Mega spoilers******

First 20 pages and I’m having Gone Girl flashbacks, wife disappears without much explanation although from his account the marriage is good and supposedly she was receiving threats (creepy doll left behind with mouth sewn shut… indicating silence). This now also makes me think maybe he knows something he’s not supposed to know but he also doesn’t remember. I’m also wondering what his books were about, did he write about a crime or something that people wanted to stay a secret but made it fiction? Or maybe his wife was secretly part of a mob family and he’s seen stuff but doesn’t remember… I’m still suspicious of this being some kind of revenge plot against the husband. You’ve got your classic middle of nowhere isolation, no cell service, creepy cabin in the woods, but it’s also on the edge of a perilous cliff. So, the vibes are ominous already. (He was sent here by his agent, who’s also the godmother to his missing wife, so again a revenge plot…) The place is just open when he gets there (no key where there should be), that’s creepy. Is someone here lying in wait, spying? I’m already suspicious. There’s also the mention that the people who come to the island don’t leave. Is that a threat? Sounds scary to me. Then you’ve got the classic depressed, grief stricken, and paranoid demeanor of the main character. He’s seeing his wife randomly…. He had a NYT best seller so I can’t see this as a way to force him to do something great (drastic measures for better results) again Gone Girl vibes.
So, the cabin is one large open space with windows covering the whole backside, facing the cliff and water. If this is a reality TV twist, I’m gonna be mad. Okay here we go, they argued about his drinking. So, he drinks a lot this is not looking good for me… I HATE a drunken, confused, unreliable narrator. We shall see..okay I really don’t like where the drinking is going. NOW there’s bones in the floor…. But IS THERE? I feel like I can’t trust this bozo. Okay. So now he finds a hidden manuscript for the famous dead guy’s book. Is this a test, maybe he lost his memory and he IS Charles Whittaker… a lot of options here. BUT then he says he needs coffee and has to witchcraft to make some… didn’t he say it smelled like coffee when he got there, that his agent thinks of everything…. Is this part of his alcohol brain thing not remembering stuff or is this just a mistake in the story… or someone was there and made coffee and drank it before he got there, lurking person/spying/watching theory is back. PLEASE don’t be a hidden reality show! Okay new POV, Abby, when they first met flashback and her seeing a therapist. She paints a negative picture of her husband and also ominously says she’s been lying to her husband about everything and she thinks he knows, she’s scared of him? So, now it’s feeling like their chance meeting wasn’t so chance maybe there’s going to be some CRAZY masterminded plan that led them together and to where they are now. Idk I figured this was coming though and again, he’s coming off as blind/dumb as the husband was acting in the beginning of Gone Girl. I can’t stop comparing this to that… alright I’ve also noticed this next chapter distinguishes that it’s Grady, it didn’t say that before, did I assume it was him but it never said it was him? I often miss things like that… suspicious. But, maybe it’s just because there’s going to be Abby/Grady povs moving forward..
Okay he finally goes into town, which is way closer than the ferry landing, I guess… anyway he gets the nice, mysteriously suspicious interaction with the grocery store lady just to make things more creepy and weird. He keeps commenting on how it feels like home, he’s from here but doesn’t remember it? I’m not sure what the hokey thing is that’s going on yet… too many possibilities right now.
Alright possibly some foreshadowing with the birds, they are loyal and know when to stay away seems like a warning to me. Also he’s so disoriented when he wakes up and the lady tells him it’s common on the island. Weird. Also she thought he rehabbed the whole cabin already… how much time passed..? More than one day? Oh and also he stole the book so he failed that test. But also did he even read it? No description of what it’s about. Also, is he actually Charles Whittaker, I ask again… again with the walkie talkie I almost forgot about the clerk having one. Everyone else has one… they are all communicating about what he’s doing, at least that’s the feeling I’m getting, he’s the only one without one. I SWEAR if this is a game show twist But now I kinda am getting like Wickerman vibes is there any other dudes here? I don’t remember one being mentioned yet… MAJOR Wickerman vibes, sisters that don’t look like sisters, both wearing some cult symbol ring….. he’s the only one drinking some homemade poison drink? SUS!!!! Still I’m wondering, did he even read the book? Is his agent in this woman cult? Now there’s conflicting stories about how the phone doesn’t work? But is it because he’s wasted and can’t remember? Damn I hate unreliable drunk narrators… Okay so now they are really riling up his imagination. One year ago a mysterious woman arrived, never left, and disappeared… SURE. Also I guess there’s exactly two men so far… still CULT… I’m still so suspicious of Cora’s random hurry to get him out of the store and close it up after the walkie went off.. secret meeting? He needed to be somewhere else at a certain time for their weirdo plans..? Dead mans body..missing a hand (bones in the floor) now he’s paranoid gonna do some more dumb shit. WOW. Abby was sexually assaulted by a piano teacher, that’s a lot to unpack. I’m suspicious of this therapist too. Why are we focused on her blonde hair? Does everyone in the island have blonde hair? Midge does.. he mistakes her for Abby does she have blonde hair too? I forget. Maybe She hates men, maybe she’s in this cult. I mean they were only together like a year or two right? Also there were birds on the piano???? Is that something… okay he possibly just got gaslit about the bones and what does he do… GETS ANOTHER DRINK. I hate this man. Also the banging upstairs.. they say it’s mother, that’s nice and creepy but what if it’s their last victim..Charles Whittaker? A different writer they seem to like those and the agent lady owns the cabin (she HAS to be in on it) he must have done something horrible to be the target of this clan I’m convinced now exists on this island. Ooop he got a secret message detailing the history of Cora.. the green wearing lady.. OKAY. Did he rape someone that’s clearly a theme here… is he being punished? He’s worried the sleep damaged his mind.. he can’t see straight so he has another drink this guy is a fucking idiot. He sussed out Cora/coraline and green, was that for the readers? Because it was pretty obvious damn he’s just so stupid. I hate him. He’s lost his mind and won’t stop drinking this is like The House Across the Lake again. Girl on a Train, The Woman in the Window. Okay the harmonica. I totally skipped over that. ALSO the napkin framed said the only way out is to write…as in off the island..? And matches with a BIRD on it..hmmm OMG the book is about a writer trapped in a freaking island. No. The Latin verse on the church is DISTURBING.. death is the gateway to life.. okay so there is an old lady with a walking stick. Ominous warning to leave while he still can. More paranoia… I’m sure he will drink on that warning. Ada, lost her baby, lost the plot too, like she couldn’t write anymore through the grief and that’s why she’s stuck on the island. The priest, is she the therapist Abby was seeing? An island made to trap writers with writer’s block? Weird. The priest MUST be the therapist that’s almost an anagram.. also the rapist and that’s a theme so interesting. Tha Priest interesting. let’s see, everyone says he’s not leaving so that’s concerning also someone said you better not write about the island so they won’t like the book. Why do they need a book written so bad? Got super anxious about the dog JEEZ! And sheep are definitely creepy. HOLD ON someone thought he was Charles Whittaker!
Interesting. Then Abby started acting all weird. Is this some kind of reincarnation story.. Charles Whittaker’s death led to Grady’s life… like the church inscription….
The world looks more BEAUTIFUL at night when the darkness hides everything that is UGLY…. Okay Abby… suspicious. Getting gaslit again about old Charlie’s death. But someone died? Do these people die if no one writes a story on the island.. idk it’s weird. You are not here can only be made into honeyeater, which is a bird with a long beak for nectar, which could be mistaken for a woodpecker, which they thought was killing the trees and killed them all. Not sure if this is even a thing yet but it’s interesting…
lol Kitty says everyone in the island isn’t who they say they are, YOU DONT SAY LADY! Grady’s in the shit now. A CURSE! Give me a break right now. Of course Abby is from Amberly or thinking it as home anyway…… well at least it’s not a game show. Oh all of sudden he imagined her face omg. Wellp, did he kill sandy? Now he’s either hearing things or being gaslit by Mrs green clothes…
I KNEW IT WAS ALL WOMEN! Of course Abby is alive and about to drop some dumb bombs right now I’m sure. Who’s the villain? They both are. Okay Abby is about to reveal all the stuff but all I can think about is the dog alone in the cabin with no power :(
Kitty is the Abby in the other POV… Rock Paper Scissors all over again with a Wickerman twist… :/

Final thoughts, make this into a movie but ONLY if Nicholas Cage is starring.
But I really was entertained by this book.