A review by readitoryeetit
Isola by Allegra Goodman

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

3.0

While still an interesting read, I feel the description and marketing towards this book is misleading. I was expecting more of an adventure-forward story, and was met with a book primarily about women's life in the 1500s. And religion. While there's nothing wrong with that, I just feel misled from the synopsis. 

Overall, it was an interesting story, but took a long time to get to what was supposed to be the central plot, and I feel ended abruptly. Maybe an epilogue telling how Marguerite faired in her teaching while her guardian was murdered would have been better? 
I also feel some of the descriptions of how she survived on the island were a little romanticized. Uh, y'all slept under the stars every night in the summer in Canada without a single mention of how many mosquito bites suffered??  Impossible. 
 
Glad I read it, won't be recommending it as an "adventure" novel though.