The Island from Olivia Levez is a gripping YA/teen novel which certainly keeps the reader guessing.
We know from the outset that Frances ends up stranded, alone, on an island. Deserted. The author skilfully builds up how that happens. The plane ride. Full of teenagers. And then darkness. The tension is carefully manipulated making this a powerful scene.
Now it’s just Frances.
Writing from the point of view of Frances, Olivia Levez successfully creates an incredible strong and convincing voice and character. Frances is not immediately likeable. She’s strong willed with seemingly unjustifiably negative opinions of all those around her, yet, something lurks beneath the surface. There’s a vulnerability there … and it is that element which hooks the readers in to Frances’s story, along with the setting …
Frances’s character is gradually allowed to unravel as she struggles to survive on the island. She’s not a natural and it’s this element which makes the novel quite addictive. The yearn to really know what is eating away at Frances and how she is going to cope make The Island a gripping read.
A stunning début from Olivia Levez, The Island is a captivating novel.
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