fineplan 's review for:

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

4.0

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The pages flew by with this one. I think what worked for me best was the cool setting -- a zoo at night -- and the plot point that our protagonist is trying to survive with her four year old son. I'm pretty picky about my thrillers. I think a good number of them deal with people hiding and trying to escape, rather than fighting back. This is, of course, the more sensible route to take -- especially if you're a normal, everyday type of person. The problem (for me) is that if it isn't written right, the characters seem to have little agency and can be weak/whiny. Fierce Kingdom does not have this issue at all. Sure, Joan isn't a kickbutt ninja or ex-military expert or whatever, but I bet she'd have a good chance of escaping. She's smart, thinks quickly, and seems entirely capable. However, she's with her son and no matter how well behaved and charming he is, he's still a very small child who gets lost in the needs of the moment and can only understand the danger so much. I never thought child's dinnertime could create so much tension for me, but, wow. Additionally, there is also a theme of what the morally right thing to do in such a situation is... Do you help others? Or focus only on giving your child its best chance of survival?