Showing posts with label The Island. Show all posts

Friday, June 20, 2014

Review: THE DEEP (The Island #3) by Jen Minkman

The Deep (The Island #3)

The world is never-ending.
I never realized just how much space there is – how far and wide the water around our island stretches out. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I may have believed that a second Wall ran around Tresco, containing the infinite waters so we wouldn’t all wash over the edge and plummet down into the depths.’

Leia and Walt are on their way to the Other Side, where the legendary land of Cornwall awaits them. Tony, their new friend, has told them that all wars of the past have been forgotten and the citizens of Bodmin and Dartmoor live in peace. People adhere to the tenets of an old religion that preaches forgiveness and non-violence.
However, Walt and Leia soon discover that even a peace-loving, ideal society like this one may have its flaws. While on a forbidden trip to Exeter, the old city of their ancestors, the two Islanders discover more about the new world than they ever bargained for.

Secrets run dark and passions run deep in this thrilling conclusion to the Island novella series.

Review:

I am so excited to share the 3rd installment of THE ISLAND trilogy with you all! I have really enjoyed this novella series, and The Deep was even better because it's actually a full novel. Leia and Walt finally travel to the world across the water, and what they find is both surprising and a little terrifying.

Just like the other 2 books in this series, The Deep is a wonderful, captivating read that will have you glued to the pages.With the story told from alternating perspectives, the reader gets to see what's happening both in Cornwall and in Tresco at the same time. A new narrator is introduced and we finally get a much closer glimpse into some extremely interesting characters.

I highly recommend The Deep and the entire The Island series. It's a clean read and will hold your attention so much that you won't be able to put it down. Haven't read the first 2 books?

Start from the beginning!

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Grab your copy of The Deep today!

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Friday, October 4, 2013

Review: THE WAVES (THE ISLAND 2) by Jen Minkman

The Waves: The Island #2
By Jen Minkmam
Published: September 30, 2013

Synopsis:
The first memory I have of my grandfather is of a moment that we share together.
I’m sitting on his knee looking out over the harbor. Grandpa is smoking a pipe. He points at the horizon. “Look, Walt. Our ships are out there. And one day, another even more beautiful ship will appear at the horizon. A mighty ship to take us all away. And Annabelle will be at the front deck with open arms, inviting us all to join her on board.”
“Why don’t we sail to her ourselves?” I want to know.
“Because she promised she would come,” granddad replies. “And in that promise we trust. It’s only the Unbelievers who think they can do everything themselves. They have no faith in the Goddess.”

Walt lives in Hope Harbor, an island community that has put its trust in salvation from across the sea. The townspeople wait patiently, build their ships to sail out and welcome the Goddess, and piously visit the temple every week. Horror stories to scare their children are told about the Unbelievers on the other side of Tresco.
But not all is what it seems. Walt has questions that no one can answer, and when his best friend and cousin Yorrick is killed in an accident, he digs deeper to find out the truth about the origins of Hope Harbor’s society… and the secrets of the temple.

Return to the world of The Island and discover what Walt's life was like before and after he met Leia!

Review:
I've learned that when I get an email from Jen Minkman, I should just go ahead and start jumping up and down. I absolutely adored THE ISLAND, so when Jen asked if I would review THE WAVES, I didn't even have to think twice. THE ISLAND was wildly creative so I knew THE WAVES would be just as attention getting.

Book 1, THE ISLAND, is the from Leia's POV. It's her story. Leia and Walt live on opposite sides of the wall, which basically equates to opposite sides of the world. Each has grown up with a completely different belief system, and Leia provides her opinion of Walt's people, referred to as the Fools, in THE ISLAND. However, there isn't any actual glimpse into the world on Walt's side of the wall.

But THE WAVES is Walt's story, and I was so excited to get an inside perspective from him. It is not a retelling of THE ISLAND. Before he meets Leia, Walt has no knowledge of the world on the other side of the wall. The events of THE WAVES happen before and during the events of THE ISLAND. We do see some of the final scenes of THE ISLAND from Walt's POV in THE WAVES, but most of his story takes place before he meets Leia. In fact, his story basically shares how he came to meet Leia.

THE WAVES is creative in and of itself. It's an in depth look at how history can be rewritten without the people living it even being aware. It's full of corruption, devotion, and challenges. Walt truly becomes his own person with his own beliefs and he's an incredibly strong character.

I strongly recommend THE WAVES. It's a novella, so it's a great short read. It could potentially be read on its own, but it does contain significant spoilers for THE ISLAND, so I recommend reading book 1 first if you haven't already. (You'll totally love Leia anyway!). So what are you waiting for? Go grab your copy of this fabulous dystopian novella!

Buy THE WAVES

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Read my review of THE ISLAND here

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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

THE ISLAND a novella by Jen Minkman

The Island

by Jen Minkman

YA novella

digital copy provided by author in exchange for honest review.

‘I walk toward the sea. The endless surface of the water extends to the horizon, whichever way I look.

Our world is small. We are on our own, and we only have ourselves to depend on. We rely on the Force deep within us, as taught to us by our forefathers.

If I were to walk westward from here, I would come across a barrier – the Wall. Behind it, there are Fools. At least, that’s what everyone says.

I have never seen one.’

Leia lives on the Island, a world in which children leave their parents to take care of themselves when they are ten years old. Across this Island runs a wall that no one has ever crossed. The Fools living behind it are not amenable to reason – they believe in illusions. That’s what The Book says, the only thing left to the Eastern Islanders by their ancestors.
But when a strange man washes ashore and Leia meets a Fool face to face, her life will never be the same. Is what she and her friends believe about the Island really true?

Or is everyone in their world, in fact, a Fool?

(Please note: this novella contains a few references to the famous sci-fi movie Star Wars which are pivotal to the plot. None of the characters in The Island are in any way related to the characters in the movie.)

Review:

This was such ma refreshing and quick read. It's a novella so it only took my a couple of hours to read. (It probably would have taken less but I'm married, and my husband has never gotten the hint that a book in my hands = SHUT UP AND DON'T TALK TO ME. Lol!)

The Island is creative and well written. Sometimes I find that novellas lack in details and they lose my attention because the author ends up "telling" the reader what is happening instead of "showing" but that is not the case with The Island. The author did an amazing job making this short read feel like a full length book. It could even easily be turned into an introduction for a full length novel, but it doesn't lack closure.

I found it quite a coincidence that this novella referred to Star Wars because as I was reading my husband was actually watching the movie on TV. (We're big fans.) At first I was wondering how the whole Star Wars link would play out, but it was brilliant! And the great thing... questions get answered! As I said before, there is a sense of closure at the end of the novella, and that is in part because the major questions about "how" and "why" get answered which often doesn't happen in novellas.

Leia is a great character, and I'd love to see Jen expand on her one day. She's believable and strong and the reader really gets to know and understand her even though we only spend a short time with her. If you are look for a change of pace and a quick read that will capture your interest, The Island is a great choice for middle grade to adult readers.

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