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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
fast-paced
Jackson loved this book, but was disappointed by the ending, as was I. Murph felt it was fine. Great quest book where it ends up being Brian finding inner strength and a survivor mentality in a new way.
adventurous
Reading the notes at the end of the book, originally Hatchet was just a single story, but the author received a ton of fan mail asking about "after" and wrote this book. He then added three more, one of which is an "alternate ending" in which Brian was NOT rescued as he was at the end of Hatchet (so read Brian's Winter BEFORE reading this book! While it's listed as #2 ... Brian's Winter is really #2).
I like the survival ... the whole premise behind the return to the wild, and even why they don't have great supplies, is plausible. The lightening strike and coma? That's pushing it, but I guess it was needed to put Brian (&Derek) in the proper peril. One wonders if Derek had just been injured (broken leg) but conscious, if Brian would have still taken the lead (being the outdoors expert, if not the adult).
Whereas book 1 had "The Secret" ... this one refers to book 1 as "The Time" ... and in this, we have "The Incident" ...
This was a re-read ... read it years ago when my boys were teens and was pre-reading, to see if I thought it would be one to recommend (which I did). One boy liked the series and read all the books, and recently did his own re-read (listen this time, audiobook). I did my re-read/listen (read originally, audiobook this go round).
I like the survival ... the whole premise behind the return to the wild, and even why they don't have great supplies, is plausible. The lightening strike and coma? That's pushing it, but I guess it was needed to put Brian (&Derek) in the proper peril. One wonders if Derek had just been injured (broken leg) but conscious, if Brian would have still taken the lead (being the outdoors expert, if not the adult).
Whereas book 1 had "The Secret" ... this one refers to book 1 as "The Time" ... and in this, we have "The Incident" ...
This was a re-read ... read it years ago when my boys were teens and was pre-reading, to see if I thought it would be one to recommend (which I did). One boy liked the series and read all the books, and recently did his own re-read (listen this time, audiobook). I did my re-read/listen (read originally, audiobook this go round).
I actually enjoyed the action in this one more than Hatchet. The premise, twists, and ending were much weirder and needed way more suspension of disbelief, though.
I really enjoyed The Hatchet and was interested to read more about Brian's adventures. The premise for Brian returning to the wilderness and surviving without any support was fairly weak. However this is written for young adults so I'm not sure it was beyond believability for the target audience. I like Paulsen's writing style. It's simple but easy to slide through. I am not sure if I will read the next book it seems likely. (Book from SPL)
Eh. The excuse to get Brian out into the wilderness by himself is a bit contrived, but that's not the biggest problem with this book. The real problem is that almost nothing happens. Sure, there's a waterfall right at the end, but that's it. Everything else more or less goes exactly according to his plan. It clocks in at a mere 130 pages, and maybe 95 of those pages is nothing happening.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I really enjoyed the last book, but I didn't see how you can make a sequel out of it without making the plot unbelievable or repetitive. That being said I was pleasantly surprised.
Will definitely read the rest of the Brian saga
Will definitely read the rest of the Brian saga
fast-paced
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The writing is such a drastic improvement in this sequel even if the depth of characters is a little lacking. But the tension is high and I love how Brian has to do things to earn his ending. Still not crazy about the epilogue but I can appreciate the amount of research the author put in.
Honestly bless this series for fixing my slump!
Honestly bless this series for fixing my slump!