Isolation Island by Louise Minchin

 

Ten celebrities have arrived to take part in a gruelling reality survival show: two weeks completely alone on a remote Scottish island, in the depths of winter. With some careers on the rise, and others whose star is fading, almost everyone has something to play for. But investigative journalist Lauren has one question - what does Hollywood megastar Nate Stirling have to gain by taking part?

With a production team that seems incapable of keeping them safe, a gathering storm and the unrelenting gaze of hidden cameras, the contestants are stretched to the limit as they try to outshine their fellow competitors and hide their darkest secrets.

But when a body is found, it's clear that the game has become a matter of life and death...

When I read the synopsis for Isolation Island I was instantly lured into this story, I am one who likes the odd reality tv show and with a dark twist I thought it may be a similar vibe to The Last Passenger by Will Dean so I couldn't wait to get started.

Our main character is journalist Lauren and she along with 9 other celebrities are left on a remote island but from the start of their journey things begin to go wrong with things that are unexplained and danger seems to lurk around every corner. Lauren has her own agenda for entering the show and that is to get close to Nate Stirling so she can expose him for who he really is. What no-one expected on this Island was there to be dangerous risks and deaths laying ahead of them.

This was quite a hard book to review because I think this book had so much potential but it just fell flat and didn't hit the mark for me and I think the biggest issue was the lack of character building, there were ten celebrities and yet they were not well developed leaving me open to continually forgetting who was who and because we don't really get any connections built with any of the characters I found I didn't really care for them so although I was surprised when the first death was discovered it didn't trigger a reaction in me. 

The author was good at keeping me in suspense because I didn't have a clue who was behind the suspicious deaths or their motive. The secluded Island was described really well and it really did feel like a mix between I'm a Celebrity and Traitors!

Although this isn't a book that wowed me it did show signs of promise so I would read another book by Louise Minchin in the future but I really hope she develops on her character building.