One Night on the Island Book Review
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It has been a really long time since I’ve pre-ordered a book - like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows long. And yet this year, I’ve already pre-ordered two. One Night on the Island by Josie Silver* is one of them. I was completely obsessed with her freshman and sophomore novels, One Day in December* and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird *(which I reviewed here). So, naturally, I had have One night on the Island and ordered it as soon as it was announced.
To say that I had high hopes for One Night on the Island is an understatement. I was fully expecting this novel to rise up to Holy Grail status right alongside its predecessors. Did it live up to my own hype? Keep reading to find out.
One Night on the Island centers around Cleo, a dating columnist living in London, and Mack, a photographer hailing from Boston. These two each have their own reasons for needing to escape life and set sail for a remote Irish island. Noisy neighbors and terrible cell reception are not the only things that await Cleo and Mack when they arrive at, the aptly named, Salvation Island for a getaway.
Wires were crossed and Cleo and Mack have double booked Otter Lodge, the remote, luxury, one-room cabin that happens to be the only guest accommodation on the island. With wild storms stirring up dangerous seas, neither can escape back to the mainland until the next boat arrives. So, their options are to tolerate each other at Otter Lodge or sleep outside.
Mack and Cleo both concede that making the best of it is the only way to go. Their forced proximity causes tension until Mack makes a startling confession. Mack and Cleo slowly begin to unwind the tightly bound fronts they’ve put up and suddenly, find themselves not minding their circumstances so much. If only it were that simple, Mack’s children are waiting for him in Boston and Cleo has to decide what is next in her life, relationships, and career.
Eight blissful days spent together change them both in indescribable ways but life outside of their dreamy nest comes knocking once again. The storm breaks and the boat back to the real world finally arrives. Cleo and Mack have to decide if they should leave the island together or tuck these memories away for safe keeping and move on with their lives.
This book is so unbelievably good. Somewhere around the middle, I thought for sure I knew where this was going and I felt so unsatisfied knowing that a sickly, sweet miracle moment was coming my way. I was so wrong. Josie Silver has crafted a love story that will leave you heartbroken and yet so filled with hope and wanderlust.
I wish I could to travel to this fictional island and stay at Otter Lodge and revel in the memory of Cleo and Mack. Sadly, I cannot but I will always have this book to turn to when Salvation Island calls me home.
If you love love, run, don’t walk, to pick up this book right away!
Tell me what you’ve been reading lately in the comments below!
