Gray Wolf Island
For fans of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender comes a compelling story of five friends in search of a legendary treasure. They’ll face adventure, supernatural elements, and what it means to trust your friends with the darkest of secrets. Ruby’s sister had one dying wish: that Ruby explore the infamous Gray Wolf Island and find the treasure long rumored to be buried there. Ruby sets off to find it, with only a poem, serving as a treasure map, to guide her. She teams up with some local friends—a boy supposedly born of a virgin, a girl who doesn’t sleep, a boy who has visions of his own death, and another with a dark family history. Together, they must face their own demons and give their secrets to the island in order to find their treasure. Along the way, they’ll learn things about themselves, and each other, that they never thought possible. But on an island that demands both truth and death, how far will they go to reach the end?
There’s something about how Tracey Neithercott writes that comes off more poetic in nature than what you’d typically expect to find in a book of the YA genre. Even with its artistic nature there’s still plenty of adventure to be had of course with a treasure hunt, secrets, magic, mystery, lies, and enough surprises to keep your attention riveted. The bonds of friendship formed by the end of this journey are full of heartfelt compassion you can’t help but feel like there’s a part of you truly there with them.
This unique premise and interesting characters will make you glad you dove into this novel as you are taken on an epic journey through some truly gorgeous settings. I’ve read repeatedly where it’s been described as a Goonies-like tale and it’s definitely a worthy comparison.
Her character development alone should make this a MUST-add to your shelf. She’s created these wonderfully complex, original and realistic people that are so well-developed you’ll wish they existed IRL. Thanks to her vivid attention to detail and artistry I could easily see this being made into a movie.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Childrens for allowing me to review this book.
*synopsis and pic from netgalley.com