Note: I hid this review not because of spoilers, but because I don't want to bias any children (actual target audience) against this book. I know I liked pretty much every book I read growing up (hard to believe) and the last thing I want to do is create any cynicism in people who are too young for it.

---------

wow.

um.

this book...was catastrophically annoying.

like, i cannot even put into words how much i hate the main character. i wanted to throttle her. every single second spent within the bounds of her head was a fresh hell, it really was.

but as if that were not enough.

this island is not deserted, which on the one hand is good because i would genuinely, literally not have survived a 300-page romp through the beginnings of puberty with exclusively our protagonist, but is also, on the other hand, TERRIBLE because the cast of characters outside of Jinny (the main garbage person) is not exactly a dream team of heroes i'll tell ya that. more like 8 bratty kids. yippee.

FURTHERMORE.

this book is """mysterious""" in a way that really means "grating," and we never get any answers forever and the ending is dumb and inconclusive and this is the worst kind of magical realism (the kind where it just seems like dumb things are happening, no magic involved).

in other words..........not great.

bottom line: DO NOT LET THE COVER AND THE INTEREST-PIQUING TITLE FOOL YOU THIS IS NOT GOOD