Book Review: Paradise Island: A Sam and Colby Story by Sam Golbach, Colby Brock and Gaby Triana

Paradise Island: A Sam and Colby Story by Sam Golbach, Colby Brock and Gaby Triana was astounding. I discovered their channel late last year, maybe November 2020 and I started with their international trip featuring Queen Mary’s Castle. It was initially for research on my latest Nanowrimo project but it soon turned into a binge session of all of their videos. I started with their paranormal stuff but found that they were hilarious and interesting and easy to watch. Hope that sounds right. Their personalities are funny and serious and so real that I was incredibly excited when I found out that they wrote a book featuring a very real vacation they took with a spooky edge. Anyone who loves the horror genre knows that one of the scariest things that could ever be included are the words: “Based on a true story…” and bam, this book had that. They had the genre and the personalities to draw me into this book and I am so glad that I stumbled upon their channel.

This is hands down a 5 star read for me and it might possibly be my top read of the year, and if not its definitely my top read of the first half of 2021. If you like them as YouTubers check this book out! They captured everyone’s personalities and tones so well and their humour leaps off the page just like it does off the screen. If you like scary books that have real events mixed in also check this out because it is creepy as hell!

“They may not always agree, and they’d had plenty of ups and downs over the years, but these guys were brothers –end of story. No matter who came and went from their lives, through marching band, through the Vine days, through breakups, and now their ghost hunter phase, these guys the guys that Sam could always count on since day 1. This trip was as much a celebration of that friendship as anything else.”

You can tell right away that this a vacation with your four best-friends. It’s immediate. It’s hard to keep friendships that long and yet here they are in their twenties. It had me jealous and wishing that I had what they have. This was a great start to the book because it established basically all four main characters within the first 10 pages.

“Check out those flowers.” Sam pointed at blossoms hanging off the branches.

‘As blue as Colby’s sexy hair,’ Nate said in a girly voice.

‘As soft and delicate as Nate’s ego,’ Colby replied. In the back seat, Alex snorted a laugh.”

I absolutely LOVED this scene! It showcased their friendship and all of their personalities so well while keeping it light and hilarious. You can tell they are there to have fun and blow off some steam.

“Wherever they went, they seemed to attract negative attention from older types who thought, just because they were having fun, that they were hooligans. If only strangers knew they were good, hardworking guys—businessmen and entertainers who’d rather play stupid games in their apartments than get drunk at a bar.”

The people they come across in Kauai are extremely mysterious of their group. When they first arrive, they get looks, when Sam makes a joke (which was funny in my opinion) about his friends being his children at the scuba rental place they get looks and I think it’s this preconceived notion that young people don’t have to work for anything and their lives are easy and carefree. But that’s not how it is. Being the same age as Sam and Colby this quote really resonated with me. There is this divide that happens between the younger (millennial) generation and the older (boomer) generation and this just showcased an event that happens way more than it ever should. But this is so relatable! Millennials are misjudged quite often and are considered all the same. There are young people who do work their asses off and earn everything they’ve gotten in their lives.

“The thing was, Colby’s transition from high school graduate to Youtube ghost hunter hadn’t come easy. His parents hadn’t been happy about his move to Los Angeles with Sam. They’d told him the same stuff all concerned parents told their kids:

Artists have a hard time making money.

College is a more sensible path.

Only a lucky few ever make it big in Hollywood.

But he’d proved them wrong.

To the unscrutinizing eye watching their videos, he and Sam looked like two clowns doing anything for a laugh. What few people realized was how hard they worked their asses off. They’d learned business tips that couldn’t be taught in college, could only be experienced firsthand, and look at them now—affording this trip for their friends, winning Teen Choice Awards, going international. Kauai made him feel like he’d done something right.”

I feel like I got to know Sam and especially Colby much more through this book than I ever did watching their videos. There’s something about this platform (written, in a book) that made them open up and take more of a serious and emotional edge to their ‘characters’. It’s as if they felt like they could let loose more and write what they couldn’t say in one of their videos. This made them come alive. It felt like their celebrity status from social media was shed like a coat to reveal some of their emotions and feelings that don’t always fit with their hilarious and serious videos. Not once did they lose their respective personalities however, making them the funny YouTubers that we all know already.

“Some might say Trey had made it. But Colby wasn’t so sure. Yes, he and Sam had a lot in their name, too, but everything they had, they had because they’d earned it. Themselves. No handouts. Colby wasn’t even sure he could even enjoy a life he had to contribute. He credited this to his upbringing and swore he could never be like Trey. And to think Trey had tried lecturing him once about life.”

These quotes were inspiring. They really showed what a person can achieve using Sam and Colby’s story as an example. Colby was right, a lot of the time parents and basically everyone else believes college or university is the answer in life. It is the way to be successful. And yet he still chose to pursue what he wanted to do and that took some serious guts. I applaud him and Sam for taking the harder route. I’m so glad that they were able to prove to so many people that you can do what you want and make something out of yourself. I would defend myself just like they do because nothing must have been easy for them. They learned and grew from their mistakes. It’s enviable.

“Colby groaned. ‘Let us sleep, you little bitch.”

Ok, this is probably one of my favourite low key quotes from the whole novel because this is legit 100% me! My sister would have been Sam telling me that we have to be somewhere and I’m making us late and this is most likely what I would say, but you know in a loving way like Colby here! Haha!

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“Thank you. That would be very nice,’ Colby said.

‘Yes, thank you,’ Nate and Alex added.

After she whirled away, Sam quietly mocked Colby’s politeness. It was always funny to hear him talk formally, considering how laid-back they were with each other. ‘That would be very nice,’ he imitated Colby.

‘Shut it,’ Colby mumbled.”

____

I like a guy with manners. Plus this is also so true with friend groups, probably more with guys than girls but I appreciated Colby’s manners here. It was cute and adorable! And once again this teasing just shows how real this dialogue is. It doesn’t feel strained or fake, it’s just how it probably went down. It’s genuine and I love the readability of it which happens naturally when the dialogue isn’t forced.

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“Well, that confirmed it—Trey and Georgia were in a sexual relationship. Sam felt weird staring at the bed and all the mental imagery that came with it, so he forced his eyes in other directions, like the mirrored walls, mirrored closet doors, and mirrored window frames. Not much better, Sam thought. So turn-of-the-century, so creepy, and very, very awkward. The moment Trey turned his face, Colby looked at Sam, like, What the fuck is wrong with this guy?

‘And that’s our view.’ Trey showcased the outside world through the wide swaths of glass windows.

‘Isn’t it grand?’

Grand? What was Trey, seventy years old?”

_____

Once again this is a prime example of a real reaction from four men in their twenties when they find out about someone their age shacking it up with a much older lady. It was also hilarious! They thought basically exactly what I was thinking as the relationship was introduced. It’s uncanny for sure. I would have been much more polite I think but for them I think it was spot on. Plus this was only thought, not said so they get points there for manners!

“Colby knew he wanted some of those things for himself. So far, nobody had come along to unlock his heart, but one day, someone would, whenever he was ready. And he’d want that special someone to be with him a whole lifetime, not just during their elderly years. But like Sam said, who was he to judge?”

Colby’s outlook on relationships was sweet, cheesy and real. I agree with him on having someone to grow old with, it’s much better than being around only for the later years. But you know what? Sometimes you don’t meet the right person until later (obviously this isn’t the case here! With Trey and Georgia. No spoilers I promise!) but you can tell that he is a romantic in a way which isn’t something you would have guessed from his videos. People are really on him about relationships and how he hasn’t really been in any but I mean this kind of explains why. This must have been hard to share because it shows real emotion and exposes a vulnerability to something that must wear on him quite a lot from his fame.

____

“Okay, I have to ask,’ Colby muttered through a bite out of a mini sandwich. ‘Why’s this so detailed? Your schedule makes me feel like I do nothing with my life.’

‘Right?’ Sam chuckled. Even though it wasn’t true. He and Colby did a lot, especially when it came to brainstorming new ideas, watching videos for inspiration, and editing. Editing took up most of the day. But they would never schedule their lives this way, down to the minute.”

____

OH. MY. GOD. YES!! I was thinking the exact same thing here! I’m a girl that loves to plan and just be organized in general but Trey and Georgia took this way too far! Like WAY too far.

“Colby couldn’t help but stare at Sam openmouthed. Seemed like any time Trey said something weird, all he could do was check Sam’s expression to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. He couldn’t trust Nate as Trey’s acquaintance. Nate liked everybody he met. Nor could he trust Alex, who seemed to think everything about this place was perfect. But the widening of Sam’s blue eyes told him it wasn’t just him—Trey was a nutcase.”

Something I noticed right away (and you can tell this from their videos as well) was the way that Sam and Colby could communicate with a simple glance or gesture and the other would know right away what it meant. They were on the same wave length if you will and that’s only achievable through years of close friendship. These guys have a bond that a lot of people should be jealous of. Friends are harder to keep than people think, especially from childhood. This is just another example of how close their video and written relationship comes across and so far they match. They nailed it 100%.

“Colby’s ears perked up. Jordan Peele’s Get Out was one of his favourite horror movies of all time. The slow-burning dread, the social commentary…”

I LOVE horror movies. Me and my sister have probably watched hundreds of them. Most of them b-movies, you know how it is with the horror genre haha! But Jordan Peele’s, Get Out was stunning! Colby nailed this description and now I’m starting to understand their interest in exploring and paranormal events (because guys, both happen in the horror genre quite often! I’ve cracked the code haha) But in all honesty I really liked this reference because this boy has some great taste in horror movies and I definitely appreciate a fellow fan of the genre.

“My god, each one was worse than the next, like cheap horror movies from the depths of Prime Video hell.”

And then here’s Sam with another reference to my favourite genre which is also 100% true! Accurate description all the way. No one wants to succumb to the depths of Prime Video hell. And yes, I’ve been there before and it isn’t pretty.

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“Sam, listen to me,’ he said ‘Whatever happens, I want you to know…you changed my life. Hear me?’

Sam’s eyes opened a fraction of a second and then closed again. He muttered something like hello…

‘Okay, don’t talk. Just listen. The weird in me found the weird in you. I was a lost kid until I met you, and the best part of my life, hands down, has been you being my friend.”

____

I was balling when I read this! So emotional and raw like holy crap! Talk about charging a scene. Anyone who knows or follows these guys knows how true this statement was. Bloody heartfelt.

“Guess you won’t be getting a ten tonight, Trey,’ Sam muttered from his half-woken state. ‘Probably a three. Shit, I’d even say a two.’

Colby tried hard not to laugh, though laughing as they died would’ve felt so right and been the most perfect FU to them all. Even Nate was snickering from the other side of the circle.”

I was laughing so hard reading this! When Trey and Georgia first exposed their rating system to the guys that first night, I found it bizarre. Just like the scheduling that they do, this points thing needed to be addressed and the way that they chose to incorporate it into the story at the end was ingenious. Things were running really tense and this was said out of frustration and distraction. It was a brilliant way to distract the couple when it mattered most. So I’m glad they saved this point for this scene because it worked perfectly. It was also funny to read because they were right, laughing was probably what they would do in this moment despite the seriousness. It fit their characters and as weird as it might sound I think it was once again relatable. Life and death scenes really test a character and this seemed fitting for them all because in the end they might have different personalities but they share the same sense of humour. I also appreciated how it was Sam who said it. He didn’t get as many funny one liners in here as he is the more serious one of the group but I mean he’s still funny as hell.

“Maybe there was a Dark Man. Maybe there wasn’t. Maybe ghosts did exist, maybe they didn’t. In the end, though, the worst evil had been cast by real live people. Because humans, misguided, untethered, and susceptible to greed, were the most vile beings of them all.”

A great way to end this story. If you haven’t already please check out their channel on YouTube because they are hilarious to watch. They do so many exciting things and I am loving their 25X25 concept to kick off 2021. We’ve had to deal with a lot of crap for the last year and a bit and I’m envious of them not letting it stop them from living their lives the way they want to.