TBR Challenge: Patricia Berwick - Peril and Paradise

Peril in Paradise a mystery adventure story about a graduate student who decides to do her research in a remote island group in the Pacific. She is invited there by a fellow student who appears to have all the right connections to make her stay there an informative one. Very shortly she finds herself immersed in intrigue and legend which could be life-threatening to both herself and others. She decides she has to uncover whatever is happening in order to complete her research and return safely to her home in the United States.
Her search leads her to an island that is almost magical and where she falls in love with a handsome young islander well-versed in the ways of the West. Through a series of adventures he keeps her safe until the secret of the islands is uncovered, and she can return to her home. She leaves with her research is in tatters, guarding a secrete that can never be told, but knowing she she has much to accomplish in life.

Comment: I keep saying I don't remember why this or that book was added to my TBR and the same happens in regards to this book. No idea... but the blurb sounded great! Plus, the story was going to take place in a remote island somewhere around what could be the French Polynesia area! What a perfect choice for this month's TBR Challenge post, which is conveniently "location, location, location".

Prudence is an anthropology student in the US when the chance to travel to Oumatou, a remote island in the Pacific, comes her way which will help tremendously with her field work. Thankfully, she is friends with Manu, who is originally from that island, studying abroad on a scholarship, and after some doubts and eagerness, she finds herself going all the way there, with a brief stop in Hawaii to stay with her friend Susan. As soon as she arrives on the island, she is sad Manu doesn't stay around as much but he offers his mother's house for her to stay in and things go on well enough for a while. However, Prue is wary of some things and many inhabitants look at her strangely, which she thinks might have to do with her skin tone, but as she learns of legends and myths about the island and the smaller Mamao and Apiti surrounding it, she becomes restless. Is Prue truly safe in such a emote location?

I've seen this author - unfamiliar to me before trying this book - has an extensive background in anthropology and that is how she became inspired for her fictional work. I'd say the writing was not as smooth as we can see in other writers, perhaps who have dedicated themselves to fiction for longer, but dr Berwick used her knowledge precisely in the field of anthropology to invent a set of islands in the Pacific, so similar to real ones but different enough, to create several cultural aspects which aren't that surprising for us to believe could exist for real and set her story there.

The story has all the necessary ingredients to make this a compelling read. There were also times I thought back to those great adventure movies from the 80s and 90s mostly where the protagonists had to face weird set ups and still get ahead with unlikely odds. Prudence finds a way to travel to a remote island, even with misgivings, but she successfully reaches her destination. I think the details regarding this were made to seem a bit too easy when in real life it certainly cannot be, but I also had the feeling the author was more concerned about content than realistic steps.

I think the best achieved element was the atmosphere throughout the story. Prue herself says she feels uneasy, but the sensation that something isn't as right as it should can be felt from the beginning. This isn't horror, though, and the mystery reference in the labels for this book is very mild but the author has managed to develop a believable tone of edginess related to what Prue was seeing. The story is told from her POV, with four of five chapters closer to the end where we have her friend's Susan perspective in third person. I suppose it was the way for a few things to make sense in the end.

The plot is both simple and a little confusing because the author can't share everything right away, but there are details which start to make sense when we add up the information. Still, I imagined the whole story to be related to a specific event and how culture and prejudice and the evolution of communities might have affected such an isolated region but the truth was a little more... bizarre. When we finally understand what had propelled the whole thing, why Prue went through so many adventures and so much danger, when all is explained I was a little dumbfounded. I can see the author's idea but, really, it all ended up being a bit too weird.

The fascinating part was how the author used real anthropological facts and twisted them to create the mentality and culture of the people in these islands. Some things are so common among groups who live in countries/places we still consider to be far from "civilization" that it was easy to imagine the islands and the behaviors there. I was as interested in guessing the secrets as I was in seeing the dynamics between characters but this aspect was really very superficial. The author did enough, yes, but the intent was on how Prue was different to suit the plot.

I did love the islands' descriptions and it was very easy to go back to images of real islands in the Pacific for inspiration. Prue swam a lot in gorgeous locations! It made me think of what I'd do if something so extraordinary were to happen to me and in terms of location this story seemed way stronger than when it came to characterization. Sadly, most characters weren't really developed for a story which was quite focused on anthropology and how people vs groups might make a difference.

All things considered, I still cannot decide if this was really imaginative or slightly bonkers, but it certainly made for a very entertaining novel. Some elements were great as I've said, others not that much. I'll debate if I'll read the sequel some day.

Grade: 7/10