The Island

By: Natasha Preston

Narrated by: Caitlin Kinnunen

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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.

©2023 Natasha Preston (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

A Publishers Weekly bestseller!

"Few authors who aren’t named Karen McManus can do YA thrillers as well as Natasha Preston."--PASTE

"Keeps the tensions high right up to the very last word."--SLJ

"Preston utilizes the uniqueness of the human-made island setting to great effect, providing an impish playfulness to the steadily escalating stakes and body count."--PW

What an ending!

The story was good but the ending was the WORST!
Definitely left it on a cliff hanger with no second book, that is awful!

Lackluster

For how harrowing and high stakes the situation was, it lacked the energy to make me feel that. I couldn’t agree more with another reviewer who said it felt rushed in some areas and dragged in others.
It was an interesting enough story and characters that I wanted to finish it but the ending, while surprising, felt lackluster. It didn’t seem like there was enough time dedicated to the reveal and the last thing that happened being just one sentence… it left much to be desired and not in a good way.

awesome

this is one of my most favorite authors get books keep me involved and I have read 5 this far. z great author to research.

MAJOR CLIFFHANGER

Overall, I really liked the storyline, however, I really feel like a lot more could’ve been done with it. I felt really rushed at times, and other times dragged on. At the end, there’s a major cliffhanger that leaves you with questions of what happened to some of the characters.

Great book!

Read the whole book in one night! Recommending to my teen daughter- she will love it!

The ending I’ve come to expect

Really good back drop for a mystery, I enjoyed this very much and love this author….well done.

The ending stunk

The ending just left it flat. There was this whole build up, anticipation, then big let down.

Such a fun story!

It is a Fun story and a good read, always love the way Natasha ends her stories.

MAJOR ENDING

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD- I CAN NOT BELIEVE THE ENDING. MAJOR DISAPOINTMENT THE FACT SHE DROWNED LIKE WOW! Over all great book lol

Entertaining but not without some flaws

I came across this book recommendation on Instagram and had high hopes. It’s certainly entertaining and if you’re trying to spend down your credits, it’s worth a listen. I enjoyed the performance, the concept, and the characters. The author also does a great job with cliffhangers at the end of her chapters.
I wish there had been more focus on the hotel than the amusement park, or that the AP was more unique. It does feel a little Nancy Drew in parts (villain revealing motivations, main character solving the mystery). I was also confused at times by the main character’s choices or internal dialogue – considering how much time she spent in the true crime world. The ending was by far the biggest disappointment (a seemingly common complaint). It would have made for a great cliffhanger… had there been another chapter or an epilogue. I think the author also could have rewritten the last couple of chapters to better lead up to and justify the ending.
Still a very entertaining “read” and I’ll likely give the author another shot.