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fictionmajorette's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Full thoughts: https://fictionmajorette.blogspot.com/2021/10/whisper-island-carissa-ann-lynch.html
The real star of this book for me was the isolation sub-genre and how well Lynch implemented it. I love a good isolation thriller because of the instant tension, suspicion, and questions it poses. Whisper Island is the last island in a archipelago, about 10 miles off the coast of Alaska. Lynch does a great job at showing us the characters problem solving, only to be thwarted by the killer.
The characters, I'll admit, took me a while to warm up to. I didn't feel like these people were close enough to vacation on an island together for 3 months. The story does give us a bit of background and shows us how the 4 friends all came to meet in college, but it wasn't enough of a set up for me to believe the initial premise of the book. As we got to see the group work together to survive their situation, I then got to see more of how the friendship group dynamic worked and I became more invested in the characters.
I really loved the POV choices in this book. Initially, we only get the POV of the original 4 friends, but once we're on the island we get Sam's brother and his girlfriend's POVs as well. All of the characters have their own secrets that may or may not be connected to the events happening on the island. It was a little frustrating in the beginning to have a lot of the chapters have some veiled reference to that secret where a character would say something like "good thing we're having this vacation, I needed to get away from home for my own safety". This, obviously, helped the mysterious aspect of the book because we didn't know which character's secret was the key to figuring out the truth but it was a little too heavy-handed for my personal liking.
I needed more drama from these early-20-somethings! I will admit the reveal of who the killer is really got me good. However, the way the ending played out was extremely unsatisfying for me. After some reflection time, I think my main issue with the ending stems from the fact that we didn't get a really good view of this group before the events on the island so, as I said above, I couldn't get a good view of how the characters changed. I didn't have any plot-level issues with the ending and, in a lot of ways, I think it made a lot of sense. I think the ending would have been much more impactful from a character-level perspective if we had gotten to know the characters better and got to see just how much impact the events on the island had on their lives going forward.
Overall, this was a fun read, but there were a number of issues I had that, overall, impacted my enjoyment of the book. I think the isolation elements and POV choices were excellent. However, the character development and group dynamic was really lacking for me and I think if that was dialed in a little better, this could have been a really fantastic read.
Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for review
The Kindle edition was published February 2, 2021 but paperback edition has an expected publication date of November 16, 2021.
The real star of this book for me was the isolation sub-genre and how well Lynch implemented it. I love a good isolation thriller because of the instant tension, suspicion, and questions it poses. Whisper Island is the last island in a archipelago, about 10 miles off the coast of Alaska. Lynch does a great job at showing us the characters problem solving, only to be thwarted by the killer.
The characters, I'll admit, took me a while to warm up to. I didn't feel like these people were close enough to vacation on an island together for 3 months. The story does give us a bit of background and shows us how the 4 friends all came to meet in college, but it wasn't enough of a set up for me to believe the initial premise of the book. As we got to see the group work together to survive their situation, I then got to see more of how the friendship group dynamic worked and I became more invested in the characters.
I really loved the POV choices in this book. Initially, we only get the POV of the original 4 friends, but once we're on the island we get Sam's brother and his girlfriend's POVs as well. All of the characters have their own secrets that may or may not be connected to the events happening on the island. It was a little frustrating in the beginning to have a lot of the chapters have some veiled reference to that secret where a character would say something like "good thing we're having this vacation, I needed to get away from home for my own safety". This, obviously, helped the mysterious aspect of the book because we didn't know which character's secret was the key to figuring out the truth but it was a little too heavy-handed for my personal liking.
I needed more drama from these early-20-somethings! I will admit the reveal of who the killer is really got me good. However, the way the ending played out was extremely unsatisfying for me. After some reflection time, I think my main issue with the ending stems from the fact that we didn't get a really good view of this group before the events on the island so, as I said above, I couldn't get a good view of how the characters changed. I didn't have any plot-level issues with the ending and, in a lot of ways, I think it made a lot of sense. I think the ending would have been much more impactful from a character-level perspective if we had gotten to know the characters better and got to see just how much impact the events on the island had on their lives going forward.
Overall, this was a fun read, but there were a number of issues I had that, overall, impacted my enjoyment of the book. I think the isolation elements and POV choices were excellent. However, the character development and group dynamic was really lacking for me and I think if that was dialed in a little better, this could have been a really fantastic read.
Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for review
The Kindle edition was published February 2, 2021 but paperback edition has an expected publication date of November 16, 2021.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
_thelitlibrarian's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75 stars
-
TW; Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Grief
-
For friends Riley, Sammy, Mia, and Scarlett a getaway is exactly what they need - the four of them will use this time to work on their artwork and rest and recharge. When the unexpected arrival of Sammy's brother Rob and his new girlfriend Opal the group starts to crumble. It isn't long before one of them is murdered, sending everyone into a panic. They're under the impression that they're alone on the island, or are they? At this point, no one can be trusted and tensions are high. Fingers get pointed as some dark and twisted secrets get revealed, although I had figured out who the killer was, it was really interesting getting to the why they did what they did.
Going into this I had really high hopes, and thought the book would give off 'And Then There Were None' vibes, but overall, the book fell a little flat to me. I didn't really connect with any of the characters and found most of them to be pretty annoying! This being said, since the cast of characters was so small I was able to figure out who the killer was pretty quickly. The author does a great job describing the atmosphere of the island, it really sets the eerie tone for this book. I couldn't help but think the entire time why someone would want to visit an isolated/creepy island as a vacation spot.
Overall, this was a good starter mystery but just wasn't what I was expecting!
-
TW; Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Grief
-
For friends Riley, Sammy, Mia, and Scarlett a getaway is exactly what they need - the four of them will use this time to work on their artwork and rest and recharge. When the unexpected arrival of Sammy's brother Rob and his new girlfriend Opal the group starts to crumble. It isn't long before one of them is murdered, sending everyone into a panic. They're under the impression that they're alone on the island, or are they? At this point, no one can be trusted and tensions are high. Fingers get pointed as some dark and twisted secrets get revealed, although I had figured out who the killer was, it was really interesting getting to the why they did what they did.
Going into this I had really high hopes, and thought the book would give off 'And Then There Were None' vibes, but overall, the book fell a little flat to me. I didn't really connect with any of the characters and found most of them to be pretty annoying! This being said, since the cast of characters was so small I was able to figure out who the killer was pretty quickly. The author does a great job describing the atmosphere of the island, it really sets the eerie tone for this book. I couldn't help but think the entire time why someone would want to visit an isolated/creepy island as a vacation spot.
Overall, this was a good starter mystery but just wasn't what I was expecting!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
katiescott's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Thank you HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the e-ARC of Whisper Island in exchange for an honest review.
I could not put this book down until I had all of the answers, which means I read to the end in nearly one sitting. It is definitely a compulsive read. Four college girlfriends decide to go to a remote island in Alaska to work on their respective art projects...only one of them has a darker, more deadly goal in mind.
With a nod to stranded on an island books like And Then There Were None, the reader quickly learns that these ladies (and two additional mystery guests) have secrets that might all be worth killing for. The whole vibe of the book was creepy and dark and definitely leaned toward horror at times.
As entertaining as this novel was, it also felt a little shallow and unfinished in parts. There is next to no backstory and some inconsistencies/unanswered questions throughout (the island goes from being dreary and remote to an ideal getaway? The explanation for the inclusion of the additional guests. while somewhat explained at the end, just seemed odd and creepy throughout...) I will say I was surprised by the reveal and then was shocked by the events leading up to the ending!
I'd recommend this to readers looking for a quick & entertaining thriller, especially fans of stranded on an island settings and/or light horror.
I could not put this book down until I had all of the answers, which means I read to the end in nearly one sitting. It is definitely a compulsive read. Four college girlfriends decide to go to a remote island in Alaska to work on their respective art projects...only one of them has a darker, more deadly goal in mind.
With a nod to stranded on an island books like And Then There Were None, the reader quickly learns that these ladies (and two additional mystery guests) have secrets that might all be worth killing for. The whole vibe of the book was creepy and dark and definitely leaned toward horror at times.
As entertaining as this novel was, it also felt a little shallow and unfinished in parts. There is next to no backstory and some inconsistencies/unanswered questions throughout (the island goes from being dreary and remote to an ideal getaway? The explanation for the inclusion of the additional guests. while somewhat explained at the end, just seemed odd and creepy throughout...) I will say I was surprised by the reveal and then was shocked by the events leading up to the ending!
I'd recommend this to readers looking for a quick & entertaining thriller, especially fans of stranded on an island settings and/or light horror.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Bullying
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
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