About the Book
-
Author:
- Emmy Laybourne
- Genre:
- Horror
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Motion Sick
BFF Charm: Hell No
Talky Talk: Fast and Furious
Bonus Factors: Swearing Off Sodas
Relationship Status: Toxic Love
Cover Story: Motion Sick
I find this cover very disorienting – although that could be my wicked motion sickness kicking in (seriously, I don’t even have to be moving to feel motion sick…it’s really sad, actually). It’s thematic, but not particularly memorable. MEH.
The Deal
Laurel’s wealthy and generous BFF, Viv, scored them both tickets to the most exclusive, celebrity-filled luxury cruise of the year: the “Cruise to Lose,” sponsored by brand new diet sweetener Solu. It’s being billed as the biggest cruise “since the Titanic” (personal aside: OMINOUS, MUCH?). Viv can’t wait to see if Solu lives up to it’s promised effect of making you lose 5% of your body weight in just a few days. Laurel, comfortable in her own skin, is more hesitant. She’s having plenty of fun as it is – because the hottest guy on the boat, famous former-child-star-turned-hottie Tom Fiorelli is there, hosting entertainment TV segments – and he seems to find Laurel just as interesting as she finds him.
But while Laurel is preoccupied with Tom, Viv starts acting strange. She’s losing tons of weight…maybe too much weight. Suddenly, everyone around them is acting weird, and Laurel – who was always too seasick to try Solu – and Tom (who’s skeptical of diet drugs) are the only ones who seem to notice. The skinnier the people get, the weirder things seem, until suddenly, the dream Cruise to Lose becomes something straight out of a nightmare.
And then shizz gets real.
BFF Charm: Hell No
Ooooooookey dokey. Here’s the deal: Laurel is sweet (no pun intended) (well, I guess that really wasn’t much of a pun…anyway). Like, she’s friendly and supportive; she knows her friend Viv well enough to tease her and lay off sometimes, and she’s admirably comfortable with her own body. I like that. Laurel knows that her worth is not determined by her dress size, but she understands that Viv struggles with her own self confidence. So that’s great.
BUT.
Girl, I would not want to be Laurel’s BFF in this book! Laurel is nice and all, but JEEZ LOUISE, when shizz hits the fan and people are going nuts and there’s blood everywhere, Laurel sort of dumps Viv. Viv is clearly addicted to Solu – and Laurel either just doesn’t get the seriousness of the situation, or she’s too wrapped up in flirting with Tom until it is way, way too late. So yeah – she’s nice and all – I guess – but TBH, Laurel’s BFFs don’t fare so well. So I think I’ll politely decline this one.
Swoonworthy Scale: 2
Um, yeah – I mean, Tom the Former Child Star-turned-Entertainment Host is great – he’s hot (check that six pack!) and sensitive. He appreciates Laurel for her kind spirit and inner confidence, and he isn’t even tempted by super-hot reality star and Brazilian heiress, Sabbi Ribiero. He and Laurel have some genuinely steamy moments…well, would-be steamy. Because I’ll be honest: the insane, terrifying, all-too-possible DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON going on all around them kinda killed the mood for me.
Talky Talk: Fast and Furious
This book is not a comedy, and it’s not a horror book. It’s a dark – like, really really dark – comedy. Honestly, I’m not even entirely comfortable with calling it a dark comedy, because I didn’t find it that funny – mostly just freaking terrifying – but there was an unsettling note that I can’t quite put my finger on. And the terror – y’all, the terror – I can’t – like, I called my husband at work to tell him about it and basically have him reassure me that everything’s fine. This was like, just-read-IT level of terror, where you’re too scared to go to the bathroom. Maybe I’m just a scaredy cat, but the absolute most terrifying thing to me, in the world, is the thing that could actually happen. And this? This crazy spiral into insane, bloody, ugliest-side-of-humanity chaos? It could totally happen. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.
Bonus Factors: Swearing Off Sodas
I really don’t want to spoil any of the particulars here, because part of the attraction of this book is the building dread as we discover just what Solu does to the body…but I can say this: it’s a diet drug, and later a diet soda. I read this book, and I was too scared to touch a soda for, like, weeks. Nooooooo thank you, I’ll stick to water!
Relationship Status: Toxic Love
Book, I don’t know what to say. I love horror, and you scared the bejeezus out of me. I think we might have a bit of a toxic relationship going on – I couldn’t stay away from you, but you def. gave me nightmares!
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from Feiwel & Friends. I received neither money nor Cadbury Creme Eggs for this review. Sweet is available June 2.
About the Contributor:
Savannah Kitchens is a children’s librarian living near Birmingham, Alabama. She loves discussing Harry Potter fan theories, making lists, and baking pies. When she’s not reading YA books and graphic novels, she’s beating her husband at Scrabble.
