Howdy Readers!

It’s been really rainy in Kansas City lately, so how ironic is it that I found a stormy novel to accentuate that? It was dumb luck, really.

Today I’m reviewing The Island by Natasha Preston.

I had no idea that Natasha Preston was so famous for her YA thrillers going into this. But if you follow this blog, then you know that I love the macabre and all that comes with it. I also am a roller coaster junkie, so this book seemed to fit the bill.

Alright, on to the book review!

Blurb

Hot on the heels of the New York Times bestsellers The Twin and The Lake, another pulse-pounding read from the undisputed queen of YA thrillers!

They said goodbye to their friends and family for the weekend. They weren’t counting on forever.

Jagged Island: a private amusement park for the very rich—or the very influential. Liam, James, Will, Ava, Harper, and Paisley—social media influencers with millions of followers—have been invited for an exclusive weekend before the park opens. They’ll make posts and videos for their channels and report every second of their VIP treatment.

When the teens arrive, they’re stunned: the resort is even better than they’d imagined. Their hotel rooms are unreal, the park’s themed rides are incredible, and the island is hauntingly beautiful. They’re given a jam-packed itinerary for the weekend.

But soon they’ll discover that something’s missing from their schedule: getting off the island alive.

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

Paisley loves the macabre. That’s why she spends most of her time covering true crime cases, and it’s paid off. She and other popular influencers have been chosen to test out the new Jagged Island theme park on a remote island. Jumping at the opportunity, she soon finds herself in an increasingly terrifying situation when one of the influencers goes missing and is found dead. Putting her true crime knowledge to the test, Paisley does her best to collect clues about the guests and staff and find out who’s behind the gruesome murder before it’s too late.

I had some conflicting feelings about this book, though I did enjoy it.

What drew me to this book was the amusement park theme. I’ve always had a great love for them and have been driven to fiction that explores darker themes with them. Though the rides themselves didn’t play a major role, the setting was exciting and familiar.

The plot started off rather simple and got increasingly complicated as the story continued. The influencers have been invited to document their fun times at the new theme park to help build hype, and all seems to be going well until one of them goes missing and is found dead. From there, the novel takes a more macabre tone as the terrified guests and staff struggle to uncover who is behind the grisly task. Despite the thrilling nature of this novel, I did find some faults in many false starts. Simple solutions to their problems are abandoned numerous times without enough explanation, and I thought there was an abundance of dialogue in place of plot developments.

The characters were fun to tag along with, though flawed. I’m a big fan of true crime, so I resonated with Paisley the most. She questions the motives of her fellow guests, sometimes at her own expense and betraying her own emotions. There were also gamers, beauty vloggers, and book vloggers visiting, so I thought the occupations were diverse enough.

Many reviews quip about the shocking and rather abrupt ending, which I won’t spoil, but I do have to agree with their assessment. It left the book feeling unfinished and slightly disappointing. Regardless of my qualms, I think readers who enjoy amusement parks and true crime might get a real kick out of this one.

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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