Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Island

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Island by Natasha Preston

43 reviews

honestlyyours77's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

While fluffy, I overall enjoyed the book. Was it a murder mystery where you didn’t know who the murder was by the end, no, not at all. So for that I would have appreciated a bit more intrigue and it not being so obvious. It’s definitely based on tons of cliches but in the same way you like the movie Scream.

So while I would have liked to have a “twist” that wasn’t very apparent for half the book, it still was a good quick read that took only a few hours.

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whatifem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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lauren_shilling's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book, to me, was a pretty average thriller. It wasn't bad by any means, but it also wasn't mind blowing either. I felt like parts of it were super slow, followed by parts that were super fast, and I also found it a bit difficult to keep track of all the characters. I found myself constantly being pulled out of the story in order to recap myself on which characters were where and why, but even so, I was never fully sure. That being said, it wasn't predictable to me, and both major plot twists definitely got me. The last one seemed to come out of nowhere (as in there was no lead up at all) and too close to the end for a plot twist like that to really matter at all, but it was shocking to read nonetheless. I liked Paisley, the main character, but I didn't love her the way I think I should have in order to really be invested in her story. Still, there were definitely positives, such as the first plot twist, which did surprise me a lot, and the overall unpredictability of it. This made me want to keep reading, even through some of the parts that weren't as interesting to me. However, I did not like the ending. I might have rated this book slightly higher (maybe a 3.5-3.75) if it hadn't been for that ending. It offered no closure, didn't really have a purpose besides shock value, but wasn't well executed enough for that shock value to make me feel anything except annoyed. It felt a bit like a lazy ending to me. Because of that, I would put this book at a very solid 3 stars. It wasn't bad at all, just very average to me.

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ejsimpson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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sami_s's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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girlwiththeoceaneyes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

WOWZA. I am flabbergasted. That entire book I was at the edge of my seat. I read it in two days and could not put it down. And the twists were so wild i didn't see them coming at all.

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jupiter_01's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A unique, cool setting, that ended all its greatness with its final sentence. It made me scream 'what the hell?' when the end credits rolled instead of another chapter (derogatory).

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tyler_machotka's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I'm really no sure how to rate this book. Because I really did enjoy it but I'm not sure if it's because I just finished it so my rating may change in the next couple of days. But overall I think this is my new favorite book of hers. If you are a fan of Scream I think you will really enjoy this. A slasher with a unknown killer! I did guess the killer right but it was a random guess because I had no idea who it was for most of the book, so I was still quite surprised!

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hobbithopeful's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Privileged influencers get invited to an exclusive weekend at an amusement park that caters to the wealthy. What could possibly go wrong?
The ending and a twist was disappointing, and felt cheap. The book was already pretty short, I'm not sure where a sequel would even come from. The twist was so unnecessary. It was like...okay? I didn't feel shocked or angry or even scared, more just let down. I'm not chomping at the bit for a sequel and don't really feel there was enough story there for there to even be one.
It was really odd and telling how often the main character, Paisley, mentioned that she wasn't "born" into money. Like girl. Just admit that you're rich and privileged. Just because your family didn't come into a lot of money when you were 7 doesn't mean you were struggling and in poverty. Rich is rich. (I don't know why rich people always are looking for cards to play, why are you trying to act like you're not super privileged?)
I also felt like it was a missed opportunity to not bring up the exploitation that true crime podcasts have on families and victims of murder. I was surprised no one called Paisley out for making so much money off of people's tragedies.
There were quite a few characters in this book, and I never really felt any true connection to any of them. Paisley had plot armor, and zero flaws in her character. She would've felt more real if she wasn't so perfect. I found it kinda odd how crappy everyone treated the mean girl influencer. (See, I don't even remember her name, that's how forgettable and blendable the characters are) The majority of people are not going to thrive in a murder situation. I for one, would also hide in a cabinet.
I could write a whole monologue about how just by saying a characters race one time doesn't automatically make them read like that. If you take away one single word from a character description and we can't tell that they are coded to be a POC that is extremely telling.

Do I recommend? It was a fine book, if the premise intrigues you, give it a read. A short and tense book. Plus, I did fear for the character's lives which is always a bonus.

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xbookishlibra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

i looove natasha preston's books so much, but sometimes the endings piss me off so much. this one? it was one of those. WHAT WAS THAT ENDING? IS THERE GOING TO BE MORE...?

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