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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
This was a fantastic story! It was beautifully written, contained loads of potential points of discussion for a class and had a quick, morally strong plotline. I really liked the fact that it was based during an epidemic and we are currently living through one, it added a sense of fiction to a situation that I am struggling to process.
Come back to in order to:
- Support texts with a post-apocalyptic vibe in RfL (The Boy in the Tower)
- Consider trauma and how it manifests (inability to speak)
- Interesting way of showing speech (asterisks)
- Present tense (but consistent)
Come back to in order to:
- Support texts with a post-apocalyptic vibe in RfL (The Boy in the Tower)
- Consider trauma and how it manifests (inability to speak)
- Interesting way of showing speech (asterisks)
- Present tense (but consistent)
Oh how I hate a cliffhanger! Mainly because I don't have the next book on hand to immediately start reading. I have wanted to read The Last Wild ever since I heard about it and it did not disappoint.
Kester is a boy who has been taken from his home and imprisoned in Spectrum Hall. He is unable to speak ever since his mom died several years ago. He hasn't heard from his dad in the six years he has been in Spectrum Hall. Kester's world is one in which there was a plague that destroyed all the animals and the food of the world. The people of the island where he lives are confined into four cities and the island is controlled by the powerful Factorium. One ordinary day in Spectrum Hall Kester discovers he can hear animals. First it is a cockroach and then pigeons. They break Kester out and take him to the last wild. There he meets the last stag and many other animals that have survived the plague. Unfortunately, they are in danger because the plague has reached the last wild. Their only hope is Kester and finding a cure. Kester sets off with the stag, cockroach, pigeons and a courageous wolf-pup to the city to find his father and a cure. Along the way he is joined by other animals and Polly, who has lived in the quarantine zone with her parents until they disappeared. They are chased by the evil henchmen of the Factorium who wants to destroy all animals no matter if they are sick or not. Kester has to find his courage and his voice in order to succeed.
It isn't often that you read a book where the main character cannot talk. While Kester can talk to the animals, he is unable to communicate with the people he meets. This leads to some pretty interesting situations. As much as I liked Kester and Polly, it was really the animals who were the stars of this story. There is the only white pigeon who repeats everything the gray pigeons say only in a different order and often with completely different and hilarious meanings. There is the brave wolf-pup who is super courageous and let's everyone know about his bravery. There is the cockroach named "General" who seems to sleep more than most put still claims to be the leader. There is the mouse who has a dance for every occasion. And finally the majestic stag who saves them time and again. The book is a mix of fantasy and dystopian and road novel mixed with coming of age. I loved every page of it!
Kester is a boy who has been taken from his home and imprisoned in Spectrum Hall. He is unable to speak ever since his mom died several years ago. He hasn't heard from his dad in the six years he has been in Spectrum Hall. Kester's world is one in which there was a plague that destroyed all the animals and the food of the world. The people of the island where he lives are confined into four cities and the island is controlled by the powerful Factorium. One ordinary day in Spectrum Hall Kester discovers he can hear animals. First it is a cockroach and then pigeons. They break Kester out and take him to the last wild. There he meets the last stag and many other animals that have survived the plague. Unfortunately, they are in danger because the plague has reached the last wild. Their only hope is Kester and finding a cure. Kester sets off with the stag, cockroach, pigeons and a courageous wolf-pup to the city to find his father and a cure. Along the way he is joined by other animals and Polly, who has lived in the quarantine zone with her parents until they disappeared. They are chased by the evil henchmen of the Factorium who wants to destroy all animals no matter if they are sick or not. Kester has to find his courage and his voice in order to succeed.
It isn't often that you read a book where the main character cannot talk. While Kester can talk to the animals, he is unable to communicate with the people he meets. This leads to some pretty interesting situations. As much as I liked Kester and Polly, it was really the animals who were the stars of this story. There is the only white pigeon who repeats everything the gray pigeons say only in a different order and often with completely different and hilarious meanings. There is the brave wolf-pup who is super courageous and let's everyone know about his bravery. There is the cockroach named "General" who seems to sleep more than most put still claims to be the leader. There is the mouse who has a dance for every occasion. And finally the majestic stag who saves them time and again. The book is a mix of fantasy and dystopian and road novel mixed with coming of age. I loved every page of it!
I love the cover on this book - well, I'm currently writing my review on a different edition to the one I've read, but each cover is similar, and similarly striking. A boy sitting on a stag - fabulous picture. So often, it's the cover that first grabs one's attention, and how often does the book disappoint? Well of course I then read the blurb and make my decision on that. And I read this one's blurb several times - it being on the shelf in the bookshop .....
This book is a great children's book. It has a touch of the post-apocalyptic and a touch of the fantasy and they're melded together nicely. The boy is a reluctant hero, but finds himself following the path proscribed for him. The animals are a great mixture of wildness and wisdom. The people we meet along the way are a little caricatured, but this is a book for children and it works well. I'm definitely going to follow this series.
This book is a great children's book. It has a touch of the post-apocalyptic and a touch of the fantasy and they're melded together nicely. The boy is a reluctant hero, but finds himself following the path proscribed for him. The animals are a great mixture of wildness and wisdom. The people we meet along the way are a little caricatured, but this is a book for children and it works well. I'm definitely going to follow this series.
I was really excited to read this book with my 9 and 7 year old kids, it seemed like just the kind of book we love to delve into, nature themed dystopian, a great sparker of interesting conversations. But, honestly the fat shaming is relentless. I realise that being on the larger side might be quite extraordinary in this version of the world but I am only on page 11 and have read the word "fat" or a derivative of the word at least 9 times. And THEN the name calling starts. I mean, are we still doing this? 'Bad' people are characterised by fatness and ugliness, sometimes hairiness? Can we stop using 'fat' as an insult? Especially in children's books. When we keep telling children that superficial beauty and thinness are the most important things we can't be surprised when that's internalised. There are 6 year olds with eating disorders, bullying is becoming an epidemic. Just stop. While I'm interested learning about this world and the story is intriguing I don't know if I can get over this aspect, I'm not sure if it's worth the constant conversations I'm having to have with the kids to overcome the problem Torday obviously has with fatness.
For 5th grade and up
Kester Jaymes has been sent to a type of reform school. Kester’s “crime” is that he won’t or can’t speak. He is living in a future world without animals – rather a world with very few animals because they are dying from a disease which is able to mutate between species. The humans are afraid they are next.
Kester finds that not all the animals are infected and has to go on mission to help this “Last Wild” survive. Drawing on courage he didn’t know he had, Kester travels with a cockroach, a stag, and a flock of pigeons through a land which doesn’t welcome animals or those traveling with them.
This dystopian novel has less violence than The Hunger Games. It is engaging and interesting until the last bit. When Kester gets close to his goal some unlikely situations occur just so this can be book one.
Kester Jaymes has been sent to a type of reform school. Kester’s “crime” is that he won’t or can’t speak. He is living in a future world without animals – rather a world with very few animals because they are dying from a disease which is able to mutate between species. The humans are afraid they are next.
Kester finds that not all the animals are infected and has to go on mission to help this “Last Wild” survive. Drawing on courage he didn’t know he had, Kester travels with a cockroach, a stag, and a flock of pigeons through a land which doesn’t welcome animals or those traveling with them.
This dystopian novel has less violence than The Hunger Games. It is engaging and interesting until the last bit. When Kester gets close to his goal some unlikely situations occur just so this can be book one.
Review of an ARC courtesy of Edelweiss and the publisher.
An enchanting and riveting tale of a dystopian future in which the animals are all gone ... until Kester, with his special voice, is tracked down by the last remaining group and recruited to save them from society.
Torday's premise is originally executed, with fun, dimensional characters of both human and beast variety (sometimes overlapping). His self-doubt and growth are a joy to watch evolve, and his friendships that blossom are believable and heart-wrenching. It's sad, hopeful, and fraught with danger. A lovely middle grade book that practically vibrates with life.
An enchanting and riveting tale of a dystopian future in which the animals are all gone ... until Kester, with his special voice, is tracked down by the last remaining group and recruited to save them from society.
Torday's premise is originally executed, with fun, dimensional characters of both human and beast variety (sometimes overlapping). His self-doubt and growth are a joy to watch evolve, and his friendships that blossom are believable and heart-wrenching. It's sad, hopeful, and fraught with danger. A lovely middle grade book that practically vibrates with life.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
A morbid, slow-moving book that fits with a certain kind of worldview. I don't get the impression that this author likes people very much.
With that being said, I'm clearly in the minority, so if you're a Patrick Ness / Lord of the Flies fan you should just ignore me and pick up this series.
With that being said, I'm clearly in the minority, so if you're a Patrick Ness / Lord of the Flies fan you should just ignore me and pick up this series.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced