The Island - Deaths in a Storm - Who was next now?
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- Shalini
- in Book Posts, Book Reviews, Digital Reads Media, Digital Reads Reviews, Fiction
Table of Contents
Blurb of The Island
In the Island, when a select group of influencers and journalists receive an exclusive invitation to a luxury resort in the Maldives, it seems like the ultimate press trip.
But when the island is cut off during a storm and people start dying, it looks like someone has murder in mind.
Are the guests really who they seem to be, or do each of them have a secret to hide?
Something they would kill for?
Publication Date: October 2023
Book Links
My Review
What was The Island all about
The Island, by author Catherine Cooper, had an exciting premise with a few influencers and reporters being invited for a soft opening of a futuristic, high-end, adults-only resort in the Maldives. Each one had to write up about it on their instagram posts and reels.
But soon one of them started feeling sick, then death incurred. And this was followed by another until there were none.
As a standalone thriller, the first half was great, while the second half dipped in its intrigue. Written in dual timelines, the prose gave me the reasonings behind the deaths in detail.
The Hook
Trigger Warnings: Nothing triggered me in the book other than its predictability, and if the actions were carefully noted, the perps were obvious too.
It was all due to the author’s writing that I was compelled to keep reading. But to be honest, by 70% things had been winding down, since I knew who had plotted against whom.
I didn’t have many expectations when I started this because there had been a few books with the same concept that had been released this year. The book would have been more compelling had the author not unfolded the past so clearly in between the present chapters.
The Characters
All the characters were all influencers and reporters, someone who could help create a buzz about the resort. Barring one, the others had practically no backstories other than what I had been told about them.
With dual timelines, the book gave me an insight about what happened in the owners’ lives decades ago and the reason why so many deaths were happening.
None of the characters managed to touch my heart, as they didn’t have any distinctive features that made them stand out. Read the book for the thrill, not for the characters.
The Intricacies
Unfortunately, by the time this book got published, there were a few books in the literary market with the same theme. And none of those books too made an impact on me or brought something new to the thriller table.
This too didn’t have many intricacies to make it interesting. But the style of writing kept me griped to The Island these influencers were on.
At 70%, I felt the author could have kept many things hidden so that they were shockers for the reader to discover. This was easily guessable.
The Setting of The Island
The story didn’t really bother to create an atmosphere of intrigue, just the feel of new influencers trying to enjoy what the resort had to offer. There were hardly any emotions infused in the plot line.
Even when the storm approached this island, I couldn’t get the feel of the locked-in situation, which was another point where the book could have been worked upon.
The Pace
Steady pace where many things could be skim read because they had been done before in other thriller books. The book added nothing new to the way a solid thriller was written.
The style of writing - The Prose
Only the author’s style of writing kept me hooked to the book. There was a feeling of comfort emanating from the story as if it didn’t expect me to like or dislike it. And in the entire read, my opinions about it stayed right in the middle. The perps too didn’t have much characterization other than one chapter to explain their deeds.
How it made me feel
This book distracted me for the few hours I was reading it. So, I liked it. It had the potential to bring something new to the story, but it kept to the safe boundaries and was like any other book by this author. Most works of hers were on the same lines.
Do I recommend The Island?
Buying it full price? Nope. Don’t bother.
Sale or from the library? Go for it.
Nothing new was added to the old thriller-y plot. So it was more like a comfort read. And since some of the scenes written felt so familiar, already done in other books, I could skim read it and just get closer to my Goodreads reading challenge.
Check out the other books available on Amazon.
I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.
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