'The Island' is a fast-paced young adult thriller following a group of best friends who get stranded on a private island. 

This book was a lot of fun to read and did keep me on edge the whole time that I was reading it. I found myself wanting to read quicker in order to find out why the unusual things were happening to this group of teenagers. 

When I first started this book, I was fine with it being written in dual perspective but I was a bit confused as to why Jesse's perspective is written in first person and why Danny's perspective was written in third person, but it kind of makes sense once you have read the whole book. I found the writing to be one of my favourite parts of this book as it was so fast-paced and kept me hooked from the first page. 

'The Island' was a pretty good young adult thriller that definitely gave me Lost vibes but the ending didn't really shock me. I couldn't put this book down though, and so I do recommend it if you want a book that will keep you hooked and wanting to read more. This is definitely the kind of book that will get you out of a reading slump as you'll find yourself reading it all in one day. 

Thank you to HQ for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast-paced, thoroughly enjoyable wild ride of a book. It took some unexpected twists and turns, invoking the essence of Lord of the Flies while exploring the lasting effects of grief. 

I really liked how Taylor explored the theme of fear and how each character handled their deepest fear. The entire concept of the book reminded me of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, with its mysterious and isolated setting and an almost omniscient seeming antagonist. Our cast of characters has such a fascinating interconnection of relationships and emotions bubbling under the surface, along with some deeply buried secrets. This of course leads to growing tension and friction as their isolation begins to affect them. You’re constantly tense while reading, as the pages are packed full of danger and adventure. When this group have been thrown together since they were children, there’s going to be some deep-seated frustration and resentment that slowly ekes its way out. 

Also, I really appreciated how Taylor tackled the long-term effects of grief through several storylines and the effect of trauma as well. There’s a lot of time given to the psychological effects these events have caused on each character, as well as previous events and how their repercussions still ripple years later. This is an addictive and high-octane read and I found myself suspecting every character, even as we got a peek inside their heads. I was impressed that despite the number of characters and perspectives, it always felt very easy to follow and each voice was distinctive.

The Island is a quick, captivating and entertaining read that invokes aspects of classic stories, while ensuring that it offers a fresh narrative.

I had seen a lot of chat about this book on social media so looked forward to reading it. It’s a young adult novel which isn’t a genre I read very often as I’m far too old for it!

A group of teenagers have been friends all their lives as their parents met at antenatal classes. The families go on holiday together every year, but over the years the teenagers have drifted apart a bit.
To celebrate Jefferson’s 17th birthday, the teens go to a remote Thai island for a week long ‘survival experience’. Very quickly, it all starts to go wrong and the experience is much more nightmarish than they could have imagined.

This was an easy read and I liked the characters, their personalities were very different and no one annoyed me too much. 

At times, the pacing felt a bit slow and it wasn’t as suspenseful as it could have been. However, there was always an underlying feeling that something wasn’t right on the island which was quite sinister.

The story deals with many topics, such as mental health issues, grief, friendships and relationships. 
The plot is quite inventive and a good idea. It reminded me a bit of a modern day Lord of the Flies.

The ending of the story is quite satisfying and the author has given updates on some of the characters months down the line.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but it lacked some tension and suspense for me. 

I would definitely read more from this author and might give her next YA book a go.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HQ for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been really enjoying YA fiction lately, and this one was an enjoyable introduction into the YA Thriller genre. I have read other books by CL Taylor and I have always enjoyed just how 'readable' her novels are. They clip along as a quick pace, the plots always hold together well, and I never quite work out the reveal before we get there. With this one I took a guess early on, which happened to be right - at least in part - but it took a good way into the novel before I worked out what was going on.

I enjoyed the premise here, and the setting worked perfectly. I also particularly liked how this addressed some weighty issues but without ever making it feel like that was the point of the novel. This is a good old-fashioned thriller, and it plays out as such.

Highly recommend for YA readers, but also for adults looking for a nice light thriller to while away a fun few hours. Topics addressed here include mental health, death, fear and grief.

4 solid stars and I'll keep my eyes peeled for Taylor's next YA offering!

This is a book written for the Young Adult market ... I have to confess that I am a few years past what I would call a young adult ... well, quite a few actually ... but nevertheless I really enjoyed this story and I know I would have loved it when I was a teenager.

This book is The Famous Five on steroids; although there are six of them and no dog! Full of action, thrills and tension but it also explores many of the issues that young people have to face growing up such as mental health, death, grief and relationships but it does so with ease and with sympathy and understanding.

The characters were really well developed and although not all of them I particularly liked, they all felt right somehow.  The setting was perfect and so well described that my hair frizzed due to the humidity!  The pace was good and the writing style was easy to read so much so that I raced through quite quickly.

This is a great thriller for people of any age even though it is primarily aimed at young adults and I want to thank HQ (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

I really enjoyed The Island by C.L Taylor! It was released last week in the UK and is Taylor’s second Young Adult novel. I actually have the first on my shelf and haven’t read it yet (they’re not connected)!

Right from the opening chapter The Island immediately gives you a nibble on the mystery of these six teenagers, straight away I wanted to know what was going on. I really enjoyed the pace of the narrative - it moves fast and you need to keep up! As you can expect there are lots of twists and turns within the story, along with finger pointing among the characters. Taylor writes multiple POV accounts but not too many so it’s really easy to keep track!

I didn't particularly overthink the characters involvement while I was reading - I didn't engage with any of them more than another which I think would have pushed my rating to 5 stars if I had. All of the teens were only briefly introduced at first so you need to keep reading to unravel their characteristics and relationships. Taylor did this really well, it kept me reading far too late at night!

Ultimately this is a thriller novel so I can’t say a lot in case I ruin it! The Island was good though, it was an easy read for me and broke my fantasy streak - it gave me a much needed break! I’d recommend it for fans of Lost (of course!) and the Karen McManus books since it’s aimed at the same kind of audience.

This was fantastic!
I listened to the audiobook of this title and it was extremely well executed.
All the characters' personalities were distinct and memorable, and the plot was non-stop! Kept me engaged the entire time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. C L Taylor is definitely a favourite author of mine and doesn't disappoint!
The narrators of the audiobook were brilliant, and captured the drama of the story perfectly. 
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

This was a quick read, fast paced in the way that draws you in because you're hooked in trying to discover what's going on. THere are just enough different clues to send your thoughts and your suspicions in various directions but that is what keeps you hooked and reading on because you want to know and you're not quite sure if you're right or not. The two different point of views written in different person narration were interesting and in the end a clue but were done in such a way that this was not obvious from the beginning. There were some parts in which I would have liked more depth in relationships and such but for the high intrigue, interest and draw that came with the mystery I think that sometimes these things need to be sacrificed, we were after all seeing a small period in these characters' lives.

Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for this early release. The story wasn’t really what I was expecting. A bit of a modern day Lord of the Flies crossed with Lost and mental health issues all rolled into one. Found parts a bit hard to follow along as wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t, but it came clear in the end.

The families have been getting together for holidays since they met when their children were born. Now the children are teenagers & are in Thailand. Jefferson is into survival etc & his father arranges for the six teens to go to a deserted island with a guide to survive off the land, make their own shelter & find their food. The trip should have been idyllic, instead it turned into a nightmare.

I did wonder if this was going to be a mix of Lord of the Flies meets Lost. However it was much more than that. C.L. Taylor captures the isolation, the fear & the mixed up teen feelings beautifully. I'm not sure what makes a book a YA one? Is it because the main characters are all that age? Whatever it is this is a terrific thriller that kept me riveted to the page, trying to guess what was going on (without success I might add!!) This is another cracking book from this author is brilliant in whatever genre their book are in! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I absolutely adore CL Taylor so I was definitely keen to join this blog tour. This book definitely hasn't disappointed. I have loved it from start to end.

As always, this has been an addictive read which has pulled me straight in. I have been completely captivated and have devoured this book in one sitting.

There are so many issues in this book which could be discussion points. These include: mental health, grief, loss and phobias. Taylor has also included group dynamics in this one. It has been an a superb read.

I have been completely filled with intrigue reading this fantastic book. Taylor has included multiple mysteries which have been completely impossible to work out.

I am definitely a fan of this author and this book has not disappointed. This is action packed and a absolutely wonderful read. I absolutely recommend this gorgeous book. A definite five star read.

What a pleasure !

I was a little concerned when I saw that this was a YA novel, as I am certainly not a young adult, except in my dreams 😊 but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The characters are clearly drawn, there is a strong plot with plenty of twists and red herrings that moves along at great speed and with a satisfactory ending.

On top of which the author sensitively tackles significant teenage issues.

A good read, and one that I certainly will be suggesting to people a touch younger than me!

Cally Taylor returns with another young adult novel. I loved The Treatment, her first dip into young adult fiction, and was excited to read The Island. 

I finished this in a day, and it was a definite page-turner like most of her books. In this one, a birthday gift of a trip to a remote tropical island goes horribly wrong, and six friends find themselves abandoned for a week trying to survive and awaiting rescue. They think they're alone on the island, but are they? After revealing their phobias and fears to each other, these start to become a reality. Is someone else on the island after all? Is someone messing with them and trying to harm them?

The book is told from two main perspectives: Jessie, who has experienced a previous traumatic experience that is slowly revealed and Danny, one of the male characters on the island with his girlfriend Honour and who jumps between extreme jealousy and wanting to protect her.

The story builds to a dramatic and dark conclusion, and I was surprised once it was revealed what was happening. At 55, I'm unlikely to fall into the author's ideal readership for this book, but to be honest, it didn't matter at all. I enjoyed it, and it kept me thoroughly entertained on a cold January Saturday in lockdown. 

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book. 

If you'd like to read this one, you can find it all the usual places as it was published on January 21st, 2021.

The publicity for this book likens it to a Lost meets Hunger Games hybrid, and I have to say as a huge fan of both (like, OBSESSED with Lost back in the day) I was sold! The Island is the author’s second YA offering, sitting alongside an impressive catalogue of psychological thrillers for adults. I’ll admit that I haven’t read anything by C.L. Taylor before, and so had nothing to compare to personally – but I had heard great things and went in with high expectations.

I liked the concept that these six friends weren’t necessarily friends by choice, but that they had been put into this circle by chance of them being born in the same place at around the same time, their parents attending the same antenatal group. That they’re not in each others pockets and generally have their own lives outside of the holidays they all go on annually added a really interesting angle to the plot.

The group are ‘stranded’ on a desert island for a week with a guide as part of a survival experience, only for the guide to die in front of them. Stranded for real, they’re soon terrified by strange goings on which seem to target the worst fears of each of the group.

Told in the main from the perspectives of two of the teenagers, Jess – who is recovering from an unknown traumatic experience which unravels as the book progresses, and Danny, an alpha male who is madly in love with Honor, another member of the group. Secrets are revealed and truths told and discovered as the novel races on.

It’s a brilliant setting for a novel, and the sense of place is fantastic throughout. Despite the outdoor living and open skies, there is a sense of stifling claustrophobia throughout as events intensify, the expanse of this beautiful tropical island, shrinking page by page.

It’s a wonderful novel, and it takes on some tough themes, mental health being front and centre. It became far darker than I was anticipating with it being YA and it was all the better for it, adding a stark edge of reality just as it is needed.

This book was an absolute blast to read, it hooked me quickly and didn’t let go. I love it when I find a book that can give me bubbles of excitement, encouraging me to steal time hither and thither to just so that I can find out what happens next! As the first book I’ve read by C.L. Taylor, it has been quite the introduction! I’m very much looking forward to exploring the back catalogue over the course of the year!

Rating 4.5/5

I love a remote setting and even though I have never read any of C.L. Taylor’s books I have heard great things, so I was exceptionally intrigued to hear about The Island, and can I say this was such an addictive read that I ended up reading it in one day. I was pretty much captivated from the first page and even though I was desperate to find out what was going on I was at the same time always a little bit terrified at what was going to happen next, that is how amazingly tense the atmosphere of the book was.

It is mainly told from two points of view, Jessie and Danny, but you get a good sense of their friends Meg, Milo, Honor, and Jeffers from their viewpoints. I really enjoyed the awkward chemistry of this group, their parents met at antenatal classes and have been holidaying together pretty much every year since, so they have known each other a long time but don’t see each other very often and to add to that the dynamics between the group have changed as they have become teenagers and the platonic friendships have in some cases morphed into something more.

What was great though is that you can tell that they are all holding something back and that is causing these slight fissures in the group which really makes you question everyone’s motives, it means there is a lot of wondering why these things are happening and whether they are all going to turn on each other. Of course, I had characters that I was more drawn to than others and tensions were high so it was interesting to see how they worked together and the power dynamics shifted when they realise that they only have themselves to rely on but even when some were under suspicion I was still rooting for all of them.

Obviously, this is the kind of book that I can’t say too much about the plot line because the joy is in having that reading experience yourself but it was very clever and unexpected. I liked that it was fast-paced and gave me that feeling of imminent danger at every turn but I also liked that it explored a lot more than that as well, they have to deal with grief, exploring loyalty through fear and paranoia, their survival instincts, their response to danger and how they deal with the fractures in the group as things intensify.

The Island is a very enjoyable and intense thriller with some unexpected turns, I am definitely looking forward to reading more books by C.L. Taylor.

I requested an early copy of this book on the basis that C.L.Taylor is one of my favourite authors, without realising it was aimed at the Young Adult reader. Maybe the fact that I am a long time out of that age group, could be the reason that I couldn't get into the story, and didn't finish it. I'm sure the younger readers would enjoy it though

Although this book is marketed for young adults, it could be enjoyed by a much wider audience.  This retired grandmother certainly found it very enthralling and enjoyable.

Take a group of six sets of parents who have known each other since ante-natal classes and developed the habit of taking an annual holiday together.  Transport them all to an exotic setting, Thailand, where one of the children is to celebrate a birthday with a trip to a remote and uninhabited island off the coast for a week of wilderness living together with their teenaged friends.  

When things go wrong and all six are forced to face their greatest fears, it is hard to know just what is happening and who is behind it.  Cally Taylor has written an engrossing, enthralling and enjoyable thriller which paints a vivid backdrop to challenges which will test the resilience of these young people to the full.  It is a brilliant read which I highly recommend.

A group of teenagers who have been friends since their parents met at NCT classes and have been on holiday most years since. They don’t see each other often but have always go on after a day or two. Jeffer’s father has paid for the trip for him and his friends. Milo, Danny, Jessie, Megan and Honor.

However, this year they are teenagers and things have changed, hormones have taken over and bravado is at the maximum. They head off to a exclusive island in Thailand with a specialist guide, Anuman on a week’s survival trip.

On the first evening they all share their phobias and the next day tragedy strikes and the group have to fend for themselves. There are relationships and secrets all bubbling away under the surface. They try to leave the island but someone has made sure they can’t.

Things start to take an even darker turn and they start to turn against each other in their fear.

This is a addictive book and I loved the characters. Jessie, it is obvious she has been through a massive trauma. Danny is like the alpha of the group. Milo and Meg are siblings and Jessie has feelings for Milo and the others are worried that he is using her.Jeffers is ostracized by the group and ends up setting up his own camp. Honor and Danny are a couple but even that is not going well.

It’s a bubbling pot of emotions and they start to think they are not alone on the island. The setting is glorious and deadly the perfect combination for a inhabited island.

I love Cally’s writing it’s twisty and turny, and you never quite know where it is headed next and this story is no exception. When Jessie heads off for a swim after another falling out with Danny. She sees a boat heading towards the beach. What happens next splits the group and tension rises even higher.

This is a great story its compelling, entertaining and suspenseful and I was gripped. It is also emotional, all the group have stuff going on and they don’t really want to deal with it, like most teenagers. I just wanted to hug Jessie she has been through such a lot, it kept me guessing right until the end.A really excellent read !

5 *****

A very enjoyable YA psychology thriller!
I found this a mix of Lord of the flies meets The Hunger Games.
It's everyone's worst nightmare being stuck on an Island. But at least you are stuck there with 5 of your best friends from birth. The only problem is you are now 17 and some have grown apart. 
Then the "fun" starts because someone starts using each person's phobia against him or her to terrify them. Surely it can't be 1 of them?
I found the pace fast and there are some good twists. I got initially a bit confused with all the different characters but I always have that problem when there's a lot of character to get to know in a book. 

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ  for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Jessie, Danny, Milo, Meg, Honor and Jefferson have been friends since their parents met at NCT classes. Each year they go away as a group and this year is no exception.

On an exotic trip to Thailand with their families, the teens embark on a survival trip to a nearby island for Jeffers 17th birthday. Equipped with a guide and the bare essentials they embark on their week long trip of adventure.

Everything is going to plan until disaster strikes, and one by one their worst nightmares begin to come true.

I loved this! I am a great fan of CL Taylor and have read her previous YA novel as well as most of her adult thrillers.

The story is told alternatively between the viewpoints of Jessie and Danny, do a different brand perspective is put on the story, although they amalgamate into one united voice - well almost...

Although this is a YA novel there is enough tension and expectation in it to satisfy an adult thriller lover. There’s plenty of cliff hangers (pun intended) and the storyline keeps you connected and engrossed throughout. I read this around 24 hours! 

It did put me in mind of the Bear Gryll’s tv series, except the group of teens were much more successful than the adults usually dumped on the island, although they had a lot more to deal with than just surviving. 

Another fantastic book and I can’t wait for the next one.