The Secret of Golden Island

🏝️☀️🚣🏻🔐

by Natasha Farrant

★★★★

Review

This story is one of friendship and family, with plenty of heart-warming moments and a couple of plot twists too! 

Skylar is lonely, her friends have moved on and her adventure-loving grandpa is seriously ill. Yao is lonely( he has fled the war and left his mother and sister behind. When Golden Island come duo for grabs, these two isolated children put their differences aside to make their dreams come true. However, winning an island in a competition isn’t as simple as it seems, and their competitors will stop at NOTHING to secure the prize. 

Despite a fairly predictable start to the story, the later chapters begin to twist and turn, leading the reader in a dark and mysterious path filled with untrustworthy characters, scandal and betrayal. 

The first thing that I enjoyed about this book is watching a wonderful friendship blossom between Skylar and Yakov. I loved learning about their individual stories (Skylar coping with the trauma of her grandfather’s stroke and Yakov processing his refugee status) and witnessing how their own experiences led them to one another. I was inspired by how offering an ear can empower others to share their secrets and heartbreaks, leading not only to new friends but happiness too. 

I think this book is a brilliant story of bravery and teaches you to face your greatest fears, whether this be apologising, rhe dark or losing those who you love the most. Some parts of the story may be upsetting for some readers, so may be best read by older readers (8+) or children who are able to discuss these themes with adults at home. 

I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of adventure, those who like a window into the lives of others, or anyone who’d like to win an ENTIRE island in a competition! 

Dive Deeper

At a glance

Author: Natasha Farrant

Illustrator: n/a

Release Date: 1st August 2024

Book type: Chapter, 336 pages

Reader level: Confident reader (9+), Shared read 8+

Blurb

Skylar's old friends felt sorry for her but they were too afraid to talk to her.

Yakov's old friends were far away, blown across continents by war . . .

When Skylar meets Yakov she is still reeling from the news of her grandfather's stroke. Yakov is just desperate to go home. They recognise something in each other: a need for friendship, but something else fizzy beneath the surface. A refusal to accept what life has dealt them; a reckless desire to change things up for the better.

So when there's a competition to own nearby Golden Island, it's no surprise they want it.

But how can two children possibly win an island? And what will they risk to call it their own?

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