{"id":1591,"date":"2018-06-25T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2023-01-02T20:49:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T01:49:57","slug":"review-death-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-death-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Review – Death Island"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Death Island<\/em><\/a><\/h2>\n

by Kelsey Ketch<\/p>\n

\"Death<\/strong>Genres:\u00a0<\/strong>Historical Fantasy
\nRelease Date:\u00a0<\/strong>December 31, 2017
\nPages:<\/strong>\u00a0512
\nPurchase from:<\/strong> Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Barnes & Noble<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo<\/a> |\u00a0iBooks<\/a>\u00a0| Smashwords<\/a>
\nMy Rating:<\/strong> \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/p>\n

Her family name tainted by her great-grandfather\u2019s crimes of piracy, Meriden Cummings is far from the typical 18th century woman. A social outcast, she works in a carpentry shop in a small village, where the people barely tolerate unconventional behavior.<\/p>\n

However, her life takes a turn after a gang of pirates attack her village and her blood reveals an ancient map adorned with Mayan glyphs leading to Death Island. An island legends say is ruled by the Mayan god of the underworld, Ah Puch. Her great-grandfather had sought after the island before he vanished without a trace. Now, Meriden is about to journey across the sea to understand her family history.<\/p>\n

There are only a few problems: her growing feelings toward a mysterious stranger linked to her great-grandfather\u2019s past; a greedy band of pirates after her great-grandfather\u2019s legendary treasure; and a contract she has unwittingly signed in blood with Ah Puch himself.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Review<\/h2>\n

Have you ever read a book that, despite how long it feels as though you’ve been reading, you don’t seem to make much progress toward finishing it?\u00a0Death Island<\/em> is like that. It seemed like no matter how long I read, I only progressed one or two percentage points in the progress bar. I suppose I should have checked the length before I started reading, because this book is LONG. The length wouldn’t be a problem, but while there are certainly interesting sections to the story, they’re interspersed among sections that really drag on.<\/p>\n

I also found a significant number of grammatical and typographical errors in the regular course of reading. I don\u2019t look for errors as I read, so I can only imagine how many more I would have found if I did. I didn\u2019t find any indication that the copy I received was an ARC, so I have to assume that the errors are in the final version.<\/p>\n

I really just couldn’t finish this one. I gave up about a third of the way in. Perhaps for someone who is more interested in the genre, it wouldn’t be interminable, but for me, especially with the errors, I had to stop.<\/p>\n

\n

Excerpt<\/h2>\n

I paced the deck with the few men that stayed behind on watch. It was growing late, and Captain Connell\u2019s curfew was quickly approaching. Soon all the crew would return to the ship, stumbling drunk and fucked out of their minds, but calmer than they had been for a while. Some reason, my body twitched in excitement. I\u2019d been anxious since Meriden left with the last group. There was a knot in my gut the moment she stepped off the dock, and the feeling hadn\u2019t gone away since.<\/p>\n

I causally walked to the starboard bulwark, catching sight of the harbormaster\u2019s window. The candle still burned as it had been long before night fall. Odd, I thought. The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter. I haven\u2019t seen the harbormaster work his books this late into the night. I leaned against the gunwale and squinted a little, trying to focus my vision. The candle was nearly spent, and underneath the dripping wax laid what possibly could be a hand, but it was too far to tell. As I eased back, my gut squirmed like a bunch of worm snakes. I needed to be sure all was well, for Meriden\u2019s safety and the rest of the crew.<\/p>\n

Neglecting to ask Swan\u2019s permission, I slipped down the main deck, across the gangway, and headed straight for the harbormaster\u2019s office. The street was as quiet as the grave when I reached the door. I raised my hand to knock, only for the door to push open on the first tap to the solid oak. I swallowed the lump that crammed its way into my throat. This wasn\u2019t good. I drew my working knife and stepped inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello,\u201d I called. \u201cAnyone still here?\u201d<\/p>\n

It felt stupid walking into the dark hallway without knowing if I might end up dead or accused of theft, but my gut told me to keep pushing forward. I turned right into the room with the burning candle still flickering inside. The office was clean and uncluttered except for the few stacks of paper on the desk. On top of which laid the harbormaster, as if he merely fallen asleep in his desk chair. My eyes refocused again at his outstretched arm. A trail of hot, liquid wax ran across the flesh of the harbormaster\u2019s hand, which didn\u2019t even stir the man awake. My heart pounded with adrenaline, and I pushed the man up by the shoulder.<\/p>\n

A maroon-colored pool poured onto his books from what looked like a dagger wound to the harbormaster\u2019s shoulder. A serious wound, but not one that should have killed. It was the discoloration of the man\u2019s skin and the vomit around the mouth that gave me a better idea what had brought on the man\u2019s demise. I\u2019d seen the signs many times before from men who died in blackish waters as well as a few victims that died at Baker\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

Snake venom.<\/p>\n

\n

About the Author<\/h2>\n

\"KelseyKelsey Ketch is a young-adult\/new-adult author, who works as a Wildlife Biologist in the state of North Carolina. During her free time, she can often be found working on her latest work in progress or organizing the New Adult Scavenger Hunt, a biannual blog hop. She also enjoys history, mythology, traveling, and reading.<\/p>\n

Author links:\u00a0Website<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Goodreads<\/a>\u00a0| Instagram<\/a> | Pinterest<\/a> | Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Amazon Author Page<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Disclaimer: This review is based on a complimentary eBook I received from Lola’s Blog Tours. The complimentary receipt of this book has in no way affected my review or rating.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Lola's<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Death Island by Kelsey Ketch Genres:\u00a0Historical Fantasy Release Date:\u00a0December 31, 2017 Pages:\u00a0512 Purchase from: Amazon\u00a0|\u00a0Barnes & Noble\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo |\u00a0iBooks\u00a0| Smashwords My Rating: \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606 Her family name<\/p>\n

Keep ReadingReview – Death Island<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[94,71,39,148,77,104],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-blogger","tag-0-star-dnf","tag-book-review","tag-books","tag-fantasy","tag-lolas-blog-tours","tag-new-adult","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-pF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2150,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-awakened\/","url_meta":{"origin":1591,"position":0},"title":"Review – Awakened","author":"Rachel","date":"September 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out my review of Awakened, first book of The Power Trilogy by Dot Caffrey. And don't miss the giveaway!","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Awakened","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/awakened-231x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2216,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-three-mages\/","url_meta":{"origin":1591,"position":1},"title":"Review – Three Mages and a Margarita","author":"Rachel","date":"October 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out my review of Three Mages and a Margarita, first book of The Guild Codex: Spellbound series by Annette Marie. And don't miss the giveaway!","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three Mages and a Margarita","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/threeMages-231x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1314,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-alpha-goddess\/","url_meta":{"origin":1591,"position":2},"title":"Review – Alpha Goddess","author":"Rachel","date":"June 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Alpha Goddess by Amalie Howard Series:\u00a0Alpha Goddess, Book 1 Genres: Fantasy, Hindu Mythology, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance Release Date: March 4, 2014 Pages:\u00a0408 Purchase from: Amazon\u00a0|\u00a0Barnes & Noble My Rating:\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 In Serjana Caelum\u2019s world, gods exist. So do goddesses. Sera knows this because she is one of them. A secret\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alpha Goddess","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/alphaGoddess-231x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1539,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-princess-draga\/","url_meta":{"origin":1591,"position":3},"title":"Review – Princess of Draga","author":"Rachel","date":"June 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Princess of Draga by Emma Dean Series: Draga Court, Book 1 Genres:\u00a0Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction Release Date:\u00a0October 17th 2017 Pages:\u00a0274 Purchase from: Amazon My Rating:\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606 In the first book of the Draga Court series, Princess Adelina\u2019s coming-of-age party will declare to the worlds she is finally eligible to wed.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Princess Of Draga","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PrincessOfDraga-231x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1412,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-dark-goddess\/","url_meta":{"origin":1591,"position":4},"title":"Review – Dark Goddess","author":"Rachel","date":"June 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Dark Goddess by Amalie Howard Series:\u00a0Alpha Goddess, Book 2 Genres: Fantasy, Hindu Mythology, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance Release Date: February 13, 2018 Pages:\u00a0376 Purchase from: Amazon\u00a0|\u00a0Barnes & Noble My Rating:\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 After an epic struggle that unseated the Azura Lord of Death and placed Serjana Caelum\u2019s best friend, Kyle, on his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark Goddess","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/darkGoddess-231x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3419,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-taming-demons-beginners\/","url_meta":{"origin":1591,"position":5},"title":"Review – Taming Demons for Beginners","author":"Rachel","date":"November 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Read my review for Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie, first book in The Guild Codex: Demonized series.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Taming Demons for Beginners","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/tamingDemons.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9215,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/9215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}