Rating: ★★★★★
Author: Tracy Garvis Graves
Genre: Adult Fiction; Contemporary Romance
Publisher: (Plume) Penguin
Publication Date: September 3, 2011
Pages: 281
Format: E-Book, Trade Fiction Paperback, Audio
Format: E-Book, Trade Fiction Paperback, Audio
Content Rating: R
“I don't fit in your world."
"Neither do I," he said, his expression tender yet resolute. "So let's make our own. We've done it before.” ~ Tracy Garvis Graves, On The Island
"Neither do I," he said, his expression tender yet resolute. "So let's make our own. We've done it before.” ~ Tracy Garvis Graves, On The Island
Overview
Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher desperately in need of adventure. Worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that’s going nowhere, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring sixteen-year-old T.J.
T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. His cancer is in remission and he wants to get back to his normal life. But his parents are insisting he spend the summer in the Maldives catching up on all the school he missed last year.
Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahan’s summer home, and as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens. Their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover that they’re stranded on an uninhabited island.
At first, their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.’s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man. (Goodreads.com)
T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. His cancer is in remission and he wants to get back to his normal life. But his parents are insisting he spend the summer in the Maldives catching up on all the school he missed last year.
Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahan’s summer home, and as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens. Their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover that they’re stranded on an uninhabited island.
At first, their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.’s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man. (Goodreads.com)
Review
So many people read the overview of this book and immediately throw up a red flag. Don't be one of them! It would be a huge mistake to say the very least.
I first came across On The Island last fall shortly after Graves self-published this her debut novel. I watched as the ratings grew higher and higher on Goodreads.com and by Christmas I conceded my own red flag and paid the indie novel standard $2.99. It turned out to be one of the best bargains I have ever stumbled across (of course now that Penguin has picked it up and it is available in paperback everywhere, the price has increased. But it is still worth every penny of the now $7.99 price and still a bargain at that!)
I try hard not to reveal spoilers in my reviews, but I feel it is necessary to be upfront regarding what this novel is not. It is not a fantasy island story. It is not a Mary Kay LeTourneau-inspired twisted romance. It is not even a scandalous fiction novel really.
It is, however, a survival story spanning many different fronts.
At the start of the story you have a 30-year-old Anna making changes in her life and "surviving" the disappointments of life dreams not realized . You also have an almost 17-year-old T.J. literally surviving lymphoma. Then suddenly you have them struggling to physically and emotionally survive together on an island that is hard and unforgiving. As the years pass and their relationship evolves, you eventually have a couple looking to survive the harsh judgements and misconceptions of a society that could never fully understand the bonds formed through the trials and tribulations they shared during their three year stint on the island.
Graves tells T.J. and Anna's story in alternating points of view and it really pushes the momentum of the story. You get a full and complete picture of the fears, struggles, secrets and emotions that each character feels. Their personalities complement each other in an engaging and natural way even before they move into a romantic relationship.
It is quite clear from the beginning that T.J is not your typical teenage boy. He is old beyond his years after his fight with cancer. He and Anna are on equal ground maturity wise through most of the novel, which in my opinion is a testament to this author's ability to write an unconventional and "taboo" novel that has you completely sympathetic and won over.
I loved Anna almost as much as I loved T.J. She is one of the most relatable heroines I have come across. She is the perfect mix of strength and vulnerability.
In Anna and T.J., Graves wove a soul deep love that defies age differences and circumstances.
I try hard not to reveal spoilers in my reviews, but I feel it is necessary to be upfront regarding what this novel is not. It is not a fantasy island story. It is not a Mary Kay LeTourneau-inspired twisted romance. It is not even a scandalous fiction novel really.
It is, however, a survival story spanning many different fronts.
At the start of the story you have a 30-year-old Anna making changes in her life and "surviving" the disappointments of life dreams not realized . You also have an almost 17-year-old T.J. literally surviving lymphoma. Then suddenly you have them struggling to physically and emotionally survive together on an island that is hard and unforgiving. As the years pass and their relationship evolves, you eventually have a couple looking to survive the harsh judgements and misconceptions of a society that could never fully understand the bonds formed through the trials and tribulations they shared during their three year stint on the island.
Graves tells T.J. and Anna's story in alternating points of view and it really pushes the momentum of the story. You get a full and complete picture of the fears, struggles, secrets and emotions that each character feels. Their personalities complement each other in an engaging and natural way even before they move into a romantic relationship.
It is quite clear from the beginning that T.J is not your typical teenage boy. He is old beyond his years after his fight with cancer. He and Anna are on equal ground maturity wise through most of the novel, which in my opinion is a testament to this author's ability to write an unconventional and "taboo" novel that has you completely sympathetic and won over.
I loved Anna almost as much as I loved T.J. She is one of the most relatable heroines I have come across. She is the perfect mix of strength and vulnerability.
In Anna and T.J., Graves wove a soul deep love that defies age differences and circumstances.
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