Review: Wretched Waterpark (Sinister Summer #1) by Kiersten White

Title: Wretched Waterpark

Series: Sinister Summer Series #1

Author: Kiersten White

Genre: Middle Grade, mystery

Publication date: June 7th 2022

Published by: Delacorte Press

Source: eARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis: Twelve-year-old twins Theodora and Alexander and their older sister Wilhelmina Sinister-Winterbottom don’t know how they ended up with their Aunt Saffronia for an entire summer. She’s not exactly well equipped to handle children. The twins are determined to make it a good vacation, though, so when Aunt Saffronia suggests a waterpark, they hastily agree.

But Fathoms of Fun is not your typical waterpark. Instead of cabanas, guests rent mausoleums. The waterslides are gray tongues extending from horrible gargoyle faces. The few people they encounter are very, very odd. And the owner disappeared under bizarre circumstances, lost to the Cold, Unknowable Sea—the wave pool.

When Wil goes missing, rule following, cautious Alexander and competitive, brave Theo will have to work together to solve the mystery of Fathoms of Fun. But are they out of their depth?

My rating: ★★★★★

One of my favorite books by Kiersten White is Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales, a spooky MG book that intertwines nursery rhymes and fairy tales in a really fun way. When I found out Kiersten White was writing another MG book, I was very excited! And I am happy to say that I loved Wretched Waterpark! It’s such a great, summer-y read!

Right from the beginning, I was having a great time with this book. The introduction of the characters was fun, and they all have really silly names. I mean, they are the Sinister-Winterbottoms 😂 And don’t get me started on their Aunt Safforina who knows virtually nothing about children... and seemingly, humans, in general, 👀😂 Theo, Alexander, and Will are staying with their aunt for the summer while their parents are... away. Their aunt then thinks that taking them to a waterpark is a great idea! And it would've been, have people not been freaking disappearing in said park! 😱 When the twins’ older sister Wil goes missing, they must unravel the mystery of this creepy waterpark and get their sister back.

I mentioned this before in my review of Hide, but the writing is just SO GOOD! It doesn’t matter what she writes, but Kiersten White is just a great writer! I loved every minute of this book! It was just a lot of fun! The park was really creepy, which I appreciated. The lazy river is called the River Styx, there are gargoyle faces at the waterslides, and just weirdness all around. It was great! 😆 I just loved the setting of this book. We got an abandoned amusement park in Hide, and now a creepy waterpark in this book? I am loving it!

I haven’t been reading a lot of MG lately, but it was fun to get back into the genre with this book. I loved the characters and their little quirks, the mystery was really interesting, and it was just a fun ride all around! I don't know why, but I think I might like Kiersten White’s MG more than her YA... not that her YA is bad. But this was just a lot of fun! And spooky! I loved the idea of a gothic waterpark, which is a thing in this book because Kiersten misread a headline 😂 I can't wait for the next book in the series! Apparently, they’re going to Sanguine Spa 👀

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊