“…There is nothing the truth can give you that you cannot give yourself… in the end, you just have to decide. To live. To continue.”

Above all, Alexis Schaitkin’s 'Saint X' is an exploration of how one singular event can reverberate in the most interesting and unpredictable ways. Claire was only seven when her 18-year-old sister, Alison, disappears on the island of Saint X. Years later, Claire has a chance interaction with one of the men who may have been involved. As she begins to become increasingly obsessed with this man and his secrets, her own ability to cope with her sister’s loss becomes untenable.

This novel is so much more than just its seminal event. It’s a whodunit, wrapped in a coming-of-age story, bound with threads of white privilege, implicit biases, and the comforts and complacency that come from socioeconomic privilege. It posits various ways that individuals process and deal with trauma and deceit. There are so many delicious layers to this story, so many truths, so many perspectives, and the narrative unfolds in an enthralling way.

In my opinion, 'Saint X' is a triumphant debut. I cannot wait to read what Schaitkin comes up with next.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

Did not finish this one, but read enough to comment. The pace of this mystery is slooooooow. And, the narrative, full of flashbacks, is choppy. A fairly good story line, but overall just ok. The pacing and lack of sympathetic characters is the primary reason I moved on.

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉! 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆? 𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎."⁣
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5⁣
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I was over the moon to receive this advanced copy. I stalked NetGalley for this book, crossed my fingers constantly, thought about this book. I think I ended up willing the universe to make it mine, because the physical copy arrived with no notice and I excitedly accepted it. ⁣
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!! St. Croix is my favorite place in the world, and I got all those vibes. Reading about similar places, that might be familiar, helps the imagination.⁣
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I've seen some less favorable reviews about how it ended, but honestly I think it ended perfectly. I've had a rough two weeks, and this month is not shaping up to be as successful as others in terms of the count of books read, but having the ability to finally finish this book today, after having started it 13 days ago, I'm content with November (and 2019 in general, if I'm honest).⁣
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Thank you, Celadon Books (@celadonbooks ) for making me a very happy reader, and to Alexis Schaitkin (@alexisschaitkin) for putting this to life on paper.⁣

This book reminded me a bit of Searching for Sylvie Lee. One sister dies while on vacation and the other tries to find the answers of who did it and why. But, like Sylvie Lee there are so many flashback stories into people's childhoods you start to feel like they all aren't necessarily or relivant. ⁣
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Then there's the issue with race being brought up a lot and again, it's unnecessary. For example a white character brings up that she feels uncomfortable with a black waiter bringing them drinks. Her thought process makes it seem like she thinks she's better than everyone else for being so self aware as to think this, but I'm not sure what the actual intent was for including this was. ⁣
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This book was being classified as a mystery or thriller, but readers of those genres will be disappointed. It’s really well written, but may fit best if classified as literary fiction. Those that enjoyed The Dutch House or Ask Again, Yes may enjoy this one, but like those books, it was a miss for me. ⁣

This book is quite different than what I expected. Not nearly as “high octane” as most thrillers but I liked it a lot. Beginning story reminds me of the Natalie Holloway story but much different. The plot runs through a death of a teenager on an island vacation. Thee is a who dun it aspect, but the relationships and characters take center stage
The book focuses on the younger sister and one of the accused island boys and their lives after the murder. I thought the book was a bit wordy and seemed longer than it was. I would definitely recommend it anyway! Otherwise 5 stars ⭐️ would be appropriate. Celadon Books is my favorite publisher. They really do their research. I’ve read this one, Silent Patient, and A Nearly Normal Family, my favorite this year.
Thank you for the ARC. It was given with no promise of a favorable review.

First of all, I want to say thank you so much to Celadon for my physical copy, Netgalley for my digital, and Librofm for me audio copy. I split reading this book between the three and it helped me finish the book quickly and I enjoyed it a lot. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I liked it regardless.

I assumed this was more of a thriller, but it ended up being more of a family drama. The book starts with an 18-year-old girl, Alison, going missing while her family is on vacation on the island of Saint X. You get to understand Alison’s family in the beginning and that’s when I started getting into the family drama side of this book.

Alison’s younger sister Claire becomes obsessed with the case and trying to figure out who was involved. The book shifts to be about her grief and the loss of her sister. The book focused on the difficulty of losing someone and even though some people didn’t like that part, I felt that I could relate to it and it meant a lot to me personally. Having recently lost a best friend, this book did a good job discussing grief and loss in a relatable way. The loss of one person can really touch so many others and affect their lives in different ways, and this book did a good job of showing that.

I also think this book was thought-provoking in the way it talked about race, class, and economic status. It had many points to discuss and brought up important issues. The writing in this book was beautiful and descriptive and left a lot to think about.

Something I didn’t like about the book was the character’s personalities. It was hard to feel bad for Alison in some parts because she seemed spoiled and other parts I felt frustrated at Claire. The character's flaws do make the characters relatable, just not likable to me personally. I also felt the ending was a bit of a let down after Claire’s searching throughout the book.

In the end, I did enjoy Saint X and I was happy I had a chance to read it. I would recommend it to people that like family dramas, light mystery, or just a good story. 4-stars!

4 stars

This is going to be a very controversial book in that it will generate a lot of disparate feelings and lots of discussion. It's not your old school crime thriller/whodunnit by any means. (I wish I could have been warned prior to reading about the pace of solving the crime. It's certainly not the books fault, but the very fast moving beginning put me in the wrong headspace for what I was to expect from the rest of the book so it took work to pull me out.) It is a true, 21st century millennial work that is genre bending, unique in it's voice, it's structure and pacing. There are no likeable characters, and there is a lot of walking and watching. (I mean a lot of walking and watching.) However, overall, the parts that work THEY WORK. Let's discuss:

Let's start with the good:
- The first 70 pages and the last 60 pages are the brilliant bookends that make this book a 4 star read.
- The writing is whip smart and thought provoking - class, socioeconomic status, race...it's all there. My book friend Michelle wrote that 'this is book club gold' and she is completely right.
- The way Alison's death reverberates with every person she touched and those who witnessed her last days is genius in how it was depicted.

The challenges:
- I started skimming bits of the NYC sections. For a 340 page book, it got a little too descriptive for me and made it feel tedious at times.
- If character likeability is your thing, you might struggle.
- An ambigious ending, which can work for some and not for others.

While you might be confused and think, "This is the worst endorsement of a book ever, Michelle", I promise that this is something that I'm really glad I read. I think it really helped me mature as a reader. The author's acknowledgments gave insight into what the inspiration was for writing this and I think that really brought it home for me. I CANNOT WAIT to see what Alexis Schaitkin comes up with next. I will be writing to Celadon begging for an advanced copy because I'm so impressed by this being a debut.

I am extremely grateful and so appreciative to Celadon Books and Alexis Schaitkin for sending me a copy of Saint X to read and provide an honest review. Celadon Books has easily become one of my favorite publishers this year. I have loved everything I have read by them and appreciated their deliberate choices in what they publish.

Thank you also to Netgalley for the early copy to review honestly.

Review Date: 11/14/19
Publication Date: 02/18/20

I really, really wanted to LOVE this book but sadly, I just didn't. I loved the premise but the details bogged the book down at times. And I found myself skimming the story instead of enjoying the writing. I just wanted to get to the end. But even that fell a little flat for me.

This book = BOOK CLUB GOLD!!!

There is so much to chew on and discuss here that book clubs across the globe will be talking about this book come February!

Claire is only 7 years old while vacationing with her family on the tropical island of Saint X. Claire is a quiet child, some may even say a bit odd, but one thing is for certain: Claire and her big sister Alison share a tight bond. She admires Alison's beauty, her wit, her intelligence, the way that she lights up a room, the way people gravitate toward her. These are all things she feels she lacks herself so on a pedestal of her own making Alison goes. Alison on the other hand worries that the shy Claire is too vulnerable for this big bad world and likes to keep her under her wing.

On the last evening of their vacation Alison doesn't come home. A search is initiated and after several weeks her body is discovered in the waters of Faraway Cay. Two of the resort workers, Edwin and Clive, that Alison became chummy with, are questioned but are released due to lack of evidence. No one has ever been charged and this will go down as a local mystery that makes national headlines.

In the present day Claire finds herself making a living in NYC. One day when she flags down a cab she notices upon exiting that the cab drivers name is Clive Richardson. He was one of the young men at the resort that was questioned and released. Claire becomes obsessed with insinuating herself into his life determined to find out what happened to Alison once and for all.

The more Claire looks into the past she is beginning to discover that the Alison she remembers is not who Alison actually was. Being as she was only 7 she saw the 18 year old Alison as a shining star but it turns out that may not be the case and this unsettles her.

I'll be honest and tell you that I didn't really like Alison or the adult Claire very much. As we get to know Alison she comes across as self righteous and bratty. She resents her lovely and loving parents so much that I found it off-putting. I just wanted to scream in my kindle "YOU SPOILED LITTLE BRAT!"

Rich vs. Poor. Black vs. White. These themes run the entirety of the novel.

The ending will have people talking I'm sure. Personally, I didn't mind it but others may not like it.

As I turned the final page I was surprised to discover that the person who stole my heart wasn't who I thought it was going to be when I opened this book up.

Alexis Schaitkin, I bow to you. You can spin a tale like no other. The atmosphere she creates is truly incredible. I felt as if I had been transported to the beaches of Saint X and the streets of NYC while I was reading and that is a sign of phenomenal writing skills. This may also be the downfall of this book as well. It starts to get overly descriptive to the point that I would skim paragraphs just so I could return to the storytelling but, hey, if that's my only gripe then I'm a happy reader. Also, I can't forget to mention that cover is eye candy! 😍 4 stars!

One final note: Celadon, keep up the great work! You have quickly become one of my favorite publishers. 💗

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Saint X is a truly interesting look at the ways a life is altered following a major tragedy - from the family of the dead to those accused of murder - the people connected to the death of Allison Thomas would never be the same.

Following Allison's death on the carribean island Saint X, we see how her sister's life has changed alongside Clive, one of the men originally accused of her murder and some others as well. Saint X is not a mystery, but rather a slow burn, deep dive into how lives were changed as a result. While an interesting topic, I felt the book could have probably cut out 100 pages and still achieved the same message.

This book had me glued to my tablet. The pages flew by..you won't want it to end, and you can't believe what transpires. Great book!

Thanks to author,publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free,it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Alexis Schaitkin unspools a story of that 18-year-old we all know. The one with buckets of confidence and virtually no experience. Who wants to be thought well of, while never giving their parents the time of day. Who rolls her eyes, shows off her body, and keeps oodles of secrets.

In Saint X, Schaitkin’s debut novel, that young woman is Alison Thomas. Alison, not Ali. And Alison “spelled right.” She and her comfortably wealthy family are vacationing on a small Caribbean island during winter break. Her mom and dad always pick a warm spot to take Alison and her awkward seven year old sister, Claire, affectionately known as Clairey. On this trip, Alison is especially feeling her independence after a semester at college. She flirts with all the guys, and sneaks out to dance, drink, and smoke weed with locals.

Then the unthinkable happens. Her parents can’t find her on the last morning of the trip. It’s no spoiler to say Alison’s body is found several days later in a secluded spot. While part of the story is finding out how Alison died, the majority is discovering how Claire experienced the event. And what happens almost two decades later when Claire runs into one of the Saint X locals suspected of involvement in Alison’s death.

Schaitkin alternates between whodunit, love letter to Caribbean islands, and character study in Saint X, using a combination of Claire’s perspective, a third-person narrative, and snippets from other players in the mystery. She spins a complex tale, with lush descriptions of her locations.

My conclusions
I cared about and empathized with Claire’s emotions about losing her sister. Even many years later, her grief and confusion about events is palpable. I could see my own experiences in her choices to alternately ignore and obsess over Alison’s death. In this way the character study aspect of Saint X truly touched me.

But here’s the thing. There are elements in the mystery that fell flat and seemed extraneous for me. For example, Schaitkin gives several minor characters short, first-person chapters. They’re just weak attempts at red herrings. I didn’t necessarily care about how these people experienced their visit to the island, or another part of their life. It didn’t seem relevant to moving the story forward.

Thankfully, those sections are short and the novel quickly returns to its main protagonists. Schaitkin also works hard to get inside the head of her accused local, a man who’s never comfortable inside his own skin. He’s a more intriguing enigma than Claire, frankly. On the other hand, her use of island patois is inconsistent and distracting.

There’s plenty of grit and grime in the possible resolutions Schaitkin floats to the mystery of Alison Thomas. We know they’re based in the sad reality of actual people who lose their lives in popular vacation spots. In this case, I wish the resolution had been more satisfying. Alas, that’s also typical in these circumstances.

All of these reservations notwithstanding, I hope you’ll give Saint X a go. It publishes in Winter 2020, just when Northern Hemisphere folks are anxious for visions of blue water and warm, white sand. And a little mystery.

Acknowledgements
My thanks to Celadon Books, Macmillan, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced readers’ copy in exchange for this honest review.

This is a debut from this talented author. The writing was good but I feel it was a little too long. I lost interest about halfway through. I feel that it just wasn’t a good fit for me but clearly a favorite by many. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for an opportunity to read this arc. I have it on order for my library. I am sure it will be a hit for many patrons.
#SaintX #NetGalley

I really liked this book! The plot moved along seamlessly, and the characters were detailed and well developed.
I would recommend this book!

This book will have you hooked within the first chapter! I loved the way it was written, you get weaved into a story that you know will not end well. Did not disappoint.

A beautifully written, poignant portrait of what happens to those left behind after tragedy takes a loved one.

Saint X, at first blush, is the story of Allison Thomas, found dead on a Caribbean Island after a night out during a family vacation. But we come to find this isn’t really Allison’s story. It’s that of her parents, the men suspected of murdering her, and mostly of her younger sister, who is still seeking answers in adulthood, long after Allison’s death.

Schaitkin writes gorgeously and is a masterful observer of both human emotion and setting. Her characters are complex and compelling.

Allison is not the most sympathetic victim (her self righteousness and misplaced anger at her lovely parents make her off-putting, though certainly her flaws didn’t make her deserving of her fate).

Schaitkin mitigates this by acknowledging that about her victim. She draws Allison as a young woman of many contractions, which makes her realistic and somewhat relatable, if not entirely lovable to the reader.

I didn’t love the “solve” of what happened to Allison, though it’s likely more realistic than what we imagine we’ll find out. I can appreciate why Schaitkin wrote it this way, but after all the buildup, it feels a bit like watching a balloon slowly deflate. This is especially frustrating because as a reader one feels for Claire in her desperate search for answers, and while any answer is better than no answer in this situation, it’s still a bit vague and murky in the end.

Semi-limp ending aside, Saint X is incredibly well written and gives a fascinating glimpse into the many ways in which grief manifests.

This book was very interesting. However I also felt like it was long and I found myself skimming a lot to get to the intriguing bits.

I could not put down this book. It was so interesting and the writing was great. I will definitely be recommending this to customers at my work!

Saint X is one of those rare books that encapsulate you in the past, present and future. I wasn't engaged in Alison's life and after finishing the book, I see now that I shouldn't have been. Alison's life wasn't the point of novel, but the catalyst for the destruction of the lives of those who surrounded her. The mystery- the obsession of what happened- consumes the characters and the reader. It is the consumption of her sister's life in the absence of Alison's that drives the story. It was a novel that I had problems putting down because my life, too, began to revolve around the people involved; as they drowned in their lives it felt like I was there, an observer to actual events.

I really enjoyed Saint X. At first, I was a bit skeptical about the decision to create a fictional island, but I quickly softened to the idea. I found the characters interesting and complex in this story that, at its heart, is more about the passing of time and loss than anything else.