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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3*
A killer on the mountain…
I wanted to like this more than I did. The premise of this book was so interesting. I love to read about mountaineering and I’m always fascinated with people’s experience with attempting to summit 8000 meter plus mountains. I admire those who can take on such a challenge and accomplish it.
One of the things that kept my rating low on this book was how slow paced the storyline was. I could not really delve into it as I found the narrative repetitive and dare I say boring at times?
The main character Cecily Wong is a young journalist scouted by the famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh to accompany him and his team on his last Mountain challenge to summit Manaslu - one of the eighth highest mountains in the world. Cecily Wong determined to take on the challenge realizes early on that the Mountain’s dangers are not the only thing she will have to face. When climbers start to go missing and are found dead, Cecily starts to believe they are more than just accidents.
While this makes for a great story, Cecily was actually an inexperienced climber and would be considered by most to be mentally and physically unfit to take on such a feat. I couldn’t back her as I usually do with main character’s in a book. I found her character to be selfish and careless. Who summits one of the most difficult mountains in the world with no adequate experience just to prove her ex-boyfriend wrong and secure an interview to further her career. Never minding the fact that she would be putting the rest of her team (actually experienced and up for the task),the guides and sherpas all at risk.
Otherwise, the book was informative in providing beginners in mountain climbing with a lot of background information you wouldn’t normally receive in a fictional story. The author of the book Amy McCulloch actually summited Manaslu in Nepal in 2018. The descriptive imagery and explanations used in this book could only come from real life experience.
I will most likely keep this book on my shelf however, I would not recommend it to others.
A killer on the mountain…
I wanted to like this more than I did. The premise of this book was so interesting. I love to read about mountaineering and I’m always fascinated with people’s experience with attempting to summit 8000 meter plus mountains. I admire those who can take on such a challenge and accomplish it.
One of the things that kept my rating low on this book was how slow paced the storyline was. I could not really delve into it as I found the narrative repetitive and dare I say boring at times?
The main character Cecily Wong is a young journalist scouted by the famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh to accompany him and his team on his last Mountain challenge to summit Manaslu - one of the eighth highest mountains in the world. Cecily Wong determined to take on the challenge realizes early on that the Mountain’s dangers are not the only thing she will have to face. When climbers start to go missing and are found dead, Cecily starts to believe they are more than just accidents.
While this makes for a great story, Cecily was actually an inexperienced climber and would be considered by most to be mentally and physically unfit to take on such a feat. I couldn’t back her as I usually do with main character’s in a book. I found her character to be selfish and careless. Who summits one of the most difficult mountains in the world with no adequate experience just to prove her ex-boyfriend wrong and secure an interview to further her career. Never minding the fact that she would be putting the rest of her team (actually experienced and up for the task),the guides and sherpas all at risk.
Otherwise, the book was informative in providing beginners in mountain climbing with a lot of background information you wouldn’t normally receive in a fictional story. The author of the book Amy McCulloch actually summited Manaslu in Nepal in 2018. The descriptive imagery and explanations used in this book could only come from real life experience.
I will most likely keep this book on my shelf however, I would not recommend it to others.
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Dammit. I should have stopped reading this book around the 1/3 mark, when I realized the writing style bored me, and almost all of the characters were awful.
But it’s hot out, and I loved reading about being cold, and the plot was inching forward, so I pressed on.
I prefer a “show don’t tell” style of writing, and this book was written almost like a news article: so much information with any new plot twist set up well beforehand. It took forever for things to get going, and when they did, it was just pure evil for evilness’ sake. Ego, gaslighting, unnecessary deaths, a villain who just won’t die. I was never scared, I was angry.
But it’s hot out, and I loved reading about being cold, and the plot was inching forward, so I pressed on.
I prefer a “show don’t tell” style of writing, and this book was written almost like a news article: so much information with any new plot twist set up well beforehand. It took forever for things to get going, and when they did, it was just pure evil for evilness’ sake. Ego, gaslighting, unnecessary deaths, a villain who just won’t die. I was never scared, I was angry.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes