Book Review: Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin

“I don’t think my parents understood their desires when they decided to have another child. They thought they wanted to raise another kid.  Really, they wanted to raise another Alison.” 

Alison Thomas 18, the star of the novel. The all-around, All-American daughter. Claire Thomas 7, shy, odd, and the younger sister. Some would say the sisters seemed close and that may be true, to some extent. In reality, Claire despised Alison as much as she adored her; even in her adolescent years to come long after Alison's passing.

Saint X. Saint X is an island the Thomas family inhabits for winter break. A family vacation soon turns into a family tragedy. Alison, 18, goes missing and found dead a while later. It’s Alison’s death where the story really begins. 

As the tragedy sinks in and the family returns home to New York, they come to realize they can no longer stay there. They eventually pack up and move to California and there Claire begins her new life and her new role as Emily (Claire Emily Thomas).


Claire spends her life trying to find herself (it seems) and run from the life she once knew; or the life she thinks her parents wanted for her sister. She moves back to New York.

She lives in questionable places all throughout her twenties in New York. Even though she can afford the best of the best through her parents, she lives in "lower class" areas. She runs into one of the boys from the island, Clive, and this sparks back up her hunt for the truth. 

“Our hunger for stories leads us to mistake a distracted spouse for an unfaithful spouse, an earthquake for divine punishment. A death for a murder. Aren’t they both right? Stories lead us to the truth and they lead us astray, and how are we to know the difference?”

When we dive back into the past and hunt for the answers we think we want, what are we really discovering?

Alison was a beautiful, spoiled, straight A’d,  privileged teenager looking for a thrill. She loved her life and the luxuries that came with it, but she wanted to experience the island life and culture. She wanted to be a part of something that money and privilege can’t buy. She ended up looking for a thrill that became her last. 

Claire has always adored, but resented her carefree, reckless, and “perfect” sister. With the eleven year age difference, she had big shoes to fill. It’s hard enough to meet the expectation of a living individual, but even harder when that person has been dead for quite some time. 


When Claire runs into Clive, randomly one night, in New York; it re-sparks her obsession with finding out what really happened that night on Saint X, the night her sister died. She doesn't find out the truth, at least not the whole truth. She still discovered something; her mother wasn't a pushover, her sister wasn't a saint, and she even discovered who she was. She discovered that something a better laid to rest and remain rested. No need to re-dig up what's already buried.

I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars. It was a good and entertaining read, but it lacked momentum for me. This was more slow-burn than the fast-paced I had hoped it to be. I still would recommend this book for you all to read.

Thank you Celadon Books for an advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

DIY-ing My Way To An Organized Life With My Happy Planner

Good evening to whoever is reading this blog.

I am on a “Road to Positivity” journey and I have been on this journey for like two years, I have yet to succeed. Now many factors are to blame why I am having trouble with this journey of mines, but I will be mature and take the blame. See, that’s growth, I think I’m doing well.

Some things I would like to work on during this journey is my attitude, organization, and health. My attitude is a conversation and a prayer for another day. We ain’t even going to breach that subject, not today. I will say I am a work in progress, I came a long way, and I still have a loooong way to go. As my grandmother used to say “he ain’t done with you yet” and we will leave it at that.

Organization. I am a very unorganized individual. I am a procrastinator. The best way to describe me is ADHD or ADD mixed with OCD. I take on more things than I can handle and I forget about them, most of the time. My bills, for example, if they do not come out automatically more than likely I won’t remember to pay or it will be late. I get sent a lot of book ARCS. I will accept an ARC and forget I have like 3 ARC reviews due the same week as the one I just accepted. I forget and lose track of time, a lot. I have multiple planners, but no real organization in my planners. I want to be more of a planner and have fun while doing it, because if it does not hold my attention I won’t be consistent. I lack consistency.

I created a DIY tracker for my bills and for my ARCS. Starting in October I want to be more productive and get my life (and my kid’s life) on the right track that will make everything a little easier. I created a bill tracker to remind me when each bill is due during the month and I made a book tracker for October, where I will track when all the ARCS for that month are due.

My Monthly Bill Tracker

October ARC Tracker

As far as my health go, I want to exercise more. I want to be to keep track of my weight each month. My goal for 2020 is to lose twenty pounds, leave sodas alone, and to eat healthier. I created a weight tracker for 2020 that will allow me to write how much I weigh at the end of each month, and that will help me know if I am losing or gaining any weight. I also created a step tracker page for October. I plan to keep track of how many steps I took by the end of the night to motivate me to aim higher for the next day. I walk an hour in the mornings before work and an hour in the evenings after work. I could walk a little longer in the evenings, but the heat is draining.

Yearly Weight Tracker

October’s Step Tracker

I created all of my DIY Trackers using the Happy Planner filler paper. The Happy Planner and The Paper Studios Agenda 52 are my go to planners. The have made my life a little easier and made it more fun to plan. I want to credit Heather Kell over at KellOfaPlan for her inspirational videos. She has made planning more fun for me and has shown the world all the wonderful ways you can use a planner which is where my DIY ideas came from.