On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back Cover:
When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

My Review:
An absolutely great book! ‘On the Island’ was author Tracey Garvis-Graves debut novel and it was just phenomenal. This is the story about two individuals marooned on a deserted island surviving to stay alive over a period of over 3 years.

Do not be put off based on the premise of this book, ‘On the Island’ is much more than just an older women / younger man romance; it is about survival, friendship, perseverance, courage, trust, faith, hope, dreams, companionship, support and deep abiding love that breaks through barriers.

I’m so glad to have come across this book browsing through Amazon. The writing was flawless; the descriptions were vivid. I liked reading the book through both Anna and T.J’s point of view.

Anna and TJ’s story was heartbreaking at times and heartwarming at others; I laughed, I cried and cheered for them. I was sorry to see this book end and that’s saying something.

If you could read only one book this year – I would highly recommend ‘On the Island’

On the Island Quote:

“[T.J.] If she had gotten sick, the only thing I could have done was watch her suffer. Bury her next to Mick when she died. I didn’t know if I could make it without her. The sound of her voice, her smile, her– those were the things that made living on the island bearable. I held her a little tighter and thought if she woke up I might tell her that. She didn’t though. She sighed in her sleep, and eventually I drifted off.” 

― Tracey Garvis-Graves, On the Island 

“I don't fit in your world."
"Neither do I," he said, his expression tender yet resolute. "So let's make our own. We've done it before.”
― Tracey Garvis-Graves, On the Island

“[T.J.] I kissed her as soon as we were inside her apartment, and I wasn’t gentle about it, holding her face firmly in my hands and pressing my lips hard against hers. She wasn’t anyone’s to own – I knew that – but right then she was mine.” 
― Tracey Garvis-Graves, On the Island