when she learns how to work with her condition. While Alaia  is written quite well and in-depth, this makes all the other not so well characterised castaways seem less than actual people but more like walking two or thee word character descriptions. So it comes to no surprise that most of the personal conflict falls quite flat. 
Plot wise there is a lot to say. The book keeps comparing itself to ‘squid game’ and ‘Peter Pan’ and both are not really true. But it tries to follow the typical trope of „castaways surviving in a game-like environment with one big bad who has been controlling everything from the beginning” and is very predictable with it’s plot. Both the romance and th character developments, deaths and who is going to be the Lotus Flower Champion are quite easy to guess from the beginning. The myths are interesting by themselves but a quick look at the source material reveals that the book uses quite many without real depth or accuracy to the real stories to further the plot.

The writing style could use some work in parts but I overall enjoyed reading this book, even if it has its flaws and doesn’t work for me all the way through.