I am an optimistic. I rarely rate books low because I'm always trying to find the good even when you're so deep into the bad the good is barely visible. With this book I felt that way. I was constantly trying to understand why the words were there, why the events were happening, but I never could. And so when I reached the acknowledgments I rolled my eyes at all the authors mentioned, all the hype, and everyone who says this is a master piece-because to me, it is not. Not even close.
Yes, the writing -only at the beginning and at the end-is beautiful, which made me think that maybe the author was thinking about a ccouple "cool" idea that basically were:
1. A rich white family in a private island
2. Family drama
3. Let's kill some people... and dogs as a fantastic (not really) plot twist
Whatever is written in the middle doesn't matter.
And then we have the annoying first-person narrator: Cadence. I get this was a personal issue, but I really disliked her. How she couldn't stop mentioning her oh so many flaws that made her a horrible human being-which she was, but if she was looking for some sort of redemption, I completely missed the point.
I want to mention one particular scene that will explain how I feel by itself: Cadence and Gat are having a conversation about her grandfather and how he is the embodiment of patriarchy and unconscious (not really) racism, and out of NOWHERE she kisses him, and he kisses her back. End of chapter.
And don't even let me get started with how unrealistic the teenage voices were. Really don't let me.
I'm done and out.