Rating: 2.5 / 5
SECLUDED CABIN SLEEPS SIX by Lisa Unger begins with a family Christmas. Hannah and her family find a mystery set of DNA kits under the Christmas tree with no one willing to fess up to why they are there. Fast forward to months down the line, Hannah, her brother, and her best friend are gathering at a secluded luxury cabin with their spouses and partners, a birthday gift to Hannah from her brother. Hannah is nervous about leaving her daughter for the first time, but soon there is more to be nervous about. Everyone seems to be keeping secrets and with a storm looming to further cut them off from the world, there is much to be uncovered.
I have very much enjoyed Lisa Unger’s books in the past, so I was excited when we selected this one as our final #SaturdayBookstaClub buddy read book of the year. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t quite the win that I had hoped for. I found this one very slow to get into. I was intrigued by the opening story and the mysterious DNA tests, but that intrigue kind of got pushed off quite a bit by all of the setup that came afterwards to get the three couples to the cabin. We’re following multiple POVs as each set prepares and travels, plus the POV of the man who rents the cabin and a few others as well. With the large cast, including the cabin owner and a hired chef at the cabin, the seclusion vibes were a little lacking for me.
Things did start to pick up a bit at the halfway mark and it because a little harder to put the book down at that point. There are definitely some creepy moments and it did have me wanting answers to the various questions raised about Hannah’s family and the various characters’ back stories. Still, it didn’t quite recover fully from the slow start and some extra storylines that I didn’t necessarily feel sucked into.
I picked this one up for the #PredictathonReadathon earlier this month for a book I expected to love with a favorite trope (a secluded setting), but unfortunately this didn’t quite deliver on that promised setting. Ultimately this was a book with an interesting idea that didn’t quite follow what the title and the cover promised it would be. I will continue to read more from Lisa Unger, but this wouldn’t top my list of recommendations from her.
DG Reads 