Hey witches, what's your secret reading genre?

I love a fun YA novel and Kate Williams is one of my favorite YA authors and instagrammers to follow (@heykatewilliams) and Obsessed.abookclub's 1st WCW post.

Besides the highly addictive Babysitters Coven trilogy her latest novel 'Never Coming Home' is to..... die for. I read the ARC (ty Kate!) and shared my delight on my stories. It's Influencers meets Agatha Christie meets Survivor. There is just enough satire in Kate's novels which is my everything language particularly the dark take on social media in 'Never Coming Home.'

I am dying to know which influencers @heykatewilliams researched to inspire the book characters. I have some ideas but need the 🍵 spilled.

This one really intrigued me! It’s quite different from Kate Williams’ other stories! I love a good influencer thriller.

A fun YA thriller set at Fyre Festival! I'm a sucker for And Then There Were None reimaginings, and this one hit the spot.

This was a fun and quick read with a stunning cover. I loved the influencer/celeb twist to it and it was so cool getting a behind the scenes look into their lives!!

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I wanted to read this book so badly when I saw the description, but between requesting and and getting it, I just couldn't push myself to get past the first few pages. I hope to give the book another go soon and will update my feedback once I am able to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Never Coming Home by Kate M. Williams.

I honestly did not know what to expect from this book, but from the beginning when it starts to list the names of the influencers and each of their followers, for whatever reason, I was hooked. The characters each had a separate way of quickly getting to know who they were or better yet, who you think they are behind their social media accounts. This stayed with me because I know this is fiction, that aspect still makes me question what others are really feeling behind their accounts. When crazy things start happening on the social media ever so intriguing Unknown Island you quickly find out no one or nothing is what it seems, no matter how good it looks on their posts. This is a page turner and I loved the pacing. Once I started it, I had to finish. It will leave you questioning everyone. I had my suspicions and I think it's great when that theory blows up in my face! Also, I do adore the end chapters that wrap up what is going on as a little time as passed since the mysterious, Unknown Island. I would absolutely recommend.

Never coming home was a slow burn while reading of the adventures of the characters. The blend of characters and the stress they go through while on this island is easy to understand. Each character contributes to the mystery surrounding them on this vacation which is anything but typical.

I apologize, I wanted to red this book, but was unable to read this book in the permitted timeframe. Life got in the way, but now I am back, so if this is released to me again, I will download, read and review it.

Never Coming Home is a spooky tale of influencers in the wild. I found the premise to be so intriguing that I could not wait to read this! I flew through this book and enjoyed the writing and the descriptions of the beautiful island. There are a lot of characters to keep up with at first but the author provides a list of characters for reference in the beginning of the book so I just bookmarked that and then went back as needed for clarification. Some of the characters are more likable than others; they were all hiding secrets and trying to figure out whom they could trust. The book is thrilling, the story moves at a good pace and it is a quick read. I was very surprised by the ending and who the killer turned out to be. I did not love the last few pages as I would have preferred more closure, but I do understand why the author chose to end it that way. 4/5 stars.

Meh. This one was hard to read and i had to make myself finish it. I think this genre is just not my type of story. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

I love a good Agatha Christie retelling and this one was totally fine. The characters were numerous, and I found it hard to keep track of them all. Luckily, they aren't all around for long ;)

When things seem to good to be true, they are! Being part of the First 10, really means something, but to whom? These people show up on this basically deserted island and think they’ve hit the mother-load and nothing could be farther from the truth.

They don’t know who it why they were brought to the island other than to be the first to try out this new resort but things go away quite quickly.

A great read that will have you shaking your head at the thoughts of some of these people.

Nope, did not like this one. Not for me. It reminded me a lot of another book I read about people stranded. I think I just don't like that trope at all.

And Then There Were None will always be one of my favorite books of all time, and I think Kate Williams did a great job creating this modern YA take on the classic. The uneasy and tense vibes start very early in the book and do not let up at any point. There are so many little clues dropped throughout the book as to who has orchestrated this nightmare vacation, but it's not so obvious that it can be figured out on the first readthrough.

I'm not a big fan of the revenge survival scenario and this book is no exception. It acts on an accelerated time frame with a bizarre assortment of deaths. There are too many suspects and no clear evidence. It's just one vile death after another to the point that it stops having any impact, especially since we don't really spend enough time with the characters to care about them in any ay.

Quick moving, closed circle thriller mystery that blends reality show with Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. A fast-paced read that kept the intrigue high and the tension cranked. I enjoyed the writing and the reimagining of such a well-known story and felt like that was actually fairly well executed.

The writing is good and the setting is atmospheric. Do not go in thinking this will be a mild mystery. This baby is gory and intense. Williams does not hold back on making this a horror-style thriller. And for a YA read, this reaches peak violence. The murders are presented in a way that makes them strongly on page even if they occur in the wings.

So things went well with the narrative, why is this not a 4-star? Well...where I struggled was with the characters. Not a likable one in the bunch. And honestly, that would have been fine, but they also felt like a pile of cookie cutters and stereotypes. I wasn't very interested in them or really rooting for any of them. It's difficult to have everyone be a standout in such a large cast, but I at least needed a small handful. And I didn't feel like I got it. I liked the action, but could care less about who was who. That was a problem.

Regardless of my character issues, this is still a fun read. It will be a good beach read slasher. (Is that a thing? I feel like it should be a thing.)

I can not believe how many new releases that I chose to pick up this year were retellings of Agatha Christie's Then There Were None.

This one was a quick, easy read due to the YA classification and the many current day references. Having each of the characters as a social media influencer with different audiences made it really fun and the unknown aspects of the island really pulled me in as a reader.

Unknown Island handpicked a group of ten under-21 influencers to be the first to attend their exclusive retreat. When they arrive they quickly realize that things aren't quite what they seem as they begin to be picked off one-by-one while the population watches via social media.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery with extremely unlikable characters! I was hooked from the very beginning trying to figure out who was behind the killings. I liked how there was no escape for the victims, and it was just a waiting game for who was going to be picked off next. Some of the ways these people are murdered are gruesome, so if you have a weak stomach, maybe avoid the book. The ending, and the reason I am dropping a star, was very underwhelming in my opinion. I didn't see it coming, but I didn't necessarily like it either.