A review by allly_x
The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

 In theory, this book has all the characteristics that check my boxes for a good horror. There are cosmic horror elements, gore, and suspense. However, it falls short in many areas.

I'll start with the things that I did like—spoilers ahead.

As I said, the cosmic horror element was exciting and almost well done. I liked that the monster was something you could harm but ultimately could not "kill"; you could just get rid of a single representation of it. I also liked that it doesn't have a happy ending, which, although it made for a somewhat predictable conclusion, was the only ending that made any kind of sense.

The final thing I enjoyed was the complicated relationship between the two sisters. Even though there was obvious tension between them, you as a reader are never made to question their love and care for one another. This was very refreshing considering the characters themselves and the other characters in the story, which I might as well get into.

Now, for the things I absolutely did not enjoy or understand the need for:

Why is every man a shitbag rapist in this? With only a single exception, every guy in this story is just the worst. The author couldn't even make the fake-spiritual hippie a non-rapist, at the very least. I honestly don't get how that advanced the plot in any way, and it was way over the top. It read too much like a stupid horror movie with an excessive sexualization of the characters that was also not needed at all, in my opinion.

There were plot points that went nowhere. For example, why was Ana seeing things? Why was her trying to kill herself at all relevant? It didn't help with making her character better, in my opinion, so why? Why was there such an emphasis on Ana's weight? Make her insecure—sure. Note that her sister is more attractive than her—still irrelevant, since there was no obvious rivalry between them and it wouldn't have made a big difference otherwise. But okay, so why the weight thing? All of it seemed pointless to me.

My last issue is that it felt like I was reading a man's POV with all of the characters. The female POVs did not feel authentic to me, and yes, granted, the author is male, but still, it made it that much more difficult to immerse myself in the story.

To wrap it up, I didn't DNF solely because I wanted to know what the monster looked like and if it would further disappoint with a happy ending (luckily, that is one sin it did not commit).
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