**** 4 stars
If there was ever an indication of what an indiscriminate reader I am, it would be these side by side posts about 1) a cupcake book and 2) this book about boy scouts stranded on an island with little hope of survival. And yes, I was reading them pretty much simultaneously, flipping back and forth because....that's how I roll!
This was straight-up, pure, old school horror. Definitely had echoes of some of Stephen King's stuff; put me in mind of The Body (basis for the movie Stand By Me). Other reviewers compared it to The Ruins (which I utterly hated) and I get that. It's almost as bleak as The Ruins but for some reason, I liked this a whole lot more.
I had to set aside the whole unlikely premise that a bunch of young teens could go on a camping trip with a single adult leader. Maybe that's done in Canada (where this is set) but I rather doubt it. It's an unnecessary oversight, too, because I think the same plot could have been managed with the requisite adult to child ratio. ;)
Anyway, that nit aside, this was a bleak and pretty gross read but it kept me engaged and interested. The premise was very good. I read where the author modeled the story structure after Carrie. The main story was interspersed with news articles, legal documents, etc. It was a good use of this technique. I was definitely hooked by this read and moved through it very quickly.
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