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morganjanedavis 's review for:
The Island
by Adrian McKinty
Heather is a free-spirited 20 something who connected with recently widowed Tom (one of the best doctors in Seattle) through her massage therapy business. They hit it off and soon marry. Heather is thrown into the whirlwind of step motherhood which has been rough to say the least: the kids seem to hate her. In an effort to cheer the kids up and bring this newly mended family closer together, the family tags along with Tom on a work conference to Australia. The kids are initially ecstatic but, are left pining for the REAL outback, they hadn't seen a single koala or kangaroo yet. When the opportunity arises to go to Dutch Island and see these animals up close and personal, everyone is on board. Until, things start to go wrong. The island's inhabitants become hostile. The situation has gotten out of control. These people aren't playing nice anymore. Ultimately, it's up to Heather to ensure the kids survive this all out manhunt, on an island, thousands of miles from home.
Stories of survival in isolated settings are almost always going to draw me in. Not only do the characters have to figure out how to survive, they also have to figure out how to escape. This tends to create more tension, bringing a heightened sense of urgency to the plot. While this was evident here, smaller elements took away from this aspect and watered down the effect that could've been delivered.
The consistent (and I mean consistent) stabs at relevancy through the kids' conversations were painstaking to read. The kids communicated through pop culture or video game references about 40% of the time, making it very evident someone NOT that age was creating the dialogue. The O'Neill's were intimidating at first but, over time began to behave like more evil Scooby-Doo-esque villains (Most specifically Ma towards the end of the book ?!). The events that took place didn't correlate fully with the character development that the narrative depicted, making said evolutions highly unbelievable (or, corny :/).
On a positive note, this was a GRIPPING read. Due to the fast-paced nature of the plot I wasn't able to put it down but, it doesn't mean I didn't roll my eyes. Oh and the author also wrote "the kids must be doing better bc they're off their mental health meds" which gives me the ick. I don't know if I'd recommend this per se but, if you're looking for something to get you out of a slump/need a dark summery thriller this fits the bill.
Stories of survival in isolated settings are almost always going to draw me in. Not only do the characters have to figure out how to survive, they also have to figure out how to escape. This tends to create more tension, bringing a heightened sense of urgency to the plot. While this was evident here, smaller elements took away from this aspect and watered down the effect that could've been delivered.
The consistent (and I mean consistent) stabs at relevancy through the kids' conversations were painstaking to read. The kids communicated through pop culture or video game references about 40% of the time, making it very evident someone NOT that age was creating the dialogue. The O'Neill's were intimidating at first but, over time began to behave like more evil Scooby-Doo-esque villains (Most specifically Ma towards the end of the book ?!). The events that took place didn't correlate fully with the character development that the narrative depicted, making said evolutions highly unbelievable (or, corny :/).
On a positive note, this was a GRIPPING read. Due to the fast-paced nature of the plot I wasn't able to put it down but, it doesn't mean I didn't roll my eyes. Oh and the author also wrote "the kids must be doing better bc they're off their mental health meds" which gives me the ick. I don't know if I'd recommend this per se but, if you're looking for something to get you out of a slump/need a dark summery thriller this fits the bill.