Published: 2022
Series: Sinister Summer (5 books in series; complete)
Author: Kiersten White
Genres: Mystery, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Humor
Audience (Grade Levels): Middle Grade / Grades 5-8
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 stars)
Goodreads Link: Wretched Waterpark
Triggers: None
Review By: Jenna Ballard
Publisher’s Summary:
A middle-grade mystery series that’s spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists! Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents—or at the very least finally finding a good churro.
Meet the Sinister-Winterbottoms: brave Theo, her timid twin, Alexander, and their older sister, Wil. They’re stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn’t know how often children need to eat and can’t use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides—er—walks.
When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool.
Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it’s up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth?
Review:
Anyone who has read Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events will instantly recognize similarities in the first book of this new mystery series: three siblings surrounded by odd and distinctly unhelpful adults, a gothic and vaguely old-time-y setting, and a dark, yet clever, sense of humor.
Sometimes, comparisons to a wildly popular and beloved series like Snicket’s will only hurt a new book, setting the reader up for disappointment. However, in the case of Wretched Waterpark, there are no disappointments to be seen. It is very much like Unfortunate Events in all the best ways, and it also holds up as a delightful and engaging story in its own right. White’s dry humor and writing style had me laughing to myself several times throughout the book. The mystery unfolds at a perfect pace, slowly revealing odd happenings and suspicious characters one at a time until suddenly you find yourself rapidly tearing through the final pages to figure out how it’s resolved.
Even when this mystery comes to an end, there are some unanswered questions and a brief setup for the plot of the next book, Vampirific Vacation (2022). I look forward to continuing with the series and to sharing it with the mystery lovers at my school in the fall.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- English Language Arts (ELA): Perfect tool for teaching dry humor, gothic mystery conventions, and pacing in narrative writing. It also offers excellent opportunities for comparative literature essays alongside classic series like A Series of Unfortunate Events.
- Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Connects to sibling dynamics, teamwork, overcoming fears, and navigating unusual situations when surrounded by eccentric environments or unhelpful authority figures.
Extension Activity / Library Application:
- “Bizarre Vacation Destination” Writing Workshop: Inspired by the Sinister-Winterbottom siblings visiting an increasingly strange waterpark, have students invent their own gothic, creepy, or humorously inverted vacation destinations (e.g., a spine-chilling campground or an eerie amusement park) and draft a tourist brochure or a short mystery scene set there.
- Unanswered Questions Board: Because the novel intentionally leaves threads hanging to establish the sequel, setup a library bulletin board where students can post their own predictions for Vampirific Vacation and track clue patterns across serialization.
Diversity & Representation:
The book provides positive representation of varied personality types within families, juxtaposing a brave, proactive sister alongside a timid, cautious twin brother who must learn to cooperate. It serves as a meaningful inclusion piece for young readers looking for lighter gothic fiction that handles spooky, dark humored, and strange elements without crossing into overwhelming trauma or genuine graphic horror.
Readalikes:
- A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
- The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln
- The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix
