Title: Sacrifice Island
Author: Kristin Dearborn
Genre: Horror, Dark Fiction
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
A tropical paradise…
Jemma and Alex are paranormal investigators, writing a book on hauntings around the world. When Jemma begins researching a cryptic diary written by a young woman who committed suicide on a supposedly haunted island in the Philippines years earlier, they think they’ve found their next chapter.
A tragic past…
It doesn’t take long for the pair to learn that the island harbors long-buried secrets, while savagely mutilated bodies turn its cerulean seas bloodred around them.
An ancient legend…
For the sprits here are demanding, and Jemma must confront her own demons while attempting to save herself and Alex from taking a permanent vacation to Sacrifice Island.
The idea behind Sacrifice Island is a pretty well-known trope. Jemma and Alex are paranormal investigators, writing about hauntings all across the globe. They travel to a secluded place in the Philippines where, apparently, lots of people have gone missing on a haunted island nearby. On the island, Jemma finds a diary of a young woman who committed suicide there ages ago, and she begins reading all about the woman’s day-to-day life. The longer she spends there, the more she is drawn to the island, and the terrible secrets it holds.
Jemma was an interesting character, especially since she refused to get close to anyone. At first I thought she was just shy, or she’d gone through something terrible in the past, but the more the story evolved, the more I thought it had to be something more sinister than that. When it is finally revealed, I was amazed at the originality of the author.
Same goes for the haunted island. The author managed to incorporate a little-known myth with well-known horror elements and turn it into a refreshing, breathtaking story. The writing was excellent, the setting atmospheric and haunting, and the monster on the island was very intriguing.
I absolutely loved this book, and would recommend it to all fans of the genre. It’s a perfect Halloween read.
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