e-ALC, 10:22:32
Narrated by: Hillary Huber & Sophie Amos
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: January 9-12, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received this ALC free from the publisher and PRH Audio App. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Death, Gore, Violence
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+, Audio, Horror, Multiple POV, Thrillers, YAAfter a group of teens visits a dangerous island where three are left behind, the surviving girls realize they must return to confront the sinister force hunting them. This dark YA thriller is perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.
Eight were lost. Five were found. None will ever be free.
For Evie Williams, life is about to get a lot more complicated. Haunted by the events of a school trip to Hollow Lake National Park that went disastrously wrong, Evie and her friends returned changed, their lives forever marked by the mysterious Island they encountered—and the three girls they left behind.
Now, someone is picking off those who were involved, one by one. Their families, friends, and even online investigators are all caught in a deadly game. The stakes are raised when Evie receives a chilling to save her loved ones, she must return to the Island.
As Evie and the other “Lost Girls” navigate the treacherous terrain of the Island once more, they must confront the secrets they’ve buried, the horrors they witnessed, and the person—or thing—that’s hunting them. But some secrets refuse to stay hidden, and the Island demands a price for freedom.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was one of my most highly anticipated as one of the first horror books of this year. And unfortunately it just didn’t work out. I don’t know what it was, but I kept falling asleep while I was listening. Idk if it as the narrator or what, but I just couldn’t get into it.
Ok so the best part about this???? Definitely the inserts from the killer’s POV. That tackle shop scene? YESSSS! It’s still weird tho because I thought the plot was about the invisible island tho, and here I am getting excited about something way different. But I think it was because there wasn’t a real explanation of what was happening. Like WHY was the island like this? And WHY did it appear only to them? For this to be the main plot point, I just had too many questions.
The other thing I didn’t care for was the amount of characters. There were just too many of them. I got confused so many times. And no I didn’t guess whodunit because I didn’t even know who it was when it was revealed lol I started to go back and look through the e-book, but I just couldn’t get myself up to do it. I was bored and falling asleep already, so I knew at that point I just didn’t care lol
Lastly, I really liked the ghost stories that were interspersed throughout the story. Those stories were the ones that stemmed from the island, and that’s the only thing that really kept me in the story.
This was all over the place for me. I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it either. But I’m also not usually a fan of magical realism, so I know why it didn’t work for me. But I can absolutely see this being a hit for someone who loves it and is looking for a little horror mixed in as well.
Overall, I give this
Oh nice! Sad to hear you struggled to get into it, but I do love a good magical realism book mixed with horror, ghosts, and mystery! So this book has been screaming my name since I heard about it sometime last year! Sometimes we read books at the wrong moment. I know I have had to set some books aside as DNF because I wasn’t feeling it in the moment and I still need to circle back around to them as it’s been quite a while for some of them, but hoping to give them a second try at some point! Nice review all the same! I feel like this one will work for me based on your comments! Nice review all the same! Hope the next read is more to your liking! 🙂