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Red Eye
Wyspa
Milion funtów na głowę.
Oszałamiająca nagroda zwabia pięcioro przyjaciół na bezludną wyspę i przekonuje do udziału w pełnym zagadek turnieju Iron Teen, organizowanym przez milionera Marcusa Golda. Wykonując kolejne zadania, ścigając się z czasem i innymi zespołami, nastolatkowie szybko orientują się, że tu nie chodzi o zwykłą zabawę, a gra toczy się o najwyższą stawkę. Czy w sytuacji zagrożenia życia przyjaciele: Ben, Lizzie, Will, Grady i Carmen będą trzymać się razem, aby przeżyć? Przetrwają tylko najlepiej przystosowani...
Oszałamiająca nagroda zwabia pięcioro przyjaciół na bezludną wyspę i przekonuje do udziału w pełnym zagadek turnieju Iron Teen, organizowanym przez milionera Marcusa Golda. Wykonując kolejne zadania, ścigając się z czasem i innymi zespołami, nastolatkowie szybko orientują się, że tu nie chodzi o zwykłą zabawę, a gra toczy się o najwyższą stawkę. Czy w sytuacji zagrożenia życia przyjaciele: Ben, Lizzie, Will, Grady i Carmen będą trzymać się razem, aby przeżyć? Przetrwają tylko najlepiej przystosowani...
416 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2018
32 people are currently reading
1061 people want to read
About the author
Bryony Pearce
26 books188 followersBryony Pearce (formerly McCarthy) lives with her husband and two children in a village on the edge of the Peak District. She completed an English Literature degree at Corpus Christi College Cambridge in 1998 and afterward worked in the business-to-business market research sector. She went freelance in 2004 so she could devote more time to writing. Bryony was a winner of the 2008 Undiscovered Voices competition with her MG novel Windrunner's Daughter. Her first YA novel, Angel's Fury, will be published on 4th July 2011 by Egmont.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews
February 16, 2024
A 'Young Adult' read that will blow your mind if you're not prepared for its darkness! What starts off as a group of five friends (including two brothers) entering a competitive treasure hunt on a very remote uninhabited Scottish island competing against 9 other teams (also made up of 15-21 year olds), descends into an unlikely and un-foreshadowed, but continuously ratcheting up horror in the style of the Japanese cult-classic Battle Royale. The gradual transition from normalcy to brutal human horror is stark and compelling as it is very surprising and I totally get why the book merits the back cover assertion: "not for younger readers". A well deserved 8 out of 12 Four Star read for such an uncompromising and dark way of taking a younger reader out of their comfort zone!
2024 read
2024 read
April 2, 2018
OUTSMART * OUTRUN * OUTLIVEWait! What? Outlive?! You won’t see Jeff Probst’s cheeky smile or hear his cheerful jibes at contestants in this game of Survivor! In this game the stakes are high and so are the potential rewards.
10 teams!
5 people per team!
3 days!
£1 million each to the winning team!
When Lizzie finds details online about Iron Teen, hosted by multibillionaire Marcus Gold, founder of Gold Foundation, she eagerly tells her friends Ben, Grady, Carmen and Will about this exciting opportunity. The five have previously completed the Duke of Edinburgh together so they’re confident they have a good chance of winning Iron Teen and taking home the cash.
On the verge of adulthood and with dreams of university, starting a business or helping out their struggling family at the forefront of their minds, the five friends decide that this opportunity is too good to miss.
Furnished with their initial instructions and backpacks filled to the brim with supplies (I’m looking at you here, Grady), they think they have everything they need to complete the unknown challenges awaiting them on Aikenhead, Gold’s private island. They’re confident that between them they have the brains, brawn and endurance required to succeed.
In this game teams need to race around the island to find locked boxes that contain the coordinates to the next location, clues to solve the puzzle that will grant them access to the next locked box and a geocache box. They will need to take whatever is in each geocache box and replace it with something “of equal or greater value at each checkpoint.”
The winning team will be the ones with the quickest time who bring all of their collected items with them to the final checkpoint. Lizzie’s team are excited for a challenging but fun adventure that has the potential to set them up financially so they can live their dreams.
Once on the island our five adventurers learn that the game is not what they expected. The terrain can be treacherous and there’s no one to help them other than their teammates. Oh, and the other teams are hunting their fellow competitors for body parts. There will be no escape until the game is over because the crossing between the island and the safety of the real world is only raised every three days.
The characters, action, pacing, gore and backstories combined made for a book I didn’t want to put down. While there was plenty of action and at times I felt breathless when I realised I’d held my breath during a scene, there were also times of connection between the teammates as well as suspense as the characters and myself waited for the next horror to unfold. I’ve read plenty of books with gore in them so the descriptions here were certainly not the most graphic or gross that I’ve come across, but in terms of a young adult book it would rate quite high on the ‘Eww!’ meter.
The characters’ personalities and voices were distinct and memorable. I loved Grady’s wacky conspiracy theories. I enjoyed Car’s sassy remarks and Lizzie’s enthusiasm. Ben’s sensitivity was so sweet, as was his not so secret love for Lizzie. Will’s character was particularly interesting and while Grady was my favourite character, Will came a close second.
I particularly loved the exploration of the relationship between the two brothers, Ben and Will. The flashback scenes of their childhood experiences added a depth to a story that could easily have simply become a gore-fest. I didn’t expect the sensitivity of the portrayal of the mental illness within their family.
Through flashbacks and their current circumstances the dynamics of this family is examined. We not only get to witness the effects that mental illness has on each individual; we also see its impact on the relationships between family members. I definitely understood and empathised with the protector role.
What delighted me above all was that I was surprised by both characters and events at the end. I was surprised by certain actions of two characters and the actions of a third, while I saw it coming, had me rethinking whether I still liked them or not. Usually young adult books, while entertaining, are generally fairly predictable. I had some ideas of where the plot was heading but I not only didn’t guess the end, it was also better than anything I’d come up with myself.
Another unexpected bonus was that this story got me to thinking about what I’d do if I was in any one of the character’s places. Black and white moral questions greyed for some characters and in most situations I could understand where they were coming from. I loved the questions this book made me consider for myself:
* What would I be willing to do to win £1 million?
* What sacrifices would I be willing to make?
* How much is my integrity worth to me?
* Would £1 million cover the therapy bills I’d need to pay if I compromised my morals enough that I did what I had to in order to win?
* Is there a point of no return where the end justifies the means and what type of person is willing to cross this line?
* If you hurt me, does that then entitle me to take revenge on you?
I had just one unanswered question at the end of this book and while it’s possible I missed the explanation, it is bugging me. Why was team 10 disqualified?
I need to go find some more of Bryony Pearce’s novels. If this novel is any indication of her talent her back catalogue is going to be making its way to my Kindle fairly soon.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stripes Publishing, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, for the opportunity to read this book. I knew from having already read Charlotte Says that I was interested in reading more Red Eye books. Now I’m convinced I need to read them all!
August 24, 2019
A co Ty byś zrobił dla miliona funtów? Spragnione kasy dzieciaki walczą ze sobą nawzajem w krwawym pojedynku na bezludnej „Wyspie” Bryony Pearce.
„Wyspa” zaskakuje brutalnością, zostawia po sobie ślad i zmusza czytelnika do rozmyślań. Bryony Pearce bardzo sprytnie zbudowała napięcie, bo niby wiemy, że cały ten turniej to bujda na resorach, coś na pewno się za tym kryje, ale nie spodziewamy się tego, co spotka naszych bohaterów na miejscu. Zostają skonfrontowani z dzikością ludzkiej natury. Pośród snujących się mgieł, ostrych jak brzytwa skał i wietrznych podmuchów poznajemy kolejne postacie, by wkrótce przekonać się, że nikt tutaj nie jest tak niewinny, jako mogło się z początku wydawać. Sekrety ujawniają się po kawałku, małymi kęsami, czujemy, że coś jeszcze czai się w mroku i wreszcie dostajemy z impetem z główki, z piąchy i nie wiemy, co też takiego wydarzyło się naprawdę.
Bryony Pearce nie owija w bawełnę – lecą zęby, ręce, nogi, a psychika młodych bohaterów wystawiona jest na najcięższe próby. Wykorzystała motyw polowania na ludzi, a ten rozbudza wyobraźnię i przeraża swoim realizmem, ale także fascynuje, bo pokazuje do czego zdolny jest zdesperowany człowiek. „Wyspa” jest bardzo filmowym konceptem, przerysowanym i ponurym w przesłaniu, ale jednocześnie zachwycającym w swojej prostocie. Szykujcie się na lekturę idealną dla starszej młodzieży o mocnych nerwach i dla wszystkich czytelników, którzy lubią takie brutalne opowieści, w których na jaw wychodzi mrok ludzkiej natury.
„Wyspa” zaskakuje brutalnością, zostawia po sobie ślad i zmusza czytelnika do rozmyślań. Bryony Pearce bardzo sprytnie zbudowała napięcie, bo niby wiemy, że cały ten turniej to bujda na resorach, coś na pewno się za tym kryje, ale nie spodziewamy się tego, co spotka naszych bohaterów na miejscu. Zostają skonfrontowani z dzikością ludzkiej natury. Pośród snujących się mgieł, ostrych jak brzytwa skał i wietrznych podmuchów poznajemy kolejne postacie, by wkrótce przekonać się, że nikt tutaj nie jest tak niewinny, jako mogło się z początku wydawać. Sekrety ujawniają się po kawałku, małymi kęsami, czujemy, że coś jeszcze czai się w mroku i wreszcie dostajemy z impetem z główki, z piąchy i nie wiemy, co też takiego wydarzyło się naprawdę.
Bryony Pearce nie owija w bawełnę – lecą zęby, ręce, nogi, a psychika młodych bohaterów wystawiona jest na najcięższe próby. Wykorzystała motyw polowania na ludzi, a ten rozbudza wyobraźnię i przeraża swoim realizmem, ale także fascynuje, bo pokazuje do czego zdolny jest zdesperowany człowiek. „Wyspa” jest bardzo filmowym konceptem, przerysowanym i ponurym w przesłaniu, ale jednocześnie zachwycającym w swojej prostocie. Szykujcie się na lekturę idealną dla starszej młodzieży o mocnych nerwach i dla wszystkich czytelników, którzy lubią takie brutalne opowieści, w których na jaw wychodzi mrok ludzkiej natury.
February 3, 2018
A bit more gore than I'm used to, but super quick to read, and probably my favourite of the Red Eye books! The setting was super effective, and I liked the balance of things you could see coming and the smaller reveals that managed to catch me by surprise!
June 6, 2021
3,5/5
Przede wszystkim ta książka okazała się być czymś zupełnie innym, niż się spodziewałam. Momentami miałam ciary. A zakończenie - wow! Dobra rozrywka :D (choć też całkiem makabryczna, więc polecam osobom 15+)
Przede wszystkim ta książka okazała się być czymś zupełnie innym, niż się spodziewałam. Momentami miałam ciary. A zakończenie - wow! Dobra rozrywka :D (choć też całkiem makabryczna, więc polecam osobom 15+)
July 12, 2022
3,5*
An intense read for those YA readers that are looking for a gorier experience and perfect for the summer.
Five friends sign up for a three day contest on an empty island for a million pound prize for each member of the winning team. The rules are simple: find the check points, solve the riddles and replace the items in each checkpoint box with something of equal value.
Together with other teams, our group is thrown into this island with little to protect themselves. It was all supposed to be a harmless game. But why are people getting hurt?
As our characters explore the island and face many challenges, the riddles and the items to replace will get more and more gruesome.
What I enjoyed the most about this one was the location and the fast pace the story had. My least favorite parts were the flashbacks to Will's past even though I understand they are there to provide some background needed to understand his actions.
Perfect for: Fans of Saw and The Hunger Games looking for a more intense YA read about survival.
An intense read for those YA readers that are looking for a gorier experience and perfect for the summer.
Five friends sign up for a three day contest on an empty island for a million pound prize for each member of the winning team. The rules are simple: find the check points, solve the riddles and replace the items in each checkpoint box with something of equal value.
Together with other teams, our group is thrown into this island with little to protect themselves. It was all supposed to be a harmless game. But why are people getting hurt?
As our characters explore the island and face many challenges, the riddles and the items to replace will get more and more gruesome.
What I enjoyed the most about this one was the location and the fast pace the story had. My least favorite parts were the flashbacks to Will's past even though I understand they are there to provide some background needed to understand his actions.
Perfect for: Fans of Saw and The Hunger Games looking for a more intense YA read about survival.
March 20, 2018
~ I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~
When five friends are given the opportunity to win a million pounds each, they jump at the chance. Little did they know of the terror and torment they would have to endure to succeed. How far would you go to attain the cash prize?
Ultimately for me ‘Savage Island’ was a little disappointing; I found the plot, whilst creative, too unrealistic for me to get enthused. Firstly, the aspect that made it unique was the fact that geocaching was turned into this gruesome, grisly activity and personally I thought it to be extremely disturbing, which I know is the point with the genre being horror, so in a sense it succeeded. However, I prefer my horror to be more psychological or paranormal, blood and gore is overrated for me, but then that’s just me.
Admittedly ‘Savage Island’ was a quick read, entertaining me for a couple of days, but I wouldn’t strongly recommend this one unless you personally are a fan of ghastly bloodshed that was just too much for me, maybe you’ve got a stronger stomach than I do!
When five friends are given the opportunity to win a million pounds each, they jump at the chance. Little did they know of the terror and torment they would have to endure to succeed. How far would you go to attain the cash prize?
Ultimately for me ‘Savage Island’ was a little disappointing; I found the plot, whilst creative, too unrealistic for me to get enthused. Firstly, the aspect that made it unique was the fact that geocaching was turned into this gruesome, grisly activity and personally I thought it to be extremely disturbing, which I know is the point with the genre being horror, so in a sense it succeeded. However, I prefer my horror to be more psychological or paranormal, blood and gore is overrated for me, but then that’s just me.
Admittedly ‘Savage Island’ was a quick read, entertaining me for a couple of days, but I wouldn’t strongly recommend this one unless you personally are a fan of ghastly bloodshed that was just too much for me, maybe you’ve got a stronger stomach than I do!
February 14, 2022
I thought that I wouldn't enjoy it so much, but I did.
The start felt quite slow and I wasn't so invested until the THINGS TURNED DARK.
It was gruesome and... exciting(?) to see what would happen next,how the characters will solve mysteries,injuries and their situations.
Honestly,the crew was an intersting one. I definetely underestimated their character at the beginning. Wrong move.
I also appreciate the subplot about Will's mental problems and yes, I still feel bad for Ben and his dad.
The ending fixed the overall feeling about this book,thanks to it, I think it's worth reading.
Just for the ending"fight" I can recommend this. You too can try to learn the answer for questions:
Who will win and what really is the PRIZE/PRICE for it?
The start felt quite slow and I wasn't so invested until the THINGS TURNED DARK.
It was gruesome and... exciting(?) to see what would happen next,how the characters will solve mysteries,injuries and their situations.
Honestly,the crew was an intersting one. I definetely underestimated their character at the beginning. Wrong move.
I also appreciate the subplot about Will's mental problems and yes, I still feel bad for Ben and his dad.
The ending fixed the overall feeling about this book,thanks to it, I think it's worth reading.
Just for the ending"fight" I can recommend this. You too can try to learn the answer for questions:
Who will win and what really is the PRIZE/PRICE for it?
August 10, 2022
It was ok. I was bored a lot throughout, it's basically your cheesy slasher movie in book format. The ending sucked big time. Like I said, just ok.
February 18, 2022
Ogólnie czytając tą książkę, będąc w trakcie miałam bardzo dobre odczucia. Ale koniec wszystko zepsuł, zbyt nierealny, przerysowany, nie lubię czytać o zbrodniach i rozwiązaniach zbrodni fikcyjnych, tzn takich ktore w realnym świecie nie mają prawa sie wydarzyć. Jakby zakończenie było inne, bardziej rzeczywiste, realne, bez wymyślonych wizji, to mysle ze nawet jakieś 4.5/5 ⭐ ta książka by ode mnie dostała...
July 23, 2021
2,5
Fajna rozrywka w klimacie Igrzysk śmierci
Fajna rozrywka w klimacie Igrzysk śmierci
April 26, 2025
Wow ale to było dobre akcja goniła akcie, a zakończenie rozwaliło mi banie.
May 28, 2018
Dropped at 43%. Warning, this review will be a lot of WTF, a dash of rage, and wth were they thinking. And it will also be chaotic. And on my blog I will also have some gifs between stuff.
So I was REALLY eager to start reading this one, survival on an inhabited island? With the only people being other teams? Mystery and potentials murder? Oh, yes, sign me up.
Sadly, from the beginning it just wasn't all that. For instance these kids are going survivalling, they want to bring with them some electronics but then are too dumb to understand that stuff may get wet and you should put them in a plastic/waterproof/tight bag. They then proceed to be really shocked that their stuff is dead and soaked when they get to a dry point.
Not to mention that if you have x time to cross a waterway that is about to flood in a few hours that maybe you shouldn't just rely on one watch, especially when that watch is a smart watch. Instead set up multiple watches to make sure you are getting dry on the land.
I hated the mom in the then parts. Dear lord, that woman. Oh, my kid just hit a pregnant lady (my sister) with a heavy book out of nowhere, she is now angry, but it is my kid, he probably didn't mean it? Let me just hug him for an hour. Oh my kid cut off someone's hair because she didn't want to give her lunch to him, he has no issues. I will sue the school instead. And how she constantly lets Ben pick up everything, and let him/her do all the work.
Plus it made me feel real disturbed about Will. What kind of effing psychopath is that guy that he does all that shit? From small kid to what he is now, I don't even want to know how terrible and frightening he is now. He seems normal in the Now parts, but good grief, I don't want to know how fast that guy will snap. *shivers* He should have gotten help from the moment that people noticed something was wrong with him. Dad should just have done something to get that kid help, but it seems that dad was pretty oblivious to what was going on.
Ben, I keep thinking that he is actually a she. I am not too sure how to explain this correctly, but with how he acts, how he does, how he thinks, everything just screams GIRL to me. Even when eventually told Ben is a he, I kept seeing him as a girl. Eventually I gave up on telling my mind that the character is supposed to be a boy and saw him 100% as a girl.
I did feel sorry for Ben, that she had to give up so much, I wish she would just say no. Sorry, you are not your brother's keeper, you also get a chance at living. Just pick you for once.
The tooth-extraction scene? WTF WTF WTF and also NOPE NOPE NOPE *pukes*. I still don't get the reasoning behind it. How did we go from normal kids to oh hey we have to extract a tooth to have equal trade. *pukes* And then they do it in such an irresponsible way. Giving the guy medicine, drugs (magical mushrooms), and oh yes, vodka (because that is just what you want to give someone when blood is about to flow out of them). It was just so disgusting, plus again, so unbelievably stupid that it just didn't make sense and I don't see why it was added. I could see that maybe later in the story it would have worked better, but now it just felt weird (not to mention uberdisgusting). And then to hilarity sake that that happened to the tooth. Good grief.
Then later Carmen disappears, and I just knew crap was about to hit the fan, and yep. It did. In a very disgusting way. :|
How didn't they just make a list for each person on what to bring? Especially Grady, someone should have kept an eye on him and what he brought. :|
Grady, was it needed to add him to the mix? He seemed to totally not fit the whole survival trip stuff, OK, sure, the others also didn't seem the type, but he was 100% not fit for it all. Plus his conspiracies got on my nerves.
Also I am pretty sure that is a hint to something very disturbing, but when they found that note at the beginning (and also later another one) that kept going on about Elizabeth's thumb, Elizabeth's thumb. I can only guess what will happen later in the book, not that I will be around to read it.
Sorry, these kids are just badly prepared for something like this. I had expected them to at least have some form of skills, but to me they seemed to just do this for lols and oh yes, money. Because they all had some sad backstory and needed the money so desperately that they would just extract a tooth from a dear friend. :| Also who the hell eats magic mushrooms while on a survival trip?
I would have also loved to see the other teams. Now we just see them fleetingly from a distance, or read that they are around.
So yep, I am backing my way out of this one and say a big fat NOPE to this one. :|
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
So I was REALLY eager to start reading this one, survival on an inhabited island? With the only people being other teams? Mystery and potentials murder? Oh, yes, sign me up.
Sadly, from the beginning it just wasn't all that. For instance these kids are going survivalling, they want to bring with them some electronics but then are too dumb to understand that stuff may get wet and you should put them in a plastic/waterproof/tight bag. They then proceed to be really shocked that their stuff is dead and soaked when they get to a dry point.
Not to mention that if you have x time to cross a waterway that is about to flood in a few hours that maybe you shouldn't just rely on one watch, especially when that watch is a smart watch. Instead set up multiple watches to make sure you are getting dry on the land.
I hated the mom in the then parts. Dear lord, that woman. Oh, my kid just hit a pregnant lady (my sister) with a heavy book out of nowhere, she is now angry, but it is my kid, he probably didn't mean it? Let me just hug him for an hour. Oh my kid cut off someone's hair because she didn't want to give her lunch to him, he has no issues. I will sue the school instead. And how she constantly lets Ben pick up everything, and let him/her do all the work.
Plus it made me feel real disturbed about Will. What kind of effing psychopath is that guy that he does all that shit? From small kid to what he is now, I don't even want to know how terrible and frightening he is now. He seems normal in the Now parts, but good grief, I don't want to know how fast that guy will snap. *shivers* He should have gotten help from the moment that people noticed something was wrong with him. Dad should just have done something to get that kid help, but it seems that dad was pretty oblivious to what was going on.
Ben, I keep thinking that he is actually a she. I am not too sure how to explain this correctly, but with how he acts, how he does, how he thinks, everything just screams GIRL to me. Even when eventually told Ben is a he, I kept seeing him as a girl. Eventually I gave up on telling my mind that the character is supposed to be a boy and saw him 100% as a girl.
I did feel sorry for Ben, that she had to give up so much, I wish she would just say no. Sorry, you are not your brother's keeper, you also get a chance at living. Just pick you for once.
The tooth-extraction scene? WTF WTF WTF and also NOPE NOPE NOPE *pukes*. I still don't get the reasoning behind it. How did we go from normal kids to oh hey we have to extract a tooth to have equal trade. *pukes* And then they do it in such an irresponsible way. Giving the guy medicine, drugs (magical mushrooms), and oh yes, vodka (because that is just what you want to give someone when blood is about to flow out of them). It was just so disgusting, plus again, so unbelievably stupid that it just didn't make sense and I don't see why it was added. I could see that maybe later in the story it would have worked better, but now it just felt weird (not to mention uberdisgusting). And then to hilarity sake that that happened to the tooth. Good grief.
Then later Carmen disappears, and I just knew crap was about to hit the fan, and yep. It did. In a very disgusting way. :|
How didn't they just make a list for each person on what to bring? Especially Grady, someone should have kept an eye on him and what he brought. :|
Grady, was it needed to add him to the mix? He seemed to totally not fit the whole survival trip stuff, OK, sure, the others also didn't seem the type, but he was 100% not fit for it all. Plus his conspiracies got on my nerves.
Also I am pretty sure that is a hint to something very disturbing, but when they found that note at the beginning (and also later another one) that kept going on about Elizabeth's thumb, Elizabeth's thumb. I can only guess what will happen later in the book, not that I will be around to read it.
Sorry, these kids are just badly prepared for something like this. I had expected them to at least have some form of skills, but to me they seemed to just do this for lols and oh yes, money. Because they all had some sad backstory and needed the money so desperately that they would just extract a tooth from a dear friend. :| Also who the hell eats magic mushrooms while on a survival trip?
I would have also loved to see the other teams. Now we just see them fleetingly from a distance, or read that they are around.
So yep, I am backing my way out of this one and say a big fat NOPE to this one. :|
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
November 27, 2020
Summary
Five friends sign up for a 3 day challenge on an empty island for a million pound prize for each member of the winning team. The rules are simple: find the check points, solve the riddles and replace the items in each checkpoint box with something of equal value.
The group quickly discovers that the items in each boxes are not at all what they expected. To make matters worse, the other teams are willing to take what they need from anyone else who stands in their way of winning.
Personal Opinion
A really cool and intense read with some gory parts mixed in with a bit of a Hunger Games vibe to it.
I loved the fast pace and the location of this one. Like most of the other books in the Red Eye series, it was an addictive read with an interesting plot and a great twist ending.
If you enjoyed any of the other Red Eye series books, this one will not disappoint.
June 27, 2018
I love cheesy horror/survival type books and films, so I was really pumped for this. I was expecting lots of gore and some twists and turns. First, the gore was kind of basic and predictable to me. Keep in mind, that I watch a lot of horror (no, I mean a lot!) and while there was more gore than normal YA books - it just felt flat to me. Nothing made me recoil or shocked me. It was liked a REALLY watered down torture-porn flick and I wasn't too impressed. The characters are all morons, which would be fine if they weren't written like experts in so many fields. The decisions made no freaking sense - I'm all for some dumb decisions but the side eye was heavy in this one for me. I just wanted more. I will say the book moves fast and I can understand why some will find this one exciting. I am not one of those people and I cannot recommend this book sadly. It's my second read from the Red Eye series and I plan on reading them all eventually. I loved Frozen Charlotte, which was also put up for the Red Eye series.
RTC
RTC
January 9, 2020
Whoa baby! Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. Gross! Wow! Ick! Yikes. Really? What? WHY!!! GEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 21, 2022
Ogromny zawód
1,5
1,5
August 29, 2023
Czytało się ją bardzo szybko, a sama fabuła okazała się zdecydowanie lepszą rozrywką niż się spodziewałam.
March 25, 2018
5 friends sign up for the chance of a life-time competition to win 1 million pounds each – the task? Just complete some puzzles and find some geocaches on a secretive private island – how hard can that be? But the island holds sinister secrets, the competition is not all it appears and the other teams seem to be playing for much higher stakes…
Savage Island is the latest horror in the Red Eye YA Horror Series from Bryony Pearce. I would say this is less a horror story and more a psychological thriller although it does get a bit gory in places. The premise itself is great, as a geocacher myself the idea of finding something… unwelcome… in a box is intriguing and stuck with me after I had finished the book. The riddles and puzzles the group have to solve keep the story interesting and it’s paced nicely – with the stakes gradually getting higher and higher as the plot builds to a crescendo. The 5 characters are nicely written and well-rounded and the fact it’s written in the first person from the perspective of Ben helps to draw you into the story.
My main problem with the book was with the narrative itself – it seemed very disjointed at times and in several places I found myself turning back to see if I had missed a page or a paragraph. The story occasionally jumps around which is at odds to the rest of the writing style. For example, right at the beginning they are filling out the questionnaire to join the competition and then half-way through the scene you suddenly get the letter of acceptance with nothing to join the two. Later they go to fetch a geocache box without something important that they need to open it. They suddenly produce something they have created to work around the problem but nothing had been said about them making it or having the idea – it’s suddenly just there for them to use.
Although the use of flash-backs works well to establish backstory, it felt like they were thrown in randomly; they weren’t clearly defined and they confused the plot in places. They were needed as exposition to make the ending work but they weren’t particularly placed sympathetically in the present narrative. As I was reading an advance copy pdf of the book there were some formatting errors – including odd paragraph breaks, which may make this a little clearer but I didn’t feel this was solely a formatting problem.
Overall it’s a really good premise and a really interesting story. It’s easily comparable to novels like Lord of the Flies or The Hunger Games but it brings something new to the table in a modern day setting. There’s a good ending and it’s use of suspense and slow-raising stakes makes it interesting to read. My only criticisms are the odd use of flash-backs and occasional disjointed narrative but otherwise I recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Tiger Group for the chance to read and review Savage Island.
Read more of my reviews at www.kindig.co.uk
Savage Island is the latest horror in the Red Eye YA Horror Series from Bryony Pearce. I would say this is less a horror story and more a psychological thriller although it does get a bit gory in places. The premise itself is great, as a geocacher myself the idea of finding something… unwelcome… in a box is intriguing and stuck with me after I had finished the book. The riddles and puzzles the group have to solve keep the story interesting and it’s paced nicely – with the stakes gradually getting higher and higher as the plot builds to a crescendo. The 5 characters are nicely written and well-rounded and the fact it’s written in the first person from the perspective of Ben helps to draw you into the story.
My main problem with the book was with the narrative itself – it seemed very disjointed at times and in several places I found myself turning back to see if I had missed a page or a paragraph. The story occasionally jumps around which is at odds to the rest of the writing style. For example, right at the beginning they are filling out the questionnaire to join the competition and then half-way through the scene you suddenly get the letter of acceptance with nothing to join the two. Later they go to fetch a geocache box without something important that they need to open it. They suddenly produce something they have created to work around the problem but nothing had been said about them making it or having the idea – it’s suddenly just there for them to use.
Although the use of flash-backs works well to establish backstory, it felt like they were thrown in randomly; they weren’t clearly defined and they confused the plot in places. They were needed as exposition to make the ending work but they weren’t particularly placed sympathetically in the present narrative. As I was reading an advance copy pdf of the book there were some formatting errors – including odd paragraph breaks, which may make this a little clearer but I didn’t feel this was solely a formatting problem.
Overall it’s a really good premise and a really interesting story. It’s easily comparable to novels like Lord of the Flies or The Hunger Games but it brings something new to the table in a modern day setting. There’s a good ending and it’s use of suspense and slow-raising stakes makes it interesting to read. My only criticisms are the odd use of flash-backs and occasional disjointed narrative but otherwise I recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Tiger Group for the chance to read and review Savage Island.
Read more of my reviews at www.kindig.co.uk
April 5, 2018
I have written a full review of this book over on my blog: www.janaybrazier.blogspot.co.uk
Overall, this was a really good book. It is uniquely scary and gruesome, a book that I would describe as The Hunger Games meets the Saw movies. It’s not the kind of thing I’d usually pick up but it still sounded intriguing, so I picked it up. I’m glad I was brave and went for it.
Overall, this was a really good book. It is uniquely scary and gruesome, a book that I would describe as The Hunger Games meets the Saw movies. It’s not the kind of thing I’d usually pick up but it still sounded intriguing, so I picked it up. I’m glad I was brave and went for it.
April 8, 2022
Kolory Niemiec xd Tytuł oklepany, tak samo jak sam motyw wyspy, ale jednak coś w tej książce jest. Zwierzęta i Łowcy, co my w dziczy jesteśmy? Końcówka doprowadziła mnie do stanu wściekłej małpy z zoo
March 18, 2019
The ending, wow. Although I was kind of upset about the very last page. So I'm giving this a 3! :)
August 13, 2022
this book had quite a slow start, but quickly escaalated to the point where i felt as though i was unable to put it down.
September 2, 2019
Mocna, obrzydliwa, a chociaż nie zupełnie oryginalna, to bardzo dobra.
Zdecydowanie nie dla młodszych czytelników, przynajmniej 15+.
Zdecydowanie nie dla młodszych czytelników, przynajmniej 15+.
April 10, 2018
W.O.W! Whilst it was the initial premise of this book that originally caught my eye, even I couldn’t have anticipated just how thrilling this ride would be! I was definitely expecting big The Hunger Games vibes from this story from the way it is pitched in the blurb but I absolutely was bowled over by the Saw-esque horror elements in this! Savage Island is not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure!
I loved the concept of this book: a group of five friends heading off to compete in a competition where they would win £1million each – what group of young people wouldn’t want to take part? Some readers may question the fact that it is a long while before the group are wary of what they have walked into, but it’s important to remember that these are teenagers we are talking about. Young people whose dreams could easily come true with a million pounds in the bank, let alone the risk and adventure! You definitely need to open your mind to really enjoy this book: the characters are much more adept at managing these tasks than you would expect teenagers to be, they also just happen to own a lot of what they will need – but that doesn’t take away from any enjoyment whatsoever.
I really enjoyed this book – even more so than I expected to! I had a feeling in my gut that I would like it but I flipped through this book SO quickly because I just couldn’t bear to put it down (except for the odd queasy moment, that is!). This book definitely took a much darker twist than I ever expected but it was so adrenaline inducing and I loved it! As I said on Twitter, ‘many audible gasps were released during the reading of this book!’. I really liked that the book didn’t take too long to get to the island because that would have been a real bore. Instead we get there relatively quickly and the gruesome action doesn’t take long to kick in either. Every time I thought we had reached the big crescendo in this book it sent me reeling in another direction (usually feeling a bit nauseous) and I really loved it! The ending of this book was GREAT. That last line was really chilling and I just loved how it turned out, even though I am sure there will be readers who hope for a different ending. For me personally, it just worked.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between the different characters in this story. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to accidentally give any clues or minor spoilers but there are some really fantastic relationships shown. My favourite character was probably Carmen. There was just something about her that I really loved reading.
I’m leaving this review pretty vague as I think this book is certainly better read when you know less going in. There are lots of big and small surprises along the way but the gore aspect won’t be for everyone so do bear that in mind if you’re thinking of picking this up. If that doesn’t bother you and you fancy a heart pumping, action packed race then this is definitely worth picking up! One final thing from me: take a close look at that cover. Is the island more than you first thought?
A huge thanks to Charlie from Stripes Publishing for inviting me onto the blog tour and sending me an early copy of the book for review.
I loved the concept of this book: a group of five friends heading off to compete in a competition where they would win £1million each – what group of young people wouldn’t want to take part? Some readers may question the fact that it is a long while before the group are wary of what they have walked into, but it’s important to remember that these are teenagers we are talking about. Young people whose dreams could easily come true with a million pounds in the bank, let alone the risk and adventure! You definitely need to open your mind to really enjoy this book: the characters are much more adept at managing these tasks than you would expect teenagers to be, they also just happen to own a lot of what they will need – but that doesn’t take away from any enjoyment whatsoever.
I really enjoyed this book – even more so than I expected to! I had a feeling in my gut that I would like it but I flipped through this book SO quickly because I just couldn’t bear to put it down (except for the odd queasy moment, that is!). This book definitely took a much darker twist than I ever expected but it was so adrenaline inducing and I loved it! As I said on Twitter, ‘many audible gasps were released during the reading of this book!’. I really liked that the book didn’t take too long to get to the island because that would have been a real bore. Instead we get there relatively quickly and the gruesome action doesn’t take long to kick in either. Every time I thought we had reached the big crescendo in this book it sent me reeling in another direction (usually feeling a bit nauseous) and I really loved it! The ending of this book was GREAT. That last line was really chilling and I just loved how it turned out, even though I am sure there will be readers who hope for a different ending. For me personally, it just worked.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between the different characters in this story. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to accidentally give any clues or minor spoilers but there are some really fantastic relationships shown. My favourite character was probably Carmen. There was just something about her that I really loved reading.
I’m leaving this review pretty vague as I think this book is certainly better read when you know less going in. There are lots of big and small surprises along the way but the gore aspect won’t be for everyone so do bear that in mind if you’re thinking of picking this up. If that doesn’t bother you and you fancy a heart pumping, action packed race then this is definitely worth picking up! One final thing from me: take a close look at that cover. Is the island more than you first thought?
A huge thanks to Charlie from Stripes Publishing for inviting me onto the blog tour and sending me an early copy of the book for review.
January 23, 2018
I've read several of the Red Eye Books now - growing up on a diet of Point Horror and Christopher Pike has left its' mark. For terrifying, icy cold, leave-the-light-on, Alex Bell is queen. But for psychological, chilling, what-would-I-do-I'd-never-do-that-but-what-if-what-if-what, it's Bryony Pearce all the way. She simply can't be bettered. (She's also excellent at cliff hangers, but that's another topic.)
Five teenagers join an 'Iron Teen' contest, billed as an endurance test crossed with an intelligence test. Between them, they think they can handle anything. When they reach the isolated island, however, they find out exactly how wrong they are. Soon they're injured, cut off from help and being hunted down. And as they soon learn, they can't trust anyone...including each other...
There's a couple of chapters where I wasn't too sure, but once they hit the island the pace never lets up. One character reveal came as a surprise to me. The other I figured out early on, but I'm fairly sure we were meant to. A horrifying incident not too far in sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and the pace never eases off all the way to the end. Thrilling and chilling, a great story for a horror fan. Be wary of some violence.
I was reading an eARC, so I'm sure this will be fixed in the final edition, but there were several very abrupt flashbacks. A couple of times I had to stop, go back and reread to figure out what was going on. I've marked down one star for that. But I'll definitely be looking out for more Bryony books. I look forward to being chilled by her all over again.
Receiving an ARC did not in any way affect my review of this title.
Five teenagers join an 'Iron Teen' contest, billed as an endurance test crossed with an intelligence test. Between them, they think they can handle anything. When they reach the isolated island, however, they find out exactly how wrong they are. Soon they're injured, cut off from help and being hunted down. And as they soon learn, they can't trust anyone...including each other...
There's a couple of chapters where I wasn't too sure, but once they hit the island the pace never lets up. One character reveal came as a surprise to me. The other I figured out early on, but I'm fairly sure we were meant to. A horrifying incident not too far in sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and the pace never eases off all the way to the end. Thrilling and chilling, a great story for a horror fan. Be wary of some violence.
I was reading an eARC, so I'm sure this will be fixed in the final edition, but there were several very abrupt flashbacks. A couple of times I had to stop, go back and reread to figure out what was going on. I've marked down one star for that. But I'll definitely be looking out for more Bryony books. I look forward to being chilled by her all over again.
Receiving an ARC did not in any way affect my review of this title.
March 30, 2018
Wow, this book was a whirlwind and fast-paced thriller, that actually got my heart racing just by reading it!
A group of teens join a competition on a remote island without any way to communicate with the outside world for three whole days until there is one winner of the game... What starts out as an exciting adventure quickly turns into an absolute nightmare when they realise danger lurks around every corner on the island and the other groups of contestants are willing to do ANYTHING to win the coveted million pounds each at the end of the competition. Dun dun dun...
This book you guys, as gripping as it was, I admit I had to skim-read through some of the passages because they were stomach-turningly gory. However, at the same time both the flashbacks and the present tense story line had me so intrigued that I was also unable to stop reading as I needed to know what would happen next and how it would end! And let me tell you, no matter how wild you let your imagination run, you will not be able to guess the shocking reveals and THAT ending.
While Savage Island was a bit too gory for my liking (I know it's a horror, but it felt more like an elevated version of the more extreme Point Horror books I devoured in my teens than hitting on the psychological level, which I much prefer), it was also eerily realistic in its execution and absolutely unputdownable.
3.5 stars
A group of teens join a competition on a remote island without any way to communicate with the outside world for three whole days until there is one winner of the game... What starts out as an exciting adventure quickly turns into an absolute nightmare when they realise danger lurks around every corner on the island and the other groups of contestants are willing to do ANYTHING to win the coveted million pounds each at the end of the competition. Dun dun dun...
This book you guys, as gripping as it was, I admit I had to skim-read through some of the passages because they were stomach-turningly gory. However, at the same time both the flashbacks and the present tense story line had me so intrigued that I was also unable to stop reading as I needed to know what would happen next and how it would end! And let me tell you, no matter how wild you let your imagination run, you will not be able to guess the shocking reveals and THAT ending.
While Savage Island was a bit too gory for my liking (I know it's a horror, but it felt more like an elevated version of the more extreme Point Horror books I devoured in my teens than hitting on the psychological level, which I much prefer), it was also eerily realistic in its execution and absolutely unputdownable.
3.5 stars
October 5, 2023
Squid games but it's unaware teenagers on an inaccessible island ✨
We follow a group of 5 teens who enter a 3 day competition to win a million pounds each (that's like 22 million rand). The rules are simple: navigate to a geocache box on the island, solve the puzzle, replace the geocache with something of equal value.
It seems like a fun, challenging vacation with the potential to win money. Until their first geocache is a tooth. The second a finger.
The characters were well developed, and I enjoyed exploring with them. The start felt really rushed as they were applying and then 💥 acceptance letter on the next page and suddenly they were flying out 😂
The writing was good, even if it was written as YA. The story had massive potential. I feel like it could have been written in a way that could have been a lot more shocking and intriguing to the reader.
I decided to read a chapter before bed and ended up finishing it and I disliked how the ending was written 😂 not the idea of it, just how it was done. I feel cheated out of sleep for that so it's getting 3 stars 🤣
First spooky Halloween month read done 🎃✨
We follow a group of 5 teens who enter a 3 day competition to win a million pounds each (that's like 22 million rand). The rules are simple: navigate to a geocache box on the island, solve the puzzle, replace the geocache with something of equal value.
It seems like a fun, challenging vacation with the potential to win money. Until their first geocache is a tooth. The second a finger.
The characters were well developed, and I enjoyed exploring with them. The start felt really rushed as they were applying and then 💥 acceptance letter on the next page and suddenly they were flying out 😂
The writing was good, even if it was written as YA. The story had massive potential. I feel like it could have been written in a way that could have been a lot more shocking and intriguing to the reader.
I decided to read a chapter before bed and ended up finishing it and I disliked how the ending was written 😂 not the idea of it, just how it was done. I feel cheated out of sleep for that so it's getting 3 stars 🤣
First spooky Halloween month read done 🎃✨
May 25, 2023
3.75
Przewidywalny motyw. Przyjemne do czytania. Mapka zamieszczona do książki była jednak dla mnie bezużyteczna. Nie potrafiłam się odnaleźć gdzie w danym momencie znajdują się bohaterzy. Brutalne, dosyć makabryczne opisy. Czytając na codzien o morderstwach przy niektórych opisach się aż krzywilam. Zakończenie dosyć mnie zaskoczyło. Zachowania bohaterów jednak momentami były dla mnie irracjonalne.
Jednakże skłoniła mnie do przemyśleń czy rzeczywiście młody człowiek, nastolatek w obliczu takiej gry, byłby zdolny tyle zrobić dla pieniędzy?
Dla młodzieży w wieku 15-16 lat będzie to dobra pozycja, jeśli nie będą im przeszkadzać tak brutalne opisy. Nie zachwycila mnie, jednak była to dobra rozrywka na zastój czytelniczy.
Przewidywalny motyw. Przyjemne do czytania. Mapka zamieszczona do książki była jednak dla mnie bezużyteczna. Nie potrafiłam się odnaleźć gdzie w danym momencie znajdują się bohaterzy. Brutalne, dosyć makabryczne opisy. Czytając na codzien o morderstwach przy niektórych opisach się aż krzywilam. Zakończenie dosyć mnie zaskoczyło. Zachowania bohaterów jednak momentami były dla mnie irracjonalne.
Jednakże skłoniła mnie do przemyśleń czy rzeczywiście młody człowiek, nastolatek w obliczu takiej gry, byłby zdolny tyle zrobić dla pieniędzy?
Dla młodzieży w wieku 15-16 lat będzie to dobra pozycja, jeśli nie będą im przeszkadzać tak brutalne opisy. Nie zachwycila mnie, jednak była to dobra rozrywka na zastój czytelniczy.
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