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yonireadss's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
miserablemoons's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
thelittlebookster's review against another edition
4.0
This book was amazing. It gave me a feel of shutter island really. I don't wanna give away too much, but I really like how a person's deprivation can blind him or her. The story starts to get interesting around the pg 90 mark. There is a distinct line that you will eventually see, a change of the state of mind of the characters. The twist was fabulous. To be frank, along the way, there are hints here and there that forshadows the ultimate ending ; still, the ending struck me. I would give this book a 4/5 🌟. This book is available at all good bookstores. Thank you @definitelybooks for sending me a copy~
ellenmolly's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
awyl's review against another edition
1.0
actual rating: 1.5/5
the island: a story of a geek stranded on an island with his persecutors, how he reverses their social statuses and it’s effect.
how do i describe this? i originally chose this book because i wanted something to read on holiday and i’d heard that the author’s other book STAGS was well written. because of that i naturally had pretty decent standards set for this book, and i was unfortunately quite disappointed.
the story was very slow for such a small book. we don’t even reach the island until around the 100 page mark. up until that point, all we find out is how bad our main character Link feels his life is because he’s a geek and a slow runner. we don’t see him do anything other than accept it.
the narrative was purposely geeky and from an outsider’s point of view, and the narrator purposely dislikeable, but i thought it was too overdone. instead of merely disliking link, i just felt very, very uncomfortable. there were passages i couldn’t help but squirm through: some were COMPLETELY wrong and others were just plain embarrassing.
take this little excerpt for example. i don’t know if it’s because i am around the characters’ ages or something else but reading this made me feel awkward – it read as if the main character was a parent trying too hard to be cool.
“Turk thought he was a real Roadman, and he was lucky in his second name because it fitted that image perfectly. Turk had this dumb haircut which was almost shaved up the sides and long on top. He probably thought it gave him edge. He wore this Adidas pouch on a long strap strung across his body, presumably to hold all his 'drugs’. He also made that really annoying noise with his mouth, that one called kissing your teeth, a sucking little 'street' noise which punctuated everything he said.”
on the island, Link becomes rapidly more and more dislikable whilst his bitter and reprehensible actions start to come through. he makes girls dress up in a skirt and do things for him, punishing them with starvation if they didn’t do what he wanted and that made me sick. he thinks that he’s entitled to do all of this because of how he was bullied in school.
whilst the characters were the most built up out of everything in the whole book, they were very cliched and were your typical high school stereotypes. i feel like the author tried to be quirky with an overused trope but it really didn’t work. as this was a very character-based story, nothing else was as well-developed or explored as i’d hoped. there were so many opportunities that they author could have taken about more aspects of the actual island.
every ‘twist’ in the story could have been seen a mile off so i wasn’t surprised when any of them occurred, which was a shame because i’d heard that there were many twists in STAGS. if they were anything like the twists in the island i doubt i’m going to enjoy the novel.
the epilogue of this book made me lose all hope of this book having any redeeming qualities. it was just so far-fetched and seemingly unlikely that it was very unbelievable.
the island: a story of a geek stranded on an island with his persecutors, how he reverses their social statuses and it’s effect.
how do i describe this? i originally chose this book because i wanted something to read on holiday and i’d heard that the author’s other book STAGS was well written. because of that i naturally had pretty decent standards set for this book, and i was unfortunately quite disappointed.
the story was very slow for such a small book. we don’t even reach the island until around the 100 page mark. up until that point, all we find out is how bad our main character Link feels his life is because he’s a geek and a slow runner. we don’t see him do anything other than accept it.
the narrative was purposely geeky and from an outsider’s point of view, and the narrator purposely dislikeable, but i thought it was too overdone. instead of merely disliking link, i just felt very, very uncomfortable. there were passages i couldn’t help but squirm through: some were COMPLETELY wrong and others were just plain embarrassing.
take this little excerpt for example. i don’t know if it’s because i am around the characters’ ages or something else but reading this made me feel awkward – it read as if the main character was a parent trying too hard to be cool.
“Turk thought he was a real Roadman, and he was lucky in his second name because it fitted that image perfectly. Turk had this dumb haircut which was almost shaved up the sides and long on top. He probably thought it gave him edge. He wore this Adidas pouch on a long strap strung across his body, presumably to hold all his 'drugs’. He also made that really annoying noise with his mouth, that one called kissing your teeth, a sucking little 'street' noise which punctuated everything he said.”
on the island, Link becomes rapidly more and more dislikable whilst his bitter and reprehensible actions start to come through. he makes girls dress up in a skirt and do things for him, punishing them with starvation if they didn’t do what he wanted and that made me sick. he thinks that he’s entitled to do all of this because of how he was bullied in school.
whilst the characters were the most built up out of everything in the whole book, they were very cliched and were your typical high school stereotypes. i feel like the author tried to be quirky with an overused trope but it really didn’t work. as this was a very character-based story, nothing else was as well-developed or explored as i’d hoped. there were so many opportunities that they author could have taken about more aspects of the actual island.
every ‘twist’ in the story could have been seen a mile off so i wasn’t surprised when any of them occurred, which was a shame because i’d heard that there were many twists in STAGS. if they were anything like the twists in the island i doubt i’m going to enjoy the novel.
the epilogue of this book made me lose all hope of this book having any redeeming qualities. it was just so far-fetched and seemingly unlikely that it was very unbelievable.
shallwehavetea's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book through readers first for an honest review. In my own opinion the book started out a little slow for myself, not to mention that it being written in first perspective isn't really the kind of books that I read.
For me personally, the book started to pick up more towards the middle of the book once the kids start to figure things out on the island, with the way Link starts to figure things out around the place. There are a lot of references to different books and TV/movies throughout the novel.
The premise of the book is really good, it has the whole Lord of the Flies feel around it. Link, the lowest of the low of his prestigious English school being forced to be the personal butler of the king of the school, Seb. We follow briefly over a few years of his schooling, of his bulling before a chance of escaping the school for good has Lincoln excited, despite having to go on one last trip with his classmates over the summer.
In all honestly, this wasn't really the book for me, but I know that there will be many other people out there who will love it.
For me personally, the book started to pick up more towards the middle of the book once the kids start to figure things out on the island, with the way Link starts to figure things out around the place. There are a lot of references to different books and TV/movies throughout the novel.
The premise of the book is really good, it has the whole Lord of the Flies feel around it. Link, the lowest of the low of his prestigious English school being forced to be the personal butler of the king of the school, Seb. We follow briefly over a few years of his schooling, of his bulling before a chance of escaping the school for good has Lincoln excited, despite having to go on one last trip with his classmates over the summer.
In all honestly, this wasn't really the book for me, but I know that there will be many other people out there who will love it.
ftlobooks's review against another edition
4.0
Full review can be found on my blog here: www.ashleighbekkah.wordpress.com/2018/08/31/book-review-the-island-m-a-bennett
Overall opinion of the book:
I throughly enjoyed The Island. If you enjoyed Lord of the Flies and the tv programme Lost, I'm certain you'll love this book too. The story mainly follows Link after his plane crashes on a desert island. At first he believes he's the only survivor, but he soon realises the other six students from his school are still alive. The plot follows their journey of survival and interesting interactions with each other. The people Link are stranded on the island with all treated him unfairly in school. The plot develops to show a change in power and opinions of each character. Without giving too much of the plot away, there are a LOT of twists and turns throughout and it's so interesting to see the character's reactions when faced with the need to survive.
This the first book of M. A. Bennett's I've read and it impressed me so much. I was honestly blown away by how fantastic and interesting it was! She goes into so much detail and it's clearly a well thought out plot; all of the loose ends are tied up nicely at the end of the novel too.
The overall storyline was great and I particularly liked that the flaws of each character, including Link are shown throughout. It makes the characters and their actions far more believable. By having a main character that displays some serious flaws on occasion, it emphasises how power and the need for survival can affect even the strongest and kindest of people. Link is far from the "perfect hero" and that was refreshing to read.
At first, it did take me a little while to get into the plot as the first quarter is slower paced compared to the rest of the book. However, the first few chapters cover crucial backstories of the characters, especially Link, which help the reader to understand the actions of each character when they're on the island. As soon as Link wakes up on the island itself I was engrossed in the plot, it was all so intriguing! Although I didn't completely guess the ending of the book, I did pick up on a few hints throughout. The ending left me shocked, in a good way!
A lot of the plot focuses on Desert Island Discs. In short, it's a radio show segment mentioned in the book that discusses what songs you'd want with you if you were stuck on a desert island. Link enjoys the show and begins to question each of the characters on their choices. Being a big lover of music, I found it intriguing to hear what songs everyone chose, and some of them took me by surprise.
The only part of the book I didn't enjoy as much was the epilogue. For me what happens felt a little cliche and I thought the novel rounded off really well just before the epilogue. It was still interesting to read and see how each of the character's lives progress in the future however.
In regards to spelling, punctuation and grammar, there were a few minuscule niggles I noticed, but nothing significant at all. As I didn't read a finished copy, this is to be completely expected. The overall book was written brilliantly.
After reading M. A. Bennett's bio at the end of the book, it was so interesting to see that she included parts of her own life in the book, such as Oxford University and U2. I love when authors do this.
Final thoughts:
I would definitely recommend The Island. It's fast paced, interesting and it completely engrossed me. Bennett is a fantastic author and I can't wait to read her first novel S.T.A.G.S in the future.
If you like books with interesting plots, complex characters and desert islands then this is definitely the book for you!
Overall opinion of the book:
I throughly enjoyed The Island. If you enjoyed Lord of the Flies and the tv programme Lost, I'm certain you'll love this book too. The story mainly follows Link after his plane crashes on a desert island. At first he believes he's the only survivor, but he soon realises the other six students from his school are still alive. The plot follows their journey of survival and interesting interactions with each other. The people Link are stranded on the island with all treated him unfairly in school. The plot develops to show a change in power and opinions of each character. Without giving too much of the plot away, there are a LOT of twists and turns throughout and it's so interesting to see the character's reactions when faced with the need to survive.
This the first book of M. A. Bennett's I've read and it impressed me so much. I was honestly blown away by how fantastic and interesting it was! She goes into so much detail and it's clearly a well thought out plot; all of the loose ends are tied up nicely at the end of the novel too.
The overall storyline was great and I particularly liked that the flaws of each character, including Link are shown throughout. It makes the characters and their actions far more believable. By having a main character that displays some serious flaws on occasion, it emphasises how power and the need for survival can affect even the strongest and kindest of people. Link is far from the "perfect hero" and that was refreshing to read.
At first, it did take me a little while to get into the plot as the first quarter is slower paced compared to the rest of the book. However, the first few chapters cover crucial backstories of the characters, especially Link, which help the reader to understand the actions of each character when they're on the island. As soon as Link wakes up on the island itself I was engrossed in the plot, it was all so intriguing! Although I didn't completely guess the ending of the book, I did pick up on a few hints throughout. The ending left me shocked, in a good way!
A lot of the plot focuses on Desert Island Discs. In short, it's a radio show segment mentioned in the book that discusses what songs you'd want with you if you were stuck on a desert island. Link enjoys the show and begins to question each of the characters on their choices. Being a big lover of music, I found it intriguing to hear what songs everyone chose, and some of them took me by surprise.
The only part of the book I didn't enjoy as much was the epilogue. For me what happens felt a little cliche and I thought the novel rounded off really well just before the epilogue. It was still interesting to read and see how each of the character's lives progress in the future however.
In regards to spelling, punctuation and grammar, there were a few minuscule niggles I noticed, but nothing significant at all. As I didn't read a finished copy, this is to be completely expected. The overall book was written brilliantly.
After reading M. A. Bennett's bio at the end of the book, it was so interesting to see that she included parts of her own life in the book, such as Oxford University and U2. I love when authors do this.
Final thoughts:
I would definitely recommend The Island. It's fast paced, interesting and it completely engrossed me. Bennett is a fantastic author and I can't wait to read her first novel S.T.A.G.S in the future.
If you like books with interesting plots, complex characters and desert islands then this is definitely the book for you!
emmadeegan's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve always been interested in the robinsonade,standed-on-a-desert-island genre/theme. I found this book after searching for something that fitted this theme whilst also including the YA writing style - and frankly, that’s what I got. The book follows a group of teenagers that have found themselves stranded, unsupervised, on a desert island. They go through the natural struggles brought by their current situation, whilst also facing what it’s like being a teenager (not knowing where they fit into society and amongst their peers).
Something I have to bring up is the main character. At first you feel sorry for him after the (long-winded) backstory of how he was bullied at his new school; due to his lack of athletic ability. However, as his character develops through the change of scenery, we see his true persona as one that thrives on the torture of his past attackers. I mean he even reviles in watching his potential (and eventual) love interest starve to death because she refused to ‘perform’ for him and his beloved coconut.
Sorry, what? I have to admit I expected the protagonist to get a little power hungry in the role reversal, but maybe not in the misogynistic, boarder line psychotic kind of way.
Moving on. I also must include that the ‘plot twist ending’ was fairly predictable and a little disappointing, but I knew what I was getting in to - this was after all a modern YA novel. But nonetheless, I do have to admit that I did enjoyed reading it even though it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.
After reading her book ‘S.T.A.G.S’, I was fairly pleased to learn that ‘The Island’ was also by the same author. I previously enjoyed her writing style and wouldn’t be opposed to reading another one of her pieces.
Something I have to bring up is the main character. At first you feel sorry for him after the (long-winded) backstory of how he was bullied at his new school; due to his lack of athletic ability. However, as his character develops through the change of scenery, we see his true persona as one that thrives on the torture of his past attackers. I mean he even reviles in watching his potential (and eventual) love interest starve to death because she refused to ‘perform’ for him and his beloved coconut.
Sorry, what? I have to admit I expected the protagonist to get a little power hungry in the role reversal, but maybe not in the misogynistic, boarder line psychotic kind of way.
Moving on. I also must include that the ‘plot twist ending’ was fairly predictable and a little disappointing, but I knew what I was getting in to - this was after all a modern YA novel. But nonetheless, I do have to admit that I did enjoyed reading it even though it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.
After reading her book ‘S.T.A.G.S’, I was fairly pleased to learn that ‘The Island’ was also by the same author. I previously enjoyed her writing style and wouldn’t be opposed to reading another one of her pieces.
anitkahi's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5