On The Island

Really loved this book. Found it easy to read and did so in 2days. Just had to keep reading to see how it was going to end... Didn't disappoint!

This has become one of my favourite reads of 2012! Despite my initial skepticism that a 30 year old woman would ever be attracted to a teenage boy - I fell in love with the characters and the storyline pulled me in. The relationship between TJ and Anna is believable and natural. As characters they are interesting and likeable and you just want to keep reading so you can get to know them a little better. I could not put this book down!

The only gripe I have is with the comparison to Fifty Shades in the iBooks description (above). This book is in no way comparable to Fifty Shades. Fifty Shades was poorly written and total rubbish (in my honest opinion). This book is well written with a well developed, captivating storyline and likeable characters.

This book was on my radar for a while because of its overwhelmingly positive reviews but I just couldn’t quite start reading it - the premise was simply bugging me too much. I have no issue with age differences but this one seemed to be quite substantial (13 years) and one of the characters is under-aged when the story starts. HOWEVER, I got over my initial prejudice and started reading it - thank God I did! This is one of the nicest love stories I have ever had the pleasure to read. The writing style is quite unique, I call it “fluff-free” because it focuses on narrating the story without long-winded scenery descriptions or internal monologues. It covers a long-ish time span and it does so quite effectively without making you feel cheated out of anything. You get to follow the events through both points of view and you are offered an insight into both the main characters, T.J. and Anna. And you fall in love with them.

The theme of age difference is slowly forgotten because what happens in the book and the characters’ reactions to all those events make it an obsolete issue after a while. All you see are these two people who find themselves in horrific circumstances and who are stripped of everything but their humanity, courage and ability to love. Their fight for survival is incredible but it all falls second to the bond and genuine affection that is created between them. And then the world finds out about their relationship and they are faced with everyone’s prejudice. So, one minute I was frowning upon their age difference and the next I was cheering for them like a mad one-woman cheering squad. This is what this book does to you. It changes your perceptions, it opens your mind to situations you would have normally dismissed without giving them a second thought, and it gives you a beautiful story of love and courage that stays with you long after you finish reading (or re-reading) it.

I cannot recommend this book enough! It went immediately on my list of all-time favourites and I plan to re-read it often. It’s become my own personal happy pill.