Story for the Week
I have watched every episode of Survivor—all 620 of them (Confessions of a Reality TV Junkie), from season 1 when Jeff Probst was the blandest host on television to season 42 when he provided continuous, energetic color commentary and is a celebrity all on his own.
When the show started in 2000, I was almost 34, single, living in a third-floor apartment where my best friend Stephanie lived on the first floor and we befriended Denise, who lived on the second floor between us. During the premiere season, we had Survivor viewing parties in my apartment every Wednesday.
After a few seasons, Stephanie and Denise got tired of watching, but I never did. I enjoyed seeing the group dynamics develop. I still do. It’s not just about the challenges. The social game is just as, if not more, important than the physical game. Many of the winners were never physical threats. In fact, the players who win challenge after challenge after challenge are typically targeted pretty early to be voted off before the merge.
Once I married Dennis, I was thrilled that he watched CBS almost exclusively. He hadn’t watched Survivor before meeting me, but he definitely started. He wasn’t as invested as I was, but he watched. Once Corinne was old enough to watch, she just wanted to see the challenges and tribal council. Eventually, she became as invested as I am, and we recently finished binge watching all of the seasons from the beginning. (We had a good laugh or two over Jeff’s monotone delivery as host in season 1 compared to now.)
So back to the question…is there any way I would survive Survivor? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 There is absolutely no question in my mind…no. Not a chance. I am clearly not a physical threat, and as an introvert, I avoid as much social interaction as I can. 😉 So trying to navigate a social game 24/7 for 39 (now 26) days would make me a little crazy.
Would Corinne survive Survivor? Opposite to me, she would definitely manage the social game better, but the kid doesn’t have a wilderness-loving bone in her body. She hates bugs, would never sleep outside, doesn’t like the dark, and really doesn’t like storms. Oh…and there’s the constant diet of coconut that would send her into anaphylaxis. Just a small thing really. 😏
So while being a contestant on Survivor is not in either of our futures, we will continue to watch and make predictions from the comfort of our couch when season 43 begins this month.
Recently, I read a book with a character that I predicted would have been the first voted off the island on Survivor.
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐
3 Stars for Marooned by Louise Jane Watson
319 pages
Publisher: Foundations Book Publishing
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
I received an advance copy of this title from Foundations Book Publishing.
Publisher’s Description
Sunny Evans is a homely, practical girl with thick glasses and a tender heart. On graduating from art college, she is offered a job on a remote South Pacific research station. Being paid to illustrate the flora and fauna of the island, using her exquisite painting skills, is a dream come true. Life hasn’t been easy for her in the last few years, but it looks as though her luck is finally changing.
Nicky “Kit” Kitson is one of the biggest names in Hollywood. Voted “The Sexiest Man Alive” for three years running, Kit is beginning to tire of his artificial LA lifestyle. Using the excuse of doing background research for his latest blockbuster, he intends to join the scientific team on the island to get out of the limelight for a while. Something has to change, or he is going to burn out.
The two new island recruits are onboard a supply vessel headed toward the station when a devastating series of explosions wreck the boat and blast Sunny, Kit, and Pinky (the ship’s cat) overboard. Kit and Sunny, together with Pinky the cat, have to find a way to work together and survive. But Sunny has lost her glasses, Kit is badly burned, and Pinky has a secret…
************
Marooned is the first novel by Louise Jane Watson, who has previously written humorous articles for The Haven, Daily Drunk Magazine, Jane Austen’s Wastebasket, and The Weekly Humorist. I found her because…well, she found me…at Books Under the Blanket (with a Flashlight). 😊
When Sunny and Kit’s story begins, she is 25 and fresh out of art school, and he is 30 and fresh out of Hollywood. She doesn’t recognize him, and he doesn’t want to be recognized. A method actor, Kit is prepping for a role but also escaping the madness of Hollywood at the same time. This just isn’t the type of escape either of them planned for.
The book begins with a prologue from Pinky the cat’s perspective, which, I’ll be honest, I found a little odd. Only a couple of chapters are set up this way. The rest alternate between Sunny and Kit, but I feel like it wasn’t necessary. The bulk of the book is Sunny, Kit, and Pinky stranded on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific. It’s easy enough to make the transition from one character to the other.
We know going in where the story will end up. It’s a romance with a happily ever after, so these two very different people are destined to be together. The way they arrive there revolves around their personal development—Sunny’s in not being so bossy and judgmental (she would be the first voted off of Survivor) and Kit’s in not being such a snob. They spend a lot of time disliking each other like siblings do, and it takes a lot to get them to a point of actually acting like they like each other.
I’ll be honest. I think Sunny and Kit speak too formally for a novel. At one point, Sunny asks Kit why he’s less morose and another time tells him people treat her like a simpleton. Kit tells Sunny when she’s hurt, “Oh my darling, lie still. I’m here.” There are other things that seem a bit off. Sunny doesn’t recognize the biggest star in the world, three-time “Sexiest Man Alive.” And there’s a reference to Mission Impossible 10 and 11, but Sunny at 25 and Kit at 30 are familiar with a Peter Gabriel video from the 1980s? These things just don’t ring true for me.
BUT….
I like both characters. I even like how attached they both become to Pinky the cat. There are an endless stream of mishaps that help them bond when they have to fix things and take care of one another. We come to realize that Nicky Kitson the movie star is not the real Kit who makes bad puns and quotes movies and plays. And there’s more to Sunny than a nerdy artist.
When they finally get rescued, because we know we have to see if they can survive as a couple off the island, we aren’t surprised that Kit gets whisked away by his entourage. What I like about this is how Kit’s happily ever after becomes Sunny and Kit’s happily ever after.
Based on her website, Watson has more novels coming. This is a solid first novel even though there are some things that feel a little off to me. A quick read with a happy ending. I am confident that Watson’s characterization and storytelling will only get better over time and that there are 4- and 5-star reviews in her future.
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