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A review by guenhwyvar
The Island by S. Usher Evans
3.0
I enjoyed the slow love story that grows between the two main characters as well as the setting and story telling. I also appreciated the nuanced approach to good and evil that the book takes. However, I found that approach lacking when it came to Galian's father, who seems cast in the light of "evil" with the motivation of "power hungry for no good reason." I wish there were a bit more grey surrounding that character, but perhaps we'll find more nuance in his motivations in subsequent books.
The other thing that bothered me about the book was that Galian and Theo, while generally fairly complicated characters, seemed to become simple and fairly dense whenever it was necessary to move the plot forward. There were times when Theo, who is generally strong willed and decisive, became meek for no better reason than that it suited the plot. Similarly, Galian who should be fairly intelligent and well educated given his training as a doctor, is unbelievably naive when it comes to the probable machinations of a man he's supposedly known his whole life, or the ins and outs of basic survival.
That either character would have moments of doubt or failure is entirely believable, but the fact that they only seemed to have those moments when it would lead to the most convenient vehicle for the plot moving ahead seemed a bit heavy handed.
Overall, however, I still found the book engaging enough that I look forward to reading the sequel. It was generally well written, well paced, and well formatted and is far more entertaining and engaging than your average romance story.
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
The other thing that bothered me about the book was that Galian and Theo, while generally fairly complicated characters, seemed to become simple and fairly dense whenever it was necessary to move the plot forward. There were times when Theo, who is generally strong willed and decisive, became meek for no better reason than that it suited the plot. Similarly, Galian who should be fairly intelligent and well educated given his training as a doctor, is unbelievably naive when it comes to the probable machinations of a man he's supposedly known his whole life, or the ins and outs of basic survival.
That either character would have moments of doubt or failure is entirely believable, but the fact that they only seemed to have those moments when it would lead to the most convenient vehicle for the plot moving ahead seemed a bit heavy handed.
Overall, however, I still found the book engaging enough that I look forward to reading the sequel. It was generally well written, well paced, and well formatted and is far more entertaining and engaging than your average romance story.
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*