Review: The Blue

I think Lucy Clarke needs to be placed on my "must read authors" list. I've read all three of her novels now and have thoroughly enjoyed every single one. The Blue is her latest and it was no different. I was hooked from the very first sentence.

Here's the synopsis:

A group of friends.
A yacht.
And a disappearance-at-sea that turns paradise into a chilling nightmare.
Lana and her best friend Kitty leave home looking for freedom—and that’s exactly what they find when they are invited onto The Blue, a fifty-foot yacht making its way from the Philippines to New Zealand. The crew is made up of a group of young travellers bitten by wanderlust, and it doesn’t take long for Lana and Kitty’s dream of sea-bound romance to turn into reality.
Both women fall under the hypnotic spell of The Blue, spending their days exploring remote islands and their rum-filled nights relaxing on deck beneath the stars. But when one of their friends disappears overboard after an argument with another crewmember, the dark secrets that brought each of them aboard start to unravel.
At turns gorgeously scenic and entirely haunting, The Blue is a page-turning thriller about friendship, freedom and wanting to leave the past behind.

It's a testament to how much I adore Clarke's books that I agreed to review this one. Based on synopsis alone I may have decided to skip it because I have so many books to read and it didn't immediately seem like my kind of book. Once I reread the email and realized it was a Lucy Clarke novel, I knew I had to read it.

One of the things I love about Clarke's novels is the scenery. Her books are always placed near the water or, in the case of The Blue, actually on the water. The settings are picture perfect paradise type places which contrasts so well with the gripping and chilling storyline.

The Blue does have a great storyline though it also makes you feel just a bit uncomfortable, but kind of in a good way. You're almost forced to think about what you would do in certain situations while you're reading the novel. Would you agree with Lana or would you side with one of the other crew members? Who would you trust?

The Blue is a novel that will have you turning the pages as fast as you can because you need to know what happens next. The way this one is told, switching back and forth from "Then" and "Now", allows the reader to quickly understand that something has gone seriously wrong. You just don't know what that something is. Clarke kept me on my toes with various twists and I was never quite sure what would happen next.

The Blue is a definite must read for anyone who loves a good story (so, you know, everyone). There are intriguing characters and an even more captivating mystery woven in the pages of Lucy Clarke's newest novel. Don't miss this one!

*I received an ARC of this novel from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*