Review by jessinikkip -- Island Games by Caleb J. Boyer

[jessinikkip]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Island Games" by Caleb J. Boyer.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Imagine waking up one day and instead of finding yourself in bed, you are on a long strip of deserted beach on a large island. Behind you is the jungle and then a volcano, in front of you is the ocean and a boat. Beside you is nothing but your best friend. You have no idea how you got here and no real memory of your life before right now. You have no food, no water and no way off the island except for the hope that boat is operational. In Island Games: Mystery of the Four Quadrants by Caleb J. Boyer, this is the exact situation in which the main characters find themselves.

This book is perfect for the age category of preteens (aged 9-13) and I would say that probably boys would enjoy this more than girls. The language used is very simplistic which makes the story easy to read and follow along with instead of struggling every sentence to figure out what a word means. The plot and pace of the book reminds me of other novels such as The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner, so fans of those books will enjoy this one.

My rating for this book though is 3 out of 4 stars. To me, the dialogue at some parts has a feel of being forced or very unnatural. An example of this is when the boys are in the jungle and there is a large creature hovering over one of them as he sleeps. Instead of being frozen in fear or fighting or just screaming, the other yells out "Ah! Dude! There's a beast breathing on your face!" Another example of where things seem forced is in the boy’s knowledge of what they must do and what will happen. Near the beginning, they talk about how things are their only chance at survival and they investigate the plants for edible options. But to me, for two young teenage boys who have no memories, how would they know this stuff? And two untrained swimmers manage to last “many hours in the ocean” swimming against the current. Details like these are why I didn’t give a perfect 4 star rating.

However, the book did have many good qualities about it. The adventures the boys faced were never unbelievable that they could have survived them. I also enjoyed that it never took any kind of magic or other supernatural interference for the boys to survive. They managed to use their friendship and work together to make it past their challenges, which is something not seen very often in books. I also liked the connection between how some stages of their challenges seem more like a video game than real life, considering their only shared memory at first is playing games. I was actually expecting the ending to reveal the whole time they had just been characters being controlled in a video game, so the end was a decent surprise for me and left me wanting know more about the boys and their next adventure.

Overall, the experience of reading this book was a good one. I tried to keep the age of the author out of my feelings for the book and found I was pleasantly surprised again. I expected to be able to say that this book was good considering its author was just twelve. But this book was interesting and well written enough that I would have felt the same even with an adult author. So instead I can just say this book is good.

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Island Games
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Like jessinikkip's review? Post a comment saying so!

[AbbyGNelson]

I liked the story, the characters, and the themes, but I had issues with the ending and wrote about it in my review. It was just too open ended for me, and I'm not against open endings for the most part.

[jessinikkip]

I liked the story, the characters, and the themes, but I had issues with the ending and wrote about it in my review. It was just too open ended for me, and I'm not against open endings for the most part.

Agreed. I usually enjoy very open endings that you can take multiple ways but to me this one just felt wrong. Like there was this great build up and then nothing.

[KFree_Reads]

Great review! I gave the same rating for reasons quite similar to yours. Nonetheless, I will agree with you that it was a good book, considering that the author was just 12 when he wrote it.

[Amanda Nicole Newton]

I couldn't believe when I saw that the author wrote this at only 12! It seems like an excellent book, but one that could do with a better wrap up than what it had. Although, it seems it may have been setting up for a sequel? I haven't looked to see if there's more.

[crediblereading2]

I was kept turning the pages of this fast-paced book of excitement and adventure during my review. The boys were very brave and worked together as a team. Thank you for your very descriptive review of this book.

[Espie]

Although excessive stimuli and stress may also be harmful, studies seem to show that unusual situations have the potential to maximise our abilities and catapult us into more than our ordinary speed, pace, stamina, or strength. However, to have my underaged kids placed in a situation as this book's characters would be quite unthinkable and albeit awful.

Thank you for your honest review.

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

Wow! I looked it up and it's amazing that such a young boy has written this book and, apparently, with major success. I understand the flaws you mention, but it seems like an action-packed read that many preteens and teens can enjoy, despite them. It's not my kind of read but I'm glad to see young talents and I'll keep it in mind for recommendations.
A very analytical and honest review, thanks!

[unamilagra]

Wow, I am impressed that a 12 year old was able to write such a good book. I'm glad you enjoyed the plot for the most part, even though it sounds like the writing was not very sophisticated. Sounds like the author has plenty of time to perfect his craft though!