The premise is unique and engaging, but The Island Will Sink was disorienting. I thought the story was choppy and strange. Unfortunately, it's just not my cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting. Definitely interesting and different and original. And while I’m not in love and somewhat uncertain on the degree of liking, it was undeniably appreciated. This one had me at dystopia, but it turned out to be simultaneously more and less of what that genre typically denotes. The end of the world here isn’t necessarily a certainly and if so, it’s a very quiet occurrence. So…in the future science may be no longer maintain the world as it is in the face of deleterious effects of individuals inhabiting it, but it really, really tries. Environmental adaptations are everywhere, personal choices of resources, foods, etc. are regulated, deliberate and it’s all very, very good for you. Lives are recorded, measured and monitored. It’s a logical pragmatic enhanced way of living, but it’s too pristine to enjoy. The world is obsessively watching the Pacific reclaim Pitcairn Island and speculating on the possible worldwide consequences. It’s also the main focus of the book’s protagonist, a movie director specializing in disaster flicks. Of course, in the future all cinema is immersive and all immersions are haptic, so the experience is entirely different from how we perceive movies today. And the idea is to create a sort of magnum opus of disaster genre set on the much watched island. This is a somewhat reductive plot summary, there’s much more going on, but the general theme is that of environmental catastrophes and society advanced in so many ways, but nevertheless endangered and what occurs when a popular form of entertainment in a world obsessed with entertainment becomes all too real. So adjusting and distorting reality to fit the story is what the author does via several quite clever tricks. And then there’s world building too, really terrific world building with realistic smart technology, enough to land it into science fiction genre, with the new and trendy climate angle. And you may not care about that aspect at all and concentrate instead on pondering what becomes of the world where memories can be easily edited and what that might do for a person’s mental state and place in the life’s continuum. There are a lot of interesting things to ponder here. It’s a very smart book. But there’s certain aloofness to it making it difficult to connect to on an emotional level. It’s very subdued in a distinctly Australian way. Then again it’s well written, the narrative has a certain strangely hypnotic quality of a dreamlike state and there’s much food for thought, so for a debut there’s plenty to enjoy. Thanks Netgalley.

I am sorry, but this was not a fun opening or anything I am interested in.

we get it, women are really sexy and you’re sexually aroused by every single one of them
[also convoluted worldbuilding but like. whatever it’s fine I was only 6% in]

A rather fascinating dystopian science fiction novel. It's a pretty interesting debut novel from this author. As it is a debut novel, it isn't as refined as it could be but manages to be interesting and entertaining. Doyle has a fleshed out futuristic world but the writing itself is rather messy.

Interesting premise, but it just didn't hold my attention. I didn't finish it.