Saint X is not the story I was expecting to read based off of the blurb. The storyline is obviously reminiscent of some high-profile cases that happened in other Caribbean islands in the recent past. Although this storyline is the main thread throughout, there are such huge tangents that really take you out of the story. By the end, you will feel that you were reading a completely different story than what you expected and because of that, I was not open to where the storyline went. I felt mislead, especially with an underwhelming ambiguous ending.

I love fast-paced psychological thrillers, and that’s what I expected with this book. However, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It was a bit too long, which stalled the pace and took the suspense/mystery down a notch. I enjoyed the few insights the reader received from various POVs. I had a hard time staying engaged at times, and the ending fell a bit flat. Calling this a psychological thriller is a bit of a stretch compared to other books I’ve read in the past. The writing was descriptive and smooth, and the characters were complex, though I had a tough time connecting with them at times. It was just okay overall.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

2.5 ⭐️

First I wanna say a HUGE thank you to Celadon books for sending this my way! I was so surprised and happy to see this show up on my doorstep and I am so very appreciative of the opportunity to read this book before it’s release date and give an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book comes out February 18th!

Claire is only 7 years old when her family takes a tropical vacation to the island of Saint X. Tragically, her 18 year old sister Alison’s body is found floating in the water on the morning of their last day there. This story is mostly told from Claire in present day when she is a college-aged woman and is still grieving the loss of her older sister and looking into whether or not her sisters death was an accident or a murder.

Unfortunately I didn’t really love this book guys. The first half of the book I was actually somewhat enjoying it. I loved the backstory of the events leading up to Alisons death, and I loved seeing how her family coped with the tragedy. When Claire starts digging into the past is when this book kind of lost me.

Some reasons I wasn’t a fan:
- the cover is somewhat misleading with this bright and cheery, tropical vibe and then BAM a murder investigation. But I know that’s nit picky.
-there were just SO MANY pov’s in this book. I understand that the author was trying to convey that Alisons death affected a lot of people in little ways, but I think some of them weren’t necessary to further the plot of the book
-also as a result of the shifting perspectives, I never really had a chance to connect with any characters or really care about them.
-this book is also pretty slow going. It’s labeled as a mystery/thriller, but for the majority of the book I was just waiting for something exciting to happen.

I know that this is pretty harsh, but i do think that this author’s writing style is beautiful. Her descriptions took me out of wintery Iowa and onto the beach in a matter of seconds. I also think the concept of this book was really intriguing! This country is obsessed with stories of pretty young white girls missing on vacation, and I love how this delved under the surface of all of that. I would absolutely read more from this author in the future, because while this book wasn’t my favorite, I do think she has the potential to hit it out of the park.

If you don’t mind a slower paced mystery with multiple POV changes, then I’d definitely say give this book a shot!

As soon as I started reading the book it made me think back to the Natalee Holloway story, and how she disappeared from the island of Aruba and her body was never found. I remember the story so well because it coincided with my move to NYC from London, and followed the news closely at the time. Saint X isn’t a murder mystery though, it’s a beautiful journey into the trails of life, loss, obsession, and the destruction that our actions, and the truth, sometime cause on our own lives and those of others.

Alison and Claire’s family spend a week on a tropical island every winter, and in 1995 they spent an idyllic break on a resort on the island of Saint X. Alison was 18 years old at the time, and Claire, 7. At the end of the vacation Alison disappears, and her body is found a few days later. A couple of men from the island are held as lead suspects for a few days and then released, and Alison’s death remains an unsolved mystery. Until years later Claire, now named Emily, randomly runs into one of those men in NYC…

The author’s writing style was a little jarring for me at first, but it didn’t take me long to get into the book, and appreciate how she describes the island and the people. You can honestly imagine yourself right there, taste the salt on your lips, sitting invisible there between the tourists and the sea. And once we moved to present day Emily (Claire) narrating her story I was hooked. Alexis Schaitkin has a way of describing settings in such a way that you are plunged into them, recognize them, even relate to them. So many of the NYC images are one that I recognize from my own 12 years of living there, and pulled at my heartstrings. Reading this book felt at times like reading my love story of NYC and it felt wonderful to read something where you felt like the author knew the city in the same way you did.

I did not read this as a murder mystery book, and I don’t think it is meant to read as that. It is much more a deep dive into humans and how we react at the fact of sudden death, at how our lives are never exactly as they appear to others, and how, in the end, we are all mysteries to each other. I felt for each of the characters, mainly both Emily and Clive, and wanted to shake them both so many times too: what on earth were they doing?? The story is haunting, sticks to you, makes you wonder how you would react if something like this happened to you or someone close to you.

The attention to detail in this novel is simply amazing. No stone is left uncovered, every person who may have had a part in Alison’s story gets to say their piece and talk about their own lives. I really enjoyed the way the narrators changed through the book, while Emily/Claire is the main protagonist we are also able to hear the voices of those who were affected by Alison and by her death in different ways. This is a giant of a book and I fully appreciate how invested the author must have been in the story and how long this must have taken to write. This is why I took my time reading it and savored each page - it’s not a novel you can rush through, but one that you live through.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Saint X is an island where people come to relax and unwind. We meet The Thomas Family during their vacation on Saint X at the Indigo Bay Resort. During that trip, Alison, the eldest daughter, goes missing and is presumed to be dead. Her sister, Claire, is very young at the time. When Claire grows up, she starts to go by her middle name (Emily). Emily moves to New York City as an adult, and one evening, get in a cab driven by none other than one of the men who Alison was last seen with. She then starts to ask questions and dig into Alison’s life, and learns more about her sister than she ever thought.

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Saint X. Because they are so all over the place, I’m going to list them out.

- This was an interesting read. I wouldn’t call it bad, but it’s not my favorite.
- Claire is a fascinating character. At times, I wanted to commend her on her determination, but at other times, I wanted to have my own intervention with her! Or, help her find a therapist to work through some of her thoughts and feelings.
- The point of view from which the story was told jumped around, as did the time in Alison and Claire/Emily’s lives. As the book went on, it was HARD to follow this.
- Alexis Schaitkin’s writing is very descriptive, which makes it easy to picture Saint X and the various settings, the Thomas’s house, and the New York City scenes.
- I did NOT see that ending coming.

Thanks to Celadon Books and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read this book and maybe part of my problem was that I went in with too high of expectations. Whatever the case, I was quite letdown by this book. Do I think it covers some important topics and gives the reader something to think about? Yes. However, in the end I just don't care enough about the characters. I struggled keeping interest in this slow moving plot. Occasionally something or someone would gauge my interest and then it would fad away again. This is unfortunately not one I will recommend or remember long after.

What a stunning debut novel this is! Claire is only a young girl when her sister, Alison, 11 years older, goes missing on the last day of their beach vacation on the fictional island of Saint X The police initially make arrests of two men but must release them due to lack of evidence. The case goes viral in part because it is a white girl who has gone missing and the suspects are people of colour. Move forward several years and Claire is now in New York. In a chance happening, Claire comes upon one of the two men initially charged with Alison’s murder. This may be her only chance to find out what really happened.

I completely loved everything about this book. The writing from the third person perspective with first person inserts from peripheral characters in bold type was unique and clever. Schaitkin takes on victim blaming, race, grief and unlikely connections in this beautifully told story.

Claire’s character is one I haven’t seen in other stories. There is a self-awareness that likely comes with tragedy but also a hidden bitterness that one might not expect. You can sense a little bit of this in this quote from the book: “they [the parents] thought they wanted to raise another kid. Really, they wanted to raise Alison again.” One is left wondering if Claire could change the course of history for Alison, would she have?

Each character in this book is left questioning their actions and omissions all for different reasons.

The tension in this book was high with lots of tidbits to tide you over until the next moment of enlightenment. The flow of the story was seamless and the narrative totally believable. I appreciated the addition of island folklore. The book’s conclusion was not tidy but gave the reader some meat to chew on.

This is a great book to read if you are in a book club and/or like mysteries, literary fiction and also coming of age stories.

Thanks to @CeladonBooks for this advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

2020 is already starting out to be a great year for books. Saint X is one of those books that grabs you , sucking you into it completely until you feel like you are a living, breathing version of it.

On Saint X, where the well-to-do come for rest and relaxation, fun in the sun and a chance to get away from their boring but secure lives, is where the story of the Thomas’ begins. The eldest daughter Alison, beautiful, athletic and aloof, loses her life mysteriously, leaving her family to pick up the pieces. Her younger sister Claire, who was very young at the time her sister dies, must grow up in the shadow of her sister’s death. It isn’t until years later that she meets one of the men thought responsible for her sister’s death that the story really takes off.

The author did a tremendous job telling this story from different points of view. When a person dies, how does it affect the people around that death? Not just the family, but anyone else who may have been touched by it? Saint X does a fantastic job interspersing conversations by people who were in Alison’s life, directly or indirectly, and how her death affected them. But it also shows how a surviving child grows up in the aftermath and what can happen when his or her life is turned upside down by chance.

This book will definitely be one of my favorites of 2020 and one recommend to my readers.

I went into Saint X expecting a beautifully dark Dateline episode, and Alexis Schaitkin handily upended that expectation. What starts as an all too familiar story of a teen girl going missing on vacation soon turns very deep, exploring themes of colonialism, grief, and beauty itself. Impressive debut.

A missing girl on a Caribbean Island, what more could you ask for? This book focuses on the case of a missing girl on Saint X. Claire must deal with the disappearance and death of her sister Alison. After many years Claire comes into contact with one of the men that had been suspected of killing Alison in NYC. After many weeks of following him around Claire confronts him and wants to learn the truth of what happened to her sister on that night many years ago.

This is a suspenseful book that will have you waiting for answers and also wondering what Claire is going to do next! I really enjoyed this book as I felt that the pace and events in the book were different than other murder/suspense reads.

2.5 stars.

I received Saint X in exchange for an honest review -- thanks Netgalley and Celadon Books. I also received an audiocopy from Libro FM, so I mixed reading and listening to form an opinion.

I went into this book having read a short description and made the assumption that it would be a thriller...but it wasn't. This story isn't fast paced or full of twists that keep the reader guessing what happened, and at some points, I was having a hard time figuring out what the author was going for. There is commentary about race, privilege and gratitude that was unexpected but elevated the book's depth. It felt similar to the vibe of "Searching for Sylvie Lee' in that it's more literary than thriller, and that it's about a sister trying to make sense of her sister's disappearance/death.

Unfortunately this book was too much of a slow burn for me, and it felt like it dragged on. While I liked that it featured different perspectives, some felt under-developed.

On the audio front, I liked the ensemble of voices (14 total!) and I hope this continues to be a trend in audiobooks.

Overall - I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't my favorite.

A brilliant and beautifully written tale by this debut author. The story tells the what of after a tragedy . This book was graciously provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was overly excited to start this book. The cover of the book was appealing to the eye, the storyline of Alison going missing on a fictional Caribbean island was intriguing, however the book fell short for me.

I felt like the chapters were too long. The first couple chapters and the last couple chapters I enjoyed. I enjoyed the descriptive beach vibes of this island and felt as if I was there. Finding a dead girls body and having no idea what happened, with this unique little sister in the background seemed suspenseful, but I found the chapters to be too long and somewhat boring and repetitive.

I didn’t particularly like some of the narrative being in third person as well as the use of “we” instead of “us,” and “she and he” instead of “him or her.” I thought that was a bit odd.

There were too many characters, with chapters based on characters that I felt didn’t really serve a purpose toward the story line and just made the story too long. This was not the fast paced suspenseful thriller I was anticipating.

I liked Claire “Emily” as this intriguing little girl with odd tendencies, but as an adult she was somewhat boring and kind of a stalker.

3 stars for me

I wanted to love this story, this was the one book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. While it was written very well I am not a fan of SJW and I felt like this was what the center point was.

Possible spoiler Alert:

Alison is a self righteous girl whos attitude is pity me because I’m white and have white privilege but also look at me I’m cool and need to be center of attention. If the resort would have done a good job investigating they would have see who she was last with on that day. The white guys poor judgment to save himself is what the issue is. We need to work on moral character and stop blaming race. I felt for Clive but I also feel he never had anyone to guid him into being a strong man.

At 28% I'm throwing in the towel on this one. I just can't get into it. I am not of fan of this Author's writing style. It's too wordy, in more than one way, almost as if she's trying too hard. At this percentage, I've already highlighted 11 words that I've never seen used in anything I've ever read. I'm not saying they aren't actual words, I'm saying why use a word that's so obscure...that it takes someone out of the story trying to figure out what it means. When crafting a story it should bring the reader in deeper, not take them out completely. It also has the kind of prose that gets deep into everything, going off in tangents in different directions that loses me too easily. I just needed her to get on with the story...sadly it took too long to go anywhere for me.

I should mention that others have really liked this. It's why I didn't DNF at 5% like I originally wanted.

NO RATING SINCE I DNF'D

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for ARC. 4⭐️ Fantastic writing and narration devices. It’s a mystery that also explores grief, obsession and white privilege.

I just finished reading Saint X, by author Alexis Schaitkin

This book started off very intriguing for me, and was a good book from start to finish
The storyline was well written, and the characters all complex, and interesting
It did seem a bit long for me particularly about mid point, however I did thoroughly enjoy it

I would rate it 3.5 stars, and was a superb debut novel

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and the author for an early copy, in exchange for my honest review!

#SaintX #NetGalley

There was nothing inherently bad about this book. My problem with it, and the reason I stopped reading at 40% is because the pacing was so slow. When I read a thriller I need it to be very plot driven and this was very character driven. The writing style was phenomenal, it was simply too slow for me.

I had a lot of anticipation about Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin and it was just one of my 2020 books I was the most excited about. Unfortunately, after a really great start, it ended up being a reading letdown for me. I think my lack of connection with this book has to do a lot with what my expectations were when I read the book summary compared to my actual reading experience. I was just expecting something very different!

I love a slow burn with highly detailed characters but this one totally threw me off with the fast-paced beginning. I think if I knew it was going to be less plot-driven I would have had a very different expectations for it. I don't need twists and turns but this was ending up being so wordy and after a dramatic beginning just lacked any oompf for me after the beginning set me up with so many questions I needed answers for.

Because the characters weren't likable and even though it was rich with text, I never ended up feeling like I "knew them" which just made me feel uninvested in the storyline. I think this book did have some powerful messages regarding race, class, and privilege, but these fell flat for me with the particularly wordy writing style.

I think this is going to be one of those books that there are strong feelings about. Even just reading the initial ARC reviews on Goodreads, there is a whole range of reactions, some that are very positive. I think, all in all, this just was a case of being the wrong timing and expectations for me.

Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley and LibroFM for advanced copies. All opinions are my own.

Saint x is a story of loss, grief, determination and the love between to sisters.

When Clair a seven year old is on a family vacation her eighteen year old sister disappears and her body is found two days. Two men who work at their resort are arrested only to be let go because there is not enough evidence. The family must return home with the huge loss and no closure.

Years later Clair runs into one of the men originally arrested in the case. This sparks a fierce determination in her to find out once and for all what really happened to her sister.

This book was a hard to put down twisty mystery. The authors writing style was very detailed and painted the perfect pictures for you. The book makes you question inequality in classes and races.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.