Cover Image: The Castaways

The Castaways

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Member Reviews

I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I just completely raced through this read! I was dying to know what had happened to the missing passengers!
I loved that we got a POVs from both Erin and Lori - certainly made the story fascinating and compelling. I was expecting a slightly different ending, but I very much enjoyed this book. Can't wait to read another from this author.

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Oh wow, I enjoyed this book. It had my eyes glued to the page from start to finish and I couldn't read it fast enough - what a page turner!

Through a dual timeline, I immersed myself into Lori's story in the 'Then' chapters and her sister Erin's story in the 'Now' chapters. Erin has never given up hope that her sister might be still be alive following the disappearance of her flight en-route to a remote Fijian island. But, with so many islands in the area, nobody even knows where the plane actually crashed.

Lori's plane crash left me breathless and I didn't realise I had been holding my breath until I actually released it. All of the scenes are so vividly described that I felt as if I was there. I can't imagine anything worse than being trapped on an island with strangers. When it comes to survival, you really can't trust anyone. I don't want to say any more about the stunning plot for fear of releasing any spoilers as each reader needs to experience the shocks and surprises for themselves.

Twisty, gripping and so very addictive, The Castaways is a real page turner. It's vivid, atmospheric and breathtaking - I loved it.

I chose to read a digital ARC via NetGalley and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Sisters Erin and Lori have a close bond. When Lori's long term relationship breaks down, Erin is there for her, so it's natural Lori wants them to be together on her trip to a remote Fijian island. It's written from the sisters' viewpoints, Erin in the present, and Lori, in the past. Immersed in their story from the beginning, it's an intensely poignant read.

Vivid sensory imagery makes it easy to imagine the action and settings. An addictive balance of action and introspection has believable twists. The realistic ending retains a pleasing element of unpredictability.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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A really solid addition to the genre; reliable, if a little predictable in places. Would recommend if you know what you want from this sort of book, as it definitely delivers that.

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From the first chapter I was hooked and read this in 2 days grabbing any moment I could to read it ! Loved it ! Forgot how much I love a thriller and page turner of a book.
Lori and Erin are sisters who are off to a remote island in Fiji for a holiday. Lori gets on the plane to the Island but her sister doesn't - the plane never makes it to the Island and vanishes.... What has happened and where is Lori and the rest of the passengers?
Told in alternate chapters of Lori and Erin each one you read encourages you to read to the next one - Expect lots of late nights with this one !

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Really enjoyed this story of two sisters, one of whom catches a plane and one misses it. The plane crashes and the story unfolds as we follow both sisters in the aftermath.
This is a great bit of escapism reading that I really couldn't put down. I throughly enjoyed the story and loved the mix of desert island Robinson Crusoe with mystery and intrigue. The two sisters are both pretty unlikeable and whilst I had sympathy with the plight, I didn't really warm to either of them. However I still loved the book, the story itself is fascinating and each time I thought I had a handle on what was happening a twist would throw me off.
Absolutely recommend this and would make a a great holiday read (unless you are flying there!)

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Perhaps I should have read the synopsis before starting this book while on a tropical island, about to board a plane back home…?! In the event, we made it back in one piece so all’s well that ends well.

The Castaways by Lucy Clarke is everything you might want from a thriller — gripping, tense, and compulsively readable. It had me on tenterhooks until the very end.

Lori and Erin are sisters who, after losing both their parents at a young age, are particularly close. After an argument puts an end to what’s meant to be the start of a once-in-a-lifetime trip, one of them boards a plane, the other one doesn’t.

And then the plane disappears.

Told in alternating POVs and timelines, we slowly find out about the events that led to the plane’s disappearance and one sister’s frantic search for the truth of what truly happened that fateful morning.

If you like a solid thriller, this one will not disappoint!

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With a full on adrenaline packed, action filled start I thought I was on to a five star winner with this book….

Unfortunately it then became a bit Lord of the flies (which I was forced to read at school and didn’t like) where all the men turned into completely unlikeable morons. Lori and her sister Erin were my only hope. But that wasn’t to be either, as the more I learnt about Lori the less I liked her too. So that left Erin who was going round and round in circles and for a journalist I questioned her behaviour and put it down to being emotionally sidetracked.

I just wish the middle section lived up to the start as the tension dropped out and it became mostly filler where not a lot really happens. The island life was only interesting for a chapter and then I was just waiting for the survivors to die. Either by starvation, shark attack or by each other, by this point I didn’t really care.

Then there was the plot twists and reasons which led to more blows, turning Lori into a desperate female stereotype.

I think my issue is I was expecting a thriller which was always going to lead to me being disappointed. Yes it has a thrilling start but it is more a sibling drama that just happens to involve a plane crash and trying to survive on an island.

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Wow! You know a great book when you hungrily devour the pages, desperate to know what happens next yet you also really want to slow down because you don't want it to end. The escapism and excitement of the perfect book is like nothing else.
This book had every ingredient for the perfect thriller for me. Beautiful exotic holiday, mystery of a vanishing aeroplane and survival on an uninhabited tropical island. It most certainly did not disappoint.
I'm a harsh reviewer, rarely giving 5 stars but The Castaways deserves every 1.
I don't need to say anything else other than, read it! I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
#NetGalley
#TheCastaways

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Clarke sets a great tone for this book, gradually feeding you small bits of information about what really happened when the plane disappeared - this book gave me definite Lost vibes! The dual narrative, flicking between past and present, carefully lays out the shocking events. A very enjoyable read!

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This was a fast paced read.
Two sisters head on holiday to escape from the problems at home. They have a fight and only Lori boards the flight. There is an accident and the plane goes missing. Two years later Erin is determined to find out what happened.

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Absolutely superb writing! Loved this from start to end. Captivating and kept me guessing throughout. Could not put it down!

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Now this was meant to be a buddy read between myself and Melanie’s Reads. However, I soon found I couldn’t put it down. I kept reading. It was all I thought about. This book royally had me hooked. I was addicted and read the majority of this book in one sitting. It’s still on my mind. I know there’s a lot of similar books out there lately but this is the first one I’ve read and I think I’m in love.

Might have given me a phobia of flying but what a brilliant story. Kept me guessing throughout. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I needed to know what happened. Who survived. I think the fact there’s a baby also involved ramped this story up for me. How do you even cope with a baby on a remote island? The story is told through two sisters. One whose on the island and one who is searching for answers and won’t give up. A plane can’t just disappear can it?

Absolutely brilliant. Loved the ending. This is going into my top reads of the year. Highly recommend. A well deserved five stars from me.

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This is a really interesting thriller. The characters are fantastic and you will be rooting for them from page 1.

Lori and Erin are sisters. They only have each other after the deaths of both of their parents. Lori is nursing a broken heart after the end of her marriage and blows the balance of the joint account on a girls’ trip to Fiji. Having reached the main island, Lori and Erin are set to head off on some island hopping but a few cocktails and some heated words words and Lori finds herself alone at the airport. When Erin doesn’t show up, she makes the fateful decision to go ahead without her.

The book begins two years after this flight. Erin has spent the last two years obsessing over the fate of the passengers on a flight that seemingly disappeared, including her sister, Lori.

When the pilot is discovered alive, but dying, Erin heads back to Fiji to investigate. Desperate to interview the pilot and try and get to the truth about what happened that day. She also knows more than she has let on. And the secrets are about to be revealed.

The dual narrative structure of the book allows the reader to see both the past and present, and the different perspectives of Erin and Lori.

As Erin is battling to find the truth, Lori is battling for survival.

This is such an atmospheric read. Life on the island and the challenges that the stranded passengers face is vividly recreated. The relationship are both fraught with tension and poignancy.

This is great read – the kind of book that keeps you reading longer after you should have turned out the light.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for gifted copies of The Castaways.

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Having being approved to read this for netgalley.I purchased then to listen to story as I like Lucy's style of writing.Great story kept me intrigued right to the end.Narrartor was exellent choice and book was the perfect length of a listen.

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An intriguing and enjoyable mystery about one sister's quest for survival and the other's hunt for answers.

Lori and Erin are close having lost their parents at an early age. Things are not going too well for either of them but Lori in particular, so she books a holiday of a lifetime for them both to a Fijian island. Unfortunately, things don't go to plan and Lori finds herself on the plane without her sister. Disaster then ensues when the plan goes missing. Two years later, the pilot turns up - he has been working under an alias in Fiji.

What the heck happened? Why wasn't Erin on the plane? Where are the rest of the passengers? Did anyone else survive and why did the pilot go into hiding? So many questions!

Written in two distinct voices and time lines - Lori in the then and Erin in the now - the story follows Erin's search for the truth about what happened to her sister and the rest of the passengers and Lori's experience from the moment she realised something was going terribly wrong with the plane.

Lucy Clarke's writing is captivating and puts you right at the heart of the story; the two main characters are really well developed and you absolutely get a sense of the strong bond between the two sisters. The pacing is pretty good - the beginning is riveting, it dips a bit in the middle but then ramps up again towards the end. The plot is expertly weaved throughout with twists jumping from nowhere, just when you think you've worked it out, and with an ending that is quite satisfactory.

Overall, I enjoyed this book from an author I've never read anything from before and I would recommend to those who enjoy a bit of escapism albeit one with a few twists and hair-raising moments.

Thank you to HarperCollinsUK / HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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Having experienced the reclusiveness of Fiji myself this storyline gave me all the feels. Not sure I would want to experience the island and its beautiful culture in quite this same way though!! Easy quick read, despite switching between two narratives across a 2 year timeline. Would be an ideal read on holiday, just don’t read it on the flight itself!

3.5 Star Read – Would Recommend!

Thank you to #NetGalley, #HarperCollinsUK, #HarperFiction and #LucyClarke for and ARC of #TheCastaways in exchange for an honest review.

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Erin and Lori are almost at their holiday destination but fall out so only one of them boards the doomed plane. Two points of view and then and now. Would two sisters be as intense as these two? Doesn’t feel entirely normal to me! One point of view was fine, the other a bit dull. A great idea, intriguing cover which makes you want to grab it plus a cracking start. I didn’t think the actual story quite reached the heights nor was it much like the blurb. The island sections were very descriptive and had some sinister overtones. Didn’t like the ending much and somehow expected something quite different. Still a good book to read on holiday just as long as an island isn’t the destination!

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After Lori’s husband leaves her, she decides to go on a holiday of a lifetime with her sister Erin, to Fiji. They’re planning on staying on an island resort away from the main island.

An argument the night before the flight leads to Lori travelling alone. The flight loses radio contact and two years later Erin is still trying to find out what happened to her sister.

This was a desert island story with a twist. I really enjoyed the joint narratives of Lori and Erin and how the ill fated flight took its course.

You are given little snippets of what’s happened before before catapulted back to the future with Erin’s hunt for her sister.

There were some great twists and some characters I really despised. A clever ending and one I couldn’t put down.

This was different to the other Lucy Clarke novels I’d read but it was still a great read. Highly recommended.

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Really enjoyed this; I thought the back and forth between sisters was great and the plot was very interesting. Each chapter kept me wanting more and I’ve finished it in only a couple of days. Can’t quite decide how I feel about the ending; I’m not disappointed and I’m not surprised, just a bit unsure. To be honest, I don’t really know where I saw it going but I enjoyed it all the same.

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