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rachelwrites007's review against another edition
4.0
Could not put this book down. It was like a YA [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] by Gary Paulsen, featuring a teen girl.
drae's review against another edition
4.0
All in all I enjoyed this book. Parts of it were a bit gory and emotionally intense, but the writing created a vivid trip into the Canadian back country that felt refreshingly real, especially given my current confinement due to world events.
glamatronic's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 A lot of slow parts, but I like the story as a whole overall.
alexarae24's review against another edition
4.0
Alaskan wilderness. Huge hatchet vibes but I found it way more entertaining. I didn’t think I was going to like it so much but I have a weird love for this book.
bookedbydanielle22's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of the book really pulled me in. Girl surviving in the wilderness after the death of her dad (not a spoiler literally in the summary) and then hunting down the killers. However, it was a much slower build up than I was imagining. It was also an extremely easy read, just a couple of hours to finish it off. If you like survival books and something that doesn’t take too much mental effort I recommend
ivycrowned's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
crikeycrawfish's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 Stars!!!
I would first like to start this review by thanking this book for getting me out of a month long slump. It was way out of my usual genre of choice and I am all the more thankful for it. The complete realism of it was so different than fantasy that it got me back into reading for the year. Now on to the actual review!
I REALLY liked this book. Granted, I really love stories of survival, of fighting against the odds as much as you can which this girl definitely does.
One of the best aspects this story was the completely realistic approach it had and the consistency it kept throughout the story. A big pet peeve of mine is when characters are injured pretty severely and then two days later are fine (like the human body does not work like that fam). That is not the case with this story.
Our protagonist, Jess, begins the story as injured and it all goes down hill from there for her (bless her heart). It keeps her injury's healing (or getting worse) in real time. She doesn't just push through everything but actually feels pain that makes it too hard to accomplish tasks. Willpower is strong but not strong enough to fight a severely weakened body and I just really really appreciated that this story addressed that, especially as a survival story. It kept the odds stacked against her and actually kept me more invested.
Another thing I think this author did really well (and there's some actual term for this but I can't remember it) but the way she built up the character and then had events bring her back down again was done soooooooo well. It was just an accumulation of bad luck that lead to her break down of hope (which led to other events but spooooooooiiilllllleeeeerrrrrsssss). It was just really good story telling in that aspect.
Now this part could be considered both annoying but also kinda cool in my opinion is that Jess doens't just suddenly know how to live in the woods. She's not just an instant survivalist. As she points out multiple times, she's a city girl, and that shows. The only reason I say this can be annoying is because a lot of the time I wanted to punch her but that's just because I'm actually from the country and knew how to do these things, but it was good for her not to because that just wouldn't have been realistic. So if you read this, give her a break for not knowing exactly what to do.
THAT ENDING THOUGH. Ugh. It was so exciting and that one part (IF YOU'VE READ IT YOU KNOW) was so painful but poetic but beautiful and I cried for probably 5 full minutes before I could pull myself together to finish the book.
All in all, a very very realistic story of survival that I could probably write a 10 page spoiler filled, feel fueled review on, but I'll just leave it with one redacted spoiler.
AND WITH THE LAST BULLET THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THE BAD GUY AS REVENGE BUT ENDED UP BEING USED AS A MERCY SHOT FOR HER ONLY COMPANION. I CRYYYYYYYYYYYY.
And they way she described that he was already home out in the woods under the sky UGHHHHHHH. Literally I just started crying again thinking about it. #BoDeservedBetter
I would first like to start this review by thanking this book for getting me out of a month long slump. It was way out of my usual genre of choice and I am all the more thankful for it. The complete realism of it was so different than fantasy that it got me back into reading for the year. Now on to the actual review!
I REALLY liked this book. Granted, I really love stories of survival, of fighting against the odds as much as you can which this girl definitely does.
One of the best aspects this story was the completely realistic approach it had and the consistency it kept throughout the story. A big pet peeve of mine is when characters are injured pretty severely and then two days later are fine (like the human body does not work like that fam). That is not the case with this story.
Our protagonist, Jess, begins the story as injured and it all goes down hill from there for her (bless her heart). It keeps her injury's healing (or getting worse) in real time. She doesn't just push through everything but actually feels pain that makes it too hard to accomplish tasks. Willpower is strong but not strong enough to fight a severely weakened body and I just really really appreciated that this story addressed that, especially as a survival story. It kept the odds stacked against her and actually kept me more invested.
Another thing I think this author did really well (and there's some actual term for this but I can't remember it) but the way she built up the character and then had events bring her back down again was done soooooooo well. It was just an accumulation of bad luck that lead to her break down of hope (which led to other events but spooooooooiiilllllleeeeerrrrrsssss). It was just really good story telling in that aspect.
Now this part could be considered both annoying but also kinda cool in my opinion is that Jess doens't just suddenly know how to live in the woods. She's not just an instant survivalist. As she points out multiple times, she's a city girl, and that shows. The only reason I say this can be annoying is because a lot of the time I wanted to punch her but that's just because I'm actually from the country and knew how to do these things, but it was good for her not to because that just wouldn't have been realistic. So if you read this, give her a break for not knowing exactly what to do.
THAT ENDING THOUGH. Ugh. It was so exciting and that one part (IF YOU'VE READ IT YOU KNOW) was so painful but poetic but beautiful and I cried for probably 5 full minutes before I could pull myself together to finish the book.
All in all, a very very realistic story of survival that I could probably write a 10 page spoiler filled, feel fueled review on, but I'll just leave it with one redacted spoiler.
Spoiler
BUT WHY DID BO HAVE TO DIE?! I mean, I had already been thinking that this wild, beautiful creature didn't have a place back in a city or anything BUT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HURT ME LIKE THAT.AND WITH THE LAST BULLET THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THE BAD GUY AS REVENGE BUT ENDED UP BEING USED AS A MERCY SHOT FOR HER ONLY COMPANION. I CRYYYYYYYYYYYY.
And they way she described that he was already home out in the woods under the sky UGHHHHHHH. Literally I just started crying again thinking about it. #BoDeservedBetter
lopster9's review against another edition
5.0
This was a quick read that I didn't want to put down.....I loved the setting and story line, however, I wanted more from the character development. The chapters take turns with the narration of "Before" and "After" which makes it interesting.
silentcat7135's review against another edition
4.0
Briefly, I enjoyed the gritty survival parts of the story, which is the basis for the 4 stars. Hated the father and his living-out-here-in-the-wild-will-make-you-strong-and-whole attitude when his daughter was not just missing her former life but also receiving needed post-accident physiotherapy back in civilization. Another good dog .
And now a very, very long rant about one minor thing that distractingly bothered me while reading: She's a 16-year-old girl. The man who flies in to bring her father supplies periodically explains that he won't be back for maybe up to a year. There's no mention of bringing a year's worth of tampons or any other feminine hygiene supplies. The only mention of periods is one brief mention that she hasn't had one since arriving there. It's plausible that her periods would stop once she is in survival mode based on stress and lack of enough food, but before that? And even if her periods did stop, it's not something that could have been counted on, so she would need supplies. Or some awkward conversation with her father about expecting her to use washable/reusable supplies. Or moss. I remember in North of Normal, an excellent memoir by Cea Sunrise Person about her childhood off the grid, that the women used moss of some kind and who were thrilled with a Christmas present of a box of tampons, as one would be. The whole lack of stocking up on tampons for the year with no expected resupplying had my mind wandering to the real-world opposite situation when Sally Ride went into space for 1 week and NASA supplied her with 100 tampons and questioned whether that would be enough, an event immortalized in song by Marcia Belsky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTnQ6N-K05s
Anyway, TL/DR, where are the tampons?
That aside, and the annoying father aside, this was an enjoyable survival story with some quite gritty elements in it. Would not recommend it to anyone squeamish about reading about hunting animals for food, though.
Spoiler
who, of course, dies. Why do they always die?And now a very, very long rant about one minor thing that distractingly bothered me while reading: She's a 16-year-old girl. The man who flies in to bring her father supplies periodically explains that he won't be back for maybe up to a year. There's no mention of bringing a year's worth of tampons or any other feminine hygiene supplies. The only mention of periods is one brief mention that she hasn't had one since arriving there. It's plausible that her periods would stop once she is in survival mode based on stress and lack of enough food, but before that? And even if her periods did stop, it's not something that could have been counted on, so she would need supplies. Or some awkward conversation with her father about expecting her to use washable/reusable supplies. Or moss. I remember in North of Normal, an excellent memoir by Cea Sunrise Person about her childhood off the grid, that the women used moss of some kind and who were thrilled with a Christmas present of a box of tampons, as one would be. The whole lack of stocking up on tampons for the year with no expected resupplying had my mind wandering to the real-world opposite situation when Sally Ride went into space for 1 week and NASA supplied her with 100 tampons and questioned whether that would be enough, an event immortalized in song by Marcia Belsky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTnQ6N-K05s
Anyway, TL/DR, where are the tampons?
That aside, and the annoying father aside, this was an enjoyable survival story with some quite gritty elements in it. Would not recommend it to anyone squeamish about reading about hunting animals for food, though.