SEASICK

Ten promising young Oklahomans board a yacht to celebrate their induction into a prestigious society—but not all will reach their destination alive.

Naya doesn’t fit in with the wealthy clique of inductees into the Yates Society, but she plans to do her best to enjoy the celebratory cruise to Bermuda anyway. Her fellow passengers include Étienne, her French boyfriend; Taylor, her best friend; Finn, Taylor’s boyfriend; Harvard-bound Amelia; young student teacher Mr. “Call Me Derek” Cunningham; swim team heartthrobs Brett and Gabe; Everly, who writes an online gossip column; and Yana, Naya’s former bestie. Newspaper intern Yana has her own secret motive for being there: An anonymous text tipped her off to a major scandal that she could break open. But when someone turns up dead, Yana’s desire shifts to finding the murderer aboard. The bodies pile up as the yacht encounters stormy waters. Naya and Yana have avoided each other for years, but they’ll have to team up if they want to survive. This locked-room murder mystery is weighed down by weak prose and wooden dialogue. Attempts at humor undermine the sinister subject matter and lend the story an uneven tone. Naya and Yana are well developed as individuals, but the other characters are defined solely by their unlikable traits. Naya is biracial (Black and white), and Yana is Thai American; both reflect on their experiences as the only non-white inductees.

An intriguing but ultimately lackluster whodunit.