I really did enjoy this! I’ve been staying away from young adult thrillers recently but this one was really good. I liked the writing style and genuinely had no idea what was coming

An intriguing YA thriller set on an exotic island.
A group of six teenagers, who’ve been friends since birth, are on holiday on an exotic, remote island. A week together to bond, relax and enjoy themselves...well, it was supposed to be. After tragedy strikes, they find themselves fighting for their survival as it appears someone is making all of their worst fears come true.
An exciting story by CL Taylor.

The six teens have known each other their whole life after their parents bonded over NCT classes before they were even born. Now years later and the annual holiday trips are becoming more and more awkward as they begin to not only grow up but apart too. Still Thailand isn't the worst place to spend some time thrust together, they just have to remember not to mention why Jessie's family were absent from the last holiday.....

But their time in the luxury of the Thailand hotel is only temporary as the group are heading off on a birthday treat for Jefferson's birthday and this is no birthday tea, but a week on a private island honing their survival skills with a single guide to keep them company. It's not exactly everyone's idea of a great time but they know it's Jeffer's idea of heaven, however things take a tragic turn when their guide suddenly dies leaving them alone on a remote island with what they soon discover is a sabotaged boat. But who was listening on that first evening when the group shared their phobia's around the campfire and who is bringing their worst fears to life?

The premise of this book was enough to send chills down my spine and C L Taylor managed to keep that spine chilling suspense alive throughout. Told between Jessie & Danny's alternating perspectives it is clear from the start that each of the troubled teens had secrets to hide and piece by piece that jigsaw puzzle came together keeping me guessing until it's finale.

The island setting was really interesting and Taylor's descriptive writing allowed me to build a really good picture of the beautiful, yet often sinister surroundings of the jungle and beaches which really added something extra to the story. The characters are well fleshed out as the story progresses allowing the reader to understand how and why some of the events happen and I feel Taylor has pitched the topics discussed at the perfect level for a YA reader. I don't want to give any spoilers about the story content however please be aware of the trigger warnings included below if you are thinking about reading this book.

Having only read adult books from this author before I think the transition to a YA audience is a huge success. The skill and flow of her writing has maintained the same top notch level and hasn't lost any of the element of suspense and drama. I really enjoyed this book and flew through it, keen as always to find out what was going to happen as I had a handful of ideas about where things would go, all of which were wrong! I'd definitely recommend this to any thriller fans from teens upwards and I will certainly be checking out Taylor's other YA offering The Treatment soon, it's already on my wish list!

Trigger Warnings: Mental Health, PTSD, Phobia's inc snakes & spiders, childhood trauma, death, suicide, sexual assault

Whilst I did enjoy reading The Island, I have to say I really wish there was trigger warnings at the beginning.

If you suffer with anxiety surrounding death or in general would like to know ahead of time regarding mental health warnings, this book can be triggering. It’s very heavy and whilst in my opinion isn’t written in poor taste, it just hit too close to home for me personally and I felt overwhelmed by the end of the book.

The Island is a gripping Teen/YA read. A group of teens, thrust together because their parents are friends, find themselves marooned on an uninhabited island following the death of their survival guide. No one knows they are in trouble, and no one expects them back for days. Slowly things start to fall apart, leaving the friends terrified. Readers will be kept guessing as to who is behind all the strange goings-on, and their motives. Is it one of the group causing chaos, or are there others on the island? Intriguing.

Wow this is a great YA novel from one of my favourite authors, C.L. Taylor.
A group of late teens who all know each other as their parents were friends at an ante natal group are lucky (?!) enough to find themselves on a deserted island with a local guide to experience a get away survival holiday.
From the start we can see that as they have grown up the group of teens have diversified and have very different attitudes to life and to the holiday.
A very thought provoking read and reminiscent of the fabulous Lord of the Flies, what happens when cracks start to appear ok the group.
The characters and the writing are great and the climax toward the ending is very well written an poignant.
Recommend read.

Like just about every book of Taylor’s I’ve read so far I absolutely devoured this. Started reading on Friday evening and had it finished by Saturday morning, I did not want to put it down.

Taylor knows how to create a gripping read and this, her second foray into YA, is no exception. It’s a fairly classic premise, group of teens take a trip to an uninhabited island, bad things happen and there’s no help and no escape. But who is behind it? Is it one of the six or could someone else be on the island with them?

It’s an exciting read and I loved the way it kept you guessing. I’m pretty sure I suspected everyone at some point or another and had more than a few theories as to what was going on.

The story is told almost entirely from the point of view of two of the characters, Jessie and Danny, although there are a couple of chapters from other povs. I really liked getting different perspectives on events, I think it added to the mystery.

In terms of the characters, they make for an eclectic group. They’re not exactly friends, their parents are connected through an antenatal group, but they have a lot of history. They’ve holidayed together every year since they were born. But, how well do you ever really know anyone and a few of them have secrets and traumas.

Jessie and Danny are probably the most well developed characters and I loved how Jessie in particular grew and changed over the course of the story. I’m not sure I would necessarily say any of them were especially likeable but Jessie was probably the most relatable of the group. With the exception of Jessie I did feel like the girls of the group were a little under developed and I would have liked to see more of Honor and especially Meg. I didn’t really get much of a sense of them and therefore didn’t feel invested in them.

If I’m being a nitpick I think it was a bit light considering some of the issues covered (grief, self harm, toxic relationship) but I guess it’s a thriller so more depth would have slowed things down. I also felt like the balance was slightly off between the survival and the mystery/thriller elements. The setting of the Thai Island was brilliant and I feel like the author could have made a little more of it. There seemed no real danger to them from being stranded there for a week.

Taylors writing is as always great and it’s a fast paced, page turner of a book. I’m old enough to be one of the parents so I can’t really comment on how accurately it portrays a group of teenagers on holiday (I’ll leave that to an actual teenager) but it all felt pretty realistic to me.

Overall an addictive and exciting read that’s perfect to escape into for a few hours.

This book was marketed as LOST meets The Hunger Games. Those are two of my favourite things. I was DESPERATE to get my hands on this, and I received an eARC through NetGalley.

Six privileged teenagers jet off to a remote, privately owned Thai island for a week to spend in the sun and the sea, with a personal guide to ensure their safety. Except when that guide dies of a stroke on the second day, and the boat has been sabotaged so there's no way off the island, the six friends must fend for themselves. Amongst gathering water, collecting fruit, and attemping to fish, they start to get the feeling that they're not the only ones on the island. And when everyone's phobias start coming true, they all start to point the finger at one another. Will there be more than one death on the island?

C.L. Taylor is one of my auto-buy authors, and has been for a while now. I know I can always expect a solid thriller from her, that will keep me on my toes as I'm reading.

The Island was no exception. The location definitely gave me LOST vibes, with a stunning waterfall, dense jungle to get lost in, and a beautiful beach to make you forget you're in any danger at all. Add to that the privilege of these teens to have this island all to themselves - a holiday that is a birthday present of Jefferson from his dad - and you get the idea of how luxurious this place.

But add people to an oasis and things will start going downhill.

First we have Jessie, our one first person point of view. Something bad has happened to Jessie, something the others won't mention, something that made her miss last years group holiday, and something that left her hands and arms covered in burns. Jessie is our eyes and ears, and our font of knowledge about the others, but seeing as these kids and their families only meet up about once a year for a holiday and she missed the last one, there are some gaps in her knowledge. Some gaps which add mystery and cast doubt on if we can really trust everyone else.

Then we have Danny, another point of view character, only this time his chapters are told in third person. I found this switch a little grating at times, to go from first person to close third person. It didn't ruin the reading experience, it just wasn't my favourite way to go about it. But Danny did go on last years holiday, and he's closer to the others than Jessie, so he gives us different insight into our characters.

Meg and Milo are twins, close but argumentative in the way that siblings are, but always looking out for each other. Milo and Jess have been on and off crushes since they were younger.

Then there's Honor, best friends with Meg and Danny's girlfriend since they were 14 or 15.

And then Jeffers - short for Jefferson - who has been into camping and survival guides for years now, and whose birthday present this stay on the island is. Jeffers is also the only LGBTQ character in this book, and while a thriller about a secluded island doesn't necessarily need to go into details on everyone's love life or sexuality, I found it unnecessary that it was mentioned and brought up in the way that it was - what seemed like tokenship, like you couldn't have six teenagers and not have any of them be gay so let's just shoe horn it in and be done with.

So with six teenagers on an island, there's plenty of action, particularly as things start ramping up in terms of mystery. When their guide dies everyone has to step up, but after they sit around the campfire on the first night telling everyone their phobias, it seems one by one they start to come true.

As I was reaching the climax of this books plot I was SO sure I knew who it was, and then it wasn't, and then I was sure it was someone else, and it wasn't, and I went round and around thinking I knew what was going to happen and I just didn't. In true C.L. Taylor style I had no idea until the very end. I was kept on my toes all the way through and enjoyed most of the book. I felt there was one or two characters who I felt were sort of there to make up numbers, or for convience, like Meg didn't have much backstory or page time. I also felt the writing style and voice showed C.L. Taylor is much more suited for writing adult fiction than YA - I'm not saying she shouldn't, but there was definite phrasing and thought processes that just didn't seem to fit in with this narrative or book.

However this book did discuss issues such as death, panic attacks, PTSD, mental health, physical differences, bullying, and trauma in really healthy and positive ways, which I want to applaud it for.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was nice to read about being on holiday and imagine I could one day leave my house and do the same again, and I had fun keeping up with the events and wondering what would happen next!

Another five star read from C L Taylor. This book is classed as being of the ‘Young Adult’ genre but I think that it can be enjoyed by people of all age and thoroughly recommend it.

Six teenagers, friends since birth when their parents met at ante-natal classes. Each year the parents and the teenagers meet up and have a holiday together. This year they are off to Thailand where the teenagers will spend a week on an island learning survival skills etc. Things don’t go to plan though when their guide drops dead and they are left alone on the island.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This was an amazing story about a group of teenagers, alone with a guide and spending a week on a deserted island. It highlighted the interactions of teenagers and the undisclosed traumas they can suffer. The triggers that can make this problems worse and their resolution. The conclusion was very sensitive and emotional. First class story.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this atmospheric book

friends since birth, 6 teenagers are on holiday, but a week has been booked for them to go to an island with a tour guide and go bear grllys it all starts off really well the first day...

camp is built, fires are started and then the horror/ghost stories begin...but its the next morning that the nightmares really begin...and as each day goes passed and the nightmares continues what was once a lovely holiday becomes a nightmare..is there someone else on the island with them....

a very atmospheric book that will have chills running up and down your spine a few times...characters are brilliantly written

couldnt put this book down as i wanted to know what happened to them...not disappointed either

Cross Survivor with One of Us is Lying, throw in some Lord of the Flies, and you have The Island.

Jessie, Danny, Honor, Milo, Meg, and Jeffers have been friends since birth. Their parents met in antenatal class and the families have vacationed together every year since. Now that the teens are seventeen, Jeffers father has arranged a special treat for them – nine days on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Thailand learning bush craft survival skills – just the six of them and an expert guide.

Sitting around the campfire their first night they decide to share their phobias.

The next morning their guide drops dead of a stroke.

Then they discover the starter chord of their speed boat has been sabotaged.

And when Milo falls into a booby-trapped hole, and is almost bitten by a deadly snake (his phobia is snakes) the group realise they are not alone on the island, and that someone is using their worst fears to scare them to death.

The Island was an intense, fast-paced read full of excitement and danger. The characters were given thorough backstories and childhood memories, distinct personalities, and the group dynamics were clearly defined. Secrets, grief, loyalty, friendship, paranoia, resentment, mental illness and obsession were the prominent themes. The conclusion, and explanation, were very different to what I was expecting, but I was completely on board with the direction the plot went in.

As an adult reader the juvenile behaviour of the six did at times get on my nerves. One of the teens tried to swim to shore even though it was an hour-long boat trip? And instead of focusing on getting off the island the teens decided to get drunk despite being low on food rations, and even when their lives were threatened tended to focus on their love life, squabbling, and blaming each other. I'm not saying this isn't how teens would act in this situation, in fact they likely would, but teenagers gone awry grew somewhat tedious.

C.L. Taylor excelled at writing teen viewpoints, which I'm not surprised by as her adult novels often feature young people. The Island had me emotionally invested in the lives and wellbeing of these six seventeen-year-olds. I'm looking forward to reading her previous YA installment – The Treatment.

I'd like to thank Netgalley, HQ, and C.L. Taylor for the e-ARC.

Publication Date: 21st January, 2021.

The 2nd YA book from C.L. Taylor focuses on a group of teenagers who along with their families have holidayed together almost every year since their parents 1st met at NCT (antenatal classes) This year whilst on a trip to Thai
And the teenagers are sent along with a guide to a remote island for a survival challenge week, no WiFi, no phones, hunting for food and building shelters to survive.
As their week progresses things begin to go wrong. The teenagers all seem to be suffering from some kind of anxieties/stresses and being made to survive brings some of them to the forefront. As strange and dangerous things start to happen is there someone out to harm them? Is it a stranger or is it one of them?
CL Taylor has written empathetically with regards to the situations which could worry young adults, touching on grief, loss, phobias and mental health issues. Touching on the ever changing dynamics between a group of youngsters as they grow and develop.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title

Six teenagers have been around each other since their parents met at NCT (National Childbirth Trust) classes. Over the years they have all hung out together and gone on holiday and, as different familial relationships change, the nature of the group has changed too. Some of the parents have accompanied the group to Thailand.

After a day or two to acclimatise, the young people set off for a private island with their guide for a seven night stint of survival training. The first night they sit around their cobbled together shelter by the fire (which is essential for wild living) and they share their worst phobias... snakes, spiders, spilling of blood, vomit....

The next day their guide keels over and dies of an apparent stroke and they are now left to fend for themselves. They examine the boat in which they arrived and are dismayed to find the starter cord has been severed. As the hours drag by, the group dynamics start to shift, relationships change and horrifically, it seems, each teenager is having to face demons and each is confronted by his/her specific phobia, shared in the group on the first night.  Is it one of them targeting each individual or is there perhaps someone else on the island who intends to harm them? "One of you will die" is a chilling message in the sand - spotted by one of the group - before the waves came rolling in and washed the scary message away.

A couple of the youngsters - Jessie for one - have already had life changing and traumatic experiences in their earlier years, and the harsh conditions and dynamics on the island now certainly test their psychological stamina and health.

I listened to this as an audiobook and as I ambled through the English countryside on my Covid walks, I felt transported to a hot, menacing and exotic location. The animal noises, the snapping wood and the sun beating down all created a creepy backdrop to the story. As the days passed, the story got darker and I was interested to see where the story would lead.

Written from different teen perspectives, this is a real page-turner of a thriller. It's pitched as young adult, but don't let that stop you if you're grown up already! Once the action kicks off it comes at a real pace, full of suspense. I liked the premise with these teens having holiday-ed together over the years, and that weird sibling-type relationship they have being the kids of their parents who were all NCT friends, and although I had an inkling of what might be going on plot-wise, I certainly wasn't sure, and it kept me guessing.
Very, very readable - CL Taylor just writes in such an engaging, immediate way & parts of this were so incredibly tense that I had to keep on for the next chapter, and then the next again, because I had to know what would happen next!

A bit of a departure from this authors usual writing and this was definitely aimed at a YA audience.
A group of 6 teenage friends, who have known each other forever, get stranded on an isolated island and have to fend for themselves when strange, unexplained things start to happen.
With lots of secrets and teen angst, this was an easy read that would make a really good holiday book.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It's the typical teen drama that I expected and enjoy, fuelled by gossip and hormones

I was pulled in by the "Hunger Games meets Lost" tagline although I don't believe this was accurate. It is more a teenage "Lost" angle

The atmosphere was claustrophobic and the jungle well written, keeping me on edge throughout. The story being told from the perspective of only two of the six characters was an interesting choice, I would have enjoyed the other perspectives also to flesh out the characters as sometimes they faded into the background

The book was sometimes predictable but as is expected with a YA book to be honest. I did guess the ending within the first hundred pages, but I believe that is purely due to my reading of many similar books

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the ARC, in return for an honest unbiased review.

Whilst on holiday in Thailand with their parents, six teenagers join together with just an elderly survival guide for a week on a desert island adventure. The six have been friends since they were very young and the dynamics of their friendship has changed over time, due to actions and life events.

Tragedy strikes early in the story and they are left to defend for themselves – but is someone else on the island, threatening to harm them and prevent them leaving the island – or is it one of them with a grudge of their own?

This is the 1st YA book by C.L.Taylor I have read, and being a big fan of her psychological thrillers, I did wonder if this would have the same grip as her usual reads. I was not disappointed and this face-paced read is suitable for YA and the older alike.

It did take me a few chapters to get to grips with the different characters, and how their lives are entwined with each other, but this soon settled as the story unfolds and was a very enjoyable thrilling read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, in return for an honest unbiased review.

I love C.L Taylor’s thrillers and have read The Fear, Sleep and Strangers so far. I was intrigued to see how her writing would translate across to the Young Adult genre with her new novel The Island. 6 teenagers alone on an island where things start to go horribly wrong is a great premise, although not necessarily a unique one – it reminded me of Savage Island by Bryony Pearce which was one of the first books I ever reviewed for NetGalley.

The story bounces between two perspectives of Danny and Jessie, two of the teenagers on the island. I spent the book waiting for another perspective to be introduced as there are 4 more teenagers in the group of friends but this was never the case. Although this helped to build up tension as it’s hard to trust someone if you haven’t been introduced to their thoughts and motivations, I did think it was a bit of a shame. Some of the characters such as Meg faded into the background and Honor came across as being two dimensional.

The whole book felt a little too rooted in the relationship angle, and I would have liked the setting and the survival elements to be more thoroughly explored. Young Adult does not need to just be about drama and relationships to work effectively! I also thought the phobia theme was very loose – I had cast it aside as irrelevant early on and then was surprised when it became a large part of the story. I enjoyed the ending though and felt that the themes explored in relation to that were very well done.

Overall, The Island isn’t to the same high standard of C.L Taylor’s work but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. Thank you to NetGalley & HQ – Young Adult for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My first YA thriller of the year and it didn’t disappoint!

I think what I enjoyed so much about this book is that I genuinely had no idea who was causing all their fears to come true. So when it was revealed I was shocked and honestly did not see it coming at all – really brilliant!

I loved all the characters, with the majority of the book written from the point of view of either Jessie or Danny. You learn a lot about these two characters and the emotions they are trying to suppress.

The whole setting of the island was fantastic. The author did such a great job of setting the scene and creating that claustrophobic atmosphere of the jungle closing in on them. It really did feel like a film at times, not knowing if they were being watched and the scenes with Jack & Josh really gave me the creeps.

Whilst this was a suspenseful thriller that had me on the edge of my seat, it also dealt with the important issue of mental health and I thought the author handled this really well.

Overall this was a fantastic story and one that had me stumped until the big reveal at the end!