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emmalouisepip's review
4.0
At first this started pretty slow which made it hard for me to get into this. But once the action started I was captivated. I wanted to know why this was happening. Who Mr Gold was.
I did wonder through out why Ben was remembering things from his past regarding Will but by the end I understood.
I'm a little confused at the ending as it's left open with so many questions, so I'm hoping we get more from this. Otherwise the ending being such a cliffhanger would be a little disappointing.
I did wonder through out why Ben was remembering things from his past regarding Will but by the end I understood.
I'm a little confused at the ending as it's left open with so many questions, so I'm hoping we get more from this. Otherwise the ending being such a cliffhanger would be a little disappointing.
kellysrambles's review
4.0
W.O.W! Whilst it was the initial premise of this book that originally caught my eye, even I couldn’t have anticipated just how thrilling this ride would be! I was definitely expecting big The Hunger Games vibes from this story from the way it is pitched in the blurb but I absolutely was bowled over by the Saw-esque horror elements in this! Savage Island is not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure!
I loved the concept of this book: a group of five friends heading off to compete in a competition where they would win £1million each – what group of young people wouldn’t want to take part? Some readers may question the fact that it is a long while before the group are wary of what they have walked into, but it’s important to remember that these are teenagers we are talking about. Young people whose dreams could easily come true with a million pounds in the bank, let alone the risk and adventure! You definitely need to open your mind to really enjoy this book: the characters are much more adept at managing these tasks than you would expect teenagers to be, they also just happen to own a lot of what they will need – but that doesn’t take away from any enjoyment whatsoever.
I really enjoyed this book – even more so than I expected to! I had a feeling in my gut that I would like it but I flipped through this book SO quickly because I just couldn’t bear to put it down (except for the odd queasy moment, that is!). This book definitely took a much darker twist than I ever expected but it was so adrenaline inducing and I loved it! As I said on Twitter, ‘many audible gasps were released during the reading of this book!’. I really liked that the book didn’t take too long to get to the island because that would have been a real bore. Instead we get there relatively quickly and the gruesome action doesn’t take long to kick in either. Every time I thought we had reached the big crescendo in this book it sent me reeling in another direction (usually feeling a bit nauseous) and I really loved it! The ending of this book was GREAT. That last line was really chilling and I just loved how it turned out, even though I am sure there will be readers who hope for a different ending. For me personally, it just worked.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between the different characters in this story. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to accidentally give any clues or minor spoilers but there are some really fantastic relationships shown. My favourite character was probably Carmen. There was just something about her that I really loved reading.
I’m leaving this review pretty vague as I think this book is certainly better read when you know less going in. There are lots of big and small surprises along the way but the gore aspect won’t be for everyone so do bear that in mind if you’re thinking of picking this up. If that doesn’t bother you and you fancy a heart pumping, action packed race then this is definitely worth picking up! One final thing from me: take a close look at that cover. Is the island more than you first thought?
A huge thanks to Charlie from Stripes Publishing for inviting me onto the blog tour and sending me an early copy of the book for review.
I loved the concept of this book: a group of five friends heading off to compete in a competition where they would win £1million each – what group of young people wouldn’t want to take part? Some readers may question the fact that it is a long while before the group are wary of what they have walked into, but it’s important to remember that these are teenagers we are talking about. Young people whose dreams could easily come true with a million pounds in the bank, let alone the risk and adventure! You definitely need to open your mind to really enjoy this book: the characters are much more adept at managing these tasks than you would expect teenagers to be, they also just happen to own a lot of what they will need – but that doesn’t take away from any enjoyment whatsoever.
I really enjoyed this book – even more so than I expected to! I had a feeling in my gut that I would like it but I flipped through this book SO quickly because I just couldn’t bear to put it down (except for the odd queasy moment, that is!). This book definitely took a much darker twist than I ever expected but it was so adrenaline inducing and I loved it! As I said on Twitter, ‘many audible gasps were released during the reading of this book!’. I really liked that the book didn’t take too long to get to the island because that would have been a real bore. Instead we get there relatively quickly and the gruesome action doesn’t take long to kick in either. Every time I thought we had reached the big crescendo in this book it sent me reeling in another direction (usually feeling a bit nauseous) and I really loved it! The ending of this book was GREAT. That last line was really chilling and I just loved how it turned out, even though I am sure there will be readers who hope for a different ending. For me personally, it just worked.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between the different characters in this story. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to accidentally give any clues or minor spoilers but there are some really fantastic relationships shown. My favourite character was probably Carmen. There was just something about her that I really loved reading.
I’m leaving this review pretty vague as I think this book is certainly better read when you know less going in. There are lots of big and small surprises along the way but the gore aspect won’t be for everyone so do bear that in mind if you’re thinking of picking this up. If that doesn’t bother you and you fancy a heart pumping, action packed race then this is definitely worth picking up! One final thing from me: take a close look at that cover. Is the island more than you first thought?
A huge thanks to Charlie from Stripes Publishing for inviting me onto the blog tour and sending me an early copy of the book for review.
rachelverna's review
3.0
Well, this was mostly disappointing. The cover is still cool though.
I wrote a proper review on my blog.
I wrote a proper review on my blog.
acascadeofbooks's review
5.0
My thanks to Little Tiger UK and NetGalley for the ebook copy of this novel.
This is a Young Adult horror novel (that's been a bit of a theme in my reading the past few weeks!) and it is definitely one of my favourite books of the year.
The novel is about a group of 5 friends who decide to enter a competition to win one million pounds each by successfully completing an adventure weekend. The group of friends naively compare the weekend to a Duke of Edinburgh weekend, and they have no idea what's in store for them!!
I really loved this novel a lot, and one of the biggest reasons for my love is definitely the characters. They are an eclectic and entertaining mix of different characters and they certainly added to my enjoyment of the novel. Ben is the narrator of the novel, and I liked his narration a lot. He was a sensitive and caring teenage boy, with a level head, and I appreciated his narrative voice in describing some of the events of the novel which could’ve been a touch ridiculous had they not narrated by such a voice. The female characters in the friendship were group were also well developed. They were separate characters who had distinct voices and personalities.
This novel is a high paced YA read. It’s action packed, every time you think there is going to be a pause in the action, more twists and turns appear. The tension is palpable throughout the novel, the author does a great job of creating this tension and keeping the reader in suspense for the whole novel. I particularly enjoyed all the twists and turns that Pearce threw into the plot, some of which I definitely didn’t see coming!! The fast-paced nature, and unexpected turns of this novel make it a very quick novel to get through, a few hours was plenty time for me to race through it!!
Also the ending of this book deserves some serious praise! This ending is one of the best endings to a YA novel I have read in a really long time. It was so unexpected and completely shocking, and I was heartbroken!
Some have queried the goriness of this novel. Personally I wouldn’t say it was all that gory, it definitely isn’t particularly graphic. There are some ideas which are invoked by the author which could be described as gory, but the author’s actual imagery isn’t very graphic, and there isn’t much in depth descriptions of bloody violence.
Overall I absolutely loved this novel! As a YA horror it is one of the best to be released in a while, but it would also appeal to adults too. If you enjoy Stephen King’s novels, check this one out!
This is a Young Adult horror novel (that's been a bit of a theme in my reading the past few weeks!) and it is definitely one of my favourite books of the year.
The novel is about a group of 5 friends who decide to enter a competition to win one million pounds each by successfully completing an adventure weekend. The group of friends naively compare the weekend to a Duke of Edinburgh weekend, and they have no idea what's in store for them!!
I really loved this novel a lot, and one of the biggest reasons for my love is definitely the characters. They are an eclectic and entertaining mix of different characters and they certainly added to my enjoyment of the novel. Ben is the narrator of the novel, and I liked his narration a lot. He was a sensitive and caring teenage boy, with a level head, and I appreciated his narrative voice in describing some of the events of the novel which could’ve been a touch ridiculous had they not narrated by such a voice. The female characters in the friendship were group were also well developed. They were separate characters who had distinct voices and personalities.
This novel is a high paced YA read. It’s action packed, every time you think there is going to be a pause in the action, more twists and turns appear. The tension is palpable throughout the novel, the author does a great job of creating this tension and keeping the reader in suspense for the whole novel. I particularly enjoyed all the twists and turns that Pearce threw into the plot, some of which I definitely didn’t see coming!! The fast-paced nature, and unexpected turns of this novel make it a very quick novel to get through, a few hours was plenty time for me to race through it!!
Also the ending of this book deserves some serious praise! This ending is one of the best endings to a YA novel I have read in a really long time. It was so unexpected and completely shocking, and I was heartbroken!
Some have queried the goriness of this novel. Personally I wouldn’t say it was all that gory, it definitely isn’t particularly graphic. There are some ideas which are invoked by the author which could be described as gory, but the author’s actual imagery isn’t very graphic, and there isn’t much in depth descriptions of bloody violence.
Overall I absolutely loved this novel! As a YA horror it is one of the best to be released in a while, but it would also appeal to adults too. If you enjoy Stephen King’s novels, check this one out!
indiebookshops's review
3.0
This was an OK read but pacing was a bit slow for me, a bit derivative of a few other novels and manga but was reasonable well imagined, characterization was good, just couldn't hold me
aoife26935's review
4.0
I've read several of the Red Eye Books now - growing up on a diet of Point Horror and Christopher Pike has left its' mark. For terrifying, icy cold, leave-the-light-on, Alex Bell is queen. But for psychological, chilling, what-would-I-do-I'd-never-do-that-but-what-if-what-if-what, it's Bryony Pearce all the way. She simply can't be bettered. (She's also excellent at cliff hangers, but that's another topic.)
Five teenagers join an 'Iron Teen' contest, billed as an endurance test crossed with an intelligence test. Between them, they think they can handle anything. When they reach the isolated island, however, they find out exactly how wrong they are. Soon they're injured, cut off from help and being hunted down. And as they soon learn, they can't trust anyone...including each other...
There's a couple of chapters where I wasn't too sure, but once they hit the island the pace never lets up. One character reveal came as a surprise to me. The other I figured out early on, but I'm fairly sure we were meant to. A horrifying incident not too far in sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and the pace never eases off all the way to the end. Thrilling and chilling, a great story for a horror fan. Be wary of some violence.
I was reading an eARC, so I'm sure this will be fixed in the final edition, but there were several very abrupt flashbacks. A couple of times I had to stop, go back and reread to figure out what was going on. I've marked down one star for that. But I'll definitely be looking out for more Bryony books. I look forward to being chilled by her all over again.
Receiving an ARC did not in any way affect my review of this title.
Five teenagers join an 'Iron Teen' contest, billed as an endurance test crossed with an intelligence test. Between them, they think they can handle anything. When they reach the isolated island, however, they find out exactly how wrong they are. Soon they're injured, cut off from help and being hunted down. And as they soon learn, they can't trust anyone...including each other...
There's a couple of chapters where I wasn't too sure, but once they hit the island the pace never lets up. One character reveal came as a surprise to me. The other I figured out early on, but I'm fairly sure we were meant to. A horrifying incident not too far in sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and the pace never eases off all the way to the end. Thrilling and chilling, a great story for a horror fan. Be wary of some violence.
I was reading an eARC, so I'm sure this will be fixed in the final edition, but there were several very abrupt flashbacks. A couple of times I had to stop, go back and reread to figure out what was going on. I've marked down one star for that. But I'll definitely be looking out for more Bryony books. I look forward to being chilled by her all over again.
Receiving an ARC did not in any way affect my review of this title.
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