A review by thepercenator
The Island by Natasha Preston

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I enjoyed a lot of this book. The atmosphere was great (who doesn’t love an amusement park setting), plus the isolated nature of it is one of my favorite things in thrillers. That being said, I had a hard time with my overall enjoyment because I didn’t like the characters so much. Paisley had her moments, but she’s being played off as the weird quirky girl who likes murder and fits the “not like other girls” trope too much for my taste. Also

I felt like they introduced information about her that felt like it could be relevant and then wasn’t, like her neighbor who was killed.

I also had some issues with the characters making decisions that made no sense to me. Such as

when Gibson and Paisley are close to the jammer after Robert ends up distracted elsewhere, and they decide then to go help the others instead of getting the jammer, but then later make the opposite decision when getting the jammer would be even harder to do.

Still, I think of a fun thriller/slasher vibe, the story works and hits a lot of the best kind of elements of horror. I could actually see this being a movie and would enjoy the visuals a lot!