DNF 23%. Maybe I had a different experience from everyone else, but I don't remember high school being how it's described in this book. I don't think anyone would have made fun of someone just for being named Olive? But maybe that's just my high school. Overall, a lot of telling and not enough showing. I didn't understand motivations or come to care about any of the characters.

Note: Received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Castaway Carnival is back in town with its infamous corn maze – kids have disappeared after entering it including a local boy the previous year. Olive is hesitant to go but finally gives in. She had intended to avoid the maze but, when she is confronted by some bullies from school, she runs in to avoid them. When she steps through what she thought was the end of the maze, she finds herself on an island populated by kids including the missing boy. Not only do all of them seem to come from different places and times but they don’t seem to age. Worse, there doesn’t seem to be any way off the island and the kids have divided into two groups who are at war with each other.

The Castaways by author Jessika Fleck uses fantasy to deal with the issue of bullying and she does it very well. Some reviewers have called it a cross between Lord of the Flies and Lost and I can’t think of a better description so I’m gonna borrow it with thanks. There’s plenty of actions and the characters are more than just your stock kidlit types. If I have one criticism, it would be the ending which seemed somewhat incongruous with the premise of the rest of the story but it wasn’t overly distracting, nor did it spoil my enjoyment of the book. The story is aimed at YA or perhaps Middle Grade but it’s the kind of book that even adults can enjoy although parts of it might be a bit upsetting for very young readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

I enjoy fantasy as much as the next person. In fact, I've reviewed many MANY fantasy novels on this site. But sometimes you need a change. You want someone to mix things up in a way you've never seen before. And Jessika Fleck totally delivered with this.

Think Lord of the Flies meets Lost.

Olive is always running from who she is. In fact, she is doing just that when she runs into a corn maze she's always been terrified of. And she's doing exactly that when she crawls off the trampled path and into another world--an island, to be more exact. A world where kids fend for themselves, and protect each other. They aren't protecting each other from wild animals or other likely threats, though. They are protecting each other from other kids. There are two clans, and if the other clan gets a hold of you? Well...don't let them.

But not everything is as it seems, not to mention the island seems to have a mind of its own.

I loved this book because of the complexity of the characters. No one is all good or all bad. They all have fears, they all have trust issues, and they all have to decide what is worth sacrificing for the greater good. And I loved every one of them. I was sucked in from the very beginning, and savored every page. Not only were the characters amazing, but Jessika Fleck has an amazing with words and set up the island in exquisite detail. I kinda wanted to move there!

If you couldn't tell by now, I am giving The Castaways 5 out of 5 stars.

For Those Who Enjoyed: Peter Pan, Lord of the Flies, Heart of Darkness, The Night Circus, Castaway, The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Beauty Queens, Mean Girls, Heathers, Treasure Island, The Beach

I like the reference points the author’s clearly alluding to. It’s very Peter Pan lost boys meets Lord of the Flies. But the writing style… is not great. I would’ve liked to see her jump into the maze and subsequently, the island right away instead of faffing about with the cringey bullying plotline. It’s been a while since I’ve been in high school, but I certainly hope girls aren’t actually going that far these days, because it was never that bad when I was in school… I think this’ll do very well with younger, middle grade audiences and preteens, but it doesn’t stand up as a well-written work.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Castaways by Jessika Fleck. Olive is relentlessly bullied by three girls she has named The Trio. She meets her friend Tawny at the pirate-themed traveling carnival after hours, so they won't be bothered by anyone. They decide to go into the corn maze, which has a mysterious and dangerous past. Teenagers have gone missing and never come out of the maze. Olive ends up going into the maze alone and, while running from bullies, she ends up being transported to a secluded island where no one ages. This island is completely surrounded by ocean as far as the eye can see and seems to be inescapable. Olive meets people on the island that are considered missing in real time. These teenagers were born long ago and have stayed teenagers and only have memories from decades past. Such as sixteen-year-old Tilly, who is from Sheffield England, 1940 and fifteen year old Lewis from 1953 Memphis, Tennessee. Olive discovers each of their stories and secrets and she eventually shares her own. They all realize that they transported to the island because they were running from something and they work together to find out how to face their problems and give each other the hope of returning home someday. I fell in love with the island inhabitants and relished the relationship between Will and Olive. This book is so much more complex than I thought it would be when I first began reading it. The complicated story line and dynamic characters all come together to make The Castaways an interesting read and the cover is perfect for this story, in more ways than one. 4.5 stars for the fantasy realism and lovable characters!

World-Building
Oo! I loved this world. I knew going into the story what it was going to be like (because it basically spells it out in the blurb), but the particulars of the world were ingenious! I thought I had it all figured out, and it surprised me. I appreciated that and enjoyed it.

Rushing
While I wanted to enjoy this book because of the theme and the world building and the plot, the pace of the story made that quite difficult. All the character relationships developed too fast. The story line moved a bit too fast. The plot sped way up towards the end. It was like certain points/scenes were picked out of the full story and used, while the rest was pushed into the shadows, making it feel a bit disjointed and made many things feel unrealistic.

Oh, look! More tears...
Maybe I'm a bit more stoic than other people, but I don't cry that much, and I definitely don't cry as much as the main character. Over the course of the story (a month-ish), I think the MC cried close to a dozen times! A dozen!

I get that she suffers from anxiety, but the anxiety wasn't what made her cry and had no correlation to it. She just cried all the time for no reason and the tears would turn on and off at the drop of a hat with very little emotional build up to the tears. This was both frustrating as a reader (and made me dislike the MC) and made it feel unrealistic and forced.

A dash of repetition
While none of the scenes were necessarily repetitive, certain phrases were used multiple times. As a result, they lost their importance. Perhaps they were trying to emphasize something, but it didn't come across that way. Rather, it came across like the MC was forgetful and was prone to thinking the same thoughts again and again.

Finding Confidence
I think the main point of this book was that the characters had to figure out who they were, what their fears were, and find the confidence to face them. Which is great! That’s a very common coming-of-age story that many people can relate to. However, a girl shouldn’t need a boy to make her feel confident and there was a lot of that going on in this book, which I didn’t support and which dropped the book into cliche territory. Kind of disappointed in that regard.

One thing that I thought was interesting about this story, aside from the island itself, is the story behind it. All these kids came from different decades in time and different countries, but there’s one thing they all had in common, they were running away from something. Also, the kids do not age a day while they are on the island. So while some of them should be like 60 years old, they are still stuck in their teen years. So, I thought it was interesting that you didn’t just have a group of kids who were between a certain age because technically they’ve been alive on the island for many years.

One thing I was a little disappointed in was the romance. I just didn’t fully get it. It just felt like it was thrown in there because romance is expected in YA. Why couldn’t Olive’s character have grown on the island without “falling in love” with the main guy. I thought the story was great without the included romance. It would have been nice if this rag-tag team of kids banned together and became a family without there being any romantic angles. I’m sure I’m in the minority on this one but I just loved the dynamics of this group before the romance was introduced.

The Castaways is a story about overcoming your fears. Each of the characters in this book had something they were running from. I liked the way the teens banned together and took care of each other, especially when it came to the younger kids who showed up on the island. While I felt like the romance was unnecessary, I still enjoyed this story. I loved the message that it told.

The Castaways is a fantasy of sorts. I mean, it involves a carnival that can magically transform you to an island. That sounds pretty cool, right? Well, what if this island was in the middle of a war and you just unwillingly chose sides?

When the Castaway Carnival rolls into town, Olive agrees to take her little brother with one rule - no going in the corn maze. Because, see, kids go missing in the maze and Olive is not about to take that chance. But when she's cornered by a group of mean girls from school who's life mission is to torment her, Olive unwillingly runs into the maze. And then finds herself on an island. She quickly discovers that island is inhabited by missing kids from all eras and that they never age. Also, there's a war.

Fleck does a good job of bringing this mysterious island to life and it plays it's own part in the book as if it's a character in itself. It seems to give and take as it pleases - both protecting and endangering the kids as they try to find a way back home.

Then there's the kids themselves. Duke and Will were the first on the island (well, in this group at least). They arrived as enemies and stayed that way which leads to the island war going on when Olive arrives. As the book progresses, we learn about each character and what brought them to the island. They realize that there's a theme: they were all running from something when they vanished. Olive believes that since they all were brought under similar circumstances that this must be some key to getting home, however, before she's able to fully test that theory the war blows up.

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of Olive. Her constant lying from the moment she arrived on the island literally drove me nuts. Like, all of these people laid bare their stories and she just lied. This book, for me, was more about the background characters. Jude, Lewis, Bug, Tilly - they were all so much more interesting than Olive and kept me reading the book.

Overall, a good debut. Something a little new and I look forward to more from the author.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't a new concept that was introduced or created. It is a really old plot but it was still interesting and I enjoyed it well enough. This book can be quite violent at times and talks about bullying a lot. So if those are two things that you feel uncomfortable with, such as myself, this may not be the book for you. This book did talk about facing your fears and being able to run towards what you always run away from. And that confrontation will bring you home and to peace. The only thing I didn't particularly enjoy was the stereotypical "Lord of the Flies" plot. I mean the author actually had them use conch shells. And had a scientific boy who wore glasses and was pretty well ignored. *cough Piggy cough*. I also did not think the ending was really that well done. Everything ended in a fairytale ending way. It just seemed way too perfect. Overall I did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed "Lord of the Flies"

I received a copy of this book from netgalley for review.

I admit that it took awhile for me to really get into The Castaways. It wasn't that the book was boring, I just don't think I was really in the mood for it at the time. I'm glad that I kept up with it. I liked how the kids each ended up at the Island because of something they were running from. With Olive, it was the horrible bullies (I can't stand bullies). Those girls made me crazy. The book was well written and I ended up really liking it.

Olive Maxi Gagmuehler, is a victim of bullying. They call her Olive McGaggy. She suffered a lot from the three means girls as they did horrible and disgusting things to her. While running away from one of the bullies in the corn maze she ended up in a corn maze and her adventure begins.

The island controls all the kids there. Kids who are running away into something. A window will open if they face and overcome their fear. Plus, they don't grow older there. There is no ticking time but days passes by.

The island divided into two groups: Lions and Panther were they fight for who will dominate the island.

I enjoyed reading this book. It's like I'm in a different world. It is one of the books that I couldn't turn away. A page turner and almost every part is intense! It was well written and favorite is Bug! Adorable and cute Bug!

However, I'm confused with chronological time of how the kids got there. And I still have questions like: How come Will didn't age when they supposed to go back to their time? How come he went out after twenty-nine days and half after Olive in the same year? I think he's supposed to be older and went put to his time?

But still, this book got me hooked and I really enjoyed it though I don't like the title in each chapter as it kind of bothers me.

Olive has been terrorized by the trio for a long time, secretly hiding her pain from everyone, until she just wants to get away. When the yearly carnival comes to town, her brother is excited to go and Olive agrees to take him, despite the rumors surrounding the corn maze and the kids who have gone missing over the years. When the trio finds Olive at the carnival, Olive is desperate to escape, wildly running into the corn maze. Next thing she knows, she is trapped on an island where a war in under way and she is in the middle of it all.

I'm not going to lie, the first like chapter or two of this book were very hard for me to read because the level of violence and abuse that were heaped on the main character Olive. I was not sure I was going to be able to read a book like that but I wanted to attempt to give the story a fair shot, so I kept plugging on. The story all of a sudden became something else, not the dark awful despair I was introduced to, but instead a mystery full of questions and discovery. For such a dark beginning, the book was able to be full of hope and end on such a high note. I think it is best to have no set expectations while going into this story, but to keep an open mind and enjoy the adventure.

Olive is the narrator of the story and really the book is about her journey to discover her true worth and the importance of standing up for what is right, regardless of what others think, and the desire to "just be". Her character made such growth as a person that I could not help but want to root her on. I was also just as torn as she was about the desire to go home and her draw to stay. I loved watching her realize what she needed to become as well as see the struggles the others had as well to learn about themselves.

All the side characters in the story were developed and layered, each unique individuals with different life paths and inner struggles. Bug was adorable, just a fun quirky kid, and Charlie was also an interesting character. But my favorite was Will (aka my new book crush), the strong caring leader who may not be who he wants everyone to think he is. I am trying to stay vague, but the backstory with him and Dike was a surprise to me and I liked the author's twists.

This was such a surprising (in a good way) read for me and my preconceived notions were thrown on their heads. The ending was just what I could have hoped for, and the idea of what the future may hold is a mystery. This was my first book by this author and I look forward to what else she wants to write about.

I received this title in return for my honest review.
For more reviews visit my blog at http://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

Thank you to Entangled Teen and Netgalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for a fair review.


Olive's life is pretty miserable mostly due to her name. Which has led her to be tormented for six years by the trio. Olive makes plans to try and get back at them by meeting her friend at the Castaway Carnival. However, when her friend is late she is chased into the maze by one of the trio. As she is running away she finds a tunnel and hurries through it.



But she isn't in the maze when she comes out the other side. She is on an island. Will and Jude find Olive before too long. They explain that they have been there for years. They are also at war with the other faction. The Panthers, led by Duke.



Olive has no clue what is going on and how they can get home. As she makes friends and tries to stay alive she will have to figure out it for them all.



I don't know what I expected when I started reading this, but it was sort of light-hearted take on some heavy subjects. Olive was bullied, Tilly was running from bombs in war-torn London, Will is a well I can't quite reveal that. Spoiler, but in essence, everyone that ended up on that island was running from something when they went through a window and ended up there.


I want to say so much more on the subject but ahh spoilers suffice to say that my absolute favorite part of the book explains everything, therefore I can't discuss it. But when you read it and you get there you will know what I mean. I devoured this book in one sitting. I couldn't stop reading it was fun, serious and I loved it.

The Castaways is definitely a different kind of story! There is an island that kids and teenagers end up on after running from something in their lives. The main character Olive is brutually bullied (I was quite angry for her it was really intense!) and she ends up on the island as such an insecure girl. You can’t help but feel really bad for her. Anyway, it has a mean girls/Lord of the Flies vibe. She goes to the Castaway Carnival and ends up running from the bullies which puts her in the corn maze (which is known for kids going in but NOT returning hmm). That night at the carnival changes everything for her. Because the corn maze lands her on a weird island. Once on the island we learn that the ones on the island are from different time periods which is really interesting in of itself.

Even though the island is kinda like a safe haven from what they were running from, there is a war going on between two groups that was formed ages ago. Plus they have to just survive in nature. Olive gets right into her group helping out and a little love is in the air for her and the group’s leader – Will. Each group member has their own quirks and abilities when it comes to surviving on the island. I love how they all come together to make life the best they can even though they don’t understand what led them to the island and how to get off. I loved all the side characters and it was amazing how each character really developed by the island experience.

I understand the point of the island was about acceptance and self love, but I would have liked to know more about where this island came from. Maybe where it was located. I wanted more history on the island. We get a lot of the why but not the how. I kept waiting to find out how it came about. Nevertheless, it is an awesome story of redemption and love when life throws you lemons. Each character has their own story which led them to the island and they all go through so much growth and change.

Olive Maxi Gagmuehler lives everyday in fear of being tortured by a trio of mean girls at her school causing Olive to suffer from anxiety attacks. Olive in a way blames her parents for her name that is just asking to be made fun of in her opinion. But as much as Olive wants to avoid the torture of the trio she loves her little brother and promises to take him to the Castaway Carnival that is visiting town.

The Castaway Carnival however comes with it’s own stories that would put fear into anyone. Over the years there have been kids that have gone into the corn maze only to never be seen again with no clue of where they had gone. Olive had vowed to go nowhere near the maze but when her trio of tormentors again attack Olive finds herself running for safety into the maze only to find herself far from home on a strange island with other kids that tell the same story of running away from something only to now find themselves trapped.

The Castaways by Jessika Fleck has been described as a young adult fantasy that is a bit of a mix of ‘Mean Girls’ meets ‘Lord of the Flies.’ Now when starting out this read it was clearly obvious how it was compared to Mean Girls, the trio that are bullying Olive in the story are completely despicable and even tested my gag reflex with some of their torture. I felt so sorry for poor Olive having to live with this daily and couldn’t help but wonder just where the adults or anyone for that matter were that could help her.

Now as far as Lord of the Flies I haven’t read the book myself but I do know enough about it that I can also see the comparison there too. In my mind though being a huge Peter Pan fan and having read tons of retellings there I kept thinking of the island as a sort of Neverland. The kids that have traveled there never age and have split into two groups that are at war with one another. Olive finds herself with the group of good kids and determined to help them win the war and find a way home.

During the story I got to see Olive find herself and grow from the bullied scared girl that she had been before arriving on the island. The author also did a wonderful job of making the entire group of characters on the island come to life and make you care about what happens to each of them unlike some stories that the side characters never really stand out.

In the end this was one young adult fantasy that was fast paced, which I enjoy, and full of great characters and an action packed, intriguing plot.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Castaways is about a group of teens from different times trapped together on an island where time doesn't move forward. Basically, it is like Neverland and they are the Peter Pans, in a Lord of the Flies situation. You see, there are TWO group of teens on the island and they are both at war with each other. Olive tumbles into this island when she is running from her bullies at the Castaway Carnival's infamous corn maze (in which children have vanished), and is rescued by one of the group - the Lions, led by Will. The others, the Panthers, are led by Duke, and some rivalry from their time has been carried over to here, making the island a warzone.

The kids are of course trying to figure out a way to get back home, but they are also all sort of happy here. All of them were running from something back home, and this island is a new life and a new start for most of them. However, the island is also dangerous in the sense that they have to live off the land, and all, in the middle of the fighting. Olive, the new person at the party, wants to figure out how to resolve this years-long war between the two, that has claimed multiple lives. In doing so, she faces her own fears, and makes others realize theirs too.

I would caution readers from the abuse present at the start of the book - Olive is brutally bullied by her classmates on more than one occasion, and the scenes may be triggering to some. Same for Duke's story about his days back at home. About the bullying, it may provide solace to some kids to learn that it is okay to be yourself, as the book points out. And that you can't run from your problems but have to face them. The writing is pretty good, and Olive's voice is brought out splendidly as a placid person with bouts of humor. There are some cliches, though, which kind of dampened my enjoyment of the book - like the almost insta-lovey way Will and Olive fall for each other, his regularly-piercing eyes/gaze *eyeroll*. The ending also seemed sort of easy to wrap up, but I'll take it from a standalone. Overall, an interesting book to read, for sure.

The Castaways centers around a teenage girl, Olive. Tormented by bullies and struggling in high school she finds herself abandoned on an island, in the middle of no where, trapped between two rival tribes.
After books like Caraval, The Night Circus and Freeks who doesn't love a book involving a carnival, especially when a mysterious deserted island is involved?
I was so excited to read this book when I read the description and honestly it lived up to all of my expectations.

What a great piece of writing. I loved every one on the island (Panthers included). The touching relationships between all of the Castaways is what sets this book apart from the rest of YA Fiction around at the moment. You feel a real connection to all of the characters and im so glad Fleck took the time to introduce us to each and every inhabitant on the island.
Working together and putting decade long battles aside they must all help one another find a way off the mysterious island.
Part emotional, part brutal and massively thought provoking, this book will stay with me for a long time, and what a beautiful underlying story of friendship and discovery.
The ending made a great book amazing, my only complaint would be... why wasn't it longer? and where did the time go when I was reading it?
I suppose it would of been better suited to a series, or a longer book. The month or so Olive was on the island seemed very rushed, and it definitely could of been stretched out some.
There were some strong messages in this book especially for younger YA readers, with all the Castaways having to learn to deal with their problems and the journey that takes them all on.

What a great read!!
Received an advanced readers copy in exchange for a fair review.

The Listed books below I didn't finish because I either lost interest or didn't like them to finish them!

Awesome book if you love Maze Runner or Lord of the Flies... and I do!
I felt that the main character read more like a middle school student at first, but she eventually grew up a little bit.
This book was a fun read and very exciting.

When I first started reading The Castaways, I wasn't sure what to expect. A few hours later, I was turning the last page. The Castaways is an absolute gem of a book and I loved it.

The story does begin with a very brutal, slightly difficult to read bullying scene. We see Olive, the main character, both at home with her family and at school with her tormentors. The juxtaposition really drives home how the bullying has affected every aspect of her life. My heart immediately went out to Olive from page one. After an incident involving hair clippers and bullies, Olive runs into the maze at the Castaway Carnival and finds herself on a deserted island, far from the world she knew.

On the island, Olive meets others who have been stranded there throughout the decades. I don't want to spoil any major plot points but I really enjoyed the plot overall (although it was a lot darker than I'd originally expected). The pacing is excellent and I was constantly engaged.

A good portion of why I loved this book was the secondary characters (okay, mostly just the lions). They were all written very well and I enjoyed the dynamics between them. The author did a wonderful job of showing us the relationships between the characters rather than telling us. Watching the lions, one of the two tribes on the island, adjust to having Olive dumped on them was actually rather fun. The Lions truly felt like a family, with all the bickering, understanding, and love.

Sometimes I would think that a longer time period had passed than actually had since some developed occurred quickly. Then I remembered my personal experiences at sleep-away camp (a poor substitute but the closest I've ever been to Olive's situation). I thought of how much we all changed and grew, and then the timeframe didn't seem quite so difficult to believe.

Now that I've establish that I enjoyed the writing, the plot, and the secondary characters, it's time to talk about my favorite part of the story - Olive Maxi Gagmuehler (what a name!). What I really liked about her is that she wasn't a special snowflake. Had she not encountered the other individuals on the island, she probably would have perished. She gets panic attacks and makes some pretty serious mistakes. Olive is at the island because she was running away. Olive is also smart, empathetic, and brave. Some of the decisions she makes are incredibly difficult and adult ones to make. Full disclosure- I absolutely cried when reading about one of them. As for the romance, all I will say is that I loved how it developed and the choices that Olive made.

The Castaways was a wonderful read and I can't wait to add it to my collection. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a good young adult novel or anyone interested in reading a wonderful book about finding yourself.

*Warning - this book does contain some graphic descriptions of bullying.