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lethaldose's review against another edition
5.0
This is probably the most flawed book I have ever given 5 stars to, but 5 stars reflects my enjoyment of the book as a whole, not the likability of the characters, the quality of the writing, or the ending.
Without giving anything away I will say this, my single biggest complaint with every Richard Laymon book is that I hate the endings, every one of them, this is my fourth Laymon book and I have hated every ending so far, maybe he has some books with good endings but this isn't one of them. The end is terrible, but if you are reading a book merely for the ending than you are doing it wrong.
Here is the question you will constantly be asking yourself in this book, "What is wrong with these people?" With the exception of Kimberly every other character in this book is unlikable. Now my theory on this, and one that makes this a better book, is that all the characters other Kimberly are bad because Rupert, our narrator, is an untrustworthy narrator and all his opinions of the characters bleed into his telling of the story. Connie is a shrewish bitch, Billie is friendly but overly sexual, Andrew is a hard ass who belittles and then there is Kimberly. She is presented as perfect, stunningly beautiful, friendly and concerned with others, tough, with good leadership skills. Rupert even admits in his writings that he is in awe of her and that he lusts after her. The truth is all the characters in this book are presented through the eyes of a horny teenager, and once you realize that the book becomes better, maybe because it gives it a more real feeling.
Ok let's talk about the biggest complaint I have noticed with this book, Rupert is constantly talking and thinking about sex. No matter how inappropriate it is, he is constantly fixated on his female companions and their anatomy. He takes every opportunity to comment on there appearance, and to get a look and touch of their bodies, even at one point fighting for his life he comments on the one characters boobs falling out of their top. There comes a point at about the 2/3 mark you think the story is going to turn and we will move beyond this, but that doesn't happen. This book, the narrator, and the supporting cast are either thinking about sex, or being sexualized. After a while it gets tiresome, so know going in this is what the book is about, and in truth at first it makes you shake your head and think how juvenile it all feels, but the truth is the plot of the book is served by all of this.
The truth is the book was a lot of fun to read, you felt like you were there with these characters, and even if you didn't like them you could imagine what it would be like to be trapped with them, you feel the isolation, the terror, and the paranoia. This book does what it is supposed to do and for that I gave it 5 stars. It was what I was expecting when I picked it up, only more intense. If you are a fan of Richard Laymon this book is worth it, even if you have never read one of his books before this is probably a good place to start. All his books seem to be unnaturally preoccupied with sex, this one is maybe a bit more so.
Without giving anything away I will say this, my single biggest complaint with every Richard Laymon book is that I hate the endings, every one of them, this is my fourth Laymon book and I have hated every ending so far, maybe he has some books with good endings but this isn't one of them. The end is terrible, but if you are reading a book merely for the ending than you are doing it wrong.
Here is the question you will constantly be asking yourself in this book, "What is wrong with these people?" With the exception of Kimberly every other character in this book is unlikable. Now my theory on this, and one that makes this a better book, is that all the characters other Kimberly are bad because Rupert, our narrator, is an untrustworthy narrator and all his opinions of the characters bleed into his telling of the story. Connie is a shrewish bitch, Billie is friendly but overly sexual, Andrew is a hard ass who belittles and then there is Kimberly. She is presented as perfect, stunningly beautiful, friendly and concerned with others, tough, with good leadership skills. Rupert even admits in his writings that he is in awe of her and that he lusts after her. The truth is all the characters in this book are presented through the eyes of a horny teenager, and once you realize that the book becomes better, maybe because it gives it a more real feeling.
Ok let's talk about the biggest complaint I have noticed with this book, Rupert is constantly talking and thinking about sex. No matter how inappropriate it is, he is constantly fixated on his female companions and their anatomy. He takes every opportunity to comment on there appearance, and to get a look and touch of their bodies, even at one point fighting for his life he comments on the one characters boobs falling out of their top. There comes a point at about the 2/3 mark you think the story is going to turn and we will move beyond this, but that doesn't happen. This book, the narrator, and the supporting cast are either thinking about sex, or being sexualized. After a while it gets tiresome, so know going in this is what the book is about, and in truth at first it makes you shake your head and think how juvenile it all feels, but the truth is the plot of the book is served by all of this.
The truth is the book was a lot of fun to read, you felt like you were there with these characters, and even if you didn't like them you could imagine what it would be like to be trapped with them, you feel the isolation, the terror, and the paranoia. This book does what it is supposed to do and for that I gave it 5 stars. It was what I was expecting when I picked it up, only more intense. If you are a fan of Richard Laymon this book is worth it, even if you have never read one of his books before this is probably a good place to start. All his books seem to be unnaturally preoccupied with sex, this one is maybe a bit more so.
hodag's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Normally everything I like in a thriller, dark, bizarre and kinda funny. These features aren’t enough to save it from being pretty much torture porn though. I guess it’s a fun ride, but is a little depth too much to ask?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Gore, Sexism, Death, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
add_a_little_spook's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, and Death
dethklok1985's review against another edition
3.0
A different POV from Laymon in the form of a journal. My takeaway from this read: fatties are either sad pity friends who die first, or are the ugly villain.
vikingwolf's review against another edition
1.0
An extended family are on a boat, preparing to have some fun when it blows up and the survivors are stranded on an island. Cue a murderer stalking them one by one as they try to find a way to get help, scary discoveries as they explore the island and a journal telling a story.
Bits of the story were good and other bits just really bugged me. The usual mix of sex and violence livened it up a bit but I just didn't enjoy this story and I wanted to put a gun in Thelma's mouth and pull the trigger personally! The characters were annoying and it was just a bit lame. Overall, not one I would want to read again.
Bits of the story were good and other bits just really bugged me. The usual mix of sex and violence livened it up a bit but I just didn't enjoy this story and I wanted to put a gun in Thelma's mouth and pull the trigger personally! The characters were annoying and it was just a bit lame. Overall, not one I would want to read again.
mxsallybend's review against another edition
2.0
As Richard Laymon novels go, Island is definitely one of his lesser works. It's a shame, because it seemed to have so much potential for the patented Laymon brand of bloody carnage and lustful insanity. I mean, here we have one sexually frustrated young man and four scantily-clad women, all of whom are stranded together on a tropical island, with a sadistic murderer on the loose, and a possible traitor within their ranks.
While we do finally get a glimpse of the twisted potential in the last 160 pages, it's largely fleeting (just a couple of chapters of true depravity), and the final twist seems like something Laymon only dropped it in there because he knew the reader would expect it. If only somebody - particularly Rupert or Kimberly - had decided to take a walk along the beach, we could have skipped a lot of filler and gotten right to the good stuff.
The whole journal approach was entirely wrong for the story, and Rupert was a weak choice for a narrator. We get page after page after page of Rupert writing in his journal and obsessing over which of the women he'd like to fantasize about most, what little they're wearing, and just how many different ways he can try to sneak a peek of just a little bit more flesh. Okay, so that's not entirely fair, since he does tell us about the killings, but his habit of blurting out the fact that something horrible happened or somebody else has died, then backtracking to tell the story, quickly grows tiresome and robs the book of any real suspense.
There were several points where the book had the chance to go sideways, to take one of those patented WTF turns that Laymon does so well, but he never takes the bait. There is a very nice bit of play with one of the sisters, leaving us to keep changing our mind as to whether she really is on the killer's side, and some dark suspicions laid out regarding the dead father, but that's really it until we get to those final pages. By then, the whole story has become so drawn out that what should come as a brilliant shock instead falls flat. It almost feels as if Laymon wrote himself into a corner, needed to find a clever way out of it, and ultimately settled for something less.
I really wanted to like Island, and I think the core of a classic Laymon story is hidden in there, but it's far too long and very poorly executed. At his best, Laymon can get your pulse racing and your imagination running wild, leaving you feeling giddy (and guilty) with the need to reread that last crazy scene. Here, though, he just leaves you looking at the clock and counting the pages left, futilely hoping that all will be redeemed.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
While we do finally get a glimpse of the twisted potential in the last 160 pages, it's largely fleeting (just a couple of chapters of true depravity), and the final twist seems like something Laymon only dropped it in there because he knew the reader would expect it. If only somebody - particularly Rupert or Kimberly - had decided to take a walk along the beach, we could have skipped a lot of filler and gotten right to the good stuff.
The whole journal approach was entirely wrong for the story, and Rupert was a weak choice for a narrator. We get page after page after page of Rupert writing in his journal and obsessing over which of the women he'd like to fantasize about most, what little they're wearing, and just how many different ways he can try to sneak a peek of just a little bit more flesh. Okay, so that's not entirely fair, since he does tell us about the killings, but his habit of blurting out the fact that something horrible happened or somebody else has died, then backtracking to tell the story, quickly grows tiresome and robs the book of any real suspense.
There were several points where the book had the chance to go sideways, to take one of those patented WTF turns that Laymon does so well, but he never takes the bait. There is a very nice bit of play with one of the sisters, leaving us to keep changing our mind as to whether she really is on the killer's side, and some dark suspicions laid out regarding the dead father, but that's really it until we get to those final pages. By then, the whole story has become so drawn out that what should come as a brilliant shock instead falls flat. It almost feels as if Laymon wrote himself into a corner, needed to find a clever way out of it, and ultimately settled for something less.
I really wanted to like Island, and I think the core of a classic Laymon story is hidden in there, but it's far too long and very poorly executed. At his best, Laymon can get your pulse racing and your imagination running wild, leaving you feeling giddy (and guilty) with the need to reread that last crazy scene. Here, though, he just leaves you looking at the clock and counting the pages left, futilely hoping that all will be redeemed.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
thewilyfilipino's review
2.0
Awful, awful book -- nasty, terribly written, horribly misogynistic, with inane dialogue, poor pacing -- and yet weirdly, compulsively readable. I tore through 500+ pages in almost one sitting. Laymon's real skill here is in the narrator's voice; it's a marvel to see how well he inhabits the thoughts of a sad sack horndog of an adolescent and slowly -- well, I won't spoil it. (I haven't read any other Laymon, and I sure hope the bad writing is deliberate.)
It'll make you feel icky though. Me, I'm reading some poetry and some Edith Wharton just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
It'll make you feel icky though. Me, I'm reading some poetry and some Edith Wharton just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
dnemec's review
4.0
I love all the people complaining about this book in their reviews. What do they want, a sweet little stranded on a deserted island story?! This was pure Laymon, exactly what I expect from the author of The Beast House series. If anything, it was a bit tame. This book is supposed to be the writings of an 18-year-old boy. You know what happens when you put an 18-year-old boy with a bunch of beautiful women running around in bikinis? He is going to be horny. All the time. I'm not a man and none of that surprised me. I thought it made Rupert seem more real. And I was pretty proud of Rupert in the end, although the last page shocked me a little. But again, this is Richard Laymon.
Had a hard time putting this down and enjoyed it immensely.
Had a hard time putting this down and enjoyed it immensely.
bbabyok's review
3.0
Rupert Conway goes on a vacation with his girlfriend and her family which was great until the boat exploded and they become trapped on an Island. Then one by one the survivors start getting murdered. Rupert narrates the whole story as he writes everything in his journal in the hopes that when they get rescued he can sell it. Aside from his constant need to describe how all the women look and what they are wearing, which is part of Rupert’s character, it’s a good read. Strong ending as well. Recommended.