On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

On the Island

by Tracey Garvis Graves

In this runaway New York Times bestseller, a harrowing near-death experience brings together an English teacher and her student as they struggle to survive on a desert island.

Sixteen-year-old T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. With his cancer in remission, all he wants is to get back to his normal life. But his parents insist that he spend the summer catching up on the school he missed while he was sick.

Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher who has been worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that’s going nowhere. To break up the monotony of everyday life, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring T.J.

Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahans’ summer home, but as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens: their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover they’re stranded on an uninhabited island.

At first, their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, and as birthdays pass, the castaways must brave violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the worst threat of all—the possibility that T.J.’s cancer could return. With only each other for love and support, these two lost souls must come to terms with their situation and find compaionship in one another in the moments they need it most.

Reviewed by Chelsea on

4 of 5 stars

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What I Loved

knew nothing about this book going into it except that my friend loved it and thought I should read it. That was good enough for me! Plus when the sun starts warming up outside I feel the need to read contemporaries and since YA contemporaries have never made it very high on mu list of things to read, I decided to kick it up and go with some NA this year. I was not disappointed! That slight age jump made the book better in my opinion. I’ll be sticking with NA in the future!

I loved the whole concept of this book. I found the author did the whole stranded on an island thing pretty realistic. I mean it was as realistic as it probably could have been. I don’t think many people would have survived though but it was cool to read. I found that they didn’t have it easy on the island which is good because who would? I’m glad there was some challenges because I’m a fan of action and I found that the possibility of them dying at some points during the story made up for the lack of action in this kind of book.

I’ve also been craving some romance lately and this book definitely helped with that. I thought the romance was very sweet and even though there was an age difference I think it worked. I also loved the ending of this story. It was never easy for this couple but the ending still left me satisfied.

What I Didn't Love

The only thing I would have liked to see was a little more action or adventure. Just a little something more to really grab my attention. It would have gotten 5 stars with just a teeny bit more! That’s all personal opinion though. I’m used to reading fantasy so it’s hard for me to like a contemporary. A 4 stars on a contemporary is basically a 5 stars on a fantasy book.

Who I'd Recommend To

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for something romantic and sweet. If you liked The Martian but would have liked to see more romance in that story (not that it would have worked) then this is a great book for you to try! There’s even some humour to the story during some parts which was really appreciated!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 June, 2016: Finished reading
  • 12 June, 2016: Reviewed