Uncharted (On the Island)

by Tracey Garvis Graves

[Leah]

Last year On The Island was one of my favourite books. Heck, it’s probably one of my favourite books, ever. Never have I read such an accomplished debut novel, something that sucked me in good and proper and had me hooked. I wasn’t the only one who thought so and Tracey Garvis Graves was catapulted into every Chick Lit fans author must-read list with her debut novel. I adored it, and I think that anyone who hasn’t read it, should, immediately. I’ve since read Garvis Graves’ second novel Covet and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t a patch on On The Island so when I heard of Uncharted, heard that we were going to be back in that universe, back with Anna and TJ I was super excited and as soon as it downloaded to my Kindle I started reading.

Uncharted is basically a sort-of prequel to On The Island, but set after On The Island, if that makes sense. Basically, Owen’s tale is pre-On The Island and he recounts his time there, but it’s set post-On The Island. It’s Owen Sparks tale, someone unknown to us until Uncharted, but he has a secret and he needs to share it with Anna and TJ, so they can understand some of the things that occurred to them on the island. I wasn’t sure at all where Owen’s tale was going to go, what we were going to learn, and why he was a bit hesitant over some details, but as I read more and more and as I fell back into the world of On The Island, I became hooked yet again. Being back with Anna and TJ was amazing, utterly amazing and the addition of Owen was somehow perfect.

I actually wish Uncharted had been longer. I really do. I wish Garvis Graves had written Owen’s tale as a full-length novel – something she could still do if she wished, I suppose – that’s how much I loved it. It’s not a short read by any means – sometimes when you pay £1,99 for a short story it can be super-short, and you feel ripped off but I felt it was the best money I had ever spent when I bought Uncharted. On The Island was this magical awesome book, the type of book that gets you really excited about an author, and Uncharted continued that. It felt as if I was reading the same book, as if this was an added On The Island bonus, and it was. Sometimes sequels (or prequels) don’t work. But Owen’s voice is so amazing, so real, just like Anna and TJ’s, that this works so much. It was so freaking good.

Honestly, I have never written such a long review for what is essentially a short story, a novella, but Uncharted touched me so much. To be back with Anna, with TJ, to meet Owen and Calia, it was perfect. I can totally see why Owen wanted to go to an uninhabited island and just be for a while, I wish I could do that sometimes, me and my books, of course, and to compare his story – how he chose to do that, with Anna and TJ’s, who were forced into it in the most disastrous of circumstances was startling. But like Anna says, what’s done is done. Sometimes fate just works that way, that you will end up on an uninhabited island Lost-style and whatever came before that can’t make your life any easier. This is an amazing sequel, and I do hope Tracey Garvis Graves decides to carry it on, that this isn’t the end. I have come to love Anna, TJ, and Owen like they’re real people and I just think this novella was the most amazing piece of fiction and sits very nicely alongside On The Island. A triumph, and something all On The Island fans must read.