Newly arrived from America, Link is finding it hard to settle into the venerable and prestigious Osney School. What kind of school ranks its students by how fast they can run round the school quad? When Link runs the slowest time in years, he immediately becomes the butt of every school joke. When his parents say he can only leave Osney School – forever – if he goes on a school trip, Link decides to endure it for the ultimate prize. But this particular trip will require a very special sort of endurance. When oppressive heat, hunger and thirst start to bite, everyone’s true colours will be revealed. Let the battle commence . . .
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The Island
M.A. Bennett
The Island is an easy and quick read that has a really interesting plotline that mirrors Lord of the Flies at the start. It does however take a lot of time to set up the story. We start when Link first starts school and get his backstory, we then meet each of the other characters at Osney. These each get a little bit of backstory as well. Until finally we reach the Island.
The ‘plot twist’ was quite predictable, and the more clues I read made me excited to see how our characters would react. The story is mainly character-driven. We watch as their relationships evolve and how they react to one another and the Island.
I actually hated Link as a character. He was extremely possessive over the island itself, and then the other characters such as Miranda. He was also misogynistic and felt very much like the guy who tells everyone he’s a ‘nice guy’. I’m really hoping that that was how Bennett, the author, wanted readers to feel.
Links rise to power on the island felt reminiscent of the Stanford prison experiment that went wrong. The power roles that were ingrained at school were completely reversed on the Island, and then Link completely abuses his power. The message of this is extremely strong, and Links actions are shown to be awful, as well as his bullies actions before the Island.
I don’t think the epilogue was particularly necessary, but as a whole I enjoyed the read.
Positives
+ Quick and easy read
+ Good story
+ Important message
Negatives
– Unlikeable characters
– Poor epilogue
View Comments (1)
Great review :)
I kind of love how absolutely repulsive Link was - classic Nice Guy and definitely Unlikable.
I wish it hadn't had the epilogue, it was just a bit cringey.
But yeah, I agree with your review it was good overall :)
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk