This destination thriller sounded like a perfect summer read. Based on the ill-fated Fyre Festival, we meet Jody, Carla and Ari, roommates who have won tickets to a new and exclusive festival on a Greek Island. Eager to get away from reality for a long weekend, they jump at the opportunity to go but what they face when they get there is a mile away from what they had been expecting.

As always with this style of thriller there's the promise of a lush and exclusive setting, of glamour and celebrity and a whole heap of drama. I will openly admit that I read this style of book for a thrill fest that's enjoyable fluff and whips by at a fast pace and based on the premise that's what I was expecting, unfortunately it wasn't what I got.

There is a little bit of that but it was overall pretty slow and much more at front and centre was a domestic violence/abuse and coercive control storyline with a character (Jody) traumatised by her previously relationship and haunted by her narcissistic ex (Nick).

It's an important storyline, don't get me wrong, and should and must be talked about, but it was out of place in this type of book and if I'd known I probably wouldn't have picked it up to read. There is a note at that start mentioning the potential for triggers and the author's afterword is an important insight into the book (with potential spoilers) and I wish I'd read it first so that I was in the right mind set of what to expect.

I also felt let down by the ending which was pretty ridiculous and most of the action of the book takes place in the last 20% but by that point I was tired of Jody who had been an unreliable narrator throughout (a trope that didn't work for me this time) and there had been a lot of repetition and running around in circles. 

Overall, this was a miss for me unfortunately.

Thank you to Avon Books UK | Avon and Netgalley for an eArc of "The Island" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.