This was a fun YA mystery. It's a perfect, easy read for the beach or poolside. While I did find the book a bit predictable, I expect that as an adult thriller lover reading YA books so that didn't affect my experience.
If you're looking for a fun, easy read - this is the one!

A fun and suspsenful ride, I'm a sucker for a good YA mystery and this one did not disappoint! 5 stars!!!

Sun.Sand.And a summer rental. What could possibly go wrong??

Riley and her highschool friends have rented a house on a remote Palm Keys Island for one last fourth of July blowout before college. But with storms rolling in and the paranoia and panic of being trapped on the island taking over while unsettling secrets come to surface things start to take a deadly turn

Ross takes you for a hurricane of a ride with this bingeable mysterious plot. With a list of characters you will love, loathe and laugh with. Dread and suspense building with every turn of the page. Atmospheric descriptions that will immedietly make you feel like you are right there with these characters. Rain in your hair and sand in your shoes. With mysterious disappearances that will have you sleuthing your entire way through these pages

Read this if your on the hunt for some summer beach vibes. Grab the sunscreen and prepare yourself for a slashing good time

Thank you to @rektokross @netgalley for inviting me along on this stay at the Summer Rental and gifting me an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honost thoughts and opinions

Summer Rental was a fun and quick read. The book had a promising premise of mean girls meets Scream, which immediately caught my attention. However, I felt that the execution of this concept fell a little flat. The suspense and snarkiness that I had anticipated were not quite as prominent as I had hoped for but it still provided a fun time and kept me engaged throughout.

Despite any shortcomings, I still found the book to be an enjoyable experience overall and it served as a nice poolside read.

I had high hopes for this book, but in the end I found it poorly written and predictable. I didn't connect with any of the characters and found myself just wanting the book to end. It took a long time for me to finish this because I wasn't engaged.

This was so different and so much fun - yes it does live up to its hype - mean girls meets scream. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was given a free copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

"Summer Rental" by Rektok Ross is a gripping and heart-pounding psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Combining elements of "Mean Girls" with the tension and suspense of "Scream," this novel delivers a thrilling ride filled with secrets, suspense, and a chilling sense of unease.

The story revolves around a group of friends, including the protagonist, Riley March, who embark on a vacation to Palm Key Island for one last epic party weekend before heading off to college. The setting is idyllic, with beautiful beaches and the promise of unforgettable memories. However, the perfect vacation takes a sinister turn when one of their friends goes missing, and a hurricane traps them on the island, cutting them off from civilization.

Rektok Ross masterfully weaves a tale of suspense, intrigue, and danger as the group realizes that they are not alone on the island. A serial killer is among them, stalking them one by one, and no one can be trusted. The atmosphere becomes increasingly claustrophobic and tense as the friends are forced to confront their deepest secrets and hidden pasts.

The character development in "Summer Rental" is outstanding, with each member of the group harboring their own secrets and complex motivations. Riley, in particular, is a compelling protagonist who is both relatable and vulnerable, making her a character readers will root for throughout the story. The dynamics between the friends are fraught with tension and suspicion, adding depth to the narrative.

The pacing is relentless, with the suspense steadily building as the body count rises and the group's paranoia grows. The author keeps readers guessing, introducing twists and turns that will keep them engaged and invested in solving the mystery of who the killer is.

"Summer Rental" is a riveting thriller that delves into themes of trust, betrayal, and the darkness that can lurk beneath the surface of seemingly perfect friendships. It's a story that will keep you guessing until the very end and leave you with a sense of unease long after you've finished reading.

In conclusion, Rektok Ross's "Summer Rental" is a must-read for fans of fast-paced thrillers, murder mysteries, and suspenseful romance. With its clever plot, well-drawn characters, and a setting that becomes both a paradise and a prison, this book is a thrilling summer read that will leave you questioning the secrets people keep and the lengths they will go to protect them.

this was such an incredible book. i don’t know why i put it off for so long!!! if you have this on your radar i highly recommend picking it up!!

A group of friends are headed to a summer rental house for a weekend before college starts. All is going well until a hurricane blows in, leaving them stranded.
Secrets that were best left not spoken come out. Everyone is on edge and then one of them dies. Then more and everyone is pointing fingers. The ones that are left are trying to find out who the killer is so they don't become their next victim.
A thrilling read that will have you guessing until the end who is behind the killings.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Summer Rental" delivers a gripping psychological thriller that evokes the suspense of "Mean Girls" and the tension of "Scream." Set on a remote island, this story keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Riley March and her friends journey to Palm Key Island for an unforgettable pre-college party weekend filled with beautiful beaches, lively nightlife, and the enigmatic Sebastian Ramos, a soccer star who secretly captures Riley's heart. However, beneath the sun-soaked paradise lies a web of hidden truths and mysteries. Riley conceals her past, while Sebastian guards his true feelings for her. Most ominously, someone conceals the circumstances of their classmate Jordyn Chang's mysterious death the previous summer.

The plot takes a chilling turn when one of their friends vanishes, and a fierce hurricane isolates them from civilization. Trapped in their rental house, they become targets for an unknown killer, intensifying suspicions and shattering trust. As the body count rises, Riley and her friends must confront their deepest secrets to survive.

"Summer Rental" is a skillfully crafted thriller that maintains a relentless pace throughout. The suspense is palpable, and the intricate web of deception and danger adds layers of intrigue. The characters are multifaceted, each harboring hidden motives and mysteries that keep you guessing.


In "Summer Rental," secrets unravel, trust is tested, and survival becomes paramount in a high-stakes battle against an unknown adversary. For fans of psychological thrillers that keep you guessing until the final page, this book is a must-read. Dive into a world where danger lurks behind every corner, and no one is who they seem to be.

Ross’s new thriller is a good well-rounded read that has a good interesting plot and some interesting characters and enough twists to keep the reader turning the pages to its conclusion.

The plot is pretty standard to start off with creating a suspense, weather conditions and your characters removed from society to send them down this downward world of thriller. As they are being stalked one by one and secrets are revealed, we in for a ride as the peril and twists of the plot keeps the reader engaged.

The characters are well written and three dimensional and the lead character is well established, and the reader becomes invested in her journey. The other supporting characters fit well within the high school rich girl vernacular and as they get picked off one by one the reader is torn between the horror and the glee of each girl receiving the demise.

The book is marked for the young adult fiction and Ross expertly knows how to handle the adult concept of the thriller, horror constructs and able to pull back on the descriptive crimes within its pages. This is done successfully and, in someone else’s hands, could have let the novel down.

This is a fun read and keeps the reader invested until the final pages. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book! It takes a little bit for it to get going, but then it has all the typical hallmarks of a good mystery thriller: group of beautiful people, interesting location, spooky backstory, and mysterious outside forces (in this case a hurricane). I had a few theories on the who, why, and how, and while I was correct in some aspects, I wasn't in others, which I consider a win for this type of book. There was a lot of repetition throughout, which pulled me out of the story a bit because it was unnecessary and bogged down the storyline, but otherwise, I would recommend this to others who enjoy this genre and will check out other books by this author.

4 stars

**I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review. Any thoughts and comments contained within are my own.**

Riley March and her friends are headed for a 4th of July blow out party to say goodbye to high school and hey hello to college. I really got into the vibe of this thriller. The beaches, the clubs and wow the secrets...

A hurricane, a killer and the eternal question of who will survive? This book kept me reading through the night. Highly recommend.

Quick read that may appeal to fans of YA. Characters are a bit vapid so no tears will be shed if one of your favorites dies at the end.

This book was actually a really great slasher. It had the typical clueless friend group, mean girls and a shocking reveal for the finale. Kinda felt like I was watching a scream movie.

3.5
I definitely felt myself getting a little bit creeped out whilst reading this during the night in bed and hearing little noises from outside.

It wasn't terrifying by any means but it's a slasher, it's supposed to be a little bit creepy and make you laugh at the same time and this succeeded.

There were times that I did feel a little bit bored when nothing was happening but it didn't take long to pick up. Thanks to netgalley for providing me with this book.

I quickly DNF'd this one, as I could not get into it. Sorry :( Since I have to give a star rating, I will, but I just wasn't feeling this book.

Riley and her friends are headed to to the remote, Palm Key Island, for one last hoorah before they head off to college. Looking forward to parties on the beach, nights out on the town and hanging out with their boy crushes, Riley and her friends have no idea what is coming their way. Reminiscing about one of their classmates that mysteriously died the previous summer as well as other twists and turns that arise, the much anticipated vacation turns into a trip from hell.

This is the perfect quick beach read for fans of Pretty Little Liars, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Mean Girls. Which friends go missing and how long will everyone be trapped inside the rental house? Although I wasn't a fan of many of the characters, each one has their own secrets and you will want to keep reading to see who becomes victim to the island serial killer.

Thank you to Rektok Ross, Ic13 Books and NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

Love her writing style for sure. I don’t think I had any real issue with the book but I could not stand the mean characters (totally understand that it’s actually real teenagers though haha) so the irritation with them made it hard to stay focused on the story line. I just don’t feel like I was the proper target market. The twists were pretty great too!
Cover design is gorgeous, as was Ski Weekend! And I’m a judger of covers

This was a fun and fast paced mystery which I enjoyed so much that I went and immediately bought the author's other book. Do yourself a favor and cozy up with this for the evening. Five stars for sure.

Definitely a guilty pleasure read. I tore through it, but it was not that well written. There were a couple of plot holes, and it was uncomplicated. So overall, I liked it but don't think I would actually recommend it.