This book tells the story of thirty-something-year-old Anna and almost seventeen-year-old T.J who after a freak accident are deserted on an uninhabited island. T.J is recovering from cancer and Anna is the person charged with tutoring him through the summer, but when they are forced together they become so much more than student and teacher.
The premise for the story was promising and one of the most pleasing aspects of the book. The cover is stunning and really evocative of a desert island. It's interesting that the one thing that many people wish for in this story becomes Anna and T.J's nightmare. I really liked the way that the dangers of island life were represented. Throughout their time on the island the pair face thirst, malnutrition, sharks and even bats!
Not exactly a romantic setting, but they are exceptional circumstances and so draw the two characters closer to one another, developing a deep friendship and then eventually something more. The pace of this relationship is something that I felt was well done. All too often in romance novels characters become sexually involved very quickly. It took Anna and T.J two years to reach that that step, born out of genuine connection and not just insta-love. This was demonstrated further once the couple escaped from the island and settled back into life in the USA.
I particularly liked T.J and it was great to be able to get half the novel from his perspective. Perhaps it is because he is younger, but I found myself relating to him and his character more. The fast track growing up that he is forced to go through because of his cancer and then his experience on the island is portrayed well and sensitively. It is because of T.J's perspective that we really grasped the amount of time that has elapsed whilst they have been on the island as he is faced to accept that everyone else has moved on without him when he gets back. I love that he decides to reject what he is 'supposed' to do and instead follows his passion for construction and the outdoors.
On the other hand, Anna was a character that I found hard to connect with. I was never that invested in her story and found it even more difficult in the second half of the novel when she is back in Chicago. At the beginning of the book Anna is upset that her boyfriend doesn't want to get married and have children, the two things that she is desperate for. Towards the end of the book Anna is upset because she thinks her boyfriend is too young to get married and have children. At the very end of the novel Anna marries her boyfriend and has children. Anna's character changes very little of the course of the narrative and learns even less than that. I was frustrated by the constant talk about marriage and babies and found it to be far too in-your-face. Even after their rescue instead of being grateful for her rescue, her payout, her relationship with T.J and just generally being alive, Anna is consumed with thoughts of what she doesn't have. I found her character to be ungrateful, shallow and self-centred. Unfortunately, her perspective was half the book.
There were some great points to this novel and it does ask us to think about how we would react in a situation completely away from civilisation. Having said that the fact that the one half of this book was taken up by a character that caused nothing but frustration meant that I could never fully invest in it. It does, however, have a beautiful cover and is one that I spent a lot of time looking at.
Rating: ★★
I particularly liked T.J and it was great to be able to get half the novel from his perspective. Perhaps it is because he is younger, but I found myself relating to him and his character more. The fast track growing up that he is forced to go through because of his cancer and then his experience on the island is portrayed well and sensitively. It is because of T.J's perspective that we really grasped the amount of time that has elapsed whilst they have been on the island as he is faced to accept that everyone else has moved on without him when he gets back. I love that he decides to reject what he is 'supposed' to do and instead follows his passion for construction and the outdoors.
On the other hand, Anna was a character that I found hard to connect with. I was never that invested in her story and found it even more difficult in the second half of the novel when she is back in Chicago. At the beginning of the book Anna is upset that her boyfriend doesn't want to get married and have children, the two things that she is desperate for. Towards the end of the book Anna is upset because she thinks her boyfriend is too young to get married and have children. At the very end of the novel Anna marries her boyfriend and has children. Anna's character changes very little of the course of the narrative and learns even less than that. I was frustrated by the constant talk about marriage and babies and found it to be far too in-your-face. Even after their rescue instead of being grateful for her rescue, her payout, her relationship with T.J and just generally being alive, Anna is consumed with thoughts of what she doesn't have. I found her character to be ungrateful, shallow and self-centred. Unfortunately, her perspective was half the book.
There were some great points to this novel and it does ask us to think about how we would react in a situation completely away from civilisation. Having said that the fact that the one half of this book was taken up by a character that caused nothing but frustration meant that I could never fully invest in it. It does, however, have a beautiful cover and is one that I spent a lot of time looking at.
Rating: ★★
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