I’m gonna have to admit that I have a problem. I often read reviews of books before I even read what the book is about…. And I did that with this book and started reading it in a cautiously optimistic manner because a lot of the reviews were mixed. What did I find out? That I really did enjoy this book even with a few of its… quirks.

The main character, Liv, was admittedly a little annoying. She did question herself way too much (even when it was quite obvious that she should no longer be questioning herself). When it got to the end and she was like “what if I’m just making all of this up or hallucinating?” I was like, girl, there is no way that these are all just coincidences. I don’t care how far-fetched the truth seems. After all she went through, I would’ve been off that ship way sooner. Other than that, though, the plot was enjoyable, I often found myself extremely creeped out (a good thing, in my opinion, because the writing was great), and I was somewhat satisfied with the open-ish ending.

Did I wish there was a little… more from this book? Yes, I kind of did. I would’ve liked a few more “scares” and doom. I also would’ve liked a little more explanation in terms of the ending. It would’ve been nice, too, to have a little more high-stakes scenes that weren’t just the last thirty-ish pages of the book. And the fact that no one ever questions anything about the weird goings-on on deck? Yeah, that didn’t seem too plausible to me.

Overall, this was a weirdly creepy and horror-filled fish novel with a great plot and a fun, atmospheric vibe. If you like dark, monster-like stories, you’ll love this as a summer read. Remind me not to go on a cruise ship any time soon 😊

Source: Audiobook from Libby Public Library