The Island (YA)

  • Winner Portsmouth Book Award (Longer Novel) 2022
  • Winner Warwickshire Year 9 Book Awards 2021
  • Shortlisted CrimeFest Best Crime Fiction Novel for Young Adults
  • Shortlisted Dudley Children’s Book Award
  • Shortlisted Wessex Amazing Book Award 2023

 

“I was completely riveted by this book and as soon as I’d started I couldn’t let go until I’d finished it. It was gripping, terrifying, compassionate and brilliantly told.” – Emily Barr, author of The One Memory of Flora Banks

‘Completely gripping‘ – Bella magazine

***

Welcome to The Island.
Where your worst fears are about to come true…

It was supposed to be the perfect holiday: a week-long trip for six teenage friends on a remote tropical island.

But when their guide dies of a stroke leaving them stranded, the trip of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare.

Because someone on the island knows each of the group’s worst fears. And one by one, they’re coming true.

Seven days in paradise. A deadly secret.

Who will make it off the island alive?

Lost meets The Hunger Games in the thrilling new young adult novel from C.L. Taylor, the Sunday Times and million-copy bestselling author.

*** Readers of all ages love The Island ***

This had me hooked! I was 20% through and had already said OMG out loud twice! This was one of my favourite reads this year!
Amy J (NetGalley reviewer)

This story was dark and gripping from the start and I loved it!
Laura R (NetGalley reviewer)

This book can be read by anyone from young adults to old adults like me, and equally enjoyed I should think. I loved it.
Angie T (NetGalley reviewer)

What an incredible story! So twisty, creepy, gripping, compelling and emotionally charged. I am completely floored.
Trish H (NetGalley reviewer)

***

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Book Club Questions for school reading groups discussing The Island

** Questions contain spoilers so click away if you haven’t finished the book yet ***

    1. At the beginning of the book Jessie puts the leg of her chair onto someone’s hand and sits down. How did your opinion of her change over the course of the book?

    1. The teens in the book are made to meet up once a year by their parents so they can all go on holiday together. How do you think only seeing a group of your friends only once a year would impact your relationship with them?

    1. If you’d been marooned on an island with your friends and no adults how do you think you’d all cope? What skills or coping mechanisms would you bring to that situation?

    1. What do you think of Jessie’s relationship with Milo? Do you think there’s a place for a bit of romance in a thriller? Did it add to the story or detract from it?

    1. When the phobias started happening who did you suspect was behind them? Why?

    1. Jessie and Danny both suffered traumatic events in their pasts but bottled what happened up instead of talking about it. How do you think what happened to them changed them as people?

    1. How much sympathy did you have towards Danny at the end of the book? Should he have received more of a punishment for what he did?

    1. Which other books would you recommend to readers who enjoyed The Island

Rights

    • World: Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency

    • UK: HQ, HarperCollins

    • Russia: AST