The Island

by C.L. Taylor

[zooloo1983]

This book enticed me with the tagline, Seven Teenagers, Six Days and One Deadly Secret. I mean what more could you want, plus it is a Young Adult book just to add an extra feel. When reading this it made me think of the TV show Lost, although without the dramatics of the plane crash. It did, however, have the sense that something is not quite right with the Island. When your fears start to come true then seriously you need to get outta there. But then where is the fun in that for a reader!

We do have a group of characters where you are suspicious from the start. I didn’t like everyone but you definitely were rooting for everyone. These friendships are life long, their parents were friends in the NCT group and so the yearly holidays are the norm. This time it’s Jeffers’ birthday and the gang go to a remote island to celebrate, yet it all goes a bit Pete tong from the off. All the excitement made for an addictive read.

The story is told from the point of view of Jessie, where something in her past has moulded her present day. It made her aloof to everyone, her friends aren’t quite sure of her anymore since the “incident.”

The other story is told by Danny, Danny is fiercely protective of his girlfriend Honor and the rest of the gang. When things start to go wrong, the fear Danny feels we feel. He tries everything in his power to keep everyone safe as he tries to figure out what the heck is going on.

I enjoyed the pacing between glimpses to the past but with the majority of the story being told on that Island. Your worst fears start to come alive, you doubt what is real and you need to figure out what to do to survive. The isolation of the island amplifies the dire strait of the situation, not able to get off the island, the jungle not offering a sanctuary as you would hope. I think I would root myself on the beach and not move, I mean have they not watched Lost! When the gang did traipse through the jungle, I felt like you could imagine the noises of the jungle come alive, the heat from the sun and the sounds of the sea. I loved all of that, until, well until their fears started to come alive…I mean Spiders!! Enough said.

It was an enjoyable read, one that was hard to put down and a great hit for a YA book and I am glad I got the chance to read it!