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amysbookishlife's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Hot Key Books for sending me a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
M.A. Bennett is an author that I've heard a lot about in recent months and despite not reading S.T.A.G.S I was intrigued to read The Island .
The first part of the book I really did like although there were a few points during some of the bullying scenes when I felt a bit uncomfortable (this is due to past bullying experiences). Despite this I was really into the story and felt like there was a connection between Link and I and I do love when I can relate to a protagonist.
However, come the middle of the book this started to slip. I became annoyed with Link and how he was acting. His behaviour in my opinion was immature. Mind you, I can see why this was the case but it made for pretty uncomfortable reading.
Although there were a few problems I did like how character driven the story was. I am definitely someone who prefers character driven stories over plot driven ones and I felt that each character developed perfectly throughout. There were a few that stood out to me and these were the ones that I did love the most.
The Island was an okay read but I'll admit I was expecting better after all the hype. This hasn't deterred me from reading S.T.A.G.S at some point in the future though.
M.A. Bennett is an author that I've heard a lot about in recent months and despite not reading S.T.A.G.S I was intrigued to read The Island .
The first part of the book I really did like although there were a few points during some of the bullying scenes when I felt a bit uncomfortable (this is due to past bullying experiences). Despite this I was really into the story and felt like there was a connection between Link and I and I do love when I can relate to a protagonist.
However, come the middle of the book this started to slip. I became annoyed with Link and how he was acting. His behaviour in my opinion was immature. Mind you, I can see why this was the case but it made for pretty uncomfortable reading.
Although there were a few problems I did like how character driven the story was. I am definitely someone who prefers character driven stories over plot driven ones and I felt that each character developed perfectly throughout. There were a few that stood out to me and these were the ones that I did love the most.
The Island was an okay read but I'll admit I was expecting better after all the hype. This hasn't deterred me from reading S.T.A.G.S at some point in the future though.
bibliophilebookclub's review against another edition
2.0
Started off promising, but I got bored about a quarter of the way through. It’s a bit Breakfast Club/Lord of the Flies but it just didn’t do anything for me!
luna216's review
4.0
This was very surprising, I like these kind of castaway stories but the slower build up and the heavy use of stereotypes was kinda throwing me off. But believe me it all makes sense in the end and it is really worth reading. The ending was so clever and the amount of popculture and references is great. Even Harry Styles got mentioned hehehe
bybookandbone's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed The Island. I loved that none of the characters were good people, because they're teenagers and imperfect (the adults at the school perpetuate the worst parts of their personalities). I also really appreciated that the MC was bullied but also not a good person off the bat. Link has very much a 'nice guy' outlook and other toxic thoughts due to years of bullying.
This book is very much his journey of learning to move past the abuse and letting go of his entitlement too.
I will say that the final chapter and epilogue really let the book down. Link's parents are garbage and the epilogue just made me roll my eyes.
This book is very much his journey of learning to move past the abuse and letting go of his entitlement too.
I will say that the final chapter and epilogue really let the book down. Link's parents are garbage and the epilogue just made me roll my eyes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Sexism
Moderate: Drug abuse and Homophobia
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
king_lyd's review
2.0
Book Review- The Island by M.A Bennett
I was given an advanced copy of this by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Link is the son of two hippy Professors who, after years of allowing him leeway in his education, suddenly force him to go to this prestigious school where the time you take to run around the quad secures your place in the school hierarchy.
Every single aspect of the school from your peers to your future is set on this ranking and, to be honest, that is the most believable part of the story.
Link, having gained the slowest time, is bullied relentlessly. No one wants to be in the crosshairs of the bullies so he is friendless. You would have some sort of empathy for him if Link wasn’t such a genuinely unlikable character.
Eventually Link tells his parents that he wants to leave school and they only agree if he goes to summer camp for two weeks.
He agrees and is looking forwards to being done with his schoolmates but the plane crashes on a deserted island where the seven characters suddenly have to survive on their own.
Because Link is the ‘smart one’ he suddenly has all the power and that power starts to go his head. Cue a role reversal and Link becomes the bully and has to learn that power corrupts.
The author spends the first almost 100 pages telling us how much Link loves his parents and how much of a great relationship they have and yet for THREE YEARS they don’t notice he’s being victimised?
Link himself is unlikeable. We are supposed to feel sorry for him but his inner thoughts are not those of a victim.
When he gets power he uses it to belittle and humiliate his fellow survivors and he justifies it with how badly he himself had been treated.
He forces the girls on the island to wear a short skirt and serve him and, if they refuse, then he starves them. He holds the power of life and death over his peers and he relishes their complicity.
He reminded me, quite honestly, of the insular, misogynistic, entitled men you find at comic con who believe that it is their interests, rather than their personality, which gets them bullied and that everything they do is justified because of their ‘suffering’. His change into a power-hungry tyrant really did not come as a surprise to me as he had already exhibited many of the danger signs.
The other characters in the story are very one dimensional..
There is the jock who has been bullying Link, his popular swim-team girlfriend, a closeted gay guy, a streetwise yes-man, an overachieving Asian girl and an emo girl. Ah, references to the breakfast club and its list of stereotypes gets quite a lot of mentions but, unlike the Breakfast club, these characters ‘layers’ are almost as stereotypical as their initial roles.
The jock is only as secure as his leadership role, as soon as anyone else has power he becomes irrational and petulant. The popular girl is secretly insecure. The gay guy is in love with the jock. The streetwise guy is actually pretty decent under it all. The overachieving Asian girl is overwhelmed and close to a breakdown and the emo girl is actually deep and smart.
None of these layers or stereotypes come as any kind of surprise.
In fact the best thing I can say about the book is that it is all so predictable.
This book is also going to be dated very quickly. It has so many pop-culture references that jolt you out of the story.
I didn’t like it and I felt it was a struggle to read.
I was given an advanced copy of this by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Link is the son of two hippy Professors who, after years of allowing him leeway in his education, suddenly force him to go to this prestigious school where the time you take to run around the quad secures your place in the school hierarchy.
Every single aspect of the school from your peers to your future is set on this ranking and, to be honest, that is the most believable part of the story.
Link, having gained the slowest time, is bullied relentlessly. No one wants to be in the crosshairs of the bullies so he is friendless. You would have some sort of empathy for him if Link wasn’t such a genuinely unlikable character.
Eventually Link tells his parents that he wants to leave school and they only agree if he goes to summer camp for two weeks.
He agrees and is looking forwards to being done with his schoolmates but the plane crashes on a deserted island where the seven characters suddenly have to survive on their own.
Because Link is the ‘smart one’ he suddenly has all the power and that power starts to go his head. Cue a role reversal and Link becomes the bully and has to learn that power corrupts.
The author spends the first almost 100 pages telling us how much Link loves his parents and how much of a great relationship they have and yet for THREE YEARS they don’t notice he’s being victimised?
Link himself is unlikeable. We are supposed to feel sorry for him but his inner thoughts are not those of a victim.
When he gets power he uses it to belittle and humiliate his fellow survivors and he justifies it with how badly he himself had been treated.
He forces the girls on the island to wear a short skirt and serve him and, if they refuse, then he starves them. He holds the power of life and death over his peers and he relishes their complicity.
He reminded me, quite honestly, of the insular, misogynistic, entitled men you find at comic con who believe that it is their interests, rather than their personality, which gets them bullied and that everything they do is justified because of their ‘suffering’. His change into a power-hungry tyrant really did not come as a surprise to me as he had already exhibited many of the danger signs.
The other characters in the story are very one dimensional..
There is the jock who has been bullying Link, his popular swim-team girlfriend, a closeted gay guy, a streetwise yes-man, an overachieving Asian girl and an emo girl. Ah, references to the breakfast club and its list of stereotypes gets quite a lot of mentions but, unlike the Breakfast club, these characters ‘layers’ are almost as stereotypical as their initial roles.
The jock is only as secure as his leadership role, as soon as anyone else has power he becomes irrational and petulant. The popular girl is secretly insecure. The gay guy is in love with the jock. The streetwise guy is actually pretty decent under it all. The overachieving Asian girl is overwhelmed and close to a breakdown and the emo girl is actually deep and smart.
None of these layers or stereotypes come as any kind of surprise.
In fact the best thing I can say about the book is that it is all so predictable.
This book is also going to be dated very quickly. It has so many pop-culture references that jolt you out of the story.
I didn’t like it and I felt it was a struggle to read.
bi_bibliophile's review
3.0
M A Bennett seems to have a thing for stereotypes and "working class" kids going to posh schools because both have been in the 2 books I've read by her so far. Frankly I dislike the excessive amount of stereotypes she uses in her books especially given some can actually been seen as offensive, also, the use of the word "faggot" was disgusting even if it was used by bullies and as an insult, there is no need for that kind of language to be used even if you want the situation to be realistic.
Okay, onto the actual story, I'm just going to bullet point because there's really no point in going into a lot of detail.
-The main character is awful and yes he tries to redeem himself but I think it was all too little too late.
-The other characters are okay but no one changes at all except maybe Flora who was probably my favourite character in the entire book.
-The "plot twist" was obvious for a lot of the book.
-It took far too long making you see how Link was treated at school. You didn't need 100 pages of terrible school life, flash backs would have worked better.
-I got so bored about hear about all the desert island books Link had read and share similarities with his situation, I get it, it's meant to be Lord Of The Flies for the modern era.
-The narrator (Link) patronises the reader and is occasionally unreliable.
-A lot of the book is unbelievable and outlandish, especially the Epilogue.
-"Fishes" is not a damn word.
I gave it 2.5 stars but rounded up to 3 stars because it did get better but only really past the 200 page mark when things really started to happen on the on the Island.
Some people may love this book but to me it just tried to hard to be like the classic desert island books that there are so many of.
Okay, onto the actual story, I'm just going to bullet point because there's really no point in going into a lot of detail.
-The main character is awful and yes he tries to redeem himself but I think it was all too little too late.
-The other characters are okay but no one changes at all except maybe Flora who was probably my favourite character in the entire book.
-The "plot twist" was obvious for a lot of the book.
-It took far too long making you see how Link was treated at school. You didn't need 100 pages of terrible school life, flash backs would have worked better.
-I got so bored about hear about all the desert island books Link had read and share similarities with his situation, I get it, it's meant to be Lord Of The Flies for the modern era.
-The narrator (Link) patronises the reader and is occasionally unreliable.
-A lot of the book is unbelievable and outlandish, especially the Epilogue.
-"Fishes" is not a damn word.
I gave it 2.5 stars but rounded up to 3 stars because it did get better but only really past the 200 page mark when things really started to happen on the on the Island.
Some people may love this book but to me it just tried to hard to be like the classic desert island books that there are so many of.
fictionalmandy's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
shelbycat's review
3.0
I did enjoy this book even though I found it quite clear what was going on early on. Luckily I found the characters highly entertaining so I found the book on the whole a decent book.