Hot off the heels of “Batavia’s Graveyard”, I somehow stumbled on this book and gave it a go. The chapters alternate between a young girl (Mayken) on the Batavia in 1629, and a troubled teen (Gil) who is sent to live on the island where the Batavia wrecked with his fisherman Grandpa in 1989.

The girl’s story was much more “a day in the life aboard ship” than focused on the horrors of the shipwreck and its aftermath. It really reminded me a lot of a series my kids enjoy, “I Survived.” Her storyline does eventually get to a grisly end, but all told really not much focus on Cornelius and his monstrosities at all. Though I guess through a child’s eyes, we wouldn’t see everything that was detailed in the earlier book I read.

I didn’t see a whole lot of connection with Gil’s story back to the Batavia, other than the setting. And, his story is really the one the author wants to tell. He’s seen as a twisted weirdo by his peers and even family, but he’s a sympathetic character all the same because of what he’s been through. His druggy mom died of suicide/an overdose recently, and he stayed in the house with her body for days/weeks; also he enjoys an occasional bout of cross-dressing.

SPOILER TIME

Towards the end, I thought the author was going to do something sinisterly delicious, but it didn’t happen. I really think it would have “made” the story though. Bullied by some other kids on the island (who, in one last straw, break the shell of his pet tortoise), Gil takes an opportunity to retaliate by trying to lock their toddler brother in a freezer. Afterwards there’s some back and forth violence between the families, and that’s that. But instead, I imagined Gil succeeding in this and perhaps other horrifying misdeeds …. would have been very interesting to shift the natural comparison of Gil::Mayken to that of Gil::Cornelius … descent into madness and all that. Whoever does the reboot in fifty years, feel free to take my idea.

Published September 17, 2026