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Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite
The Island by S. Usher Evans is the first in the Madion War trilogy. It’s been fifty years since the war between Kylae and Rave started, and it doesn’t appear that it’ll be ending in the near future. Captain Theo Kallistrate has been in the service since she was twelve. The only life she knows is struggling to survive, and the loss that comes with fighting for independence. Prince Galian isn’t a soldier or a pilot, he’s a doctor who was trained to save a life, no matter whose life it is. When his brother died a year prior, his father decided it wasn’t enough to lose one son, but to risk Galian, whom the media dubbed 'the party prince.' When the two cross paths, it’s under anything but happy circumstances. Theo sees her chance for a promotion and takes it, but her actions end up getting the two stranded on an island where the only chance they have is by relying on each other.
Told from the points of view of Galian and Theo, The Island is an addictive start to the trilogy. S. Usher Evans flawlessly shifts perspectives, flowing together scenes with ease. Galian and Theo are two different people, raised with separate ideals about this constant war. When they first meet, they see each other as just that: different. Galian saves her life twice, choosing to follow what he was taught as a doctor instead of what his father would suggest. Theo knows the cruelty of the Kylaen king and his army, so she expects the same of the younger prince (who they mockingly call ‘princeling’). She doesn’t expect to see that he’s kind, naïvely optimistic, and sincere. They’re on opposites sides of the war, which highlights the horrors of war. The novel may contain romance (which is delightful), but the heart of the story is humanity. They’re people first. Evans asks the question, what does it take to have humanity? The Island has everything; romance, action, the ethical dilemma of war, morality, morals, and despite the horrors, there’s hope (and not just Galian’s unwavering optimism).
