4.5 stars. Suspenseful, but also filled with silly teenage drama.

I have been looking forward to this book for some time. Good mystery/thriller books like this aren’t easy to be found, so I was excited. And the book didn’t disappoint, however, there was also enough that wasn’t all to right. The blurb for instance makes things seem more suspenseful, but actually a lot of the more exciting things don’t happen until near the end (and this also include dead bodies, this is not a spoiler. Just a warning. If you expect the book to be filled with murder and death and blood, then stay away from the this book. This one is mostly suspenseful and near the end, then things start to go wrong. Until that time it is just a cat/mouse game, more psychological than murder and death.).

I didn’t particularly like Callie. At times she was a great character, but at other times I was just annoyed with how she thought. So she finds out that her lovely boyfriend was in a relationship with one of her friends. She totally flips and gets angry and sprouts things like that they lied to her and boohooohhooo. This gets dragged throughout most of the book from that point on. I can imagine her being a bit angry that she had to find it out like that, but I also didn’t get why she was angry and why she made such a big deal of it. They had a relationship BEFORE you got there, BEFORE you got a relationship with that guy, and you are making a fuss? Saying people are lying? That they SHOULD have told you? That they are required to tell you? Um, no. That is not how it works. Why is it such a big deal to know that your boyfriend did/or your best friend had relationships before they met you. Before they friended you? That is their business, and if they want to tell you, sure, that is nice, but this is not REQUIRED. Not at all. I am not sure where you are from, or if my standards are so weird, but what my boyfriend or friends did before me is their stuff. I don’t need to know, nor am I required to know this. Nor will I make a big stinking drama out of it and suddenly feel betrayed and feel like I need to break it up with him, because OH DEARIE me, he might have some more “secrets” to tell me and he isn’t doing that. This whole thing in the spoiler, is the biggest reason why I rated this book 4.5 instead of the gorgeous 5 stars it would have gotten if this stuff was either lessened or if it wasn’t so much drama.
And sure, I can somehow, vaguely imagine why it was added. So that the group would fall apart, to create more tension in what already is a tension-filled book. But it was just silly and it made me hate Callie so much. Also her total obliviousness to a lot of things.
But, like I said. I also liked her. I liked that even though she didn’t like camping or outdoorsy stuff, she went with her friends and tried it out. I liked that she took a huge book with her and that she even read it at times. I know the feeling of just having to bring a big book with you, even though it means you will have to lug it around.
At times she was really strong, and I didn’t mind her talking about her blisters or her feet that much. It made it seem more real, and I could just imagine her sitting or walking, trying to continue, but knowing that it will hurt so much.

The other characters, Lissa, Penelope, Jeremy were good characters, though they all had their good and bad sides. Lissa was all bitchy and acted like the queen bee, Penelope was a bit strange/cold at times, Jeremy, well, at times I liked him. He was sporty but also brainy, and I felt sorry for him (see above spoiler for why). But at other times I was angry with him. For being so rude.
And then we have Zach and also Ted, but first let’s talk about Zach. I couldn’t mention this one in the normal text, as that would spoil the book for people, and I don’t want that to happen. Through what we heard he sounded like a great guy and I was interested in seeing him, but, when we found out some stuff, I just wanted to kick him and hit him. He could have saved them all, instead he followed the group around, stalking them, creeping them out and several other things. I was disgusted. And also a bit sad, I was kind of hoping that all the creepy stuff was someone else, and then it turned out to be Zach, thinking that he was oh so funny.
Ted was really interesting, he brought with him an extra factor. Could we as reader, but also could the team, trust him? Was he really leading them to a cabin? Or was he leading them to certain death? I was really interested in him and I wanted to find out more and more.

The book was really suspenseful and I tried to pace myself, some books you just don’t want to read in one setting. This is one of them. At times I was really creeped out, at times I just wanted to cheer for our characters, bringing them some strength in a time like this. I do wonder though, they were all about the preparations, but why didn’t they just put the stuff in containers to keep them from getting wet/cracked/broken/etc.? I just found it highly stupid, but yeah, I guess if they were prepared the book would have been pretty boring and over faster than you can say: Boo! Still I wish that it was like this.

In-between the normal chapters we also have the chapters of the creepy girl/boy who did several things. Slowly, but very surely, these chapters become creepier and creepier and at times just disturbing. But, I like that they were added, they gave the book extra creepiness and I appreciate that.

The actual whodunnit? I had some candidates, and I really enjoyed puzzling things out. Was it one from the team? Was it an outsider? Was it the stranger that joined the team? Slowly, but surely you find out little things, but you are also thrown off course by the author who made sure to make everyone seem a suspect. It was really addicted and a lot of fun.
And the actual person, the actual crazy one? I loved it, it was a great twist (though I had my suspicions) and it made the book even more creepy. That person? They did it? Wow!

That last part of the book (before the ending) was frightening and awesome. I was just stuck in the book, couldn’t put it down and wanted to know what would happen. Wow, wow and more wow.

The ending was decent. I didn’t entirely like how Jeremy and Callie ended up, I don’t feel like this was a good thing, which is yet another reason why I deducted some points of the book. It felt forced. Like, oh yeah, these 2, let’s do this and that. It just didn’t fit.
Penelope’s last letters/diary pages were disturbing and I feel sorry for people around her, one day she will be free, one day she will roam around again. I do hope that the doctors will spot this before things go wrong. Otherwise I can just say this, say bye bye to a lot of people.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, yes, and more yes. I can’t wait for this one to come out in paperback so I can add it to my collection. I do hope they will keep the cover or make an even creepier one.