It's the first Wednesday of #spookyoctober! I'm so excited for spooky season, and to kick it off, I'm reviewing a YA thriller by one of my favorite authors, Natasha Preston.
Synopsis of The Island by Natasha Preston
I really like the premise in this one. Six social media influencers get invited to an island amusement park, set to open in a few weeks. The only way off the secluded island is by boat or helicopter. That's totally safe right?
Malcom, the owner, wants to promote his park, and ,of course, the best way to do that is through influencers. It's a free trip. Their only job is to have fun, take pictures and videos, and share them on their platforms. The influencers, Liam, James, Will, Ava, Harper, and Paisley, have a blast-until they start dying one by one. Fortunately, Paisley is obsessed with true crime documentaries, and is more than qualified to figure out who the murderer is. But can she do it before it's too late?
Warning: The rest of this post contains spoilers. If you haven't read it, and you want to, come back later!
What I Loved about The Island by Natasha Preston
I've always enjoyed Natasha Preston's writing. I read "The Lake" a few years ago, and I've been hooked since. It's important to remember these are young adult novels, so the concepts are really in-depth. But sometimes, that's more enjoyable. I don't always want to have to use my brain too much when I read. I like easy reads every now and then.
Like I already said, the premise is really fun. Influencers are fascinating (and not because I'm trying to become one myself). I enjoyed the character development, though it was minimal. Paisley was definitely my favorite character. She was full of courage and had the knowledge to figure out who the killer was. Her idea to start a fire was also the only reason help arrived at all. Ava was a little annoying and pretentious, but she represented the "typical" teen influencer. James and Will died early in the story, and they weren't very memorable. There are two other main characters, Reeve and Gibson, who are employees of the amusement park. Reeve has a sketchy past, so he becomes a suspect fairly early on. Liam and Harper were the murderers all along though!
Camilla and Malcom were Liam's (Robert's) mother and uncle. Liam was seeking revenge for Malcom allowing his mother to remain poor and not sharing the family inheritance. Early in the story, Camilla talks about someone named Robert, but no one had ever seen him before, and his picture was missing in the employee database. Everyone was looking for "Robert" the entire book, but were totally missing him. Paisley figures it out at the end, but doesn't realize Harper is Robert Liam's girlfriend until it's too late. Harper killed Gibson, and Ava died as well. In the end, Paisley attacks Harper, but it's unclear if she dies. There were definitely a lot of deaths in this one, including Paisley's (speculation).
What I Didn't Love about The Island by Natasha Preston
The ending. I hated the ending so much, more than I have in any book, in a really long time. At the end, you're unsure if Harper is dead, and as Paisley is trying to follow Reeve to the rescue boat, Robert grabs her from behind and pulls her under the water. And that's it. That's the ending. I'm ninety-nine percent certain there will not be a part two. Historically, Natasha doesn't write sequels. We will not get closure for this story, and I hate that. A book should have a closed ending, especially if there won't be a sequel. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Conclusion and Rating
Overall, I liked it as always. I used to love Natasha's writing more, but her writing hasn't changed. I have. I've read ninety-six books this year so far, and that leads to a ton of growth. I think I have outgrown her writing as a whole, but that's okay. It was still an enjoyable read, until that horrific ending. The true crime of this story was how it ended.
Anyway, I give The Island by Natasha Preston three stars. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it. I could get through it easily and it (mostly) held my attention throughout.
I'm so excited for October to kick off! In addition to reading spooky books, my husband and I will be re-watching all of our favorite horror movies. Do you guys have favorite movies and/or books? Let me know in the comments. Happy Halloween!
-xx Alycia
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