La Isla (The dying game)
Translator: Ana Guelbenzu
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Original publication date: 2016
Description of the book: The Spanish translation of the description is very different from the English one. I read the Spanish version of this book and so read that description.
Description I read: An isolated island. Seve contestants applying for the same secret job. An eerie stress psychological 48-hour test. A live murder.
The English description was better at giving you the idea of the test in itself.
With the description, I saw (the one included here) it felt very disappointing when I just started to read the book and I was explained Anna's mission in the island, I thought the plot was demolished and the huge reveal was ruined.
So I did not pick up the book to continue as much as I would have done had I not started with the expectations I had made from the description.
In the first few pages, we get Anna a workaholic woman who has baggage of uncertain nature. She will go to the island, not as a candidate but to make the real test. She will fake her own death and then hide in order to observe the people and verify how they act. So I assumed that the plot twist was something and then decided it was not as interesting.
But I was surprised anyway, there were definitely things going on. The test was not really what I expected. Also, we see the past of Anna and how she ended up in the emotional situation she is at the start of the story.
Anna is someone you start to cheer and care for, she is not the only character we follow but the obvious main focus of the plot.
The different timelines annoyed me. We got different snips of the story, the before the island and Anna's past while growing up, working in her office job. The island and what happened before Anna's huge mysterious dangerous trip, also we see a few snips of Henry and his view on Anna.
I really came to like Henry even if not the best love interest for Anna in my opinion.
I felt, in the end, it was too short, there were several things that felt were missing, the world itself was not too explained. I really felt we had too many questions.
In the very last chapter, I felt we still had a few more at least. We had the big why?
And at the same time, it was just the right choice, you cannot really believe someone went through the trouble to create such an elaborate test and then disclose the whole reasoning behind it.
I really liked it in the end, I had issues to pick it up, but when I did I was pulled into the story.
I would definitely look to pick up any other book the author comes out with.
This book was planned to accomplish several readathons but I did not get through them within the time the readathon was taking place so I just read it because I really wanted to get through as many of the books on my TBR as possible.
By now I just want to get through as many as possible, I am no longer sure I will be able to read all of them XD
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