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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
First book finished in 2020, first 5*. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!!
Amazing amazing amazing. I want to scream from the rooftops and recommend this book to everyone I know! I devoured it in 3 hours and it left me wanting more, but not in a bad way!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book. This book. THIS BOOK. As soon as I read the first page I knew it was going to be a good one. It was part survival story, part revenge story. I enjoyed everything this book threw at me. It was action-packed and full of suspense. It was unpredictable and perfectly paced. There were so many twists, it was great. I could not wait to see how it ended, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. The ending broke my heart but it was SO GOOD. And I cried SO MUCH. I definitely recommend this book.
Some of the situations this poor girl was in!! I enjoyed it!!
Review:
I picked up this intense survival thriller completely blind and based on the cover, and it was a great read.
What I Liked:
Jess and Bo. My two favorite characters of the novel, mainly because they were the focus. Jess is the sole point of view throughout the novel and we get to see the other characters, like her father and the dog, Bo from her eyes. The book only has a handful of characters but they were all well-written.
Suspense. The setting that Marshall used, the Canadian wilderness did a great job of creating suspense throughout the novel. I grew to like the main character and her dog so that created a kind of suspense as Jess tries to survive in the wilderness.
Writing Style/Format. The novel switches between the past and present as Jess writes what happened into a journal. I felt that the switching worked well and the story telling made it easy to follow. Plus, I really enjoyed the writing and I will be picking up more from this author.
What I Disliked:
Plot/Situations. I felt that some parts of the plot were unrealistic, like the main character having bad thing after bad thing happening to her. I won't spoil the main plot/ending but it did feel a bit far out for my liking and what I expected with this contemporary setting.
I recommend checking out this intense novel. I went into it blind and found a well-written story with good characters.
Rating:
4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars
I picked up this intense survival thriller completely blind and based on the cover, and it was a great read.
What I Liked:
Jess and Bo. My two favorite characters of the novel, mainly because they were the focus. Jess is the sole point of view throughout the novel and we get to see the other characters, like her father and the dog, Bo from her eyes. The book only has a handful of characters but they were all well-written.
Suspense. The setting that Marshall used, the Canadian wilderness did a great job of creating suspense throughout the novel. I grew to like the main character and her dog so that created a kind of suspense as Jess tries to survive in the wilderness.
Writing Style/Format. The novel switches between the past and present as Jess writes what happened into a journal. I felt that the switching worked well and the story telling made it easy to follow. Plus, I really enjoyed the writing and I will be picking up more from this author.
What I Disliked:
Plot/Situations. I felt that some parts of the plot were unrealistic, like the main character having bad thing after bad thing happening to her. I won't spoil the main plot/ending but it did feel a bit far out for my liking and what I expected with this contemporary setting.
I recommend checking out this intense novel. I went into it blind and found a well-written story with good characters.
Rating:
4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars
This is such an engaging thriller. Jess finds herself stranded in the wilderness and has to find the strength and courage to survive, despite overwhelming odds. Marshall truly takes the writer's advice to not be kind to her characters to the max. There were some scenes that were hard to read and I was riveted to find out how she would get her character out of the jam. This was a great read and I'm going to add Marshall to her my must read list.
Kate Marshall tells an intoxicating tale of survival and revenge in I am Still Alive. When 16 year old Jess is stranded in the wildness alone, she must fight to survive and some days thinking about revenge is the only thing that keeps her going.
Kate Marshall's writing is absolutely brilliant and has a way of keeping you engaged throughout the story. I particularly loved the way Jess' disability was so accurately included. As someone who deals with my own disabilities from a younger age, I was drawn to this commodity. I could feel Jess' suffering, her determination, her fight.
I stormed through this book in one day, longing for answers. I hadn't read a survival story quite like this one before. And while I expected more of a thriller aspect to it, I still wasn't disappointed when that component never really surfaced. There were moments in this book where I cringed (hunting animals and the details that go with it) but I do feel like they were necessary elements to make the story come to life. All in all, I loved every moment of this book.
Kate Marshall's writing is absolutely brilliant and has a way of keeping you engaged throughout the story. I particularly loved the way Jess' disability was so accurately included. As someone who deals with my own disabilities from a younger age, I was drawn to this commodity. I could feel Jess' suffering, her determination, her fight.
I stormed through this book in one day, longing for answers. I hadn't read a survival story quite like this one before. And while I expected more of a thriller aspect to it, I still wasn't disappointed when that component never really surfaced. There were moments in this book where I cringed (hunting animals and the details that go with it) but I do feel like they were necessary elements to make the story come to life. All in all, I loved every moment of this book.
I grew up in Alaska, and have always found stories of surviving in the wilderness very compelling. This doesn't technically take place in Alaska, but it definitely could have. This book was awesome. I freaking loved it.
I love that this book didn't follow some spoiled-girl-learns-to-fend-for-herself trope. Jess was put in a terrible situation from the get go. I think anyone would be able to understand why she didn't want to live with a father she never knew in the middle of nowhere. Especially taking into consideration the fact that she was still recovering from the car accident that killed her mother. It would be a lot even for someone who liked being in the wilderness and had survival skills. Her anger toward him and her catty nature with him was understandable. I would even go so far as to say it was justified.
The survival aspect was really intriguing. Again, I love survival stories. I'm not sure what it is, but reading about characters who are able to use their smarts in order to become self-sufficient just does it for me.
I shelved this as a YA book because the main character is sixteen/seventeen, but I can't think of another YA book that is anything like this. At least, nothing published recently. It was very unique.
I truly loved everything about this book. I also saw that the author is from the Pacific Northwest, which was obvious to me while I was reading. She seemed to have a deep knowledge of this area in many different aspects.
I love that this book didn't follow some spoiled-girl-learns-to-fend-for-herself trope. Jess was put in a terrible situation from the get go. I think anyone would be able to understand why she didn't want to live with a father she never knew in the middle of nowhere. Especially taking into consideration the fact that she was still recovering from the car accident that killed her mother. It would be a lot even for someone who liked being in the wilderness and had survival skills. Her anger toward him and her catty nature with him was understandable. I would even go so far as to say it was justified.
The survival aspect was really intriguing. Again, I love survival stories. I'm not sure what it is, but reading about characters who are able to use their smarts in order to become self-sufficient just does it for me.
I shelved this as a YA book because the main character is sixteen/seventeen, but I can't think of another YA book that is anything like this. At least, nothing published recently. It was very unique.
I truly loved everything about this book. I also saw that the author is from the Pacific Northwest, which was obvious to me while I was reading. She seemed to have a deep knowledge of this area in many different aspects.