GIRL OVERBOARD is pitched as “Ruth Ware’s THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 for teens.” While I've never read that one myself, I enjoyed this short, snappy thriller about a girl who goes missing on a Caribbean cruise. Our MC, Izzy, is bored out of her mind on the latest cruise with her parents and toddler brother, so she's excited when she meets Jade, a slightly wilder girl who's on the cruise with her aunt and uncle. Halfway in to the cruise, however, Jade goes missing. While her aunt and uncle claim she ran away when the ship docked in Bermuda, and the two other friends they've made on the cruise are convinced Jade jumped overboard, Izzy believes something bad has happened to Jade. She proceeds to investigate, putting herself at risk but never giving up on finding out what happened to Jade.

This is a short, quick thriller that you can definitely read in one sitting. While I felt that it did wrap up kind of quickly and easily, I do have to remind myself this is a YA thriller and not adult. If you're looking for a quick, light thriller, you should pick this one up!

RATING: 3 stars!

**Disclosure: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

I enjoyed this YA thriller, though it is definitely YA. I feel like the author did a great job navigating the teenage POV and crafted an interesting story of fiction.

I’d rate this 3.5 stars and round up to 4.

The writing seemed dumbed down at times but then other times, the author used words no teenager would use while thinking or speaking. So not exactly consistent, I guess.

The ending was nice and fairly solid. The author does a good job of cleaning things up and tying up loose ends.

If my daughters were just a few years younger, I’d recommend this one to them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Children’s, for the free digital arc to review.

I love a good thriller and this book did not disappoint. This wonderfully written thriller starts out as a nice family vaca on a cruise ship and turns in to a living nightmare. It was a slow build up with lots of character building. It was like a super slow roller coaster but once you hit the top… whew that down slide was NICE!!

Izzy and her family are aboard a cruise ship. She is a bit of an outcast. She meets some people close to her age Jade and Caleb. Jade is not the best influence on Izzy, but makes her vacation exciting.

Caleb tells them a tale about a curse which involves people dying on the cruise ship every other year. Supposedly people jump of the ship of their own free will. Sirens a dystopia creature is calling these people into the ocean.

Suddenly Jade comes up missing, and the investigators think she jumped. Izzy does not believe this because she knows Jade has secrets that could have gotten her killed. Izzy needs to be careful as she does her own investigation before she turns up dead.

This was a pretty good read, the twists kept me guessing until the end. Very well written and the characters are lifelike.

𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝 𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕓𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕

Author - Sandra Block
Rating - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .5 / 5, round to a 4 ⭐️ on other platforms
Genre - Horror / Mystery & Thrillers / Teen & Young Adult

Not going to lie I had no idea this was YA until it was approved on NetGalley. It just sounded so good! But I had to keep that in mind when reading it. YA thrillers are a bit less gruesome than other adult mysteries I have read, but still really good! BUT…I will say, I do not consider this a horror or a thriller. But definitely a mystery! Keep that in mind when you read.

.....

What I liked :
✨The story telling was really well done.
✨ The SUSPENSE. I had no idea who had done it and who the bad guy(s) were.
✨The atmosphere. You imagine going on a cruise and someone going missing and assumed dead….
✨The cover! I loved this cover and really enticed me to request this books ARC

What I disliked :
👎🏻 The relationships. The relationships between the two main girls HAPPENED FAST. Like within 2 days they were BFFs and the the girl who is missing had like two boyfriends in the same timeframe.
👎🏻 The investigation. It seemed so unreal. A girl goes missing and her guardians aren’t affected by it and not considered a suspect!? WEIRD and extremely SUS!

Overall, it was a solid story! It kept my interest and was a short enough story that the plot wasn’t drawn out for too long! If you are looking for a solid YA mystery, this is a book for you!

What a ride! "Girl Overboard" starts out with a peaceful family cruise and quickly turns into a thriller! Izzy hasn't seen her friend Jade in over 24 hours and begins to question her disappearance. There will be no spoilers found in this review, but just make sure you have enough time set aside to read this as I did in one day! Along with the mystery, there are themes that I recall seeing frequently in my own teen life, such as peer pressures and navigating staying true to yourself. Sandra Block handles these themes with openness and a direct approach. Thank you to Sandra Block and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Izzy is dreading her family vacation—a cruise to Bermuda with her parents and much younger brother. But she befriends Jade, a much cooler girl she would never be friends with in real life. Jade is traveling with her guardians, an aunt and uncle who seem to not care much about Jade.

When Jade goes missing, the cruise line seems eager to cover it up, then dismiss her as a teen suicide. But Izzy suspects the uncaring guardians as well as the much older casino worker Jade had taken up with. But nobody takes Izzy’s concerns seriously, and she is also dealing with drama at home and a demanding preschool brother.

This YA novel was a quick read with an engaging mystery and sympathetic characters. The ending strained credulity a bit, but didn’t detract from the story. #GirlOverboard #NetGalley

Let’s start with I’m a 52-year-old mom, so I’m not the target audience for this book but still wanted to read it anyway. I think as a teenager, this would have been a favorite for me. I also plan to buy it for my own daughters who I think would really enjoy it.

Excellent summer vacation vibes, perfect intro thriller for younger readers. I can easily recommend this as a beach read for teen girls.

My thanks to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this story. The main characters were relatable and easy to read. I like all the twists that keep you guessing throughout the book.

Girl Overboard by Sandra Block

Published: May 3, 2022
Underlined
Pages: 250
Genre: YA Thriller
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Sandra A. Block graduated from college at Harvard, then returned to her native land of Buffalo, New York, for medical training and never left. She is a practicing neurologist and proud Sabres fan and lives at home with her husband, two children, and impetuous yellow lab Delilah. She has been published in both medical and poetry journals.

“No turning back now.”

Izzy is less than thrilled to be taking a cruise to Bermuda with her family. Especially with her new boyfriend staying behind. But she’s determined to try to have fun. She quickly meets three other passengers her age, and they decide to spend their cruise together. Until Jade starts acting strangely and disappears, now, it seems like all the adults in charge are ready to accept that jade jumped off the ship, despite everything Izzy tells them. Now, it’s up to Izzy to get justice. Except, she’s a target and might not survive the trip home.

For a young adult thriller, this was a decent read. It is very obviously written for a younger audience, with our main character being a sophomore in high school.

I found the writing very age-appropriate, and Izzy and Jade appeared to be teenagers. Between the sass, attitudes, and desire to be accepted, it was a believable scenario.

I enjoyed this book, and the pacing. It was fairly quick paced, and the twists were well done. I liked how there were several likely suspects, and that it wasn’t obvious who the guilty parties were.

The concept of someone going missing while on a cruise is terrifying, and this story definitely upheld that aspect. This would be an excellent choice for a young person who is looking to start reading thriller novels.

This was super fast paced and kept me thinking for sure! I didn’t know going into the book that it was YA and I wish I would’ve known that prior to the start, because I was definitely holding it to a higher standard. However once I knew it was geared for a younger audience I adjusted my expectations and totally got into it.

This was fast paced, had some thrilling moments and did keep me guessing for most of the book. All in all this was engaging, enjoyable and a solid YA thriller!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fast book. It’s more of a Ya book which isn’t really my type of book to read. I’m sure the age audience they’re targeting will enjoy it.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I love me a good thriller and this fit the bill perfectly! Fast paced and well written. It is the perfect story to sit on the beach and read all day!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC

I really enjoyed this thrilling young adult novel. The storyline grabs your attention from the very beginning and keeps you guessing. I am looking forward to reading more by Sandra Block. This is a great summer read!

This book was definitely for young adults. As a teacher I do enjoy reading YA books. This one will be hard for many kids to relate to. The brattiness of complaining about being taken on a cruise just doesn't translate to all kids. Some kids will like the locked room mystery of if. If you can suspend your logical brain long enough to enjoy this short book you may like it.

A locked-room mystery that was entertaining from start to finish. I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely be checking out other books by this author!
Izzy is on a cruise ship with family on vacation. She is prepared for a long boring trip until she meets a girl her own age named Jade.. They become fast friends and begin hanging out with a couple of other kids... Until one day Jade doesn't come out of her room, Izzy can't find her anywhere on the ship, and Jades aunt and uncle swear she has the flu and is quarantined in her room... Except Izzy finds her way into Jades room and shes not there, in fact it looks like she hasn't been there for at least two days. So where is Jade? and why did her aunt and uncle lie about where she is?
Of course at first Izzy parents don't believe that something has happened to Jade... So she does what people always do in this situation, and tries to figure out what's going on herself.. Thankfully she does at least tell other adults working for the ship, who conduct actual searches that let everyone on the ship, and the police in Bermuda know that Jade is in fact nowhere to be found...
Izzy won't stop until she figures out what happened to Jade, and it could put herself and her family in danger.. Will she figure it out before another bad thing happens...

I was clearly not the target young teenage market for this, and that’s fine. I enjoy a good young adult novel, but this felt a little too young for my taste.

I couldn’t really empathize with Izzy from the start, complaining about being forced to go on a Caribbean Cruise with her family.

My level of frustration only increases from there. Maybe thrilling to the younger audience, but the plot seems very unrealistic.

Didn’t love it.

This story was a bit slow at first, but is you stay through the first few pages, it becomes a really good read. Izzy is on a Caribbean cruz with her brother, who is a toddler, and her parents. Even worse, she is restricted to ten minutes online per day. She really does not want to be there. In the hang-out area for teens, she meets Jade, who is traveling with her aunt and uncle, and Jade really does not want to be there either. The two become friends because there is no one else. The story is that every other year someone goes overboard from that ship, and sure enough, someone disappears. Izzy is convinced it is murder, but there is no one she can talk to about it so she sets out to prove it herself. Izzy and Jade do things most parents would not approve of but there is no explicit sex, and there are several unexpected twists and turns. I received this as an arc, and am free to give my own feelings about the book.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Locked room mystery, when the room is a cruise ship. The teenage characters seem realistic and believable. Fast paced. Good summer read.