On the Island

By: Tracey Garvis Graves

Narrated by: Heidi Baker

When 30-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost 17 and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.

Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return.

As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

©2011 Tracey Garvis-Graves (P)2012 Tracey Garvis-Graves

Love where least expected

This book now rates as one of my all time favorites, along with any of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, and anything by Mary Stewart, Jane Austen, Susanna Kearsley, or Ilona Andrews. I liked the book so much that I had to read it (twice) and listen to it (twice). When reading the original description, I was initially put off by the age difference in the two main characters, but the price was right and it kept showing up on my recommended list on Amazon, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! It explores the ramifications of two people who at first glance would seem totally incompatible (for good reason) being thrown together on an island (hence the title) and forced to survive on their own for a long time. The first person narrative switches between the two main characters but is easy to follow, and the description of the exotic locale and the minute details of the daily struggle for survival really pulls the reader into the story without being overwhelming. The love story is gradual and feels natural. I'm a sucker for happy endings but don't like them to be too forced, and so I was thankful for the way that even the ending felt natural but left me content that the characters would go on to have a happy life.

Not bad...but not great.

What did you love best about On the Island?

The story. It's a beautiful story of survival - both on the island and off - and of the lengths people will go to for the ones they love, even it if that means letting go.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Impossible. I love Anna and TJ equally.

What three words best describe Heidi Baker’s performance?

I only need two: Too fast.

If you could take any character from On the Island out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I'd take 'em both out...just to be super creepy and watch them being happy together.

Any additional comments?

Heidi did an all right job with the reading, but she needed to seriously slow down. There was little to no pause between description and dialogue and I started getting the feeling I was late for something because she was rushing through telling me the story. It was also really difficult deciphering if we were in TJ's voice or Anna's. I think the audiobook would have benefited from dual readers - one for TJ and one for Anna.

Enjoyable

The narrator definitely could of performed certain parts better, but overall I enjoyed her voice.

The story and everything was great, but the characters personalities were so wrong. Both acted like teenagers, joking in dire situations, and constantly flirting when they were starving to death. I feel like attempting to make the reader laugh, honestly, broke the overall mood of the story. Lastly, the last big kinda drug, I felt after they were rescued it was very predictable what was going to happen but a lot of time was spent dragging out that conclusion.

Great story!

Where does On the Island rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I really enjoyed this story. It was well written and just the right amount of suspense. It was a very intriguing book that kept me wanting to know what is going to happen next?? The reader was great.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was easy to follow, no unusual parts that kept you guessing. Also there war no boring parts as so many books have.

What about Heidi Baker’s performance did you like?

Her voice was very calm and pleasant.

If you could rename On the Island, what would you call it?

Marooned

good read

I really enjoyed this book. light but engaging all the way through! recommend to others