Super suspenseful! It creeped me out a lot and honestly, I went to bed at night still thinking about it. Highly recommend that everyone reads this!

The Island is a gripping psychological thriller that had me glued to the pages from page one. The plot has many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I highly recommend this book.

The Island is the second book by Mary Grand that I have read. And just like The House Party, I loved it.

The Island takes place on the Isle of Wight, which Juliet has recently returned too. Juliet has been teaching English in China for a few years but upon hearing her father is dying after suffering a terrible car accident, she returns home. Upon her arrival, Juliets father shares snippets of shocking secrets with her. The biggest is that there is a killer on the Isle of Wight. Juliet is dumbfounded but determined to uncover the identity of this killer. Everyone is a suspect including Juliet and in order to clear her own name, she must find out who the mysterious murder is.

I loved this book. It was so well written that I felt like every character was a potential suspect. My mind was in overdrive trying to solve the mystery, and just when I thought I’d figured it out, I was stumped again. A whirlwind of a read. Such a well executed plot, with vivid descriptions of characters and the community. Well done Mary Grand.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my advanced readers copy of The Island in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the arc of The Island by Mary Grand.

5 star read ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- Such a sensational, gripping, page turning book, as this follows Juliet who comes back to the Isle of Wight from many years away from home to reunite with her not one but three sisters, Cassie, Rosalind and Mira. Juliet's father is sadly dying but warns her that there is a murderer on the loose around and that they may even be closer than you know it...

This is my first read by this author and I really enjoyed it. The story is set on an island called the Isle of Wight.

Juliet has returned to the island to see her sick father and her three sisters Cassie, Rosalind and Mira.

Plenty of secrets and suspense had me page turning as I needed to know what was going to happen next.

I’d say this would make a great beach read.

A murder... in a tiny village... what's not to love.

I have never read any of Mary's writing but I'm looking forward to reading her first novel as well.

This book had me gripped from the first page, there are so many twists to this book I really couldn't make any guesses.

If you get the chance to, read this. It is brilliant.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was recently brought to my attention and as an Islander I couldn’t wait to read it. There are very few crime novels based on the Isle of Wight and as Mary Grand portrayed, very little happens here, especially during the long winter months. I was delighted that the book focused on one of the smaller, less well known villages. Brook beach was a family favourite when I was growing up and less crowded than the neighbouring Compton. The story begins with Juliet, returning to the Island from China where she had been working, to visit her dying father. A terrible accident on his birthday had led to his demise. Was his death all it seemed? Juliet’s four sisters and brother-in-law, Rhys, a local vicar, rallied to help their mother. When Rhys, was then killed in a hit and run outside his own church, questions began to be asked.
Juliet wanted answers and set about trying to discover the truth. In danger of both alienating and doubting her whole family, she found comfort by renewing her friendship with local neighbour, Gabriel. Gradually, dark and long held secrets are discovered and in this extremely well conceived and twisty story, shocking and chilling truths are revealed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and the imagery of the actual and fictitious locale blended seemlessly in my mind to produce perfect scenes. I look forward to reading another by this talented author.

I think this story has been done so many times lately, it’s difficult for me to tell or remember the differences!

The story started out a little slow but then it picked up as the suspension builds. The pacing then is perfect and kept me on my toes as I read as quickly as I could to find out what would happen at the end. Great book!

The story begins with Juliet rushing back to the Isle of Wight as her father has been involved in an accident, she reaches the hospital and he tells her something that leaves her with many questions.

She returns to her family home with her sisters and mother and she manages to speak to her brother in law Rhys the local vicar as her father had confided in him also. He is reluctant to share anything further but at the funeral he alludes to something that was shared by Juliet’s father.

I thought that I knew where this book was headed but I was wrong, there is lots of red herrings and intrigue in this story. I don’t want to give too much away but the families who live on the island are very entwined and have a lot of secrets. A family meal turns from a celebration into a tense and acrimonious event with accusations and threats made.. Then a body is found and Juliet finds herself under suspicion.

This is a really exciting and gripping read. Suspenseful, tense full of secrets and lies. A perfect psychological thriller I loved it !

5 stars

The Island by Mary Grand is a psychological thriller that I have been dying to read. I have read Mary's work before and loved it, so was looking forward to this book.
Juliet has returned from China to the island in time to visit her dad who has had a car accident and is dying. He gives her a warning that there is a killer on the lose and not to trust anyone. Juliets family comprises of three sisters and her mother and as the story moves along Juliet realises there is much more that her father did not have time to tell. Someone who knows more than they should ends up dead so Juliet makes the decision to attempt to discover the full truth. As she investigates she realises absolutely anyone could be the culprit so noone is spared, including family, in her quest for the truth. The further she digs the more danger she is in, will she manage to find the answers or will she end up just another victim?
Mary has again created the most marvellous characters and gone about the relationships within the family perfectly. The sisters all have their own complex personalities and we see these play out as Juliet doubts everyone of them and we find out more about the secrets they are keeping.
The island plays a large part in this book. In one sense an overly busy place with tourists unrelenting while in another it is a small community and one that makes you feel like you can't move without someone knowing about it.
I felt like I was with Juliet as she began to discover the full truth with the shocks as she learns the secrets which have roots in the past. I was as eager as Juliet and was impatient to get to the bottom of it all. As something was peeled away another layer appeared.
This is an intricate mystery wrapped up in a complex family. A great slow burner of a book and one I would recommend.
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books for the copy of the book.

It took me a little while to get into this book. I wasn’t keen on Juliet, the main character, or her family. I didn’t feel I knew Juliet or her family before the events of the book so she came across to me as quite pushy and they were all secretive and wanting to keep things as they were. These things would, in many cases, stop me reading the book but there was something about this one that kept me coming back to it. From Juliet’s dad’s mysterious final message to her to what he told Rhys, the hit and run, things going missing and reappearing and other things there were a lot of questions to answer, least of all why no one seemed to want the questions answered except for Juliet.

The pace of the story was quite steady most of the way through, there was so much going on but it kept its steady pace and I think that worked a lot better for it than changes of pace would have done. There was very much the feel of an investigation, Juliet kept plugging away asking questions of people and, unsurprisingly, coming to the wrong conclusions at times, because much as we might think we could investigate a crime I suspect most of us would struggle with the real thing. I equally liked the family aspect of it, the impact that Juliet’s digging had on the family and their reactions to it. It was interesting to see the contrast between them wanting to keep things as they were and Juliet determined to find the truth even at the risk of alienating her family.

Something I loved to see, which I’ve not found in many books, was that one of the characters was deaf and even better, that their family used sign language was mentioned quite a few times as well. I’m not deaf and don’t know anyone who is but I think it’s become clear through recent events how deaf people are impacted in ways that others don’t even consider, for example not being able to lip read because people are wearing masks. As someone whose recently started learning sign language I love that there was a deaf character in here, she was treated the same as everyone else with extra consideration to make sure she could follow what people were saying in unfamiliar situations and I really liked seeing that.

I enjoyed this book. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Juliet I could understand why she needed to find answers and I was impressed with her determination. If the book is good and well-written then I don’t need to like the main character, but I do need to understand why they are doing what they are doing and this was easy to understand. I also liked the way the multiple threads in the story either wove together or ended with an explanation. There were lots of little details and I would say some were easy to miss but the fact that the author didn’t lose track of any of them shows good planning and that turned into a good story which kept me reading till I finished. Much as I doubt I’d ever be friends with Juliet, I was as determined to finish this book and find out how it ended, as she was to solve the mysteries within it.

If you want something that will keep you questioning to the end and reading in to the small hours of the night then this is the book for you.

“Be careful then, we don’t want any more accidents.”

There is nothing negative for me to say about this book. It has been a sinister and stunning mystery story that has kept me guessing throughout.

The first 3rd of the book makes for some good character and setting development, but the creepy and sinister atmosphere is there from the beginning. The author is constantly dropping hints that danger and disharmony lie ahead…

The next 2/3rds of the book are an absolute rollercoaster ride and I really struggled to put the book down. I said “Ooh, I think I’ve got this worked out!” A number of times and then got proved wrong.

It was really helpful to see it all through Juliet’s perspective and this definitely helped this become a great mix of police procedural, whodunit but also deeply rooted in my favourite genre of domestic suspense.

Undoubtedly, my favourite aspect was the cliffhanger endings to the chapters. These were pitched perfectly and made this book a compulsive and captivating read.

This has been a wonderful introduction to Mary Grand’s work and highly deserving of 5*.

I love a good mystery. Whodunnit’s are always so much fun. Especially when you think everyone is guilty. Grand wrote exactly this kind of mystery in The Island.

Everyone appears to have secrets and at one point or another in the book, I thought it was every one of the characters. I thought this was fantastic!

The communication between the characters was really frustrating for me. So many times the main character started to ask questions of her family and then just let them off the hook when they avoided the conversation. I feel like in real life, no one would let someone consistently walk away from conversations and not provide answers if they think they may have murdered someone. While it helped prolong the mystery and the story line, it made me a little crazy.

Overall, it was a fun mystery and I recommend it for anyone that likes to try and figure out who did it!

After years of escaping the small worls that is the Isle of Wight, Juliet rushes home to visit her dying father. But instead of arriving home for farewells and family reunions, her fathers dying words creates a hundred new questions and a hunt for answers. He tells her there is a killer on the loose and it is not long before suspicions begin to arise.

The Island is a gripping thriller about how secrets do not like to be silenced and how they will always catch up. Especially in a small place like the Isle of Wight. From the moment I picked up the book, I was hooked. It was addictive, well written and leaves well scattered breadcrumbs to keep you guessing.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this novel and how easy it was to fall down the rabbithole. I found the author created a twist filled story that had me second guessing my investigative skills. I loved the rush and how hard it was to put the book down. It was the perfect summer evening thrill, one that will leave you praying your secrets have been forgotten and not going to come back to haunt you.

The Island by Mary Grand left me guessing until the very end. Set on the Isle of Wight, Juliet returns home after her father was in a terrible accident. Before he dies he warns her to be careful and watch over her sisters. Family secrets from the past are brought to life and you can't put this book down until you find out what happens!

In this story we meet Juliet – a woman who is originally from the Isle Of Wight but has been teaching in China for several years. She makes the journey back to the Isle Of Wight as her father is desperately ill and is not expected to recover. When she arrives, she is reunited with her mother and sisters, and is given the opportunity to say goodbye to her father.

But Juliet’s last conversation with her dying father is confusing to say the very least, and he tells her several things that initially make very little sense at all. It quickly becomes apparent that her family are harbouring a lot of secrets, and things are certainly not what they seem on the surface. As Juliet tries to get to the bottom of all the lies and secrets that are surrounding her family, she find herself in a very dangerous situation that she must fight to get out of whilst she still can.

As soon as I began reading this story I found myself quickly becoming immersed in Juliet’s world and all of the drama that seems to surround it. Having to return to the place she calls home under such devastating circumstances is only the start of her ordeal, especially when her father reveals there is a killer on the island, but they have no idea who it is, or what their motives for carrying out these brutal murders are.

I found Juliet’s family intriguing, and became fully invested in uncovering the secrets they were hiding, as well as uncovering why they kept these hidden in the first place. Despite having my own suspicions as to what was being hidden, and who the killer may be, I found myself being taken on a journey full of deceit, endless twists and turn and an ending I simply did not anticipate at all!.

A gripping read that had the perfect level of suspense building throughout. Alongside a cast of complex characters and an utterly chilling storyline with twists and turns that have you on the edge of your seat, this book certainly has everything you could possibly want from a thriller.

it felt like this one has so much potential.

What I liked:

the 4 sisters and mother vibes that made me think of Little Women. (nothing of this story reminded me of the classic book but it was just a personal parallel I drew for some reason or other).

the aspect of the different sisters personalities that are unraveled throughout the book.

What I disliked:

the nativity of Juliet (the main character we follow) was way too unbelievable. especially with some clues that are presented to her.. it was a bit annoying to live she didn't make some extremely obvious connections.

not a fan of the writing style and the constant questions as it made the book repetitive. it would have benefited the story a lot to have been edited and cut down a couple of pages (maybe even 80-100).

Thank you to Netgalley for this opportunity to read and review this book!
All opinion are my own.

I felt frustrated by the dialogue in this novel. On the one hand, I thought there was far too much chatter and not much action going on. However, it felt that there were many scenes where conversations did not reach a natural conclusion and characters would move off without answering key questions. Perhaps this was a method of increasing tension but I just felt irritated that the plot had not progressed.

Set on the Isle of Wight, we follow Juliet as she returns to her childhood home as her father lies dying in hospital. Being with him in his dying minutes, Juliet’s father tells her disjointed sentences that leave her suspicious of her entire family. After all, the circumstances of Juliet’s father’s hospitalisation are suspicious on their own: he has had a car accident whilst being drunk. For someone who isn’t known for their alcoholism, this and other events cause Juliet to suspect that there is foul play afoot.

This book therefore follows Juliet as she tries to understand what her father’s message was. When her brother-in-law is found dead, this just raises the suspicions for Juliet, especially as it becomes clear that Rhys knew more secrets than he revealed. In other words, secrecy has followed Rhys to the grave and Juliet becomes increasingly concerned that there is more to her family than she knows.

As a result, this book is about Juliet repeatedly questioning her family and actually snooping around her sisters in an attempt to understand what her father was trying to reveal. I did not like Juliet’s underhand measures and felt like some of her investigations were a bit far-fetched – like reading emails on a conveniently unlocked laptop. Throughout the story, it felt like Juliet was constantly peppering her family with questions about their actions and motives and it left me feeling really disconnected with her character.

Yet, despite my dislike of Juliet’s actions and the excessive amounts of dialogue, Grand’s story had me intrigued. As the plot unfolds, not only is Juliet investigating her father’s death and Rhys’s murder, but also a hit-and-run accident that happened in the past. The similarities between the three ‘accidents’ are uncanny and, thanks to Juliet’s suspicions, my finger of accusation rapidly swivelled between all of the characters! Thanks to Grand’s writing, I could not foresee how the story would conclude and what answers would finally be revealed.

I enjoyed the lack of predictions that Grand’s narrative creates. I also liked the setting and thought that it was vividly portrayed. I got a true sense of Juliet’s frustration at returning home, whilst also relishing in known locations being described. I could truly picture the tourist hordes descending on the island and how differently the place feels to the locals once visitors have left.

This was an ok read but I thought all the chat and then the lack of answers really lessened the mystery and suspense that should have been created. Yes, there are lot of twists and turns in the story, but I believed this could have been more thrilling if there were more action and less words.

With thanks to Boldwood books, NetGalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Island is a detailed medium paced story that is well written and holds the reader's attention!
I like how Grand has created an engaging character driven plot that gives atmospheric scenes and answers questions the more read...
The character development of The Island is good. The characters are likeable and relatable. After 2 years away teaching in China Juliet returns to The isle of Wight to her father critically ill in ICU. Where he dies after speaking her. Juliet and her family are grieving when there is a murder...Juliet is determined to find answers!
I would recommend reading The Island to lovers of Physiological Thrillers, as it is a gripping read that is filled with lies, secrets and family drama taking the reader on a suspenseful journey as they try to work out the identity of the killer...The ending was a complete shock!
‘You must be very careful. Anyone can kill.’