Rin Chupeco

An island oasis turns deadly when a terrifying legend threatens to kill off visitors one by one in this haunting novel from the highly acclaimed author of The Girl from the Well and the Bone Witch trilogy. Pristine beaches, lush greenery, and perfect weather, the island of Kisapmata would be the vacation destination...if not for the curse. The Filipino locals speak of it in hushed voices and refuse to step foot on the island. They know the lives it has claimed. They won't be next. A Hollywood film crew won't be dissuaded. Legend claims a Dreamer god sleeps, waiting to grant unimaginable powers in exchange for eight sacrifices. The producers are determined to document the evidence. And they convince Alon, a local teen, to be their guide. Within minutes of their arrival, a giant sinkhole appears, revealing a giant balete tree with a mummified corpse entwined in its gnarled branches. And the crew start seeing strange visions. Alon knows they are falling victim to the island's curse. If Alon can't convince them to leave, there is no telling who will survive. Or how much the Dreamer god will destroy... Creepy and suspenseful, The Sacrifice is perfect for readers looking for: Spooky, scary books for young adults Horror novels Ghost story books for teens East Asian folklore Praise for The Girl from the Well "Solidly scary and well worth the read."—Booklist "Chupeco makes a powerful debut with this unsettling ghost story."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

The Sacrifice

Nik ✨

Overall I enjoyed this book and feel comfortable recommending it to people that I know are into this genre. The parts I really liked were the lore and mythology woven into the story. I always appreciate a vengeful god and love seeing colonizers / cultural appropriators get what’s coming to them. The parts I wasn’t really a fan of was the romance between two of the characters or anything really dealing with one of the mmcs. His storyline seemed forced, and I just felt nothing for him, despite the authors efforts to make him more sympathetic. The end to me was also a bit of a let down, though still exciting. It just felt like the conclusion to an episode of Scooby Doo with the villain reveal and subsequent monologue. Some parts of it were actually laughable, but I doubt that was the author’s intent. Like I said, fun, easy read that I will likely not think about again, but I wouldn’t think someone was insane for giving this 4-5 stars.

Very scary, nice setting. Set on a tropical island.

Charlie Winchester 

only reason i read it was because my mother bought it for me and i felt bad

Kayla Sitton

I saw what this book was trying to do, but I just don't think it did it well in some respects.

The positive: the way this book handles documentary crews going into places that they are not welcomed, ignoring locals' warnings, etc., as well as how Americans in particular view non-European countries and people (making comments on how good Alon's English is, for example)

The not-so-positive: Alon refers to people as a nickname, totally fine, there's a lot of characters. The problem is, these characters refer to each other as names, so it can be quite hard to keep track, especially of the more minor characters. Also, some descriptions were confusing and unclear. Perhaps it would have been clearer if one had familiarity with Filipino legends (as it was helpful to understand the Japanese legend behind Okiku in The Girl From the Well). I wasn't a giant fan of the twist ending, I saw it coming. I mostly just didn't like the note that the book ended on. It kind of opened up more questions about Alon.

The negative: Since we spend the book in Alon's head, it feels a bit weird to not know what they know. If we were, say, in Chase or the production crew's head, sure, Alon's aloofness would make sense. But since we're in Alon's mind, it just felt off because it seemed like they didn't know all of the answers either when it's revealed that they did? I may not be explaining this well. Also, in regards to Alon and their pronouns: this was another confusing thing for me, not because of the use of they/them, but because Alon doesn't ever specify if they are okay with the pronouns the production crew uses for them (he/him). Of course, some nonbinary people use gendered singular pronouns, but it was a bit jarring because I wasn't sure if it was the intention to have the production crew misgender Alon to emphasize how bad they were, if it was meant to be a critique on American society (i.e., as we've seen with backlash against preferred pronouns) or if it was just an oversight.

These are, of course, just my thoughts and observations. I wanted to love this more, but it just didn't really stand out like The Girl From the Well did.

Holly

I saw what this book was trying to do, but I just don't think it did it well in some respects.
The positive: the way this book handles documentary crews going into places that they are not welcomed, ignoring locals' warnings, etc., as well as how Americans in particular view non-European countries and people (making comments on how good Alon's English is, for example)
The not-so-positive: Alon refers to people as a nickname, totally fine, there's a lot of characters. The problem is, these characters refer to each other as names, so it can be quite hard to keep track, especially of the more minor characters. Also, some descriptions were confusing and unclear. Perhaps it would have been clearer if one had familiarity with Filipino legends (as it was helpful to understand the Japanese legend behind Okiku in The Girl From the Well). I wasn't a giant fan of the twist ending, I saw it coming. I mostly just didn't like the note that the book ended on. It kind of opened up more questions about Alon.
The negative: Since we spend the book in Alon's head, it feels a bit weird to not know what they know. If we were, say, in Chase or the production crew's head, sure, Alon's aloofness would make sense. But since we're in Alon's mind, it just felt off because it seemed like they didn't know all of the answers either when it's revealed that they did? I may not be explaining this well. Also, in regards to Alon and their pronouns: this was another confusing thing for me, not because of the use of they/them, but because Alon doesn't ever specify if they are okay with the pronouns the production crew uses for them (he/him). Of course, some nonbinary people use gendered singular pronouns, but it was a bit jarring because I wasn't sure if it was the intention to have the production crew misgender Alon to emphasize how bad they were, if it was meant to be a critique on American society (i.e., as we've seen with backlash against preferred pronouns) or if it was just an oversight.
These are, of course, just my thoughts and observations. I wanted to love this more, but it just didn't really stand out like The Girl From the Well did.

The Sacrifice

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