Island Time
By Georgia Clark

Island Time by Georgia Clark is a fantastic family drama sapphic love story full of amazing and diverse characters that is set on an island off the coast of Australia.
The Kelly and the Lee families are forced to stay together for six weeks after a volcano eruption. The Kellys are fun loving Australians and the Lees are as buttoned-up as they come, and not happy spending another day with them.
This forced time together forces some issues to be revealed – I enjoyed this drama filled vacation spent with some characters I have grown to love, and learning about the indigenous culture. This novel surely packed a punch, and don’t let the cover fool you – the complexities of the story really blew me away.

I like Georgia Clark’s writing a lot and always enjoy multiple points of view, but this time it felt crowded and didn’t give the perspectives that were the most important enough room to breath. Still a good read and good representation, but k won’t reread.

A lighter read for a family drama and a interesting concept. I think the story could have been told in a shorter page count. I didn't love one any one character in particular which may be way I felt so-so about the book overall.

The Kelly family and the Lee family are trapped on an island together in the aftermath of a tsunami. These families have nothing in common except that their daughters are married. Each family member brings their own drama to the island, as well as their own secrets. The adventure they go on is full of tears, laughs, and overall chaos. How will they survive 6 weeks together? How will this adventure change their relationships?

I really liked the second half of the book. The first half felt very chaotic to me, which matches well with the chaos of the story, but I found it hard to follow all of the different storylines and characters. Once things started to settle down just past the midpoint, I started to love the growth of the characters and their relationships. I enjoyed the queer love storylines and the acceptance I felt throughout the book.

This book was the perfect summer read. I love any book that will transport you to a tropical location and keep you in vacation mode throughout.

Book was average. To be honest I struggled to get through it And connect with the storyline or characters.

First, special thank you to Netgalley for the e-copy in exchange for an honest review. I will be really honest and I hope I will not get in trouble. I usually DNF books I can’t connect to. For some reason, I have extended the time I intend for the book and finished it.

The Kelly’s and Lee are families connected together with both daughter married. Matty Kelly who is married to Parker Lee. These families are celebrating a once in a lifetime family vacation in one of the dream destination island in Australia. Everybody in both families plus the island care taker were the POV of this book. With that being said, there were 9 total POVs, not unless I have missed anyone.

I don’t have problems with multi-POV but somehow the flow of this premise and switching from one character to the other without so much of an intro is so hard to follow. The humor is cringey and obviously trying way too hard. The family drama- well I do not have words for it. It was dramatic! I would have love for more casual and realistic dialogues.

I did like the Australian island descriptions as it was very detailed. I like that with all of the drama this family is having that it make my family a little better in dealing with problems and personal issues. Its LGBTQ friendly and the cover of the book was pretty.

Hopefully more readers will connect to this books better than I did. It has potential, I just don’t know how to get that potential.

Did Island Time really begin with a rape joke?! Will not read any further.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

I don’t usually read descriptions before I pick up books, so I was fully expecting a travel romance based on the beautiful cover. Imagine my surprise when the tsunami hit and these families got stranded on their vacation! What I got was so much more interesting than a run-of-the-mill travel romance, though.

I loved both the Kellys and the Lees and how completely opposite they were. It was so fun to get each different character’s opinion on each scene.

I think Ludmilla was my favorite character. She was so buttoned-up and fancy at the beginning, and hardheadedly decided that she was going to become good at fishing just because Jules didn’t think she could. The two dads were my second-favorite part, with their unlikely friendship and bird-watching endeavor.

This story was certainly unique, and a very enjoyable read about family and living life to the fullest.

Sadly I am DNF-ing this book. There are way too many POVs to keep track of and the humor just isn't for me. I really wanted to like this one but I simply can not get into it.

I don’t read them often, but I love a novel told in the multiple point of views of a large ensemble cast. It makes things so dynamic as you jump from one voice to the next and see things from all sides.

For me, Island Time was the perfect way to kick off the summer, as we follow two families that gather on a small island down under for a wedding, and after a volvano explodes, finds themselves stranded on the island for a couple of weeks. There are struggles as they all come to terms with the fact that they will need to cohabitate, family secrets are exposed and a couple people come to terms with the fact that maybe the path they are following is not the one they want to continue on. I was hooked till the end, and never really wanted to leave that island.

So I normally love family dramas, but I really struggled with this one. I had troubles at first keeping the characters straight, some of whom weren't very flushed out. Then as I finally figured out who was who - I didn't like a good half of the characters. I will say that I appreciated the Aboriginal history and LGBTIA+ aspect of the book, those storylines kept me reading. As did the setting - the island sounds so cool and beautiful! But the book wasn't funny, there were way too many characters and switching between POVs, and not very much growth in any of the characters. The book didn't really end up saying much of anything, and I'm not sure if the problem is how it was marketed or that the author tried to do too much. I wish it had been more heavily edited - it was too long and some of the character POVs and plot lines could have been removed. Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this one.

Thank you so much @AtriaBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 14 June 2022)

SYNOPSIS | Two families take a joint vacation together on a remote island off the coast of Australia, when a dormant volcano erupts leaving them isolated & unexpectedly stranded together for a lot longer than they initially planned.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the location was beautifully described (you can tell the author did her homework)
- the focus on queer relationships & some of the struggles

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the cutesy cover does not match the vibe of this story at all (also wouldn't refer to this as a romance)
- even by the end of the book I was still getting characters mixed up (I think there was 9 POVs?)
- maybe it was just me, but I felt like I was reading this book FOREVER
- there was just too much for me to digest, learn & ultimately care about

I couldn’t get into this one and did not finish. I usually love multiple POVs but that and the location felt chaotic for me

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: the lee and kelly families end up stuck on an island off the coast of australia after a volcano erupts. the only thing they have in common is that their daughters are married.

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: eh. i received this book as an ARC because i wanted to give georgia clark a try knowing how much people have enjoyed her other books. this book was definitely not for me. everyone knows i love a book with multiple POVs. this book had EIGHT. it was chaotic and confusing and was constantly trying to figure out who’s POV it was since it wasn’t clearly labeled. it was also LONG. it could have been so much shorter in my opinion. there was tons of family drama and it wasn’t the kind of family drama that has you at the edge of your seat. it was like depressing family drama that didn’t sit well with me. ugh. i wanted to like it, i really did but it was SUCH a struggle to get to the end.

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: meh 😑

special thank you to netgalley & atria books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Georgia Clark is a great author and I'm a fan of her writing style for sure! I did enjoy this book and I would highly recommend this book to my friends.

No, nope, not for me. I really disliked this book from start to finish. I should have DNF because it was painful to get through. The characters were static, and the only personality they showed was completely annoying. Everything about this book -- the situation, the treatment of characters, the lack of clear plot -- was boring and frustrating. I will not be reading another book by this author. I thought it would be a great beach read because of the cover and premise, but it just put me to sleep.

I enjoyed this even though it was a tad too long (for me). Very very in depth character and family study plus some neat Australian history and facts.

Loved: exploration of family dynamics (very realistic IMO), the setting, the full cast narration, the diversity, and the subtle humor

I wish: it had been a little shorter! There was a little less romance. A touch too icky sweet for me.

This book was good, and I loved the premise, but it moved a little slowly for me. The beginning dragged a bit. It certainly picked up, but you really need to grab me in those first couple of chapters.

I liked the book. It was not my favorite but I learned a lot about Australian wild life and nature, which only increased my desire to travel there. I was overwhelmed by the constant switching of POVs without warning. The bromance between Glen and Randall was my favorite relationship in the book. Jules was easily my least favorite character I have read in a while. But, it was an interesting read that was pretty breezy.