A review by smoores415
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

This was my first classics read this year and it didn't make me excited to read any more. Also, this is just specific to the version I got, but there is a 41 page introduction to the book, which itself is around 250 pages. There's no reason to talk for 41 pages about such a short book and the person that wrote the intro laid out the whole plot, which I was annoyed by having never read it.

I'm taking into account that the book was written in the 1800's for children, but I feel like the author glossed over every single aspect that I enjoy in a good pirate/treasure journey.

The author spent too much time on backstory before the characters even got on the ship, the journey there wasn't talked about at all except when they arrived, there wasn't any camaraderie as the mutiny happened immediately, the main character was able to sail a whole ass ship and do a bunch of other impossible things with little difficulty, and the absolute worst is there wasn't even a treasure hunt. Ben had already dug it all up and just gave it to them. They also didn’t show what the characters did with their money, it was just mentioned in a sentence.

It just seemed very strange to me the way that the plot was laid out and the story was told, I'm not really sure why it's considered a classic and I don't think I would recommend it to anyone.