Set on a remote Scottish island, this adventure story for young readers (Years 6+) doesn’t quite work. The ingredients are all there: isolated location; stormy weather; creepy kid who leads a secret society. But it all seems to come to nothing really. It read like a ‘dark’ Famous Five adventure, with less fun, and no lemonade! I feel that the intended audience, who are used to much more exciting reading, will be rather bored by this and may not even finish it. And if they do, they’ll probably shrug and say “so what?”.
However, for a less sophisticated reader, it might be a perfect fit. There is no swearing, no violence, and nothing to give them nightmares!
It’s disappointing, because Alexander obviously wanted to explore the dynamics of power within a group of children who are isolated and have nowhere else to go. It could have been so much better if there was some real tension created.