Shutter Island

Wow, this book very pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't sure at all what to expect when diving into this novel and I haven't watched the movie but when I started it I thought that it would not be my cup of tea. However, I am glad I stuck it out because in all I really enjoyed this whole novel and I can't wait to watch the movie now. I have also discovered an amazing author in the process and will definitely be getting to his other works a lot sooner now. I think it's also important not to go into this book with too much background information because it's pretty easy to follow and after a few chapters I was hooked.

To begin with, Shutter Island is about two marshals who go to a remote island called Shutter Island, which hosts the incredibly insane, because a patient of theirs has escaped out of her cell and they need help locating her. However, things quickly get out of control and we find out that nothing on this island is as it seems. And this book's plot- just WOW! It's got to be incredibly hard to come up with something so original but this surpasses that. The pacing was great and after I was hooked, I couldn't stop reading it because I wanted to see what happens. Also, this book probably has one of the biggest reveals I have encountered so far, it's something akin to the surprise in The Silent Patient, for those who have read it and know what I'm talking about.

Further on, the characterization was pretty good. I wouldn't say they were the most extraordinary characters I have ever encountered in a novel but they were definitely very complicated and complex people, with a lot of skeletons in their closets. This was rather a short read and maybe if it was a bit longer we could have seen a little bit more into the characters' souls. However, with that said the main character, Teddy, definitely has a complete background and by the end of the book everything makes sense about why he acts the way that he acts. So, definitely not disappointed one bit.

Finally, the writing was what I had problems with the most in this book. Even though it flawed well enough, there were times when it felt choppy and I had to reread parts to make sure I understood everything fully. This was very minimal but it still took me a few chapters to fully get used to the writing style because it's not the one that feels the most natural to me in thrillers like this. All in all, not bad though.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this quick, suspenseful thriller and will be recommending it to all my thriller nerds, if not just for that huge twist at the end. It definitely had me holding onto my seat once I got used to the writing style and the plot was set and established. I am so excited to watch the movie after this and can't wait to compare this awesome book to that. It was a great read and I can't wait to check out all of this author's other works!