The Island

I had downloaded this a few weeks ago, and finally got around to reading it. I've read A Summer Affair by Hilderbrand before, and wasn't a huge fan but decided to try again.

I'm still not a huge fan. This one was about four women -- a mother, her two adult daughters, and the mother's sister -- who escape to a small isolated island. They rough it for a month, with no electricity and the need of someone from Nantucket to bring them groceries and supplies and everything else. While there, they deal with some difficult life events like death and lost love. (I'm sure Amazon could give a much better summary!)

I liked the characters, but I just felt like something was missing.

It was an interesting exploration of the relationships in a family, between mothers and daughters, siblings, aunts and nieces. I don't have a sister and I have a thankfully calm and untroubled relationship with my mom, so I didn't relate as much to the problems and rivalries happening between everyone. Maybe it's a good thing I only have an older brother!

I don't have any real problem with Hilderbrand or the novel, and I would probably read more of her novels, but it just wasn't something that captured my attention from page one and had me tearing through the rest in a rush to find out how it ends. I'm having trouble identifying what exactly was missing for me, but it just didn't reach me as well as similar novels I've read. I would say Jennifer Weiner's novels are pretty similar, and I've loved her works. Especially Good in Bed, which you should read if you haven't. Although Hilderbrand's was an entertaining and interesting novel, it just didn't reach that level of good for me.

It's been called "beach reading", and I think that's pretty accurate. Reading it certainly made me wish I had my own little island to spend lazy summer days on. And although it deals with complicated emotions and life events, it's still light enough for an easy read during the summer. For me, it was just okay. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't "oh my goodness you have to read this right now!" kind of good.