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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Interesting to me that so many people liked this book so much. It wasn’t bad it was just kinda boring the whole time.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think this is the last review I wrote on Goodreads and it didn't carry over. I love this author and want to read all of her books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book is good. It's very visual and practical in how it depicts survival from an inexperienced perspective.
While the story was gripping - especially towards the end, I couldn't stop until I finished the last 20 minutes of the audiobook - I found it difficult to pick up every time I put it down. Survival stories are just hard for me to read. It's a combination of isolation and the ruthlessness of nature. It presses down on me and makes it hard for me to breathe.
The main character was easy to sympathise with. I liked following her perspective. She's resourceful and practical in how she goes about surviving and how her reasons for wanting to survive changes.
But I can't rate this book. It's well written. It packs a punch. I got emotional on more than one occasion. I'm going to remember it for a long time to come. But I can't say I enjoyed reading it.
I would recommend this if you like survival stories. Though, if isolation - deep in the woods with winter coming quickly - scares you then this maybe isn't the best read.
While the story was gripping - especially towards the end, I couldn't stop until I finished the last 20 minutes of the audiobook - I found it difficult to pick up every time I put it down. Survival stories are just hard for me to read. It's a combination of isolation and the ruthlessness of nature. It presses down on me and makes it hard for me to breathe.
The main character was easy to sympathise with. I liked following her perspective. She's resourceful and practical in how she goes about surviving and how her reasons for wanting to survive changes.
But I can't rate this book. It's well written. It packs a punch. I got emotional on more than one occasion. I'm going to remember it for a long time to come. But I can't say I enjoyed reading it.
I would recommend this if you like survival stories. Though, if isolation - deep in the woods with winter coming quickly - scares you then this maybe isn't the best read.
I stayed up til 1 AM to finish it and I actually bawled for a full minute when I put it down. More later.
Later:
Sixteen-year-old Jess has been through it this year. She survived a terrible car crash that killed her mother on impact. She's left scarred and her leg is irrevocably damaged, despite the diligence she has devoted to her physical therapy. And now, the court has ordered her custody to the father she has barely known, transported there by an old family friend named Gil. Gil does not bring her to the government address on hand, however. She is flown to the Canadian wilderness, where her father has been living off-the-grid and off the land, his whereabouts only known by Gil and a select group her father refers to as friends, but not really in a friendly way.
Despite her resentment at being there and her difficult healing process, Jess begins to learn more about what off-the-grid living entails. But she wants out. She and her father come to an agreement: she will give it a year, but then she wants to return to her old life. Her father is willing to make the move, but needs the time to sort out his mysterious business with his old "friends."
Three weeks into their tentative relationship, however, Jess is dealt another blow. When a plane that is decidedly NOT Gil's shows up, her father sends Jess into hiding with his dog Bo. And very quickly, Jess is witness to the murder of her father, whose killers burn their cabin and shed to the ground, burying her father with a lockbox of unknown contents. Jess barely has time to grab a rifle, her bow, and other odds and ends. With the notebook Gil gifted her, Jess begins to chronicle what happened before her father's death, and what is happening after - because it is likely that when Gil finally returns to the cabin after the long winter, she will not be alive to tell the story.
This book is tense, exciting, and emotionally wrought! I loved it. I came to it in a rather embarrassing way: Ben Affleck is starring in a film adaptation as the father and I guess I wanted to read about someone handsome? I don't know. But it also came highly recommended by my favorite podcast (Hey YA! by Book Riot).
I don't read a lot of survival fiction because I am a bit squeamish, but I guess I'm a tough old adult now. I'm not about to go out and watch 127 hours or anything, but I'm proud of myself. More difficult than Jess's survival needs is emotionally dealing with her survival and circumstances, alone with Bo and the Canadian wild and grieving the very quick loss of two parents. If you read the book blurb, you will see it includes her stating her intent of revenge -- and man, when her motivation changes from just survival to "survive and kill those motherfuckers," it's a real gear shift and a good one.
Readers who cannot handle animal suffering should avoid this one. If you need to know what happens to the dog: he dies towards the end AND IT IS VERY VERY SAD AND I AM STILL GETTING OVER IT. That being said -- it is done thoughtfully, realistically, and the book is really worth the emotional cost .
I have frequently teared up, but I can't remember the last time I sobbed over a book. I can't wait for the movie, just not sure who will go with me, HA!
Later:
Sixteen-year-old Jess has been through it this year. She survived a terrible car crash that killed her mother on impact. She's left scarred and her leg is irrevocably damaged, despite the diligence she has devoted to her physical therapy. And now, the court has ordered her custody to the father she has barely known, transported there by an old family friend named Gil. Gil does not bring her to the government address on hand, however. She is flown to the Canadian wilderness, where her father has been living off-the-grid and off the land, his whereabouts only known by Gil and a select group her father refers to as friends, but not really in a friendly way.
Despite her resentment at being there and her difficult healing process, Jess begins to learn more about what off-the-grid living entails. But she wants out. She and her father come to an agreement: she will give it a year, but then she wants to return to her old life. Her father is willing to make the move, but needs the time to sort out his mysterious business with his old "friends."
Three weeks into their tentative relationship, however, Jess is dealt another blow. When a plane that is decidedly NOT Gil's shows up, her father sends Jess into hiding with his dog Bo. And very quickly, Jess is witness to the murder of her father, whose killers burn their cabin and shed to the ground, burying her father with a lockbox of unknown contents. Jess barely has time to grab a rifle, her bow, and other odds and ends. With the notebook Gil gifted her, Jess begins to chronicle what happened before her father's death, and what is happening after - because it is likely that when Gil finally returns to the cabin after the long winter, she will not be alive to tell the story.
This book is tense, exciting, and emotionally wrought! I loved it. I came to it in a rather embarrassing way: Ben Affleck is starring in a film adaptation as the father and I guess I wanted to read about someone handsome? I don't know. But it also came highly recommended by my favorite podcast (Hey YA! by Book Riot).
I don't read a lot of survival fiction because I am a bit squeamish, but I guess I'm a tough old adult now. I'm not about to go out and watch 127 hours or anything, but I'm proud of myself. More difficult than Jess's survival needs is emotionally dealing with her survival and circumstances, alone with Bo and the Canadian wild and grieving the very quick loss of two parents. If you read the book blurb, you will see it includes her stating her intent of revenge -- and man, when her motivation changes from just survival to "survive and kill those motherfuckers," it's a real gear shift and a good one.
Readers who cannot handle animal suffering should avoid this one. If you need to know what happens to the dog:
I have frequently teared up, but I can't remember the last time I sobbed over a book. I can't wait for the movie, just not sure who will go with me, HA!
Holy shit this book was good.
It kind of reminded me of The Martian (I mean, duh, it is a survival book) though instead of space Jess is stuck in the middle of nowhere in Canada.
Which to me makes it 100 times scarier because I may never make it to Mars but I can sure as hell get lost in the middle of the forest (might be able to get lost in my own backyard--though I'd deny it). And you know what, I can't say I would be as resourceful or strong or patient or just pretty fricking ballsy as Jess is in this novel. And with a bad leg to boot? Raise the stakes and made me love Jess even more.
In the beginning, after her mother dies and Jess is forced to live with a father she barely knows, Jess was a bit moody and ANGRY. And she had every right to be! She is like every single one of us--couch potatoes who can't go 10 minutes without checking the internet. Now take a 16 year old, kill her mother, take away everything and anything that is familiar to her and throw her into the woods with her nature loving father...
You can say she was a little pissed off.
But after everything goes down and Jess is made to survive... that is when the story gets real good and the character development flourishes. Kate Marshall doesn't shy away from the ugliness of survival either--Let's just say during the whole novel I didn't know if Jess would survive or not. I was legitimately scared for her. Some pretty disturbing shit goes down as well that is morbidly fascinating, and some other things were just downright depressing (but in a good way? What am I saying?!)
The way the relationship with the father is portrayed is so complicated and precious and absolutely fantastic. I felt Jess' anger to the core towards this man who abandoned her and her mother. It is interesting seeing the two characters interact and brings a spark to the story. Yeah, give me conflict!
I also enjoyed how the story is told in "before" and "after" chapters. The only thing I found distracting about it, is that the novel is supposed to be Jess' telling of her story. Jess is writing down her story in a notebook so whoever finds it knows she was there and what she went through. So you are reading her story and you would be firmly set in the "before" story line flow when "present" Jess interrupts the flow by making a comment. It would have been helpful if her "present" comments were italicized or something to distinguish them better and give your eyes a visual cue. That is all. Not that the comments deterred from my enjoyment of the novel, not at all.
It also bothered me when Jess digs up her father's grave (gosh, It may be creepy of me but I LOVED how the author WENT there) that she didn't think to take her father's coat/boots. I mean, yeah, you are dealing with a corpse but Jess was WAY past the giving a shit phase. Me thinks that Jess not seeing her father's coat as a way to keep warm didn't align with where she was at, plus it kind of gave me a hint that she would be finding proper clothing pretty soon.
I would have, for sure, died like 20 different ways out in that wilderness and it just always amazes me how these characters manage to rise above and laugh in the face of certain death. One thing is for sure, if you plan to take a trip to the wilderness bring this book with you just in case. It might actually save you, or at the very least keep you entertain until a bear mauls you to death.
It kind of reminded me of The Martian (I mean, duh, it is a survival book) though instead of space Jess is stuck in the middle of nowhere in Canada.
Which to me makes it 100 times scarier because I may never make it to Mars but I can sure as hell get lost in the middle of the forest (might be able to get lost in my own backyard--though I'd deny it). And you know what, I can't say I would be as resourceful or strong or patient or just pretty fricking ballsy as Jess is in this novel. And with a bad leg to boot? Raise the stakes and made me love Jess even more.
In the beginning, after her mother dies and Jess is forced to live with a father she barely knows, Jess was a bit moody and ANGRY. And she had every right to be! She is like every single one of us--couch potatoes who can't go 10 minutes without checking the internet. Now take a 16 year old, kill her mother, take away everything and anything that is familiar to her and throw her into the woods with her nature loving father...
You can say she was a little pissed off.
But after everything goes down and Jess is made to survive... that is when the story gets real good and the character development flourishes. Kate Marshall doesn't shy away from the ugliness of survival either--Let's just say during the whole novel I didn't know if Jess would survive or not. I was legitimately scared for her. Some pretty disturbing shit goes down as well that is morbidly fascinating, and some other things were just downright depressing (but in a good way? What am I saying?!)
The way the relationship with the father is portrayed is so complicated and precious and absolutely fantastic. I felt Jess' anger to the core towards this man who abandoned her and her mother. It is interesting seeing the two characters interact and brings a spark to the story. Yeah, give me conflict!
I also enjoyed how the story is told in "before" and "after" chapters. The only thing I found distracting about it, is that the novel is supposed to be Jess' telling of her story. Jess is writing down her story in a notebook so whoever finds it knows she was there and what she went through. So you are reading her story and you would be firmly set in the "before" story line flow when "present" Jess interrupts the flow by making a comment. It would have been helpful if her "present" comments were italicized or something to distinguish them better and give your eyes a visual cue. That is all. Not that the comments deterred from my enjoyment of the novel, not at all.
I would have, for sure, died like 20 different ways out in that wilderness and it just always amazes me how these characters manage to rise above and laugh in the face of certain death. One thing is for sure, if you plan to take a trip to the wilderness bring this book with you just in case. It might actually save you, or at the very least keep you entertain until a bear mauls you to death.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
This was a little underwhelming. If you like survival books that aspect was interesting, and at times gruesome, but it's a little dull. The main character is unlikable, which is fine, but also dull. The dog is bae, unsurprisingly
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beginning of the book: 5 stars. It seemed like it was going to be a reboot of Hatchet with a girl and a dog instead of a solo boy (an idea cemented by the girl thinking about Hatchet early on.)
Middle of the book: 4 stars. Turned out to be a thriller (matching the cover of the book I actually read, not the one shown here). I didn't really feel like we needed bad guys with guns thrown in, but I could live with that.
End of the book: 1 star.They killed the dog. You never kill the dog!!!!!!!
Middle of the book: 4 stars. Turned out to be a thriller (matching the cover of the book I actually read, not the one shown here). I didn't really feel like we needed bad guys with guns thrown in, but I could live with that.
End of the book: 1 star.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Sixteen year old Jess is at the mercy of nature and the crew of men who murdered her father.
She has to use the survival skills Jess learned in the short time that she was reunited with her father in order to find a way to live through winter. I was hoping for more details, such as learning to make acorn flour that was outlined in My Side of the Mountain. Due to a fortuitous turn of events in school physical education, Jess happens to be adequately proficient in bow and arrow hunting.
My favorite character was Bo, the dog. Be warned that nature is brutal, and both Bo and Jess have to engage in vivid depictions of killing animals.
I finished the book in one reading because I had to know if Jess was able to get revenger for her father's murder.
Thank you to First to Read for providing an advance copy of I Am Still Alive.
She has to use the survival skills Jess learned in the short time that she was reunited with her father in order to find a way to live through winter. I was hoping for more details, such as learning to make acorn flour that was outlined in My Side of the Mountain. Due to a fortuitous turn of events in school physical education, Jess happens to be adequately proficient in bow and arrow hunting.
My favorite character was Bo, the dog. Be warned that nature is brutal, and both Bo and Jess have to engage in vivid depictions of killing animals.
I finished the book in one reading because I had to know if Jess was able to get revenger for her father's murder.
Thank you to First to Read for providing an advance copy of I Am Still Alive.