Reviews

Savage Island (Red Eye) by Bryony Pearce

abookishpenguin's review

4.0

Iron Teen: a geocaching competition where the winning team will go home with £5 million. For Ben, Lizzie Carmen, Will and Grady, it sounds like a fun way to spend their last summer together before university: an adventure. Until they open the first geocache and realise what they are supposed to put in...

This book was my favourite kind of horror: completely normal. There was no supernatural here, just people demonstrating the worst of humanity. I always find that kind of horror much more scary and uncomfortable.
Despite being a YA novel, this one went hard (or maybe I'm just a wimp. Lol.). Still, it was pretty graphic. I found it also played on my emotions - when the team felt scared, I felt scared. This was not one to read before bed! Because this was written in first person, the immersion was strong.
This book has a sequel - Cruel Castle - which I have already read, so I kinda knew how this one would end. But that didn't make the journey any less exciting, and despite knowing roughly where this was going based on the other book, I was still surprised.
I liked the five main characters. They all felt very individual and unique. I was a little surprised at how resourceful they were - at 18 I'd have had no idea of survival in the wilds. I'd have liked maybe a little more about their hobbies and them as people before the island to understand their skill sets.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this novel, and Cruel Castle while we're at it. But try and read them in the right order!

pilgrimike's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

nizzzzzzzi's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

danniibooksnstuff's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

esme_may's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

3.0

Picks up once they start meeting the other teams. I liked this more than the first half made me think I would

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol, Terminal illness, and Vomit

idk_whatimevendoing's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

aestheticroxie's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

heybri's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

keira4's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

aksandra's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

L

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Physical abuse