This book was slow. I started in October and didn’t finish it till the end of November. Three girls are sent by their parents to a summer camp that no one want to go to. This summer camp is someplace their parents went when they were young and just decided you’re going. There wasn’t much online about this summer camp so all the girls are a “little what am I getting into”. Their parents have told them to make the most of it, make new friends, and have a good time. The girls are all arriving a day later than the rest of the camp. This camp is in Maine and the only way to get there is by a 2+ hour boat ride. The boat arrives at the dock, the girls get up, the boat leaves, and the girls head towards the lake house. At the top of the trail, they find the lake house is nothing but a burnt out shell of a building. While searching for others, they find one dead body riddled with bullet holes. The fight for survival begins. Our main character Claire is extremely anxious and is always thinking of the worst possible thing that can happen. One of the girls is a Latina Barbie with more knowledge than anybody ever suspects, and our last girl is strong, but with a soft side that isn’t always seen. This book is a character study that focuses heavily on these girls for the first half of the book. It’s the characters that makes this such a slow read. There’s lots of them tramping back in for through the forest, trying to find water, trying to find food. 

 

It’s the second half of this book that really gets the story moving. More characters show up but leaving you wondering why are they here and are they help or are they hindrance. That’s when other weird things start happening and you realize there may be more going on in there appears. To this reader, the end of the book was very familiar. This book very much feels like a YAa retelling of Meddling Kids. I did like this book but I didn’t love it and I’m not sure how much staying power it will have on a school shelf. But the author is prolific and writes in multiple genres for multiple ages so it will be interesting to see what they do next.