In 1926, five women disappeared from a commune for spiritual mediums on a remote island in Vermont. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree. Now, a hundred years later, struggling actress Marin Keane lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery and travels to New Avalon for a weeklong research trip. But when a sudden emergency leaves Marin and her castmates stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again and the diary left behind by one of the vanished women may be the only key to keeping the island’s terrible history from repeating itself.

Riley Sager’s tenth book is out now and Dutton sent me a copy so I knew I had to read it. I loved Sager’s first few books, but somewhere around the fifth one they started to become very hit or miss for me. I’ve been very into horror and dark mysteries lately because I’m fully channeling summerween energy, so this one fit the ticket perfectly going in. A creepy remote island, vanished women, a séance gone wrong, diary entries from the 1920s, all of that was right up my bookshelf.

And honestly, I was hooked. For about 85%, I was completely locked in. The witchy vibes and creepy island setting really worked for me. I love conspiracy theories, weird unknown stories and mysteries, and Sager built such a heavy atmosphere that I was totally immersed. The mix of the present-day storyline with Daisy’s diary entries added a great layer, and I loved our characters. The quick chapters made it super easy to binge and I flew through it.

But then we hit that last 15% and it felt like we slammed into a brick wall. Not because it slowed down but because the wrap-up felt so abrupt. I was really leaning into the paranormal aspect of the story and while it didn’t completely disappear, the explanation felt rushed. Sager spent so much time building this thick, eerie atmosphere just to almost 180 at the end. I totally understood why it happened the way it did, but I’m so disappointed the ending didn’t deliver for me. He had me right there and then it just didn’t land.

I also found that Marin as a narrator told a little too much instead of showing. There were moments where she was essentially explaining away all the theories to the reader without letting you work through them on your own, and that got redundant for me. Like let me be suspicious and uncertain, that’s the fun part. And the diary thing, I loved the diary entries, but I occasionally wanted to scream at Marin because the answers were literally written in the diary that she’d read front to back like ten times. Girl. Come on. That could absolutely be a me problem though.

This landed at a 3.5 rounded down to 3 for me. Addicting to read, incredibly atmospheric, and a premise that had me from the first page, but the ending just didn’t deliver the way the rest of the book set me up for. I do think this would be amazing on the big screen though. The setting, the cast of characters, the mystery: it’s all very cinematic and I’d watch that movie in a heartbeat. If you’re looking for something creepy and bingeable with witchy vibes and a remote island setting, it’s still worth picking up. Just know the journey is better than the destination on this one.

Other Riley Sager Reviews

AMAZON | GOODREADS |★★★

The Unknown is out now. Thank you to Dutton for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.