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maur_damar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, and Body horror
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Medical content
Minor: Gore
bootsmom3's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Torture
Minor: Alcohol
kristenm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
((Note, I listened as an audiobook. Any spelling errors are because I only heard the names and locations orally and never saw them written)
This is a great adventure story that is beautifully written with rich descriptions of the jungle, its people and the struggles of life in an isolated environment. While I enjoyed it, I have a serious of problems with the actual content of the book. Before getting too in depth, I should say the main character of this book, Lily, is a horrible character. She’s downright obnoxious, self-centered and the perfect representation of an American backpacker. Lily acts entitled to everything; she is reckless, impulsive, and most of oblivious to the realities of life outside America. If you struggle to read books with narrators/characters that are downright despicable, you won’t enjoy this. Lily’s voice is clear and distinct as she tells her story. I give the author a lot of respect for her ability to write and maintain such a clear and unique voice, but in doing so, she has also gotten into the head of the worst kind of person.
My issues with this book however, are not with Lily and her maddening existence. Instead, it is with the neo-colonial undertones and the other issues related to the Indigenous peoples of Bolivia. I was very interested in the tribespeople, The Tatinga, but was rather dumbfounded when I found out these are fictional people. I find it problematic that a white author has invented a group of Indigenous people for the sole purpose of framing them as ‘bad guys.’ While topics such as poaching, deforestation, chemical dumping and other anti-environment problems are brought up as to give reason to the Tatinga’s hostile nature; it more feels like an us vs them scenario. Lily (being white) is already othered from the people of Iachero, but it then becomes more complex scenario with it being Lily vs Iacherons vs Tatingas. I felt that this complex caste/race relationship was inappropriate to the story and made me feel uncomfortable.
Towards the end of the book when Lily seeks help for her leishmaniosis, (something I predicted very early into the book); it confuses me why a licensed doctor thought iodine would solve her problems? If I can identify the early stages of the disease, SURELY a licensed medical doctor in the area who has experience with tropical diseases would have as well. Lily, being pregnant, is extremely vulnerable and the fact that no one noticed her declining health is very improbable. Even if Lily hid her lesions from the villagers, she was still intimate with Omar he would’ve seen. The climax, going to see the Tatinga for a miracle cure, feels contrived as it forced the “good guys” to get help from “the bad guys” trope. For me, this book would’ve benefited from a clearer focus on who was the true villain. Lily’s leish is a product of the jungle, and instead of focusing on jungle as friend and foe, there were too many additional ‘evils’ that made the climax feel weak. Getting leish then was less of a punishment it should’ve been. Additionally, in the epilogue, it appears that Lily is free from her disease, which is incorrect from my understanding. Leish is a lifetime ailment that needs to be continuously treated and more individuals never fully recover.
Another cultural issue I had was the representation of the Shaman and the ‘magical’ aspect of this book. I am unsure if we are to take Lily’s ability to transcend into the spiritual realm as fact, or if her supernatural abilities are a metaphor for how she has become one with the jungle. At times Lily’s interactions with Baya felt like the author was mocking traditional medicines opposed to critiquing Lily`s inability to understand non-Westernized practices. I wish the ‘magic’ had been left out of the book since it downplayed the more serious issues at hand; ie the degradation of the jungle and it`s wildlife. In the epilogue, Lily attempts to 'shine' with her son Omar. This again drew me out of the story. Is this ability something that exists only in the jungle? Apparently not. I think this entire concept was confusing and took away from a story about survival, and being the other.
This is a great adventure story that is beautifully written with rich descriptions of the jungle, its people and the struggles of life in an isolated environment. While I enjoyed it, I have a serious of problems with the actual content of the book. Before getting too in depth, I should say the main character of this book, Lily, is a horrible character. She’s downright obnoxious, self-centered and the perfect representation of an American backpacker. Lily acts entitled to everything; she is reckless, impulsive, and most of oblivious to the realities of life outside America. If you struggle to read books with narrators/characters that are downright despicable, you won’t enjoy this. Lily’s voice is clear and distinct as she tells her story. I give the author a lot of respect for her ability to write and maintain such a clear and unique voice, but in doing so, she has also gotten into the head of the worst kind of person.
My issues with this book however, are not with Lily and her maddening existence. Instead, it is with the neo-colonial undertones and the other issues related to the Indigenous peoples of Bolivia. I was very interested in the tribespeople, The Tatinga, but was rather dumbfounded when I found out these are fictional people. I find it problematic that a white author has invented a group of Indigenous people for the sole purpose of framing them as ‘bad guys.’ While topics such as poaching, deforestation, chemical dumping and other anti-environment problems are brought up as to give reason to the Tatinga’s hostile nature; it more feels like an us vs them scenario. Lily (being white) is already othered from the people of Iachero, but it then becomes more complex scenario with it being Lily vs Iacherons vs Tatingas. I felt that this complex caste/race relationship was inappropriate to the story and made me feel uncomfortable.
Towards the end of the book when Lily seeks help for her leishmaniosis, (something I predicted very early into the book); it confuses me why a licensed doctor thought iodine would solve her problems? If I can identify the early stages of the disease, SURELY a licensed medical doctor in the area who has experience with tropical diseases would have as well. Lily, being pregnant, is extremely vulnerable and the fact that no one noticed her declining health is very improbable. Even if Lily hid her lesions from the villagers, she was still intimate with Omar he would’ve seen. The climax, going to see the Tatinga for a miracle cure, feels contrived as it forced the “good guys” to get help from “the bad guys” trope. For me, this book would’ve benefited from a clearer focus on who was the true villain. Lily’s leish is a product of the jungle, and instead of focusing on jungle as friend and foe, there were too many additional ‘evils’ that made the climax feel weak. Getting leish then was less of a punishment it should’ve been. Additionally, in the epilogue, it appears that Lily is free from her disease, which is incorrect from my understanding. Leish is a lifetime ailment that needs to be continuously treated and more individuals never fully recover.
Another cultural issue I had was the representation of the Shaman and the ‘magical’ aspect of this book. I am unsure if we are to take Lily’s ability to transcend into the spiritual realm as fact, or if her supernatural abilities are a metaphor for how she has become one with the jungle. At times Lily’s interactions with Baya felt like the author was mocking traditional medicines opposed to critiquing Lily`s inability to understand non-Westernized practices. I wish the ‘magic’ had been left out of the book since it downplayed the more serious issues at hand; ie the degradation of the jungle and it`s wildlife. In the epilogue, Lily attempts to 'shine' with her son Omar. This again drew me out of the story. Is this ability something that exists only in the jungle? Apparently not. I think this entire concept was confusing and took away from a story about survival, and being the other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
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