This book had me gripped from the first page.
It was multi layered and well written
This book is slow paced but it worked really well.
A great read

An absolutely perfect book for summer. Felt like i was carried away to a Caribbean island. I was intrigued from the start and hooked all the way through. Made me want to get on a plane right away and sit by a pool sipping cocktails but also some great thought provoking writing.

Whilst I appreciate receiving an ARC of this book, unfortunately, it was not one for me. I found that I was unable to get into the story or care about the characters and ultimately this was a DNF. However, we do all have different tastes and I'm sure there are people who will enjoy this book.

A friend recommended this one to me and I'm really glad she did; what a compelling and twisty thriller with an evocative setting and much food for thought.

For the first 150 pages I had some difficulties getting through because I was in the assumption this would be a thriller. When I had accepted this was not a thriller (at least not what I am used to) I liked it more and more.
The book is about the presumed murder of Alison, but it is much more. We get to know Alison but also the people surrounding her, even the people who were in the same holiday-resort when it happened. When I had gotten through the first 150 pages I just could not stop reading.

Told in two different line lines this follows an adult female being swept away from her life due to her obsession with her previously deceased sister, and the past time line line of the family on holiday and the young girls death.

It was a brilliantly moody mystery, which ultimately was less about the mystery and more about grief, life and obsession. Told in multiple well timed points of view, some times snippets and sometimes large chunks of narrative.

On the surface this book looks like a conventional mystery set up with a holiday/vacation angle. A teenager goes missing on her Caribbean holiday. What happened to her? But this book traverses so much more than the core mystery. Each of the different elements of the story cleverly propel the narrative forward.

I loved the multiple different character perspectives we were given from both minor and major players in the narrative. I loved the descriptions of the fictional Saint X island. I found Clairey’s character (the young sister of the missing girl) really absorbing and her impressive imaginings of her sisters experiences and life before her disappearance were very sad but also very captivating.

This is a book that delves deeply into intimate relationships between friends, siblings and addresses more broadly the relationship between western tourists and the destinations they visit. It gives a commentary on how tourism provides economic opportunities for people living in tourist destination countries but it has an exploitative nature.

Overall a brilliant book and well worth a read. The ending brought it all together satisfyingly.

Thanks to the author Alexis Schaitkin, Picador and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this story, lots of twists and turns that kept me hooked and engaged throughout. Enjoyed the descriptive writing style, recommend for thriller fans.

"Stories...are our Achilles' heel. Our desperation for them leads us to live in a perpetual state of delusion...Stories lead us to the truth and they lead us astray, and how are we to know the difference?"

Claire Thomas is a young adult living in New York City when an unexpected meeting finally gives her a chance to find out what happened to her older sister, Alison, who died when their family was on a vacation to Saint X in the Caribbean when Claire was 7 years old. There had always been more questions than answers and the unsolved mystery of Alison's death had stunted Claire's life. How did Alison die? Was she murdered? Two initial suspects were cleared and it was eventually ruled a tragic accident though the Thomas family believed the police investigation was completely inadequate and hampered by the fear of bad publicity for the island that relied on tourism. Will the stories she hears be the truth and what will happen if she finally knows. NO SPOILERS.

I loved the way this novel unfolded with the multiple points of view and the time shifts. Recognizing that this style might put others off, I feel that it allowed the narrative to offer the revelations in just the most tantalizing way. The descriptions and details brought the places to vivid life and kept me fully engaged. I read this more slowly than I usually do in order to completely appreciate the way that time affected the storytelling. This is not a fast-paced, action-packed thriller, but a slow burner of a drama that reflects the nature of coming of age and full of poignant emotion. The characterization was well done and I personally didn't see this as a study of race or privilege, but more the analysis of after effects of a shared tragedy. Claire wanted to know what happened to her sister so she could live in a different aftermath -- "no longer the aftermath of Alison's death."

Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

I really wanted to love this one, however unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I can fully appreciate what Schaitkin was aiming for with the novel and without a doubt I do feel it will hit the mark for many readers. This isn't a fast paced thriller/mystery, but in turn a real slow burn, somewhat quiet novel with plenty truly remarkable character development. Personally I loved Claire/Emily & enjoyed watching her develop and work her way through her trauma, she was a stand out for me. However I did feel like there were just so many varying characters that were introduced into the narrative, even just for snippets/paragraphs which I felt just didn't really add much to the overall story. Essentially, for a book of 320 pages which is my usual go to length - this one felt 200 pages longer as there was just a lot of content to wade through. That being said, I don't feel that every book can be for everyone and I stand with my feeling that this will be a book so many will love - I think it would be a great book club pick, with many themes to unpick!

A very big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Saint X is a warm, sardonic, acutely perceptive read, which addresses many contemporary problems in an honest, unflinching manner, and I found myself engrossed by the topical social commentary and invested in the cast of characters who collectively leapt off the page as they really were larger than life. It's one of those books where you are genuinely bereft when you reach the end as you know you can never experience it fresh again. This is a book you experience rather than (just) read. Superb.

Saint X is an extraordinary book, which drew me in from the beginning and kept me reading in one sitting. It starts with a gorgeous Caribbean beach vacation and it goes downhill when Alison goes missing. The story unfolds with her disappearance and ultimate death and what it means for her family and everyone for years to come. It was a very unusual story, but one that was very gripping. I really enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Picador and NetGalley for approving me to read 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐗 by Alexis Schaitkin.
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𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮
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I've seen online and on GoodReads that Saint X has some really mixed reviews. However, I really liked this book, and without giving away any of the plot, I found the way the story played out to be quite refreshing.
I know that when people read mysteries, they want to be entertained, and usually they are looking for the twists and turns or the big reveal. This story felt a lot more realistic to me.
Often in real life things aren't overly dramatic; things that happen can feel disappointing, anti-climatic, and we often don't get closure.
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𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡! 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?
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The different character perspectives throughout the book were interesting. Information is relayed to the reader in a variety of ways, from diary entries, to news archives, to first person relay and memory.
There were subtle themes running through the book, including themes of grief, love, racism and classism.
I particularly liked the parallels and similarities between Alison's behaviour, coupled with her judgement of her parents. In some way she seems to think of herself as 'woke' - a real white saviour - but her behaviour is performative and she is still looking to use other people for her own benefit or for an interesting story to tell.
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𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
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In my view, this book will really resonate with people who have experienced grief or trauma in relation to someone very close to them.
The myriad ways that people find to cope (admittedly extreme in this story) are so personal, and so all consuming at times.
Grief, love, and the portrayal of people was depicted so well throughout the book, in such an honest way.
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𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 ... 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬
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I can see why this book wouldn't be to everyone's taste as it is more of a slow burn, and if you are looking for a fast paced thriller-type mystery with twists and turns this isn't going to be what you're looking for.
Instead, the revelations are more gentle, and the relationships between characters often painful, gritty and honest.
What shines for me throughout Saint X is the subtleties, and the truths it tells about people and life.
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𝐖𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
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I would definitely read more books by Alexis Schaitkin, and I would recommend Saint X.
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𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞

Alexis Schaitkin has written a novel which initially seems deceptively predictable and herein lies it's sucker punch. On the surface this is the story of the disappearance of a college girl during a Caribbean family vacation. Fortunately it's much more.

On the last day of her vacation at a luxury resort on the fictitious island of Saint X eighteen year-old Alison Thomas disappears. Days later her body is found on a remote cay and two local men who worked at the resort the family was staying are arrested. Both were seen with Alison the night of her disappearance at a local bar, but are released due to lack of evidence. What remains unknown are the circumstances surrounding her death and the reasons behind it.

Full review here: https://wanderingwestswords.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/saint-x-alexis-schaitkin/

A very unusual, but unfortunately wordy writing style. Although in some ways beautiful, it was just too descriptive and bogged down for my liking.
Definitely a slow burn, which just isn't my style for a mystery.
DNF

I was really looking forward to reading this book but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations. The plot is good; a mystery around the death of a young woman on holiday on the Caribbean island of Saint X, a family unable to move on without answers. Years later, her sister Claire is all grown up and living in New York when a chance meeting with a familiar face from the island leads Claire to develop an obsession in finding out the truth of what happened to her sister on Saint X.

So, the good things: the plot sounded really interesting and it is a good idea on the whole. The writing is good, Alexis Shaitkin knows how to set a scene.

However, Saint X quickly struggled to hold my attention. There is just so much detail in this book and I struggled to see what it added to the story. There are pages and pages where nothing really happens and it is just setting the scene or the characters but I felt it didn't add any value and I was quickly frustrated and regularly found myself putting the book down and doing something else.

Claire/Emily's character wasn't particularly likeable, nor her sister Alison. Clive and Edwin were far more interesting characters but still not likeable. Each chapter in Saint X ends with the account of one of the minor characters we meet on Saint X; these seemed promising to start with and it looked like this was where the truth would be revealed. But again, these accounts led to nothing and didn't add anything further to the story.

I struggled to fully understand the developing relationship between Claire/Emily and Clive. I couldn't understand if it was implying she was falling for him or if she was just starting to care for him.

What I found most frustrating was the conclusion. Throughout the book various scenarios are put forward as to how Alison ended up dead and I was disappointed that there is no real answer. There is no big moment of discovery, there is just an assumption. And so Claire/Emily's obsession proves pointless, fruitless and looking back at the book, annoying.

By the end of Saint X, I was so fed up with the story that I was just glad to finish it. This was almost a DNF (something I hate doing) so I was frustrated that my continued reading led to quite a disappointing conclusion. I think I would've given up on this book had I known it was just going to lead round in circles!

Unfortunately, Saint X was just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alexis Schaitkin and Pan Macmillan for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying on a sentence level this novel is staggeringly good. I particularly enjoyed the opening and found it such a compelling beginning that it shouldn't be that surprising that it was a little bit downhill from there for me.

There were a few to many attempts at dark, 'you'll never believe what happened next, what I did, the dark depths of my soul' in the middle and later sections that sort of went nowhere. These attempts at foreboding foreshadowing, as well as my preconceptions of what this novel was are part of the reason that this felt like a bit of a letdown in the end.

That said, for its ability to capture the idea of the unknowable depths of everyone in such lush prose means that this can be nothing lower than 4 stars. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

this was awful and i am going to save your embarrassment by not reporting it on my usual sites. This is probably the worst mystery/thriller i have read in a long tie. There is precious little mystery and absolutely no thrill to the pedestrian narrative and cardboard characters. Every element of the narrative is repeated at least 3 times I find it difficult to write a longer review of something that was so dire that i speed read most of it

i know we are expected to accept problems with editing but this is totally unacceptable the dead person's name could have been Omas or perhaps THomas. the first two or three words were missing guessing would work sometimes but nor often. The letters Th at beginning of words were missing and yet you managed to put in bold excerpts which simply need a break in the page or chapter. An ARC reader needs to be able ot understand the narrative this was only possible here because the author repeated the information on at least 3 occasions I am sorely disappointed

I was lured into this one by all the hype I was seeing on social media so I needed to se for myself what the fuss was about! For me it was a mix of crime thriller and family mystery / drama which I liked and it touched on a lot of current issues such as race, privilege, social class and family relations, very appropriate for the current times we are living in. The book switches between past and present and I loved seeing how the characters developed over the chapters. The author uses a very descriptive writing style which adds great depth to the book and although I was slightly disappointed by the ending overall it was a very good read.
thank you netaglley for this ARC

I took too long to write this review and it’s probably going to show. I finished the book earlier this week and well, because of the weird schedule I have, I am pretty sure I am forgetting to add some part, the notes I made don’t indicate that but the feeling is still there. So…I apologise for that.

I think Saint X is a brilliant little gem of a book that I am so glad that I read. The book starts with a family vacationing on some non-existing island but goodness, the author did such a great job of detailing everything and painting such a picture that I almost Googled the island. The story really starts when Alison is, first missing and then, found dead away from her family and leaving behind a devastated family. Alison is perhaps not likable and I kinda like that? She’s a privileged teenager and it shows.

Claire, her younger sister, really cared for her sister and is absolutely devastated to hear that her sister is not coming back. Claire is seven years old when her sister dies. The story really gets going when Claire is an adult and living in New York. She actually ends up bumping into one of the suspects from her sister’s case and that catapults her into a discovery of many things. Just as Alison wasn’t a likable character, Claire isn’t a perfectly likable character and I am seriously glad of it.

In fact, now that I remember I didn’t like any of the characters but I liked that they were interesting and the author’s writing really did wonders for keeping my attention engaged. I think for a debut novel, the author really put together such a great character study that also included thoughts on race, privilege and class. Schaitkin’s writing is such a huge part of why I liked the book and it’s a pity that I can’t explain in words how much I loved it. So, I can only say that, please, if you can, read this book.

I am so glad that I got an early access to the book despite the fact that I am very, very late to reading and reviewing it.