Six teenage friends who are being friends for years through their parents are going to a remote tropical island for their holiday. It looks like paradise at first until their guide dies of a stroke which leaves them stranded on the island until their parents realise. One by one each member of the groups worst nightmare becomes and group start to think someone is after them on the island.

We are POV’s in the book Jessie and Danny.

This was a fun read. Imagine thinking you are going to tropical island which looks like paradise but turns out to be your worst nightmare, well it happens to the six of the friends.

Each character has depth to them and they all have secrets which does turn to distrust at parts in the book.

I liked how the author dealt with the trauma of two of the characters, she handle it with sensitivity.

I’m going to admit the ending took me by surprise and I certainly didn’t guess what was going to happen.

This is YA book but you can certainly read it is as a adult.

Overall an entertaining read which starts as paradise but turns into a nightmare for the characters.

So first off this one was difficult to rate because it relies on a trope that I personally really don't care for but is reasonably common in thrillers. I also figured this out relatively early and usually I'm happy just to go along for the ride anyway if I figure something out because, after all, the story is in the telling and I could be wrong anyway. But, because I suspected this trope at play and worked it out about a third in, it did make the rest feel a little less enjoyable. I've tried to factor this out of my rating as much as possible seeing as this is an arc. 

So with that aside, I found this book to be a solid middle of the road young adult thriller. It was an extremely easy read, the writing is absorbing and very digestible. The story itself was engaging if a little hard to believe (These teenagers had one adult on the island who didn't provide them with a radio/any information on what to do in an emergency situation? More likely than you'd think.)  But I'm always willing to suspend my disbelief in books like this and it was well paced and interesting  for the most part. If you are quite new to thrillers you probably won't see the twist coming either. 

The setting was pretty well utilized and definitely added to the feeling of fear and confusion with the heat, lack of food and physical exertion our characters faced. I think it could have been interesting to see the setting contribute a little  more to the events of the story as these were mostly driven by inter character relationships and drama. The characters were unique and interesting enough that this helped the story float along nicely though.

I found the climax to be decent but the ending itself felt extremely abrupt. I literally blinked and rewound the audiobook a minute, thinking I had missed something! 

Overall a decent young adult thriller which I devoured in two sittings with just a few factors that stopped it being s new favourite.

4.5* I really enjoy this. A creepy adventure on an uninhabited island. 
A YA novel. I’m not the target audience but do enjoy YA thrillers for an easy lighter read. 
It’s creepy, tense and suspenseful. 
🎧 audio version with 3 narrators. 
The narrators are excellent, the voices sound young. They add tension, and drama and excitement to the story. 

6 lifelong friends, who used to be really close when younger, but are now drifting and forming separate allegiances go on holiday to Thailand on a remote island with a survival guide. Within 24 hrs the survival guide dies of a stroke leaving them alone. The boat is disabled. There’s no way off the island. The story’s narrators are predominantly Danny and Jessie. 
Someone knows all their phobias and making their nightmares a reality, who wants revenge on them that badly??
As they all start facing their worst phobias the fear, tension and anxiety is palpable, as is the friction and mistrust that develops within the group. 
There is a real sensitivity to the writing.

The Island by C.L. Taylor is an engaging and enthralling read. Full of action and very gripping. The narrators are good and the narration is very well done.

6 teenagers of the same age group who know each other from childhood as their parents were friends before even they were born. Every year they all go on Holiday together, this year they are in Thailands for the vacation. The private island is booked for the teenagers where they all will with their guide and their parents would stay back at the hotel. On the first night, they all shared their phobias. On the next day, their guide dies and leaving them all alone on the island to survive. Now one by one the phobias are becoming real. Who can be trusted and who can’t be trusted. 

The book is from the perspective of two different characters, Jessie and Danny. The narrators did an exceptional job. Just because of the narrators I felt that I am on the Island with these teenagers. Overall I enjoyed the book.

Six teenagers on a dream island vacation in Thailand… a dream that quickly turns into a nightmare and where their worst fears seem to be coming true… 

To pass the time, on their first die on the island, the group decides to play a game in which each one of them reveals to the others their worst phobia or fear (or do they?). Revealing your deepest darkest secret may come easy for some, but for others not so much. And for others, keeping a secret and sharing a lie instead is easier.

But then… the morning after, things turn dark.

Their island and tour guide suddenly dies, leaving the teenagers alone and stranded on the island, with no real survival skills and no contact with the rest of the world.

And one by one, each teenager’s worst phobias seem to be becoming a dark reality.

Then it becomes a game of survival or trying to discover if they are alone in the island, of trying to understand who might be making their fears come true and why…

I won’t get into spoilers, but I definitely have to give my praises to the author on this book.

It was a mystery, a thriller, a suspense… and then you come to the conclusion it was so so much more than that and touched on something extremely important.

I had my suspicions, but I liked the revelation, how it unfolded and the why behind it all.

I definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller/mystery with a touch of survival and if you are ready to have it all twisted around on you by the end.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my opinion and honest review.

#TheIsland #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book , that's essentially a locked room mystery - a group of teenage childhood friend take a survivalist trip to a Thai island , and things start going terribly wrong resulting in a bunch of stranded teenager fighting for survival in more than one way. I really enjoyed the dual perspective Voices in the book as well as the intertwined relationships. However I didnt feel particularly invested in the story, no matter how engaging it was , and I think that maybe due to complete lack of world building. However , I did fly through the book in a day. The storyline was engaging, with multiple mysteries to solve and a constant seance of impending doom and intrigue, it kept me hooked from page one. As far as YA mysteries go this was one of the best I have read however overall I dont think I was the correct reader.

Wow what an amazing and gripping story and with some brilliant narration! Jessie and Danny are part of a group of six teenagers who meet every year, with their parents, on a mass group holiday. They’ve been doing this ever since they were kids and this year they are in Thailand. Although the hotel they are staying at is more than enough of a holiday, Jefferson’s dad has hired a small remote island for the six teens to spend several days on as a special birthday present. But after just one day on the island, their guide suffers a stroke and the teens are left alone and stranded. Waiting a few days until their parents notice they are missing shouldn’t be a problem, but the group soon realise that one by one, everybody’s worst fears are coming true, someone must be taunting and torturing them, but who? And why?

This is such an amazing and gripping thriller, I just couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook as soon as I started it! I’ve always loved the idea of the remote island setting, loving the idea of castaway or the tv series ‘Lost’. So when I first heard about this book I was eager to get hold of a copy and when I realised there was an audiobook available to review, I jumped at the chance to listen to it. The story unfolds quickly, beginning at the hotel in Thailand the day before the teens set off to the island. The first chapter begins from Jessie’s point of view, in the first person perspective and we begin to find out a little bit about each of the teenagers and how Jessie feels separated from the others. An incident at the pool ends in a dramatic way, I actually gasped it was that shocking and good, and it sets up the rest of the story as a fast-paced and exciting thriller.

The chapters alternate between Jessie and Danny throughout most of the novel. Danny’s chapters are told in the third person perspective and are equally interesting and exciting as the story moves on. We find out more about the teens and it isn’t long before their guide dies and they are left stranded on the remote island. At first the story seems simple with the teens struggling to collect the neccessary things for surviving more nights on the island, but soon their fears and phobias start coming true and I just love how this story went and how it kept me guessing throughout!

There’s so much that happens with the different characters and I love how we don’t know who is behind anything. The author kept me wondering who was behind the fears and why, was it one of the teens or was it someone else? Even though at some point I did notice something about one of the characters, I still didn’t trust my own thoughts and kept changing my mind as to who was behind all the things that happened. I like the development of some of the relationships and what happens as the story gets more tense. It gets so dramatic near the end and has a brilliant climax with an ending which I liked and hadn’t guessed at all. I love how all the clues were there but I still didn’t guess what happened at the end and the story wraps up nicely with some big revelations and a good last couple of chapters.

The narration is brilliant and I really liked all three voice actors. The drama, fear and shock can be heard in their voices and I like the way their voices changed a little when reading out the speech of different characters. The audiobook really does make you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat all the time and I have to admit I had a few moments when I simply gasped out of shock of what had happened, and I like how there were even a few extra seconds of pauses at the end of some of the more exciting chapters to give me time to process something shocking that I had just heard. All three narrators did a billiant job of making me feel the drama of what was happening, especially when there was fear in the voices of some characters, and I do think that their voices really did make this more enjoyable than it would have been if I’d simply read the book.

The story does has some mild swearing but not very often and there are a few shocking things described like injury, death and blood, but it’s not too graphic, though it’s something to be aware of if you’re sensitive to such things. But overall it just felt perfect, a great thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat and gripped with excitment and shock.

This really is an amazing story and I am so pleased that I got the chance to listen to this audiobook! I want to listen to it again already, even though I’ve just finished it! The story is so gripping and exciting and it has such brilliant twists especially near the end. The story is so compelling throughout and at around seven and a half hours long it’s a great book that you can listen to in one day (if you’re so engrossed in the tale like I was!). I can’t wait to read more from C. L. Taylor and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller, a remote island setting and a great story about people’s fears coming true!

The Island by C L Taylor is a young adult thriller. Set in Thailand where 6, 17 year old friends who holiday together go on a bush survival week to an uninhabited island with a single guide. When the guide dies, and their only way off the island has been deliberately sabotaged they have to survive the rest of the week before rescue. 

There are only 6 characters, which allows us to learn more about them. The rich, bossy organiser, the squabbling brother and sister , the sensitive singleton are all there. Told mainly from the perspective of 2 of the characters Jessie the quiet friend who didn’t come on last year’s trip, who has her own issues she doesn’t want to talk about; and Danny the overprotective boyfriend of honour who is also on the trip.

The plot is well thought out and structured well, during a drunken party the friends start talking about their greatest fears, snakes, spiders and heights all brought up. As the days pass by, the fears start coming true but it can’t be a coincidence, so who’s behind the tricks? As the in fighting begins and the group splits the danger increases. Action packed, with a quick moving storyline this is a page turner for sure.

Having listened to this story I would also recommend the audiobook, the narrators were good at creating tension and sympathy and brought the action to life.

A light exciting, thriller, covering multiple teenage issues. Fast moving plot with believable characters. A quick easy read suitable for young adults. 4*
Thanks to HQ Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the ARC and Audio ARC

I found this book to be a bit of a rollercoaster to read.
It started off getting straight into getting to know the characters and how they end up on the island but then platoes for a few chapters then gets good again then platoes for several chapters then feels like it comes to a quick end explaining why the character did what he did.

his is the book I wish Lord of the Flies had been. A wonderfully gripping twisty tale of loss and survival - this may be CL Taylor’s best book yet.

6 teenagers are stranded on a private island in Thailand and no one will be coming to find them for 7 days. Slowly one by one they witness their worst fears coming true and no one can stop it. 

What I loved about this book is the sense that anything could happen - from the moment the group arrived on the island the tension was palpable and I read with eager anticipation to find out what would come next. There was something in the writing that made the twists unpredictable and although the seeds of the climax were sewn early in the book, I didn’t predict just how far this would change.

The dual narrative of Danny and Jessie kept the pace and provided multiple perspectives on what was happening, making the sense of the unreliable narrator increase two fold and heightening the tension even further.

It was thrilling to watch the teens lives unravel and it was a pleasure to read until the very end.

Specific to the audiobook - the use of two narrators who gave every character a distinct voice was a brilliant addition to the audiobook. It meant that unlike in other audiobooks you could always be sure which character was speaking.

C.L Taylor does not disappoint. Well to say this young adult novel kept me guessing is an understatement, I thought I was clever, I thought I had it all worked out, I thought wrong!! 
 The story of a group of teenagers stranded on an exotic but remote island was certainly twist filled. I felt a real emotional connection with the characters, I really cared about their outcome and escape from the island and the threat following them there. 
I really enjoyed the narration of this audiobook, the different voices made the book easy to follow and therefore it was easier to concentrate on the plot without having to work out who was who.
A sure success, this YA book stands tall with the author’s other novels and it’s easy to see why she is such a popular writer.

The Island is a fun YA thriller and has a very interesting concept.

I've heard a lot of things about C.L. Taylor's books being well written and incredibly engaging. This one is no different. It was excellently written and engaged me well.

I enjoyed the narration of this audiobook and it kept me interested throughout. I will be recommend this audiobook and the book itself to a lot of people. Especially those who are fans of C.L. Taylor!

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.

They say you're only as old as you feel, and this YA book made this old grannie feel like a teenager again!  Like all of Ms Taylor's books it is well written with a great storyline which moves quickly and hooks you in straight away.

The story involves a group of six teenagers who end up being marooned on a remote island.  It reminded me a bit of the Bear Grylls TV show, The Island.  The book is full of twists.  The characters were interesting, though some were not really likeable.  I totally didn't see that ending coming.

The narration by Olivia Dowd, Sam Newton and Sarah Ovens was great.

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.

On the whole, a really enjoyable audiobook, although I struggled a little with the narration of Danny (I found his character quite whiney and repetitive)  and I didn't really gel with any of the characters. The tropical setting was the ideal escape during these cold months and I was kept guessing up until the big reveal towards the end. A solid, gripping thriller that I will be recommending to genre fans.

I like C.L Taylor’s books but this story wasn’t the best, I was lucky enough to receive a advance copy of the audiobook but I found my attention wasn’t kept, but I plodded on and I’m glad I did as the ending did surprise me.

An exciting trip to a secluded island for an adventure turns into a nightmare as each character's phobia comes true. Who knows their deepest fears? Is there someone stalking the group? 
An exciting story for young adults told by two of the main characters, this book is quite addictive and I kept on listening to the audiobook far longer than I had intended. Although it seemed like I'd solved the 'whodunnit' early on, the twists and turns made me suspicious of other characters and then of the whole plot. The final outcome was unexpected. Great to be kept guessing. 
Some bits are unbelievable - like teenagers forgoing their phones for several days or not bringing any supplies with them at all! There is also interaction with two boys that just doesn't sit well in the book, is over-the-top and seems to be an unnecessary aside that adds no real value. But this is a book for young adults - something I've not been for many decades - so perhaps I am just out of touch! 

Overall I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you for this advanced copy. I tried reading this book previously but couldn’t get into it. So I tried listening to it and nothing about the first three chapters gripped my interest so I stopped. The covers always draw me in but I just can’t get into the books.