2.5 stars
I think a lot of this book just went over my head. It was slow-moving and the narration style (alternating between limited third person and first person) wasn’t my favorite. I think this book could have been more interesting to me personally if the major plot points had been incorporated earlier on. The structure was somewhat confusing at times, especially during the first quarter of the story. Overall, the story was decent but underdeveloped.

Very well written and engaging novel - had me gripped until the end. The only negative is that some of the plots were not tied up to my precise standards but a good story anyway.

I set myself up for disappointment when I accidentally read a review blurb and the person said he was surprised at the twist. So I was expecting a twist. And I guess there was, but in a really dumb, predictable, unsatisfactory way.

I never identified with any of the characters, nor did I feel sympathy for their problems. They were each annoying in their own way.

The one mystery I was interested in, which was dangled far too long, was “which character was killed?”. When it was finally revealed (and that wasn’t even the supposed focal point of this novel), it was a let down.

I listened to this via audiobook and the narrator was obnoxious. His American accent was really bad, as were his female voices. He sometimes forgot which character he was speaking for, and abruptly changed in the middle of the sentence. Not distracting at all! :/

Superbly creepy and engaging.

I heard the review on NPR, and was sold on the concept. What kind of shenanigans can a bunch of college kids get into where one of them ends up dead and another one is so scarred he never goes outdoors? I really wanted to find out more. But in reality, this book didn't do it for me. I guessed most of the twists early on. And maybe it was a British thing that I don't understand, but some of the dares that made the players quit didn't seem that bad.

For instance: the dare that made Jack quit. Frankly, Jolyon's dare of going to a football match and loudly and offensively rooting against the home team is a good way to get yourself killed, and seemed much worse than Jack's dare of buddying up to the insufferable gay guy that he really doesn't like. Jack wasn't really established as homophobic or anything so his response to that series of dares didn't make a lot of sense.

And the one that made Chad finally quit...go visit your parents?? That was a letdown. I mean, it sounds like the fight he had with his dad was pretty bad, but his mom really wanted to see him, and the dare wasn't that he had to apologize or beg for his dad's forgiveness, or stay for a week. Just that he had to drive a couple hours and visit them. It was that vs. being on the run for life and he wouldn't do it? That was anti-climatic.

Interesting premise, but needed better development. I'm not really sure why that NPR reviewer was so enthralled.

Also: if Dee wasn't in on Chad swiping her poetry book from Jolyon's apartment at the end, why was she still alive?

I’m going with a full five stars for the first time in a while on this one. The story is definitely dark but the writing is great. It moves at a reasonable pace and brings you deep into the characters.

I listened to the audiobook on audible and I have to say the narrator was absolutely outstanding!! I will be looking for other books this guy narrated.

Interesting ending - thought it was going to go a different way