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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Maybe 3.5? Fairly engaging, and I thought I enjoyed the short timeline immensely, but then I was left hanging and with so many unanswered questions at the end...
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not sure what to make of this book. Interesting premise but I don’t feel like it was executed well.
I finished Fierce Kingdom on the same day as the Las Vegas shooting. To read a book about a mass shooting in a zoo on the same day as those horrifying headlines/videos/images hit the news made the story cross from fiction to real life. The questions Joan raises about saving her son versus saving others are ones we should never have to ask ourselves but the likelihood of having to do so increase with every shooting. What a horrible way to live.
Like all tragedies, the story starts out almost idyllic. The descriptions of the park where Joan and Lincoln play are beautiful, establishing a lovely connection between mother and son, and providing a calm before the storm. This scene is key for building Lincoln and Joan’s relationship and establishing their personalities. It also provides a fantastic counterpoint to the alone time mother and son will later get.
For the remainder of the novel, tension ratchets as Joan struggles to remain hidden while seeing to the needs of her child. As in any situation where facts are not known, it is fear that drives Joan and determines her action or inaction, fear of the unknown assailants, their whereabouts, and their reasons for the shootings. As she flits from fear to worry to anger and back again, we see her struggle with the situation into which she is forced and watch how her emotions at any given second impact her decision-making. It makes for a fascinating cat-and-mouse scenario, especially because we really only see it from the mouse’s point of view.
Where Fierce Kingdom really impresses is in its morality debates between surviving and saving lives. More than once, Joan must make the toughest of decisions if she hopes to keep her son safe. But as time passes, and it becomes more of a struggle to keep Lincoln quiet, Joan also must confront the choice between her own safety and that of her child. All parents declare they would die for their children, but when faced with that actual life-or-death scenario, would we really do so? For a parent, it does not get much scarier than that, and Ms. Phillips captures the emotional turmoil Joan undergoes with aplomb.
Fierce Kingdom is probably not the novel to read right now. The Vegas shootings are too near to our hearts, involving too many people, and affecting families and friends around the globe. However, it is an important read. Through Joan, readers can wrestle with the same decisions Joan faces. It is almost a fire drill for parents caught in a mass shooting. Schools and places of employment perform lockdown drills regularly to practice for such scenarios. Ms. Phillips provides parents with a similar preparatory exercise in Fierce Kingdom.
Like all tragedies, the story starts out almost idyllic. The descriptions of the park where Joan and Lincoln play are beautiful, establishing a lovely connection between mother and son, and providing a calm before the storm. This scene is key for building Lincoln and Joan’s relationship and establishing their personalities. It also provides a fantastic counterpoint to the alone time mother and son will later get.
For the remainder of the novel, tension ratchets as Joan struggles to remain hidden while seeing to the needs of her child. As in any situation where facts are not known, it is fear that drives Joan and determines her action or inaction, fear of the unknown assailants, their whereabouts, and their reasons for the shootings. As she flits from fear to worry to anger and back again, we see her struggle with the situation into which she is forced and watch how her emotions at any given second impact her decision-making. It makes for a fascinating cat-and-mouse scenario, especially because we really only see it from the mouse’s point of view.
Where Fierce Kingdom really impresses is in its morality debates between surviving and saving lives. More than once, Joan must make the toughest of decisions if she hopes to keep her son safe. But as time passes, and it becomes more of a struggle to keep Lincoln quiet, Joan also must confront the choice between her own safety and that of her child. All parents declare they would die for their children, but when faced with that actual life-or-death scenario, would we really do so? For a parent, it does not get much scarier than that, and Ms. Phillips captures the emotional turmoil Joan undergoes with aplomb.
Fierce Kingdom is probably not the novel to read right now. The Vegas shootings are too near to our hearts, involving too many people, and affecting families and friends around the globe. However, it is an important read. Through Joan, readers can wrestle with the same decisions Joan faces. It is almost a fire drill for parents caught in a mass shooting. Schools and places of employment perform lockdown drills regularly to practice for such scenarios. Ms. Phillips provides parents with a similar preparatory exercise in Fierce Kingdom.
This was an exciting one-day read. Will I be talking about it in a year? Probably not. BUT, I will give it the credit of keeping me wholly entertained for 5 hours straight. Slightly predictable, but it was also realistic enough to still hold some terror.
The premise of Fierce Kingdom is interesting and as it occurs basically in real-time, the stakes are high and you definitely feel the anxiety and despair of the situation. And yet, when I finished this book I didn't feel anything towards it so this was just ok for me. (I originally gave this 3 stars, but 2 stars is "it was ok" so 2 stars it is.)
3.5/5
When you think of places that you let your guard down what do you think of? It's almost hard to think of anywhere in this day and age. I imagine it's even harder as a parent. With bad things happening at "safe" places like churches, movie theaters, schools, etc...where do you feel safe anymore? Fierce Kingdom takes on a nightmare situation in the zoo.
As other reviewers have said, it left some loose ends that I would've liked to seen tied up, but maybe the author wanted us come to our own own conclusions. I would've liked a little more on the person(s) involved with the act (ie: why they did it) we do get a little taste of what's going on inside one person's head.
Halfway through I kinda was ready for a little more action, but felt it slowed down. There is a long period of time where the narrator is trapped in the zoo but the police have not been heard inside just the assailants. While this is probably accurate to how the situation would be handled in real life, it made it a bit slow to read.
There is a strong sense of protection from the mother "lioness" to watch over her son. She struggles with her internal debate whether to leave him somewhere safe and try to get help or stay with him.
This book is everyone's worst fear. A nice day at the zoo turned animalistic.
Thank you to GoodReads Giveaways/Viking Books and Gin Phillips for the book I won!
When you think of places that you let your guard down what do you think of? It's almost hard to think of anywhere in this day and age. I imagine it's even harder as a parent. With bad things happening at "safe" places like churches, movie theaters, schools, etc...where do you feel safe anymore? Fierce Kingdom takes on a nightmare situation in the zoo.
As other reviewers have said, it left some loose ends that I would've liked to seen tied up, but maybe the author wanted us come to our own own conclusions. I would've liked a little more on the person(s) involved with the act (ie: why they did it) we do get a little taste of what's going on inside one person's head.
Halfway through I kinda was ready for a little more action, but felt it slowed down. There is a long period of time where the narrator is trapped in the zoo but the police have not been heard inside just the assailants. While this is probably accurate to how the situation would be handled in real life, it made it a bit slow to read.
There is a strong sense of protection from the mother "lioness" to watch over her son. She struggles with her internal debate whether to leave him somewhere safe and try to get help or stay with him.
This book is everyone's worst fear. A nice day at the zoo turned animalistic.
Thank you to GoodReads Giveaways/Viking Books and Gin Phillips for the book I won!
2.5 really
Not a bad story, although not as exciting as I thought it would be from the blurb. The concept is fantastic and kept me reading.
Perhaps it was a function of the digital review copy, but there seemed to be no indication as to when there was a shift in narrator. So it often took a moment, which took me out of the story, to regroup and figure out who was telling the story.
I also found the "good mother" narrative a little overwhelming. Yes, a parent's first instinct is almost always going to be to protect their child, but she could have had interests beyond Lincoln and still been a great mother. Maybe in this situation that is all one would think of, but to the point...I remember Lincoln's name, but not hers.
Not a bad story, although not as exciting as I thought it would be from the blurb. The concept is fantastic and kept me reading.
Perhaps it was a function of the digital review copy, but there seemed to be no indication as to when there was a shift in narrator. So it often took a moment, which took me out of the story, to regroup and figure out who was telling the story.
I also found the "good mother" narrative a little overwhelming. Yes, a parent's first instinct is almost always going to be to protect their child, but she could have had interests beyond Lincoln and still been a great mother. Maybe in this situation that is all one would think of, but to the point...I remember Lincoln's name, but not hers.