This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Influencers all invited to a abandoned amusement park. They are given tasks everyday and challenges in a super creepy environment. Then, ominous things start to happen…This had me guessing until the end - so well written and so full of twists of turns. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Island is the first book I’ve read by Natasha Preston. I usually don’t read YA novels, but the outline of the story (and this cover!) really grabbed my attention.

Five teenaged influencers, well-known in the social media community, are asked to visit an island resort which will be opening to the public soon. It is owned by one of the richest people in the world, a man named Malcolm. They will visit the island over a long weekend, explore everything it has to offer, and post on their social media to get people excited about visiting the resort. Little do they know that people will start disappearing and being found dead one by one.

The author does a great job introducing the characters and resort and setting up the situation for the reader. I found that I was looking forward to this thriller the more it went on. It was definitely exciting!

Even though I do not know much about influencers and vlogs / twitter / instagram / etc, I realized that didn’t matter. Preston explained things well and made sure you don’t need this social media background.

There were a few things that I had a hard time adjusting to. Some of the conclusions the characters made were not completely justified, mostly in regards to the murderer. Also, the teenagers acted and spoke like they were in their 20s when they were supposed to be high school students.

The reveal at the end was a good one. I had only guessed some aspects of it, so I liked that. The very end (last few sentences) seemed strange to me. I’m not sure why the author thought it was necessary.

Overall, this was a good mystery and a very easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book to me for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars (rounded up)

Well my jaw is on the floor from the very last scene of this book. I didn't see the book ending like that!

This was an interesting modern young adult take on And There Were None. A group of teenage influencers are invited to come to a prestigious creepy island with an amusement park. This park is not for everyone at $6000 for 3 nights. Malcom the eccentric millionaire that owns this amusement invites these influencers in hope to help bring attention to this new attraction.

Quickly things fall apart, as Will one of the influencers goes missing. It took awhile for people to really become concern thinking he just slept in late. But after searching his room, people begin to panic as it seems he has never been in his room. Then there are reports that the boat is missing and no one has cell phone service. From there things start to get wild as others begin to disappear. Will's body is later found and now everyone realizes that there is a MOIDERER on this island.

I had moments in this book that I was super stressed out. The haunted house scene with Paisley while she is hiding with wax mannequins of the most notorious serial killers was atmospherically terrifying. There was definitely parts of this book however that seemed to regularly repeat themselves. The group leaves a safe space, goes out looking, separates, and is chased by an ominous figure with a knife. This made the middle of the book slow and I found myself scanning.

Another challenge with this book was the sheer number of characters. There were soo many and I had a difficult time following from Paisely's only perspective. I feel like this book make have been better from a multi-perspective experience.

Overall I did find this book to be a fun time. I think this book could be a hit for teens and young adults. It has a perfect sense of dread and the ending is pretty crazy.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to major retail sites and my instagram page the.floofs.booknook closer or at publication date.

I liked the eerie beginning and the totally baller ending, but everything in the middle was so hard to get through. It was just boring, even though so many things happened. The characters were behaving like headless chickens, constantly jumping from one plan to another. Still, i enjoyed the ride. The whole idea was just fantastic, this one is for all the slasher fans out there. I'll pick up more books from this author for sure, I'm curious about them now.

I enjoyed how contemporary this book is. Definitely fits in with the times. This book kept me interested and I could not stop reading. Had a few twists that really got me. I think it’d make a great movie!

I got this book from #NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.This is my 2nd book I have read from this author and it will not be my last.This book would make a great movie. There were a few twists that kept me reading in one sitting as I did not want to put it down.

I wanted to enjoy this but was overly unimpressed with the relationships, the dynamic, and the plot felt convoluted.

This is a great thriller for teens! It was an insane read! I highly enjoyed it and will be purchasing it for the library and recommending it to the mystery book club. I highly recommend this book!

A superb fast paced thriller. I absolutely loved the story and couldn’t stop reading it. It’s perfect for all readers, especially thriller lovers.

The Island is about a group of social media influencers (gaming, fashion, books, etc) who are invited to get a first look at a new island theme park. The main character that readers follow is a girl who runs a murder mystery/true crime online channel. And then once on the island, things start to go terrible wrong...and deadly.

I thought the story was interesting and had unique aspects. There was a lot of belief that had to be suspended on many parts, but it was still an entertaining read. I will say that the last sentence (or maybe paragraph, I can't remember) completely ruined the ending for me. The story was wrapped up nicely and the day was saved. That last sentence should not have been there. Period. Full Stop. That part is what ultimately dragged down my score of the book the most.

Thanks Netgalley and Delacorte Press for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Th Island was definitely a thrill ride! Paisley is one of six social media influencers chosen to go to a remote Island Amusement Park and promote it so that the owner can get more people to come. When the arrive the island is designed in gothic architecture, it’s creepy, but perfect for the followers of Paisley’s crime podcast. What starts off great turns dangerous when people start disappearing and someone is found dead. There’s only eleven people on the Island, who’s doing it? Can Paisley survive? The setting was perfect for this kind of book and as a reader I could feel the tension that being on this island would create, so many places to hide! There were twists and turns and parts I didn’t see coming. I had some idea of at least part early on but as with all mysteries I second guessed myself and I couldn’t have predicted the whole thing! The ending was definitely more cliffhangery then I like but it also works pretty well for this book so I couldn’t be to mad about it! This is a great read if you enjoy fast paced, tense, mysteries! Can’t wait to read it again when it comes out!

Whoa!!! What a creepy book and what a super surprise ending. This one started out a little slow for me, but really sped up as I continued through. The theme park setting was great. I did have trouble keeping some of the characters straight - especially the two male park workers. She seemed to have crushes on all of them, and that made it tricky.
My high school students will love this one!

I have absolutely devoured every book by this amazing author, and again, the island did not disappoint. At first, it was a little slow, but all of a sudden, i could not stop reading it, and it was like a train that just could not stop! Also makes you realize you dont know who you can trust besides yourself. You definitely need to put this one on your radar. The publish date is february 28th, 2023. Thank you, delecorte press for allowing me to read it.

SO GOOD….until the very last sentence. Usually I absolutely love everything that Natasha Preston writes, but this ending felt not like an ending at all. Being more horror/thriller based, I know not everything can have a happy ending, but this was not an ending. However, everything leading up to that was so good! The atmosphere of the empty island, the cast of influencers as main characters, an unnamed killer, what’s not to love? I would still recommend this book to people, just maybe with a cliffhanger warning.

I don’t like amusement parks and I am wayyyy too much of a baby for hunted houses. So how the hell did I end up reading a book set on a deserted island with a gothic amusement park and haunted house and a MURDERER! The influencers have come out to be the first to see millionaire Malcolm’s new amusement park for the wealthy and they are excited. Right up until the first body gets found. From then on it is a fast paced race to try to stay alive. This was a fun, scary and engaging read that I read in a day because I couldn’t put it down!

Wow, I really loved this one. It was spooky and delightfully creepy, and I was glued to the edge of my seat!

This thriller read like a movie, it was full of twists and turns and even featured a surprise ending. The characters were realistic and the plot was fast paced and kept me engaged. I didn't love all of the characters, but in fairness I don't think I was supposed to love them all. The reveal was satisfying, although a bit far fetched. All in all an enjoyable quick read!

I personally didn’t care for this book and I usually love thrillers and all things scary. It felt so over the top but not in a good way. It read like a movie but in a choppy tell us not show us style. It was a lot of short abrupt sentences and it felt a bit like reading an unedited diary. We basically get a stream of consciousness from the main character. As a reader I felt really disconnected from the story and characters.

The actual murders and thriller never felt scary. The main character Paisley is really into true crime and sharing all she knows about it with her followers. I think this book was trying to be serious but it almost felt like a parody… like those Scary Movie films. Characters kept doing the most obvious and stupid things that ended up getting them killed. The over the top shock at how any of them could have ended up in that situation was frustrating. We as readers were constantly being fed every moment there was no suspense. I found the writing spoiled the thriller aspects. The big reveal was lackluster and murderer wasn’t believable in the slightest. The ending felt very rushed and thrown together. I understand not all stories end happy but this just ended so abruptly I had to double check if there was a glitch on my kindle.

Overall I didn’t care for this book but maybe if you are looking for a very current contemporary YA story about TikTok influencers being killed then this might be the book for you.

Thank you Random House/ Delacorte Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so I love Natasha’s books. She is one of my favorite authors and she doesn’t disappoint with this book either. But man, that last page just didn’t land right. I hope she changes it before publishing.

Wow! This was such a thrilling novel that had me hooked from the very beginning. It is atmospheric, scary and there are so many twists. I could not put this book down! I gave this four stars because of the ending. I am really looking forward to reading more by this author!