The Other Side of the Island (review)

Island 365 is a safe haven, fully protected by Earth Mother and her Corporation; any family should be grateful to be permitted to live there and follow the strict rules set out for their own protection. Honor’s parents, however, are not good with rules, and Honor must pay the consequences for their actions throughout her childhood. School indoctrination eventually trumps family bonds, and Honor willingly sacrifices her individuality and risks her parents’ lives, all in the pursuit of belonging and finding comfort in being an obedient cog in Earth Mother’s elaborate plan to roof in and therefore control the entire world. While Honor’s extreme naïveté occasionally strains credulity, Goodman is careful to establish her as isolated on an island that appears to have no resistance against corporate dominance and so meticulously shaped by her school environment as to be truly out of control of her own destiny. The creepy erasing of individuals who do not comply and the disturbing overwriting of such cultural markers as the Pledge of Allegiance by Earth Mother add thriller elements to this science fiction novel. Although the full reasons behind the current political climate are sketchy, this gap in the plot will be easily overlooked as Honor’s slow, hard-won realization of her identity and the value of her family makes for a satisfying and compelling read.