If The White Lotus were turned into a juicy young adult thriller packed with rich kids, questionable parents, simmering grudges, romantic tension, and one very suspicious island vacation, you would get something pretty close to How the Other Half Die by P. C. Roscoe.
Set on the exclusive private Caribbean island of Mokani, the book follows Avery as she returns to the place she considers her happy place for another summer with her extremely wealthy friends. This year, though, she brings someone new along: Nora, her college roommate and very much an outsider to Avery’s privileged social circle.
Almost immediately, things feel off.
Avery’s ex is still hanging around and clearly isn’t over their breakup. Her friends are behaving strangely. Nora starts asking questions that make everyone uncomfortable. Avery’s family is dealing with financial problems she doesn’t completely understand. Meanwhile, a tropical storm is moving toward the island, and it becomes increasingly clear that just about everyone has something to hide.
And some of those secrets may be worth killing for.
What I liked
One of my favorite parts of How the Other Half Die was the way Roscoe slowly pulled me down the rabbit hole of everyone’s drama. The story rotates between the perspectives of Leo, Avery, and Hugo, and each point of view gives you another small piece of what is really happening on Mokani Island.
Of course, every new piece of information also gives you about five new questions.
Some of the most interesting characters don’t get their own point-of-view chapters. Archie, his sister Sydney, and especially Nora remain slightly harder to read because we’re always seeing them from someone else’s perspective. That worked really well for the mystery because I spent a lot of the book wondering what each of them knew and what they might be hiding.
Nora is particularly suspicious from the beginning. She’s Avery’s college roommate, but she doesn’t exactly slide easily into this group of wealthy friends. She asks a lot of questions, pays attention to things everyone else seems determined to ignore, and seems especially interested in Archie and Sydney’s father.
Then there are Nora and Sydney’s strange interactions with each other.
I started developing theories about those two fairly early in the story. I won’t say whether I was right because that would take us straight into spoiler territory, but their behavior definitely made me suspicious. I managed to guess some of the reasoning behind what was happening, yet the ending still delivered a satisfying shock.
That balance worked for me. I like being able to figure out a few puzzle pieces without predicting absolutely everything.
The other mystery that kept me interested involved Avery’s parents and their money problems. In a story about people with an enormous amount of wealth, watching cracks form in that perfect, privileged image adds another layer to the drama. Pretty much everyone on Mokani Island has a secret, and Roscoe does a great job giving you just enough information to keep you reading.
The book definitely has that delicious White Lotus feeling of watching rich people behave badly while knowing something much darker is happening underneath all the luxury.
What didn’t work
There were a couple of things that didn’t work as well for me.
The friends-to-lovers romance between Leo and Avery was probably the weakest part of the story. Their relationship just didn’t grab me, and I found most of the romantic storyline a little snooze-worthy. Thankfully, the mystery and interpersonal drama were interesting enough that the romance never became a reason for me to stop reading.
My bigger frustration was Avery herself.
For someone surrounded by so many strange conversations, unusual reactions, obvious secrets, and increasingly suspicious behavior, Avery could be incredibly naive. I had a hard time believing she could remain so unaware of what was happening with her parents or fail to question some of Nora’s comments and reactions more seriously.
There were moments when I wanted to reach into the book and tell her to please start paying attention.
I also wasn’t completely convinced by the secret Nora was holding over Avery involving Avery copying on a college exam. The story treats it as a pretty powerful piece of leverage, but it felt a little far-fetched to me that this particular revelation would have quite that much power.
At the same time, Avery comes from a very different family and social world than I do, so maybe the potential consequences make more sense within her circumstances. For me personally, though, it didn’t feel like the explosive secret the book wanted it to be.
Those complaints aside, How the Other Half Die was an entertaining, drama-filled thriller that kept me invested until the end. The multiple perspectives, private-island setting, suspicious friendships, wealthy-family secrets, and steady stream of revelations made this an easy book to keep turning pages through.
If you enjoy YA mysteries where basically everyone is suspicious, everyone has something to hide, and beautiful locations are hiding very ugly secrets, this one is worth checking out.
Fans of The White Lotus, twisty rich-people drama, and mysteries that make you constantly reconsider who you trust should have a lot of fun with How the Other Half Die.
And after that ending? I’m definitely curious to see what happens in the companion novel, How the Other Half Kill.
About the book:
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
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Synopsis:
A steamy thriller set on a private Caribbean island where the ultrawealthy’s summer vacation is full of sun, schemes, scandals, and murder. Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and older readers who enjoyed The White Lotus.
The exclusive Mokani Island is Avery’s happy place. This summer, she’s invited her college roommate, Nora, to hang out in paradise and party with her superrich friends.
But the vibe feels off from the start. Avery’s ex can’t get over their split. Her best friend is acting weird. A hot new staff member can’t keep his eyes off her. And nobody likes Nora, who keeps sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.
A tropical storm is brewing and everyone on the island seems to be hiding something—but are some secrets worth killing for?
Don’t miss the companion, How the Other Half Kill!
Meet the author:
P.C. Roscoe has sold cheese in Borough Market in London, scrubbed pans in a kitchen, processed invoices for a multinational, researched TV scripts, and edited romance. But her favorite job, by far, is writing, where she gets to immerse herself in tension-filled, high-stakes stories. She grew up in London before moving to a cottage in Norfolk where she splits her time between writing, cooking disasters and half-finished DIY projects and she honestly couldn’t be happier.