Free copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There is... a lot more to unpack with this book than I expected. I went in to Saint X expecting a pretty typical mystery-thriller. It was that, but it was also a pretty cutting commentary on the privilege that accompanies tourism, and grief – while simultaneously being a coming-of-age tale.

Saint X in simplest terms, follows a family reeling from the loss of their oldest daughter during their annual tropical vacation. The family enjoy a pretty typical vacation to the fictional resort island of Saint X – but on the last day, their eldest daughter Alison goes missing. Local authorities search for days, but ultimately she turns up dead. The search for a culprit goes cold when it's found the prime suspects have a solid alibi. The story then follows the family - focusing on the youngest daughter, Claire – through the years, as they come to terms with Alison's unsolved murder. Interestingly, we also follow the life of one of the prime suspects, Clive, and how Alison's death irrevocably changed his life forever.

I'll be honest, the first third/half of this story drug a bit for me – there is a lot of exposition, particularly in the first couple chapters, which are told in a third-person perspective, giving the reader every single possible detail about the island of Saint X. It isn't until Claire is an adult, living on her own, that things begin to pick up. A chance encounter while living and working in New York sets Claire on a dangerously obsessive path. When this begins, I was absolutely hooked – I had to know what was going to happen and what answers Claire was going to get about Alison's death.

This book goes deep – almost voyeuristically so – into grief, and how each person handles it differently. We read how Claire herself, and her parents deal with the fact that Alison is not only dead, but dead in an inexplicable manner. So many unsolved mysteries focus on the murder itself – but reading this was like a behind-the-scenes look on how unsolved murders affect the loved ones. I was especially chilled when Claire and her parents choose to spend a day away from home at the same time a docuseries premieres about "girls who took risks and got murdered." This is something a lot of us would binge-watch on Netflix, yet when you consider the affect of such a show on the loved ones... there is a certain darkness to supporting such television.

There are two main perspectives in this book – that of Claire, and Clive. We get to know both of them intimately. However, I had a hard time feeling connected, or sympathetic to Claire. I can't quite put a finger on it, but her character fell a little flat to me, and at times she was simply unlikable. Clive on the other hand – my heart ached for Clive.

Born and raised on Saint X, Clive knew the island from before it was a resort attraction. He only wanted the simple life, he wanted to stay on the island – yet everything that happens to him leaves him with dreams dashed. At the same time, I felt conflicted about Clive because of his involvement with the events surrounding Alison's death – this made reading through Clive's eyes much more interesting for me.

Clive's perspective was eye-opening in another way – the author delves quite frequently throughout the novel on the topic of tourism, and the effects of that on island life. Clive's early life is simply magical – things weren't easy living on an undeveloped island, but there was more innocence, more honesty, more tradition. Then, tourism comes, and it's good because it brings money, electricity, modernity – but an authenticity and simplicity is lost. Now, the people native to the island have to cater to a crowd of rich people who just want to spend money and relax. Especially telling is a scene where it's revealed the resort sweeps the beaches clean of its natural debris every morning for the sake of the visitors, who expect a pristine paradise.

Despite feeling disconnected from Claire – it was fulfilling to read all the way to the end, to see what she discovers and how much she learns and what she comes to terms with about Alison. As one of my favorite quotes say,

"In my parents' version, Alison was buffed like a piece of sea glass, her edges and points worn away over time and yielding to a pleasing smoothness."

And how true this is – we embellish what we think is best about people we adore when they die – glossing over known or possible faults, as if it would be a blasphemy to remember anything bad about them. Yet the truth is, even though we miss them desperately, they were still human. As Claire slowly discovers this about Alison, she finally begins to go through her own growth.

Saint X is full of cutting tidbits such as this – it is truly a beautifully written book, I felt like I highlighted every couple of sentences. So many of them hit hard. Despite some (possibly excessive) exposition, this book was stunning and a breeze to read. Not only did I want to know what was going to happen, it was a haunting and absorbing journey.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this one – I wouldn't say it was wholly satisfying in terms of being a mystery-thriller; if anything this is mystery that ends up being a character-driven coming-of-age tale, with a dash social commentary under the guise of mystery-thriller. Regardless of what I expected going in, I really enjoyed this one. ( )

The initial setting of this book is a fictional Caribbean island, and the next part of the book is set in NYC, both are done well. It is a story of a family on vacation on Saint X,, wealthy parents and their 2 daughters. Alison is 18, gorgeous and provocative. Claire is 7, and looks up to her sister.
On the last night of the vacation, Alison goes missing and is later found dead. Two of the resort workers are arrested, but let go. A Yale college boy is also questioned.
Claire mourns her sister's death, especially, when she is 18, and realizes that she has outlived Alison. She has a chance encounter with one of the men arrested, and decides to become close to him to find out if he killed Claire.
A dangerous story with a sad ending. ( )

Enjoyed everything about this book. It felt 100% accurate describing the Caribbean resort vacation experience and I don’t know how accurate the islander POV was but it felt true too.

The story centers upon the disappearance & death of a pretty young American and how that impacts the life of everyone who knew her long after the events transpire.

Really glad I wasn’t reading this while on a tropical vacation! ( )

Great as an audiobook since it's fully cast. A lot more introspective about how a death affected those surrounding it than solving the mystery thrilling. I enjoyed it. ( )

Being a good writer is not the same thing as being a good storyteller. Schaitkin is an excellent writer who needs to polish her storytelling skills: what begins as an intriguing mystery on a Carribean island soon devolves into a maddeningly meandering sprawl, capped by an anti-climactic ending that also includes a fairly apparent plot hole that should have been caught in the editing process. Grade: D- ( )