The Raft by S.A. Bodeen (2012)

Throughout her writing career, S.A. Bodeen has told adventure thrillers and her book, The Raft, is no exception. She tells the story of Robbie, a fifteen year old girl who lives back and forth on two Hawaiian islands. While staying with her aunt, her aunt takes an unexpected business trip and Robbie is left alone. However, after experiencing a mugging, she decides to go back to her parent’s house and books a flying trip home. Not wanting to seem childish, she doesn’t tell her aunt she’s leaving and is unable to reach her parents. So she goes on the plane without worry, except the plane crashes, leaving her and the copilot alone in the middle of the ocean with no food and a raft.

Since about 20 pages in, this book was definitely a thriller. Bodeen was spot on describing the crash to the point that I thought I was experiencing it. Robbie was also portrayed very realistically -she wasn’t someone trained for survival, she was fifteen year old girl who liked hanging around the pool. Sometimes she didn’t know what to do, as anyone as would. From start to finish, the reader could notice little things that contributed to Robbie’s mental and emotional stability decreasing. However, I did see one big flaw in this book: it was completely unrealistic that someone that young would get on (and be allowed to) get on a plane without a guardian knowing. The airline was also irresponsible and never fully checked Robbie in, so when the plane crashed no one knew to look for her. I don’t know anyone, myself included, who would ever go through with jumping on a plane without letting someone know I was on it.

Ultimately, it was a quick, thrilling read that was definitely interesting besides it’s flaws.
3 Stars