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neliadiedenise's review
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Abortion, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Grief, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, and Infidelity
asurasantosha's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Abortion, Addiction, Drug use, Medical content, and Sexual assault
parasolcrafter's review
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Animal death, Cursing, Blood, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, and Sexism
whimsicalish's review against another edition
4.0
Also, I never heard of the Pacific Crest Trail so this was educational too.
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction and Drug use
violetbooklover's review
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, Cancer, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Addiction
natgeographic's review
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent and Animal death
Moderate: Cursing, Addiction, Grief, Drug use, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity
Personally was super turned off by the abortion story but overall I found the book introspective and inspiring.kelleykamanda's review
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Violence, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Abortion, Animal death, Excrement, and Suicide
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
3.5
The hiking portion of the book was super inspiring! She was wicked badass even if some of the mistakes she made were anxiety inducing. Also great to see how mostly the hiking community treated her.
For the non-hiking parts of the book, I was always surprised at what she was thinking and doing. While I did not agree with the choices that she made, she was in pain and was looking to do what she needed to do at the time. Interesting to get to see how other people wildly different than you think.
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Animal death
Moderate: Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
kristenreads's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, and Grief
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Abortion
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
5.0
The story begins with Cheryl's back story and the hardships she's experienced over the previous few years of her life. This really allows the reader to get a good idea of who the author is and sets up how she, as a person, will evolve over the course of the book. The book presents a map at the beginning to familiarize the reader with the full length and varied terrain of the PCT. The book is broken up into five parts, with multiple chapters in each part. Each chapter relays the author's most memorable experiences from different sections of the trail. The experiences shared could be about equipment, the hiking experience, people met, camping sites, etc. It's very easy to feel like a hitchhiker on this hike and relate to the various highs and lows that took place, as well as the insights shared.
Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren't a state of being but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was. The radical aloneness of the PCT had altered that sense. Alone wasn't a room anymore, but the whole wide world. And now, I was alone in that world, occupying it in a way I never had before. Living at large like this, without even a roof over my head, made the world feel both bigger and smaller to me. Until now I hadn't really understood the world's vastness, hadn't even understood how vast a mile could be until each mile was beheld at walking speed.
By the end of the story, the reader feels like a veteran of the PCT and intimately aware of what works and what doesn't work for a first-time long-distance hiker. It's also heartwarming to share in the tales of comradery that occurs between hikers sharing the trail and people who live along the trail, welcoming the hikers into their communities and servicing their needs. Ms. Strayed tells her story with a sense of humor and humility, admitting freely when she realizes her miscalculations and shortcomings as a hiker. But overall, I was impressed with the level of research and preparation completed before she set out on the hike, and how she managed to survive in a very sparing way at times.
This is a well written, informative, and entertaining book. I'd say it's inspiring, and while reading it you wonder if hiking the PCT could be in the cards for you... then reality sets in and you find you're satisfied to have just been given the opportunity to be a voyeur to someone else's bravery in taking on this historical hiking trail. I loved the quotes and song lyrics included at the beginning of each part of the book, and appreciate the extras included in the book: a list of books read and referenced by the author while on her hike and a Reading Group Guide.
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator, Bernadette Dunne. Ms. Dunne brought an energy and lightness to her reading of the story that it was even more relatable and like listening to the author share difficult memories and special new experiences as her life expands and evolves.
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Grief