The Island

“‘Don’t you see an issue with the fact that you’re only pushing for this in the hope she’ll come home and start doing dances online…or whatever it is these kids are posting?’ I close my eyes and cringe. Lord, shine a light.”

This conversation shows that Paisley’s parents, though loving, are very ignorant of her career. Her father refers to influencers as “doing dances online…or whatever,” revealing that he doesn’t know or care all that much about the nuances of the social media sphere. This bit of characterization supports Paisley’s assertion that Blaine, her brother, is the golden child.

“Trees are sparse on the island but the few there are full of bushy green leaves. From here, the park is dark, wooden, and void of color. Even with the blue ocean and clear, sunny skies, the island appears more gloomy than glamorous. I kind of like it. The Magic Kingdom isn’t my thing.”

Though Jagged Island is home to an amusement park, it is far from Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Instead, it is “more gloomy than glamorous,” “dark, wooden, and void of color.” The imagery paints a foreboding picture fitting for the novel’s Gothic setting and emphasizes Paisley’s fascination with the scary and gruesome.

“And then I look up and, holy hell, that must be Malcolm. Standing at the thick double-pointed-arch wooden doors of the hotel is a tall, lanky man with curly black hair and a pipe. He’s wearing a long burgundy coat—despite the summer heat—and a black turtleneck.”

Malcolm’s first appearance in the novel reveals him to be a man concerned with looks and his image over personal comfort. “Despite the summer heat,” he is dressed in long layers and in dark colors. He is not British but sports a pipe and decorates his hotel in Gothic splendor, intending to evoke inherited wealth and aristocracy.

“Two thirty-seven. The number sounds familiar and then I remember. Wasn’t that the number of the room in The Shining? The one where the dead woman was in the bathtub.”

Here Preston uses an allusion to Stephen King’s The Shining, a famous horror novel and subsequent film. This reference solidifies Paisley’s characterization as a horror fan and adds to the eerie atmosphere. At this point, the narrative makes it eerily ambiguous whether her room number a coincidence or foreshadowing.

“Someone on Reddit worked out, with some mathematical formula that made my brain hurt, that statistically we will walk past thirty-six murderers in our lifetime. Give or take, depending on lifestyle. It’s quite fascinating in an absolutely frightening way. How many have I been close to already? Have I said thank you to one for opening a door or bumped into one at the mall?”

Early in the novel, the idea of running into a murderer is “fascinating” but not a reality for Paisley. Ironically, she has already met a murderer (Liam) and believes him to be a friend. This passage highlights that irony and emphasizes the deceptive nature of appearances, which fool even a sleuth like Paisley.

“If there was someone out there, I doubt they would hang around. Will is a dead man tomorrow if that was him.”

Paisley makes an innocent joke about Will being “a dead man” for pranking her. In a moment of dark irony, Will actually is dead—a victim of Liam’s murderous plot. This is an example of both irony and foreshadowing of the darker events that are to come.

“‘I heard him moving about in his room around midnight,’ Liam says. ‘Real loud. I was trying to record. Rude.’ He takes a large bite of toast, ripping it like a lion shredding flesh.”

Here Liam is lying about hearing Will and pretending to be just one of the influencers instead of a murderer. The simile compares him to a lion devouring his prey, which is both an example of his bad table manners and a foreshadowing of his true nature as a murderer.

“I’ve seen so many dead bodies since I started my crime channel. But I’ve always been separated by a screen. I’m safe in my room, surrounded by my fluffy pens, posters of my favorite bands, and photo of my dog, Bailey.”

Though Paisley’s parents see her true crime fascination as problematic and worry that it causes her to be morbid, she experiences the cases more as entertainment or an intellectual puzzle than reality. When confronting Will’s body, she is horrified by the violence that she sees in reality when she is not “separated” from it “by a screen.”

“He’s very good at being the owner, showing off, and watching people revel in what he’s created. He’s not so great in a crisis.”

This moment of characterization shows that Malcolm is comfortable being in control and receiving positive attention when he is “showing off.” However, he is not good at planning or helping people in dire situations. As much as he pretends to be an admirable person, he is selfish and cowardly.

“‘I don’t like the side effects.’ ‘Like people knowing about your business?’ ‘I’m talking about the negatives. Everyone and everything look so perfect online. In reality, people have issues, skin has texture, teeth don’t glow, and stomachs have rolls.’”

Though Presley is annoyed by Malcolm’s criticism, he is one of many characters that point out the flaws of social media. While Malcolm is focused on more superficial criticisms, Paisley herself has pointed out that her followers trust her more than they do people in real life. This passage relates to the novel’s theme of The Deceptive Nature of Social Media Appearances.

“Ava rolls her eyes and turns her back to the rest of us. I feel a little bad about snapping at her. Without James, she’s completely lost.”

Ava and Paisley are at odds due to their different interests and personalities. In this moment, Paisley realizes that Ava is vulnerable emotionally and leans on men (at the moment, James) for security and support. Unlike Paisley, she does not feel comfortable standing on her own feet and craves male approval.

“Women count for sixteen percent of serial killers. There’s nothing right now to suggest that the person out there isn’t part of that statistic. We should keep an open mind. Besides, it’s probably a team.”

Though Paisley repeatedly shares facts about female serial killers, such as this one, she still is ignorant to the fact that Harper is one of the murderers. This bit of irony emphasizes the deceptive nature of appearances and the fact that even Paisley is not infallible. Though she tries to “keep an open mind” she is still persuaded by her personal biases, including her affection for Harper and her dislike of Camilla.

“Harper doesn’t seem to have much time for emotion. She, like me, just wants to figure this out. There will be plenty of time to process later. Good thing I have money now because therapy is going to be expensive.”

Paisley struggles to maintain her equilibrium in the face of danger and violence. One coping method is dark humor as she jokes that her wealth will have to go toward therapy. She assumes that Harper is also struggling to cope but does not realize that her supposed friend is removed from emotion because she is sadistic.

“Malcolm hasn’t been particularly helpful so far and he’s let us lead on figuring this thing out. Now he wants to play the hero. He wants to be able to tell the press that he risked his life to save Reeve.”

Paisley and the other characters again notice Malcolm’s obsession with being seen as a hero rather than taking action. She notes that he wants to “play the hero” like a role but does not want to actually “lead” them to figure anything out. He is more concerned with his public image than his real actions.

“Her back straightens. ‘I could be the lookout.’ Her eyes catch fire as she realizes this is how she’s able to help. Before now I didn’t think she even wanted to do anything.”

For the first time, Ava realizes that she can help the others and offers to act. Her character is mostly static in the novel, but this is one moment of positive development. Notably, her previously listless expression is replaced by her eyes catching “fire” as she finds renewed hope.

“Thoughts of home and my family refocus me. I have to get through this so next week I can sit on my sofa with my family and eat pizza on family night. Every Thursday is the same. Board games, cards, or movies and three large pizzas. I can’t believe I ever thought that was boring. I would give anything to be curled under a blanket between my parents again.”

Paisley began the narrative thinking that her home was boring and her parents stifling. Now, thinking of them is how she can “refocus” and try to survive. She realizes how much she took for granted and wishes for normalcy.

“He shrugs. ‘Like I said before, I’m not really focused on the guys. And once I’m on the boat I’m focused on the sea. You don’t respect the sea, you drown. The ocean can change in an instant if you’re not vigilant.’ ‘Sounds like there’s a story there,’ I say, looking over my shoulder, totally paranoid.”

This conversation with Gibson reminds Paisley that there are other dangers beyond the island, including the natural elements such as the ocean. He sees the sea as something to “respect” but ignored the danger posed by the teenaged “guys” he was transporting to the island. Ultimately, they are the cause of his death.

“‘Sorry.’ I’m hollow. ‘She’s d-dead.’ I saw a person murdered in front of me. Her blood was everywhere. It’s so much worse than finding Will and James dead. I watched her take her last breath.”

Throughout the novel, Paisley grapples with a loss of innocence as she witnesses death and murder firsthand. Her prior experience was mediated by a screen, but she is shattered by the reality of death. Seeing true crime stories makes her merely curious, but Camilla’s death makes her “hollow.”

“I scream so loud I’m probably heard by the entire island. Kenna is lying behind the door, in the room with all the ghosts. Her throat has been slit. A halo of blood lies under her head.”

Kenna’s body is discovered in the haunted house, a grim example of situational irony—she is a literal horror among the fake ones. “A halo” is around her head, emphasizing her innocence, but it is a halo “of blood.” The imagery emphasizes that she is an innocent victim of the violence of the killers.

“‘Er…I don’t know. Pass. I’ve known the three of them for two days. That’s not long enough to really know a person.’ Wives and husbands, parents, families of murderers have all claimed to know the person who turned out to be evil. Two days. Twenty years. I’m not sure we ever know anyone.”

Paisley meditates on whether a person can really know someone. Ironically, she is speaking to Liam, whom she assumes to be a friend. She will soon join the statistic she cites of not knowing “the person who turned out to be evil.”

“Five pairs of eyes watch me like they think I’m having a breakdown. And I feel like I just might. The intensity of what’s happening is overwhelming. It’s one thing to watch a TV show or listen to a podcast—it’s another to experience it in real time.”

Paisley struggles to grapple with the real experience of crime versus experiencing it in person. At the same moment, her peers “watch her” as if she is on screen herself. This imagery emphasizes her fear and isolation, as well as each character’s struggle to make sense of the terror.

“Gibson’s words feel like bugs crawling all over me. I stood back and watched Camilla be killed. We did nothing to prevent it from happening. How can I do that again?”

Paisley is consumed with guilt because she could not intervene to save Camilla. She conceptualizes her self-loathing and Gibson’s words as “bugs crawling” on her. She fears that she will not be able to help again and will have to watch another death.

“‘This feels so wrong,’ Harper says, following my lead. Her words don’t quite match her actions, she’s flicking the bottle all over the place with bright eyes.”

Harper pretends to be afraid to burn the park, but her “bright eyes” reveal her eagerness. She, like Liam, is reveling in the destruction around her. This moment foreshadows her revelation that she is one of the killers and is a sadist who enjoys death.