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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
I read the summary and thought hey, this is actually really interesting and creative. And it did not miss.
It's true that it can get a bit repetitive for some people, but I personally didn't mind it, I enjoyed reading about her little adventures around the forest and all the things she had to do to survive. I wouldn't read it again and not sure if I'd recommend it to someone else unless they're looking for something similar to this, but I give it 3 stars cause I enjoyed the story, even if the plot wasn't too much or exciting.
It's true that it can get a bit repetitive for some people, but I personally didn't mind it, I enjoyed reading about her little adventures around the forest and all the things she had to do to survive. I wouldn't read it again and not sure if I'd recommend it to someone else unless they're looking for something similar to this, but I give it 3 stars cause I enjoyed the story, even if the plot wasn't too much or exciting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Perfect for fans of the show Alone.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I felt like I was there in the woods with Jess. Great book, but moved just a tad slowly for me.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was so damn entertaining. Survivalist stories almost always are, if you take out the boring things and make enough random animals attack you and make the character do stupid things.
Kate Marshall did a really good job of making the survivalist part entertaining, and I didn't feel like she did anything too stupid when talking about survival (except for one instance which I'll talk about later). Most of her actions were pretty decent, and you could tell how Marshall wrote about Jess' emotions clouding her judgement and making her do not so smart things.
I was definitely entertained, proven by the fact that I read this over the course of two and a half hours in one sitting. Just me, in bed, cuddled in my blanket (to ward off the fictional cold, of course) frantically tapping my phone to read the next page.
I thought the pacing was definitely a highlight of this book because it kept me engaged and hooked into the novel. Likewise, this is one of those circumstances where I felt like the before and after structure was a good narrative choice. It made the suspense bigger, and wasn't like a cop out in skipping the intense scenes. I think the background "how she got to the middle-of-nowhere Canada" was important and the now "survival" story was important too, and this was a good choice to blend the two.
But, there were a considerable amount of downsides.
I mean, first of all, the before & after plot structure didn't have a lot of plot. She didn't really grow as a character (she literally chose the worst way to escape--through revenge, not character growth) so it's not really a character-based plot (if it is, yikes). And there's almost half the story which is background on her coming to Canada and disliking her dad and getting in a car crash, while the other half is her trying to survive and work out a whacked revenge scheme.
It just felt like the overarching storyline didn't have a lot to it. Survivalist stories usually don't. Although it's certainly entertaining, I feel like there's still a lot left to be desired in terms of actual plot rather than entertaining scenes.
Also, the entire book could have not happened if the MC actually did something right. Like, oh my god. This is kind of a spoiler, but it's so outlandish and in the first 100 pages that people deserve to know. A guy arrives in a plane and sees the burned down house and the main character, who is stranded in the boonies with basically nothing, SHE DOESN'T CALL OUT TO HIM because she's scared he's one of the bad guys.
Well, guess what? The bad guys have guns. Did this guy have a gun? Not that I know about. Did this guy have sidekicks? Not that I know about. It was a single dude in a plane, and she was standing at the edge of the woods, intentionally letting her chance of escape slip through her fingertips because he could have been a bad guy.
I wanted to throw my phone across the room, because this is so frustrating. Look. I get that she's scared, but if you're scared of what "might happen," you might as well never leave your house. Or maybe it's time to build a bunker.
This felt like such a frustrating move on her part, and it spoiled a lot of the book for me because you know that the after wouldn't really have happened if she just! called! out!
Though overall, this did end up being a pretty entertaining read. If you're a hardcore survivalist fiction fan and you're willing to overlook said mishaps, then I'd recommend this to you. But, if you're as frustrated as I am about that decision, then this book probably isn't worth your time.
The first thing I want to say about this book that it's amazing as an audiobook.
Amy McFadden really brings Jess alive for me. And also, when a book gets exciting i read so fast that i miss a lot because I just want to know how it goes, and when you instead listen to it, it has you in its claws!
I think the plott summary is good in it's self. This is a book about being smart, trying to survive and don't give up even though everything goes to hell.
It's bloody, raw, sad and non forgivning. Just like the place Jess is in.
Amy McFadden really brings Jess alive for me. And also, when a book gets exciting i read so fast that i miss a lot because I just want to know how it goes, and when you instead listen to it, it has you in its claws!
I think the plott summary is good in it's self. This is a book about being smart, trying to survive and don't give up even though everything goes to hell.
It's bloody, raw, sad and non forgivning. Just like the place Jess is in.
I would give this book a higher rating because I really enjoyed it, however I cannot get past what happened to Bo. Hunting for survival is one thing, but Bo deserved better.