Helpful Score: 1
"For, whether we're aware of it or not, we are always living in the aftermath of something." - Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
This debut novel drew me in with its striking cover and intriguing first chapter. While on a tropical vacation, a family experiences an unthinkable tragedy - their 19-year-old daughter goes missing and is later found dead. The rest of the novel is told from the point of view of the family's younger daughter, age 6 at the time of her sister's death.
I read a wide array of books, from literary fiction to pulpy thrillers ... but I didn't enjoy this one. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and I wasn't sure what this novel was trying to be: coming of age story? thriller? literary fiction? character study? I hoped the ending would clarify things, but the revelations near the conclusion just caused more confusion.
This debut novel drew me in with its striking cover and intriguing first chapter. While on a tropical vacation, a family experiences an unthinkable tragedy - their 19-year-old daughter goes missing and is later found dead. The rest of the novel is told from the point of view of the family's younger daughter, age 6 at the time of her sister's death.
I read a wide array of books, from literary fiction to pulpy thrillers ... but I didn't enjoy this one. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and I wasn't sure what this novel was trying to be: coming of age story? thriller? literary fiction? character study? I hoped the ending would clarify things, but the revelations near the conclusion just caused more confusion.
The other reviewer has a point about this novel perhaps struggling to declare its purpose, BUT not too long into it, I started to think of it like a Tana French novel. French is marketed unmistakably in the mystery genre, but she NEVER gives a whodunit with a traditional payoff / twist. Often there is never a big reveal, but you have the compensations of assured, exquisite writing and character study. I think SAINT X is that, to a tee. A few doldrums in the middle, but the writing is very very good--smart, never perfunctory, not even one sentence. I say go for it, especially if you like French's "kindred" stories. The Amazon reviews for this book insist on waving a backlash against the hype, but I think this book deserves most of the advance praise.
