Book Review: Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder

Book Reviews Jun 24, 2021

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder is a challenging book to explain. I know there are some mixed reviews for this book, but hear me out.

I personally enjoyed reading the book, and I thought that yes, sure, there might be a good amount of loose ends/unanswered questions, but I thought those felt fitting. Everything on the island is practically perfect (no spoilers here!), but the loose ends create the feeling that something isn’t quite as it seems. The ending felt a tad rushed, but it captures Jinny’s feeling/mood as she rushes off to the boat. (Ok, enough spoilers for now.) It’s a difficult book to summarize, but it’s the kind of book that leaves you thinking.

I feel like there’s a lot of symbolism in the book. In particular, I felt that the whole concept with the island and the boat and the orphans themselves symbolized the foster care system. Knowing how every so often, the oldest kid leaves also is similar to that of the foster care system. When there are too many kids in the system, things start to go a little out of order. There’s so many more similarities, but if I listed them all out I’d be here typing for days.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I hope there will be a sequel. :)