Marrow Island
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Lucie Bowen left the islands twenty years ago, when the May Day Quake set loose catastrophic waves along the west coast, from Alaska to California, shattering thousands of lives. Her father disappeared in an explosion at the Marrow Island oil refinery, destroying the island's ecosystem and sending Lucie and her mother to the mainland to start anew. Now Marrow Island is no longer uninhabitable. A mysterious Colony has conjured life again from Marrow's soil. But this rebirth seems to have come at great cost to the colonists themselves. As a journalist, what price will Lucie pay for the truth?
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★★ out of 5 at https://spikegelato.com/2016/06/07/marrow-island/
A young woman returns home to investigate a secretive community that has appeared on a nearby island, while further exploring her own issues related to past relationships and loss.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Perhaps it was unfair to want this novel to be something it was not, but that was what I kept feeling while reading this. It never quite reached the intrigue-piquing levels of books with similar plots and settings like California, The Lightkeepers, or The Beach. Every potential revelation was muted and underwhelming. Things appeared to be picking up steam about halfway through when the true nature of the secretive, cult-like society's motivations were made clear, but any narrative momentum was quickly halted by the unsatisfying chapter structure that switched between past and present. This did not enhance the story and, at times, left me confused about the true timeline of events. I did enjoy Smith's prose and her descriptions of nature, especially when it came to fungus. That withstanding, I was let down with this book overall, as the contents of the book never lived up to the description on the back.
★★ out of 5
Marrow Island took me to a part of the world I've never been to before. Sadly, due to a disaster, the islands are not in a condition to be visited but that is where the story lies. Lucy, a bit broken by Life, returns home to take a time out. Instead of peace and quiet, she finds herself reuniting with an old friend who is also rebuilding her life-but as a colonist on a formerly toxic island. Everytime I thought I knew where the story was going, it went somewhere else. Most surprising was how I found myself interested in the science behind the story. I had no idea about the mushrooms.
It loses a star for running out of steam in the plot. The big climax was kind of ....meh. Overall it was a good read.
Side notes: I listened to most of this on audio and loved the narrator's voice. Also, apparently I read Glaciers by this author awhile ago and LOVED it.
