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nancidrum's review against another edition
4.0
Well written adventure novel. Equally appealing for men and women. Especially interesting if you've ever taken the tram up the mountain in Palm Springs, CA and hiked the mountain, which we did in 2007. She keeps you guessing through the whole novel and does a great job telling the story through the eyes of a young man.
randyrasa's review
3.0
Enjoyed it. I thought it started slowly, and the main characters were more annoying than likeable for a good part of the book, but eventually the plot picked up and the characters became more human. The ending was excellent.
kirstwantstoread's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
sjklass's review against another edition
4.0
It's a good thing it worked out to be a rainy weekend morning to read the last 150 pages of this intense survival story. I would surely have called in sick. Symptoms, alternating quickened breathing and breath holding accompanied by elevated heart rate. So suspenseful and heart wrenching, this is a character study wrapped up in a thriller. Lost on a rugged mountain, the four characters spend their days trying to be found, trying to survive and the long nights sharing their life stories and reasons for being up on that mountain in the first place. "The most successful people in the most impossible situations are the ones that are sure they're going to get out of it, and they go on thinking that, even if they die trying." This is a thought provoking tale of resilience, redemption and heroism. Google told me that the setting of Mount San Jacinto and the Palm Springs tram was real and not merely fictional. It is now added to my bucket list of places to visit.
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really interesting book about the transformative power of a life-or-death survival situation. Everybody in this book is changed immensely by the time spent trying to find their way off the mountain. An intense story with a realistic and touching ending.
lauralovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
Wow I'm starting to think that deep down I want to hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail. After reading the book Wild last year, and falling for the story about hiking the western mountain range, The Mountain Story touched me in similar ways, but the similarities stopped there.
Honestly I was looking for a book that would grab my attention and hold it, and The Mountain Story did just that for me. In this book we meet Wolf, an experienced hiker who by chance, meets three women who also happen to be the same strangers he gets lost on the California mountain range with. Wolf comes from a hard childhood, and has decided that on his 18th birthday that he also wants to end his life. He is set to go forward with this plan until he gets distracted by these strangers on the trail who need his help, and the story takes off from there as we see him grow from a boy to a man while being lost in the wilderness. I kept guessing the whole story as to who the unfortunate soul would be.
Honestly I was looking for a book that would grab my attention and hold it, and The Mountain Story did just that for me. In this book we meet Wolf, an experienced hiker who by chance, meets three women who also happen to be the same strangers he gets lost on the California mountain range with. Wolf comes from a hard childhood, and has decided that on his 18th birthday that he also wants to end his life. He is set to go forward with this plan until he gets distracted by these strangers on the trail who need his help, and the story takes off from there as we see him grow from a boy to a man while being lost in the wilderness. I kept guessing the whole story as to who the unfortunate soul would be.
jackyobrien6's review against another edition
3.0
The Mountain Story is a survivalist novel, with a background of familial drama and grief. The survival portions were interesting, with Bridget making me want to pull my hair out, and loving the resilience of Nola. I found it a good balance or useful survival actions mixed with understandable ignorance. I thought the sections that were about Wolf's early life and his life with Byrd took away from the story a little, by taking the reader out of the action too frequently and for too long. I didn't think it helped me understand Wolf's character any better, and could do without it. But the book wrapped up nicely and I overall liked it.
jenna_cross's review against another edition
4.0
A great story of survival, not only in the wilderness but also childhood trauma and a dysfunctional paternal family. When I first started this story I wasn't sure I was going to like it. That outlook quickly changed once Wolf and the women were actually on the mountain. The last third of the novel was truly beautiful. So glad I read it.
thatjamiea's review against another edition
5.0
Wowza! Great action packed novel. Absolutely perfect for older teens to read and a possible choice for reluctant readers as the entire book had me on tenterhooks as I was reading.
On the day of his eighteenth birthday, Wolf Truly heads to the mountain to end it all. The mountain has given him some of his greatest happiness but also, his worst pain and and crushing guilt. A family stops Wolf for help finding a hidden lake and a panicked situation finds Wolf and the Devine women (Nola, Bridget and Vonn) fighting for their lives on the mountaintop.
The book is written as a story to Wolf's son, explaining what happened on that mountain so long ago, and talks about Wolf's life up to the point, the death of his mother, his deadbeat Dad and his relationship with his best friend Byrd.
On the day of his eighteenth birthday, Wolf Truly heads to the mountain to end it all. The mountain has given him some of his greatest happiness but also, his worst pain and and crushing guilt. A family stops Wolf for help finding a hidden lake and a panicked situation finds Wolf and the Devine women (Nola, Bridget and Vonn) fighting for their lives on the mountaintop.
The book is written as a story to Wolf's son, explaining what happened on that mountain so long ago, and talks about Wolf's life up to the point, the death of his mother, his deadbeat Dad and his relationship with his best friend Byrd.