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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This very informative novel blends memoir with history. I genuinely enjoyed it, though at times it was difficult to get through. Often taking breaks every ten or so pages was necessary. This well researched book was at times confusing however. The memoir bits at times had little to do with the main plotline. And while it is near impossible to discuss repopulation of wolves without discussing climate change and racism, this book at times ventured off into social culture and sexism. This was not the book I thought I was sitting down to read in both good and bad ways. While I enjoyed her memior interjections I wish they had been more focused. And while I understand the interconnectedness of an this endangered species and how cultures and society see them through different lenses, I wish it had also been more focused. By the jacket blurb and the title it appears to be a novel that will explore wolves in their roles of our fairy and cultural tales thus affecting how society makes real life decisions about this animal. However, what it turned out to be was a through delve into how white society has displaced anger and fear onto an unsuspecting animal. Half star off for not being an accurate portrayal of the summary and another half star off for at times having seemingly random research quotes and memories weaved clunkily in-between. During these times it felt much more like a undergrad senior thesis. Still a great read, would recommend.
3.5 stars rounded up. The first 2 chapters were good but the middle 3 chapters were slow and I almost DNF’ed. Glad I didn’t because the last two chapters got better.
I’m having trouble formulating my thought on this book which is part of what makes it so frustrating. At the heart, while I thought certain sections of the book were interesting and well-written, I just didn’t enjoy this book, even as an avid reader of nonfiction. I think it comes down to two main issues: this book is long and the chapters are also very, very long each. This gives the feeling that the book is a slog. It felt like an effort to really progress. The second issue is that the book juxtaposes personal anecdotes with facts of OR-7s life, as well as a chapter theme of wolf vs. etc. I think more often than not the three elements didn’t come together as harmoniously as I think the author probably intended.
Another one of those semi-autobiographical books that are disguised as a nonfiction book about a different topic. This book was all over the place; ecology and wolves being introduced back into the environment, fairy tales, fear in general, the author's experience with anxiety, random murder cases. It was all too much and it made it so that nothing really stood out. I think it would have made much more sense to cut some of the topics in the book and focus more on wolves specifically, not fear and anxiety and men and murder and everything that could be related to those. It also felt like it skipped around a lot so it didn't feel like any chapter had a clear focus which made it feel even messier. I liked hearing about the wolf reintroduction, but that had to share room in all of the chapters with everything else. The use of murders that the author had no personal involvement in felt weird. It was interesting that the author could understand that her fear was dangerous to others, but not that including these deaths/ true crime in general at times can be exploitative and may not have a place in this book. I think I would have been more generous on this point if I had liked the book more.
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I really wanted to love this book.
Let me make one thing really clear - Erica is a very talented writer; that is obvious in this piece. But, I felt so conflicted throughout this read. It felt like two books - one about wolves and another about the author - were colliding and the combination at times felt jolting. I feel if the book had been broken down into more chapters, I would have felt more like a smooth ride rather than being pulled in multiple directions.
And had the description of the book led the reader to be prepared for an author’s story I think I would have understood it more quickly.
The research Erica has done is stellar and I learned more about wolves than I could have imagined. But, as another reviewer stated, it was just so close but missed the mark.
I do look forward to reading more of Erica’s work as I feel like this book is an earlier ‘chapter’, if you will, of a talented writing career.
Let me make one thing really clear - Erica is a very talented writer; that is obvious in this piece. But, I felt so conflicted throughout this read. It felt like two books - one about wolves and another about the author - were colliding and the combination at times felt jolting. I feel if the book had been broken down into more chapters, I would have felt more like a smooth ride rather than being pulled in multiple directions.
And had the description of the book led the reader to be prepared for an author’s story I think I would have understood it more quickly.
The research Erica has done is stellar and I learned more about wolves than I could have imagined. But, as another reviewer stated, it was just so close but missed the mark.
I do look forward to reading more of Erica’s work as I feel like this book is an earlier ‘chapter’, if you will, of a talented writing career.
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This is basically a collection of really well written essays that pull from human and natural history, poetry, folk tales, and the author’s own life to discuss the theme of fear. There’s a lot of types of fear to cover, as enumerated by the chapter titles. There are moments of humor, fear, and self reflection. Sometimes it feels a bit to “quote heavy” as it pulls from other sources and cites other writers but I think each chapter is quite well rounded and the author pens some really poignant passages.