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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was enjoyable and had a surprising amount of twists! I didn’t really know what to expect, I packed this book to read on a camping trip and it had a solid amount of camping fun, but then also some murder, mystery, and intrigue! I think the life lessons were a little heavy handed and I hated not having full resolution in the end, but otherwise an interesting read!
A very fast read once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down.
The last third saved the book. The beginning was really slow building the characters. Their internal snarky thoughts about anyone outside of their race were annoying.
I listened to this as an audiobook on a 14-hour drive, which is a little like watching a movie on an airplane and amounts to the same experience: my judgment was clouded. I enjoyed this, as contrived as its was. It's a nature adventure story, kids, and should be read as such. A favorite moment was before even any of the action began, when one character is experiencing a little Casper David Friedrich sublimity while looking at the San Gabriels and the 134 freeway. Revoyr does a wonderful job blurring the distinction between nature and the city; nature is recognized everywhere rather than in just its supposedly pure form (national parks, etc.). And that made up for punching me in the face with all the blunt racial dynamics—as if racism really needed to be incarnate in the psychotic hillbilly villain.
This was another book on tape--and it was an okay book on tape. It seemed to take forever for any action to happen and that is not what I want on a road trip. I enjoyed the setting (California wilderness), but found it otherwise lacking. There seemed to be an axe, always waiting to drop, but never dropping. Additionally, both Paul (driving companion and spouse extraordinaire) and I were frustrated that we heard from almost all character's perspectives except for one. There seemed no good reason to keep that character in shadow and there were too many large questions about that character left open ended. Not a satisfying book on tape!
I thought this was excellent adventure story-telling. While some parts were far-fetched, I thought it was socially realistic. It both made me want to go for a long hike....and also never go for a hike again.
The tone reminded me of Tortilla Curtain, and I'll look for more by this author.
The tone reminded me of Tortilla Curtain, and I'll look for more by this author.
The beginning was slow for me as I was looking forward to the time in the woods, but I know the characters needed to be developed first. This book transported me to the wildness that I love!
Nina Revoyr's thriller about a backpacking trip-gone-wrong reveals her intimate familiarity with the Los Angeles neighborhoods from which her characters hail, as well as the Sierras into which they venture. The overworked nonprofit employee and the Latino man who has both profited from and been hurt by Northeast L.A. gentrification--these are my people. Neither they nor their other urban hiking companion know what they're in for, in a wilderness whose harsh landscape is the perfect hideout for drug cartels and white supremacists. Although Revoyr's writing veers expository in the beginning, it relaxes when the hike begins. The book is a page-turner that wraps up key storylines without ever showing all its cards (I have some theories about Tracy).
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated