The premise of The Drug Trial is great. Elle is a woman constantly manipulated by her mother. When Elle realizes her mum has conned her out of her vacation funds, Elle gets drunk and signs up for an unbelievable deal. A free one-month island vacation and 20,000 cash at the end? Elle says yes, please. All Elle must do is take a daily pill and record her body’s responses in a journal. Easy peasy, right?
Unfortunately, The Drug Trial was a miss for me. After a swift start, once Elle reaches the island, the plot slows to a crawl in an all too obvious, but ultimately unsuccessful, effort to create some atmosphere. Overall, the pacing was too slow and the book too long. I also disliked the Gen Z tropes that filled Elle’s character. Imposter syndrome? Check. Constantly reliving her decisions and actions in her head? Check. Yawn… 3 stars because it might make a good movie with a screenwriter chopping all the unnecessary scenes.
Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.