Never Coming Home was a wonderful retelling of Agatha Christie’s, “And Then, There Were None” for Gen Z. It had a very diverse cast of characters and, line the original, a great island setting. Never Coming Home was a great, fast paced YA thriller that gripped from the beginning! Great read.

READ THIS BOOK

A new YA thriller where Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None meets Fyre Festival with ten teenage influencers. I read this in one sitting, which I NEVER do. I even forced my non-reader boyfriend to read this and he’s LOVING it. I didn’t guess the ending, which is honestly monumental for me with a thriller LOL. I didn’t expect to love this but I absolutely did. Such a quick five stars. It’s a new release - go find it somewhere asap!!!

Thank you to @turnthepagetours for my eARC!

Ohhhhh this book was fun! ⁣
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⁣When ten of America’s most famous teen influencers are invited to one exclusive island resort, things are sure to get wild. But then one is murdered and soon their futures are all in question! Will anyone survive?! ⁣
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⁣Never Coming Home is so cleaver! This is a retelling of the classic Agatha Christi novel- And Then They Were Gone. Completely far fetched? Possibly! But also exciting and engrossing! ⁣
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⁣Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I recommend this one to fans of young adult thrillers. ⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgalley and Random House Children’s & Delacorte Press for a free ARC in return for my honest review. Never Coming Home is out now.

A mysterious resort opens it doors and only a few influencers have the right to check it out. However everyone has to be at least 21 and no one knows a thing about this resort. And nothing is as it seems because the whole thing is a trap and a dangerous one!

Never Coming Home isn’t my first book by Williams and yet again I have not been disappointed.

The suspense is there from the beginning and it stays with you until the very end. Which I did like a lot.

As with the other books by the author I enjoyed the writing style in this one too. I might have just one negative thing to say which is that the book might have been a tad too long for me.

Other than that I have nothing more to say and I hope that, if you read the book, that you’ll enjoy it as well!

It might be a Young Adult Thriller but as an adult you will enjoy the mystery in this novel as well.

I don't think I really liked this book all that much, but it was addicting in its own way. With 10 main characters, it was hard to keep track of who was who and which character had done what. I didn't find any of the characters to be particularly likable, sympathetic, or well-rounded either. I kept reading in hopes that the book would get better, and it never really did. The killer was the person I thought was the most likely suspect, and still, the motivations were not super clear. I will say it was a quick read, though.

When Unknown Island made its presence known via social media, it hit hard. An isolated, luxurious island vacation destination where young people, of a certain caliber and follower count, will get to stay free for a week at a time. The claim is that an angel investor is funding the exclusive destination as a way for the best young minds to come together and share ideas. It's invite only and no one over 21-years old will be included.

The initial marketing push is strong and everyone wants to be involved. If they can't go in person, they'll be watching it unfold via social media. Who wouldn't want a free vacation that the whole world is watching? The potential for publicity is off the charts. For some young influencers, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime. It's so good, they can taste it.

After the First Ten are selected, the chosen ones slowly and complicatedly make their way to the remote island location. Once they arrive, they quickly discover something is off. The scene they find is not what the promotional materials advertised. What the heck is going on?!

It's soon exposed that these fresh-faced travelers weren't invited to Unknown Island because of their individual follower counts. They were invited for the terrible secrets they hold. Someone knows and is looking to expose them. Worse than that, it seems whoever is behind Unknown Island is hellbent on revenge. Will any of them be able to make it home alive?

I really like what Williams did with Never Coming Home. She gave me a classic-feeling mysterious slasher set on an abandoned island with a plucky group of diverse and unlikable characters. That's exactly the vibe I wanted going in and it's exactly what I got. There were a few places when it dragged a little for me, but overall it's a super fun Summer Chiller!

In addition to the fabulous horror elements, I enjoyed the underlining modern themes running through this one. It's social media taken to the extreme, but it was interesting to think about. Of course I couldn't help but think of Fyre Festival with the set-up of this one. It definitely gives off that same sort of skeevy feeling. These poor kids was what I was initially thinking, but once the bodies started dropping, I stopped caring as much. Williams kills were creative and a few definitely left me picking my chin up off the ground. She held nothing back!

This is the perfect quick read for a Summer Scare. I would definitely recommend it to people who love a good old fashion slasher. It checked all those boxes for me. Thank you so much to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had a lot of fun with this one and hope that Williams continues in this lane with her future work!

This is totally Gen Z’s And Then There Were None. You 100% have to suspend disbelieve (A LOT) for this to work but it worked for me. I was completely spooked and on edge multiple times and really enjoyed this book. Overall, this had a brilliant criticism of social media and commentary and mid recommend it for any media loving reader.

Rating: 3.5⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: murder, gore, suicide, anaphylaxis

This book follows ten influencers who are invited to a secluded island for what they think is an all-inclusive vacation, but what they don’t know is that they won’t make it out alive.

I thought the premise of this story was very interesting, and having never read And Then There Were None, I was not sure what to expect, however, if you have read the popular Agatha Christie novel, then you can probably guess how this one will play out. It was really interesting to see the influencers all come together. I understand that they’re not supposed to be likeable characters, but some of them were just so annoying, and I was kind of glad they were killed off. The chapters were also really long and the author included al ten voices in each which didn’t really work with my brain. There were just too many people to keep track of.

After the first few murders, I grew sort of bored with the rest of the book. I didn’t care who got killed off or how it was done. It could’ve been fifty pages shorter and made it more gripping. Because it dragged, I wasn’t as enthralled as I wanted to be with it. I did like the end portion, with the interviews about the island and the murders. It was interesting to see how people tried to figure out what had happened in a social media setting. It was like a forum transcript which was smart to tie everything together with the influencers and stuff.

Overall, if you’re looking for a modern retelling of And Then There Were None, then I would recommend reading this one.

I read a really INTRIGUING MYSTERY after ages, FINALLY. Kate Williams really knocked it out of the park with this one! 🤌 Never Coming Home is a YA/GenZ focused retelling of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie ~ one of the most popular mysteries ever published! I haven't read it yet (so embarrassing) but all the reviews I have read on NCH so far mentioned that it was a really well-written retelling! So if you're a fan of the classic, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading this one too.

The plot of Never Coming Home was so addictive! I was on edge almost all the time while reading it. The storyline gripped my attention from the very first page ~ I mean, 10 influencers get invited to a mysterious island resort - doesn't that sound so interesting?

The characters of NCH were all unique in their own ways. They had their flaws and their sadness. I especially loved how the author expressed their grief-stricken past through her words. The portrayal of the influencers' real lives was truly what made the book so unique, instead of being a boring, one dimensional story! I found myself thinking this repeatedly: "Do the characters deserve the (really, really) bad things happening to them, even though they were guilty of hurting others?" This book made me reflect on a lot of things, you guys. 🤔 I especially thought about how negatively social media impacts the young generation. One of the characters said "Social media IS real life" - and damn, I did a double take at that lol.

The ending blew my mind! I absolutely LOVED how the identity of the murderer got revealed at the end, my gosh. The author is so clever! 🙌 I honestly cannot recommend this book enough! If you're looking for a book to get you out of a reading slump, Never Coming Home will be your best friend!

Amazing book! I look forward to more by this author! It was thrilling, edge of your seat ride! For sure will share with others about this book and author!

“Just because they follow doesn’t mean people care.”
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Oommmggg talk about a vacation from HELL, y’all! 🔥 In @heykatewilliams’ newest novel, ten social media influencers are chosen to go on an all expenses paid vacation to Unknown Island, where they are told they will “network, relax, and rejuvenate.” Sounds great right? Sounds too good to be true, right? Exactly. The influencers arrive at Unknown Island and quickly discover that the “resort” is the exact opposite. There is little to no food, no wifi or cell service, terrible accommodations with no hot water, and only one way in or out of the island. Oh and then they start dying, one by one. The influencers are told that they’ve been chosen for this trip because they are all hiding a terrible secret- a secret bad enough that now someone wants them all dead.
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Ok, I LOVED Never Coming Home and the mystery and kind-of lesson behind it. Readers who enjoyed @naturallystephperkins’ There’s Someone Inside Your House or Lorence Alison’s Solstice will LOVE this book. Very Fyre Fest vibes with a murderer.
Kate Williams did an amazing job with the Babysitter’s Coven series and completely blew me away with this story.

First off I want to say a big thank you to TBR Tours & Beyond and the Publishers for allowing me to review Never Coming Home by Kate Williams. I was so excited to read it as I thoroughly loved the OG And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and was intrigued how this could be turned into a Modern Style YA.

I loved to hate the characters who were all Social Media Influencers, the setting and how ominous Unknown Island was but this began to wane very quickly. I also liked each one's demise and how these were announced.

The main problem about the book was that there were only 10 chapters and these chapters went on forever. In fact the last chapter which is the all important one was over an hour long and to be honest I put this book down a lot because of this. It would of been better if the chapters were short and snappy. I even guessed who the killer was which I don't normally do I'm not sure it they were well hidden enough. Lastly I question after reading the book does it have the right title?


For all these reasons Never Coming Home is getting 3 stars

4.5 stars. This book felt like a modern re-telling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians), which I read in high school. At first I kind of rolled my eyes at yet other re-telling, but I was quickly hooked in to these 10 people and their stories. I kept reading to find out what each person had done in their life and which one would be next to die. This will teach those Gen-Z's!

10 Gen-Z's are taken to a beautiful, resort island called "Unknown Island" but things aren't quite as amazing as they expected. When one of them dies unexpectedly, and then another one dies, the remaining crew knows that neither death was an accident and things start to get scary. And since none of them know each other, no one trusts anyone.

This was definitely an entertaining teen slasher story. There are some brutal deaths, and although I guessed whodunit towards the beginning I really enjoyed how it all played out.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and most of all Kate for this free ARC! I have been anticipating this book since I first heard about it last year, and as always, Kate did not disappoint. It is very much a modern retelling of And Then There Were None and it's so spot on and well done that it's ridiculous. 10 young influencers are brought to the mysterious Unknown Island that's supposed to be a luxury resort. Instead, it is a blood bath. It turns out each of these people have done something bad in their past. Their voices are so distinct and I appreciate hearing all 10 points of view! I also ended up empathizing with most of them, which doesn't totally seem possible from the beginning. Also, I never saw the killer coming.

Damn.

I don't know what to say about this book. I really don't. I have never read an And Then There Were None retelling, but I am so happy I picked this up. I enjoyed it as it kept me guessing until the very end, and I still guessed wrong!

Let's get into the in-depth review of this book-

Plot:
The plot was rather cool, and a modernized version of And Then There Were None. I am a sucker for a good Agatha Christie, and honestly Kate Williams' version of ATTWN was better. I loved the inclusion of influencers. My one of two issues with the book is that the first half was slightly slow.

Characters:
Okay, so the second issue I have with the book is the number of characters. I know ATTWN had 13, and this was an issue I had with that book as well. I feel like had we be given a small one-two page insight of all characters like, in their element before they boarded the plane to Unknown Island, it might have been better.

But I loved reading the characters, and I loved how grey they all were. Obviously the killer was dark and twisted and unexpected and that's what makes the book so good, and Agatha Christie like.

Writing style:
It was good, but not very gripping, but still good. Like i haven't deducted points for the writing style .


Definitely read this if you are a fan of Agatha Christie!

I’m a sucker for these books. This is very reminiscent of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I would possibly go as far to say it’s a modern day take on the classic. It definitely kept my interest throughout the story but it just was so lackluster. Meh. Nothing really new here. Like I said, though, a quick read that kept my attention.

Never Coming Home was creepy and tense! With the action coming so quickly, I was on the edge of my seat every moment, and I never knew for sure who was behind it all. Each character was a unique personality with a tragedy in their past. I appreciated that there were boys, girls, a transgender character, and later, a character still figuring out their sexuality. Not all were portrayed sympathetically either. I also appreciated that characters I initially liked were slowly revealed to be less than stellar individuals, and those I originally thought less of turned out to be better people. That kept me changing my opinion as to who was manipulating everything behind the scenes.

The island setting gave me a bit of a “Lord of the Flies” vibe as the story went on. The changeable weather increased the tension, too, making possible rescue a dim hope in the characters’ minds. And as I was never 100% sure the place was devoid of others, I was never wholly confident one of the guests was the murderer, so I was always a little off-balance.

I particularly enjoyed the social media foundation connecting all the characters – in their real lives, their “real” lives online, and in the public eye. That one character had a manager to help guide her content, spin events in her life to her advantage, and make lucrative financial deals for specialized content or “collabs” was fascinating. The continual need for the characters to adjust their content to control their narrative and brand rang true and was mind-boggling.

With its engaging characters, remote and creepy setting, and updated “And Then There Were None” plot, I honestly didn’t want to put this book down. I recommend NEVER COMING HOME to readers who enjoy suspenseful YA fiction featuring intelligent, savvy characters, diverse backstories, and remote tropical island settings.

Any time I see a book hailed as a retelling or remix of "And Then There Were None" I am instantly suspicious. Agatha Christie was the queen of the murder mystery, how could anyone compete with one of the defining books of the genre? I am thrilled to report that Kate M. Williams gives us an intricately crafted, wholly original take on a classic with her new novel, "Never Coming Home." I read this novel with a notebook, carefully taking notes on each character and each death, determined to work out who the mastermind behind Unknown Island was, and I was still shocked at the "big reveal." Williams has definitely penned one of the hottest titles of the summer, and everyone will be pouring over clues by the pool as they try to solve the mystery before time runs out for our rag-tag bunch of influencers.

Unknown Island is the hottest new resort with the most unbelivable tagline. An all expenses paid weeklong vacation in the tropics. All you have to do is agree to go with a carefully selected group of 9 strangers whom the PR firm promises will share something in common with you that will make the trip worthwhile. After receiving the guest list the night before leaving, our first group of ten assume that they've all been selected for their role as influencers, to hype up the experience and drum up more publicity for the groups to follow. After arriving to find a less than hospitable resort, they soon realize that what they share isn't their number of followers, but rather a deadly secret their livelihoods (and freedoms) depend on concealing. Someone knows more about the "Original Ten" than they know even about themselves, and it soon becomes clear this person has set up so intricate of a trap that they may never be going home again.

A young adult suspense thriller that is partly related to their current obsession with all of those viral sensations.

Ten social media personalities are invited to Unknown Island for a free tropical vacation. The island has been advertised and promoted on all the usual online sites -- it's exclusive and by invitation only. Each guest received the honor by email and the details were exciting -- especially the part about all of them being under age 21. The chosen are 6 girls and 4 boys and their social passions run the gamut: a young CEO, a DJ, a politician, an athlete, the rich girl, a beauty blogger, a superstar influencer, a chef, an environmentalist and, the youngest is an online gamer. All told, they have millions of followers and hope to strike that elusive top rank raising their numbers.

They arrive on the island by boat and helicopter only to find that they are basically untended without any resort staff or welcome committee. Their luxurious bungalows are shacks and barely furnished. The kitchen cupboards are almost empty except for junk food. There is no internet and no air conditioning. There's only one way in and no way off the island as they have no transport. It's hot and their shock and dismay mount quickly. What is going on? The answer comes with the first death. Are they to be picked off one by one by someone hiding on the island with some type of revenge motive? Or has one of their number lured them there with murder on their mind?

I thought I would like this a lot more than I did. I was reminded of the scam that was the basis for the Netflix documentary Fyre as well as several well known books where people die one by one. It was hard to keep each character straight, but helped by the list in the front of the book. Didn't matter, nobody was around too long. I didn't really like any of the personalities and they, as expected, did some pretty dumb things as events spiraled out of control. The conclusion definitely was a bit lame and unsatisfying. Found it all just way too out there to be a believable scenario, but I figure the target audience will eat it up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for this e-book ARC to read and review.

An influencer take on And Then There were None, this story was a lot of fun and a perfect beach read. Each influencer has secrets and I loved reading on to see how they unwind their secrets as the others die around them. Some are pretty straightforward, but to see them lie to save face and then reveal the truth was just so good. The mystery is set up almost immediately, with no one knowing what is going on, and continues, as the influencers find out just how isolated they are. No one is innocent, everyone is a suspect, and is everything I wanted in a teen murder mystery.