Reviews

I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall

Only show reviews with written explanations

fussl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

cakt1991's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

With her earliest published novel, I Am Still Alive, Kate Alice Marshall makes quite the impression. While it’s different from a lot of the work she would subsequently publish, as I noted in a prior review, I like that she’s established a precedent for always taking risks and playing with genre and style, regardless of what audience she’s writing for.

And while “survival” stories aren’t really my niche, I really liked Marshall’s take on it. The choice to tell things in a non-linear narrative initially put me off somewhat, but it was ultimately effective in showing the juxtaposition in how things had changed so catastrophically for Jess, with the narrative then switching gears once “Before” and “After” had caught up with one another.

It’s easy to root for Jess, even if there’s not much context for her life before these events. She’s resourceful and determined, and I rooted for her to navigate the tough situations she ended up in, from the relatively more mundane challenge of adapting to living with her off-the-grid father after her mother’s death, to navigating the same environment on her own after he’s killed. With her having these losses so close together, it’s natural for her to be grieving, and to have to deal with basic survival on top of that? She’s a real trooper.

I really appreciated how the story revealed what happened to Jess’ father. While I did feel the marketing emphasized the “revenge” aspect to the point where I expected, it was a somewhat present subplot. However, the overall “survival” aspect takes precedence. However, even with the story focused more on a “girl vs. nature” conflict than anything else, it’s enough that I felt a persistent sense of suspense and danger, and anything on top of that was a bonus.

This was both an emotionally moving and suspenseful read, and I’d recommend it to readers looking for survivalist thriller stories.

pretzelthedino's review against another edition

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4.0

I really liked the book, I'm just a little bit disappointed that Bo died and she didn't

neenerneener's review against another edition

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5.0

Brutally beautiful.

paperbacksandpines's review against another edition

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4.0

I didn't have any expectations going into this book. It pleasantly surprised me. It was like a modern day update of [b:Hatchet|50|Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)|Gary Paulsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385297074l/50._SX50_.jpg|1158125], with a female protagonist.

Teenage Jess had recently been debilitated in a car crash that killed her mother, put her in the charge of foster care, and set her to live with her father whom she hadn't lived with (or seen but once) since she was six months old.

Jess had no idea her father would be a survivalist, living so off-the-grid that he had no neighbors and the only way to his cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness was by sea plane. In their short time together, she found out that

Spoiler

her father ended up having to work for some very bad men by way of blackmail

. Now Jess has to fight for survival with few resources and only her father’s dog for company.

This book was a combination of an adventure and thriller. Since the protagonist was a 16-year old, I'm giving it more leeway as a thriller than I normally would.

Trigger warning: harm to animals, both for survival purposes and intent to kill

blogginboutbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed this gritty story about a 16-year-old city girl who finds herself stranded alone in an isolated bit of Canadian wilderness. With few survival skills to rely on, she has to keep herself alive using her smarts and her determination. It's a grim, engrossing tale that had me burning through pages to find out what was going to happen.