This is fine.

It's entertaining, if a bit illogical.

The cast of characters is kind of irritating and the one of the big reveals wasn't big and wasn't a reveal. The reader definitely figures it out early.

Fast start, but slows towards the middle and then it becomes clear that there's no real ending or direction.

I have no clue if there's a second book coming. I may or not read a 2nd book if there is one. I do fear that I may forget this book by the time a 2nd book comes around.

* ARC via Publisher

This is a quick read with a great premise, despite being easily cracked. None of the characters were likeable and I held very little hope for changed behaviour once they got out of the situation they found themselves in. That said, it was a great commentary on base human instincts and the motivations of normal people living normal lives with normal jobs- especially when you’re acting in the interests of self-preservation.

I would like to thank NetGalley, J.E. Rowney and BooksGoSocial for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 2⭐ - I really wanted to like this book. Although the synopsis looked interesting, I didn't vibe with this book or the characters.  Luckily this was a quick read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

As I started the book it felt a slow, but the personalities clashed enough to grab my attention. Mostly my hatred for Marcus. As I kept reading I became very happy that Mark reflected so many real life toxic co-workers out there, because the story us great.

If you ever worked with other humans you will have met someone that J.E Rowney brought to life.

Great unique read.

Following the loss of a lucrative contract due to internal rivalries, a group of seven feuding office workers are sent on a team-building weekend by their boss. On the way there the private plane develops engine trouble & the group wake up marooned on a deserted tropical island. There the rivalries become magnified as the group struggle to locate water, food, & shelter plus look for a way off the island.

The synopsis to this sounded great but it never really got going for me. The tensions were pretty petty & became annoying really quickly. It's quite a short book at just over 200 pages & I think the characters weren't really given time to develop so the reader isn't really invested in what happens to them & the conclusion was very quick. It was OK but I think many things could have been improved on if it had been slightly longer.

My thanks to NetGalley & publisher, BooksGoSocial, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I loved the tension in this book!! So much fun. The characters weren't likable, but I got invested in the drama. The office workers are required to go on a retreat because they are in trouble, and things do not go as planned. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I could not put it down. I wish the book had been longer because I wasn't ready for it to be over. I was thinking that they would have had more "incidents" with nature to help them bond. They were supposed to be on the retreat for a week, so they could have stayed a few nights. It also left me with a few questions, like how did Mark have the vision, and what was up with Sarah. An epilogue would have been good too.

I really liked the characters, and it was good to learn a little about them and why they are the way they are.

JE Rowney is one of my favourite authors, and I've enjoyed every book of hers that i have read. I can't wait for her next novel.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the usual trope filled stranded on an island book. While this time it's a bunch of coworkers who are forced to go on a retreat to get along, the grouching and sniping at each other as well as the ominousness of the unknown rescue is ever present.

The plot on how they come to the island is a bit off and the characters are quite superficial. It's hard to empathize or even actually like any of them. Plus I didn't understand the title of the book and how it ties in.

An OK read but nothing to get too excited about.

Thank you to Little Fox Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC.

This book lacked depth. It was on the shorter side, which I appreciated, but that left no room for character development. Yes, the characters changed during the book, but I disliked them all. There was no background information provided that face a chance to get to know the characters and the “why” behind who they were. I was also confused initially with the switch between first names and last names in the beginning.

The plot was a good one, though I wish it was more developed. The wiring was descriptive and I Reilly felt like I was there on the island with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Really disappointed. Saw the ending coming from a mile off. No real story, no real ending.
I was really looking forward to reading this but it did nothing but disappoint.
The only way it can change is if there is a sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book….and I was excited to see where this novel would go.

After the promise of quite an exciting prospect of being lost on a tropical island with tensions between the personnel they were stuck with, the book sadly failed to deliver for me.

I desperately wanted it to be more tense, more emotive, more dramatic - but I felt that it was more of a ‘and the moral to the tale’ type piece.

Maybe I’d read it after reading quite a rollercoaster thriller - and others might find it more up their street. Sadly it wasn’t for me this time.

I was really excited to read this as the premise sounded intriguing. Richard sends his staff on a team building exercise and it ends in disaster. Their plane crashes and they must work together to survive or will they?!
Sadly this felt very flat and I was left a little disappointed. That could just be me as I can see there are plenty reviews rating this highly.
Thank you to netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a good read! I’ve seen this advertised and was hooked straight away! Definitely worth a read!

This book was promoted as a blend of The Office and Lord of the Flies. While intriguing in concept, I found it to be more predictable than its inspirations. I was able to anticipate the plot developments early on, leaving few surprises. The conclusion didn't pack the punch I hoped for. The premise was promising, but the execution didn't quite match my expectations. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to NetGalley & J.E Rowney and Little Fox publishing for an ARC book! I loved it, finished it in a day! A quick read. Definitely gave me the office vibes 😂 Sad it’s over! Felt like it could’ve been longer, I didn’t know what was going to happen next or if someone was going to 💀.

I was really looking forward to reading this book- I was imagining something from my teenage favourites Lord of the flies and the series Lost. The book was very short so felt very rushed and I was hoping for something explosive and crazy to happen but it didn’t. I started to guess how this was going to end and I wasn’t wrong. There was definitely lots of missed opportunities in this book.

A book that I found started off slowly, but then raced towards the finish. I had guessed the ending before it came but I still enjoyed reading it. The characters had all the infighting of people thrust together in an environment who have to learn to get along. Not my usual read, but a good book anyway

“The Office” meets “Lord of the Flies”? Yes, please! Sign me up! ⁣
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I was rubbing my hands together in glee and anticipation, but I was let down...down...down...⁣
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Where are the evil machinations, the backstabbing, the lies, the deceit, the drama, kissing the boss' *ss, selling one's soul to the devil for the raise or promotion? Where are the affairs and the gossip and the forgeries, the theft, the fraud, the manipulation, the exploitation? Where, where, where? I guess that only happens in my office then? ⁣
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So, here's what happens in this story. A senior employee sends out a career-defining mail without an attachment, and his boss blows his fuse. Instead of firing him, he and all of the office staff are sent to an exclusive resort ON A PRIVATE PLANE for a team-building exercise. They never make it, because the plane crashes on some deserted island, and is totally wrecked, along with almost all of their luggage. They don't remember what happened or how they got there, but now they have to put all their differences aside and work together to get off the island alive. ⁣
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Though this premise sounds very interesting, the treatment of the material was very shallow and superficial. That is to say, I felt like I had read the outline or the first draft of a book that should have been developed into something much better. This could have actually turned into a phenomenal novel if much more thought and effort had been put into it.⁣
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None of the characters were well-developed enough for me to even care about a single one of them. There is no development of relationship dynamics between any of the characters either, and the scenes were brief and under-developed. Did you notice how many times I used the word ‘development’? I guess we can safely assume there’s a problem with development in this novel.⁣
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The end was predictable and a bit patronizing in a 'and this, dear children, is why we should always be helpful and considerate of others' kind of way. The writing felt too flat and simplistic in some places, and not as if it was written for adults. ⁣
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Overall, it was short and I finished it pretty fast, but it didn't fill me up like a good meal does. It was more like eating some appetizers or finger food and then realizing that's it, there's no dinner being served, that's all I'm going to get to eat.⁣
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Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book was billed as The Office meets Lord of the Flies, but unfortunately it was far more predictable than either of those. I had intuited correctly what was happening very quickly into the book, and there were essentially no surprises at all. The ending, also, is highly anti-climactic. I liked the idea of this book more than I enjoyed the reality/banality of it.

A quick read with the tagline “The Office” meets “Lord of the Flies”. This kept me reading if only to see if anything interesting happens. For a thriller it was not suspenseful and honestly I couldn’t get into any of the characters, they were are unlikelable, terrible people. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the read in exchange for an honest review

3/5 ⭐️