Review: Uncharted (On the Island #1.5) by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Uncharted (On the Island 1.5) by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Published on July 2, 2013 by Penguin

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About the book

Tracey Garvis Graves - and Anna and T.J. - return in this companion novella to the New York Times bestseller On the Island

When twenty-three-year-old dot-com millionaire Owen Sparks walked away from his charmed life, he had one goal in mind: get as far away as possible from the people who resented his success, or had their hand out for a piece of it. A remote uncharted island halfway around the world seemed like a perfectly logical place to get away from it all.

Calia Reed wasn't part of Owen's plans. The beautiful British girl - on holiday in the Maldives with her brother, James - made Owen wonder if getting away from it all might be a lot more enjoyable with a carefree girl who didn't know anything about the life he left behind.

But Owen had no idea how much his carefully detailed plans would go awry. Nor did he realize that a decision he made would have such a catastrophic effect on two passengers who boarded a plane in Chicago.

And when Owen shows up at Anna and T.J.'s door with an incredible story to tell, everyone involved will learn just how much their lives are intertwined.  

My Thoughts:

On the Island is one of my favorite books of all time, so to have a chance to revisit these characters and go back to Maldives through this novella was an absolute treat!

Uncharted takes place about ten years after TJ and Anna were stranded on a remote island near Maldives. While on the island, they discovered a cave with human remains along with a shack that was once inhabited. What I believe is seven years after their rescue; a stranger comes to their door to answer the mystery behind the body and the shack.

I always wondered about the back-story to this part of the mystery, so it was a pleasure to see how Tracey Garvis Graves pieced together this puzzle. I enjoyed my time revisiting these characters that I absolutely fell in love with when I read their story, so to hear TJ and Anna’s voice again in Uncharted was exciting and fun.

In this novella, we meet Owen who was a successful business man at a very young age. Disillusioned with the constant pressures and demands of his success, he decides to make a life changing decision that will remove him from the empire he’s built for himself. He commissions a pilot to charter him to a remote island near Maldives and supply him with the necessary materials to sustain himself at a basic level. His time on the island was meant to be a journey toward self-discovery, but what he never anticipated was that it would also be marred with tragedy.

What was interesting about Uncharted was how quickly I juxtaposed Owen’s time on the island with Anna and TJ’s. It was sad to see how one person’s experience was afforded with all the luxuries and means to sustain, where as the others had to struggle from every aspect in order to simply survive from day to day. TJ and Anna didn't have supplies, water, or back-up food. However, both their stories had their fair share of difficulty. I feel the most heartbreaking part of their story was how closely entwined they were and how one simple action would have saved TJ and Anna from many long years of struggle on the island. To hear how one of Owen’s decisions deeply impacted TJ and Anna was difficult to learn, but in the end it always goes back to… things happen for a reason. ~sighs~

I feel the various perspectives that were presented in Uncharted added an element of emotional punch. To hear from Anna, TJ and Owen through their own voice as the story unfolded was very emotional and captivating.  It was great to see how the characters have progressed after their ending in On the Island, but at the same time it was also interesting to see how Tracey Garvis Graves was able to weave a new perspective into the story-line without upsetting the integrity of the original novel. Well done!

Overall I hope Tracey Garvis Graves takes us to the island once again because I feel her creativity and emotional connectivity truly shines in this setting. Great novella that fans of On the Island will definitely enjoy!

 

5 Suns