Suspenseful but the stories became too distinct and the ending fell flat for me. Overall it felt longer than necessary and overwritten.

Do Not Become Alarmed was a suspenseful novel about three families and their lost children in South America. I enjoyed the story but was not as impressed with the overall read.

This book was well-written and insightful on the subject of relationships, and I cared about and understood the characters. I had a hard time because it’s so real and brutal— it’s not a fun read— but I could recommend it to someone with some emotional energy to exercise.

Sorry, could not get into this book. Story didn’t seem plausible and the characters were unappealing.

Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy is a story of what happens when two families go on a cruise and then, on an excursion to the shores of Central America, the kids in the family go missing. (And there should be a trigger warning because there is some sexual assault that takes place about midway through.)

The novel is told from the points of view of a handful of the characters, switching perspectives from the panicked adults to the kids who, based on their ages, all have different feelings about what is happening. It's good because, instead of waiting until the very end to find out what's actual happening, we get to see it in real time, all the while knowing what the parents are going through in the background.

Now there were some issues. The writing was a bit clunky in places and some of the character's reactions seemed out of place. I know different people react to situations differently but the way certain character's were represented it didn't jive between their thought processes and how they actually reacted. The adults acted more like children than the children did and the children acted more like adults. It was kind of jarring, especially during some of the more violent scenes.

Overall, Do Not Become Alarmed kept my attention and kept me reading but it wasn't the greatest mystery/thriller I've ever read.

A very suspenseful read about two families that are vacation together in South America and something terribly wrong happens.

I like how the book tells the story from both the parents and the children's perspective giving us much more of the story and a bird's eye view into the situation.

The story is also about how everyone handles adversity in different ways and how society places judgements on how it is handled.

Thank you for the advanced copy. I enjoyed reading Do Not Become Alarmed.

I flew through this book; I just had to know how it was going to end!

Americans learn only from catastrophe and not from experience—Theodore Roosevelt. Two cousins and their families going on a cruise down the coast of Mexico to Panama—what could go wrong? After a slow beginning to the book, describing ship life and activities, the action begins as the two families and a vacationing family from Argentina agree to a day trip off the ship to the Switzerland of Latin America, Panama. Not being able to agree on what to do, the three men decide to play golf, and the three women and their six kids choose a zipline tour. But not long after boarding a tour minivan, a tire blows out and they are hit by another car, sending the minivan spinning and flying. Because they are near a beach, they decide to wait on a rescue taxi while swimming. The kids immediately head for the water while the mothers keep a watchful eye. But they didn’t keep a watchful eye, and the children were drawn into a river inlet by the incoming tide. Here’s where the real action begins and where I had a hard time putting down the book. The children are kidnapped and taken to the home of a drug lord. The ensuing search for the kids is made even more difficult when the police are paid off. Raul has his eyes on Isabel, the 14 year old Argentinian girl, and Sebastian, who is severely diabetic, needs insulin. Through days of escape and dangerous, desperate flight, the children experience things no child should have to experience. Their harrowing experiences kept me speed reading to the end. The author does a stellar job of portraying the raw emotions of the parents as they have to endure days of waiting for their children to be found—or not. Overlooking the slow beginning, this book is definitely on my favorites list, and I would definitely recommend it to friends and fellow readers. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for an advanced copy.

Do Not Become Alarmed is the story of two couples that go on a cruise together with their children. When they disembark the cruise ship to go on an excursion, the children disappear.

If you are considering going on a cruise anytime soon, do NOT read this book. Wait until you get back from your cruise; safe and sound. If not, read on!

The story is told from a multiple perspectives. Although the story is both exciting, and compelling, it lacks the distinctive adrenaline rush and mystery that accompanies a thriller. While many others have dubbed Do Not Become Alarmed as such, I think adventure would be a more apt genre.

While Do Not Become Alarmed may not thrill like horror; the fears faced are the real ones that we all face when traveling.

This is a bit different from what I'd come to expect from Maile Meloy - it's a thriller about a cruise ship excursion gone bad. The thriller aspect is decent and the rich white people (who are obnoxious overall) don't escape completely, but I struggled to feel the book was entirely realistic. First of all, the cruise line unceremoniously dumps their luggage on the pier when they fail to return from a cruiseline-official excursion. Considering that this is an official excursion AND they are some of the wealthiest people on board, I'm sorry but this just wouldn't ever happen. Not without at the very least leaving someone from the cruiseline to look after them. There is also a series of scenes where the children and other various characters all come together on a train, and it felt a bit forced. And the criminals are inconsistent. I also ended up feeling like the people in danger were somewhat to blame for their predicament (the fathers abandon the families to go golfing and the mothers are either romping in the jungle with the tour guide or falling asleep on duty; the children have no common sense and make the situation worse), so I wasn't as much on their side as I felt I should be.

Still, if I were going on a cruise, this would be a great read. Or if I'd chosen the beach over a cruise, even better. :)

This is a thriller, yet it also an examination of how things can go awry and how coping methods in crisis differ. The plot line was developed through the voices of the children and adults. The sense of place is tangible and the characters believable.

This title has been provided by the publisher VIA NetGalley at no charge in exchange for an honest review.

<blockquote>Liv had sat hunched over her phone in the club room while her coffee went cold, looking for suspicious Instagram posts, trying different hashtags, and now she forked an English muffin into halves. Crumbs dropped onto the table in front of the toaster. That was her, she reflected: soft, white, torn, crumbling.</blockquote>

In 'Do Not Become Alarmed', three families navigate a parent's worst nightmare when their respective children go missing while on an international vacation. The set-up provides an examination of American privilege and family dramatics, but ultimately suffers from too little time to explore each of the novel's many characters...leading them to be presented as either flat or unlikable. Sometimes both. (Poor Penny.)

Told in alternating narratives from the parents' and kids' perspectives, I found myself more drawn to the dark 'Adventures in Babysitting' storyline of the kids' saga. But, the grind of unfortunate events took the thrill out of this thriller in the end.

3 stars for being an above-average juicy beach read to chat over, but no new territory explored on this trip.

'Do Not Become Alarmed' is currently available at all major booksellers.

Do Not Become Alarmed is supposed to be one of the best books of summer. It was a page turner, but not one of the best books that I have ever read. First of all, I disliked a majority of the characters, both “good” and “bad.” In a stressful situation such as missing children, of course there’s finger-pointing and fighting. It’s unavoidable. But their responses to the situation, additional bad choices, and treatment of one another made me feel less sympathy for them - not more. Second, the reader knew that the adults were one step behind the children, showing up right after the children left. Instead of building suspense, it just gave me a sense of dread and annoyance. Finally, Isabel’s storyline devastated me. It was probably realistic, but I hated reading about it.

The part of the storyline that was most suspenseful was Sebastian’s, as he was diabetic and I did like the children’s characters, in spite of their decision to trust the wrong people. I’m glad that I read Do Not Become Alarmed but I’m even more glad that I didn’t buy it, because I probably won’t read it again. In spite of the relatively happy ending, it definitely left me disappointed.

A great story that reels you in from the start -- be prepared to read it straight through.

Two cousins decide to escape the Christmas season and take a cruise with their families. But all is not as it seems when the children go missing. Full of foreshadowing and plot twists, Do Not Become Alarmed will have you wondering who you can really trust and marvelling at how disastrous events can bring people together or drive them apart. Fans of Meg Wollizer and Ruth Ware will enjoy this domestic tale of suspense.

A tropical vacation goes awry in Maile Meloy’s ominous, addictive novel. When hardworking, ultra-privileged cousins Liv and Nora decide to whisk their families away on a whirlwind two-week luxury cruise down the coast of Mexico and Central America after Nora’s mother dies, However, when the men, women and children separate for an off-ship excursion, the children suddenly disappear, and a stress-free trip away turns into an unexpected nightmare.

Not my usual fare, but it was definitely full of suspense, though not full of interesting characters. They didn't ring true or likable, even when they should have been.

Two Cousins take their families on a cruise for Christmas break. After one bad decision things go from idyllic to chaos . This book is every parent's nightmare and how one bad misstep can cause a ripple effect. It also brings up some timely ethical issues about the USA and foreign countries . quite a page turner

Unfortunately sorry I just could not finish reading this book. I found it very disjointed and I could not follow the many characters. The topic did not appeal to me either. It is hard to give a review like this and of course it is just my opinion

When two close-knot cousins take their families on a cruise, the kids become separated from the parents. Fast-paced, but with plenty of character development.