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cayenne503's Reviews (227)
I would really say 3.5 stars if I could but since I must choose a whole number I will err on the side of positivity. I was very excited when I heard about this book because I am a huge fan of both Stephen King and HP Lovecraft, and somehow got it into my head that King doing a Lovecraftian story meant a Cthulhu-y story. That is not the case. What is true is that he does a very good job of telling a VERY weird story. The last 50-75 pages, when it does finally get Cthulhu-y, almost feel like a different book, but not necessarily in a bad way. Overall, at the end I feel slightly disturbed rather than terrified, as some of King's older stories have left me.
Not as good as Percy Jackson. The story felt like it was simply following a formula.
The main character has little emotion, and when she does exhibit any at all she quickly gets over it. Frustrating to the outside observer since it's somewhat hard to relate to her. On the other hand, she definitely has a lot of flaws and that makes her interesting. The setting of the ancient galaxy far far away has a lot of potential, and I think the author did a good job setting up intrigue for future stories. I initially tried to read this book normally and quickly lost interest, however found the audiobook quite enjoyable.
I would like to say 3.5 stars but I'll be generous. Having read "Wild" a year ago I was excited to discover what I thought would be another story of a solo female long distance hiker overcoming her past and growing as a person. I do not feel that this book is that story. Maybe it's not supposed to be, and if so then it's fine. The author truly is a great writer, and although the story is at times frustrating or downright infuriating, I didn't want to put it down.
She describes the bizarre upbringing she had, including her mother dressing her-physically putting her clothes onto her body for her- until she was SIXTEEN. Her mother putting her down, telling her she was incapable of doing mundane tasks. It all sounded like narcissistic abuse to me. The author tries to escape and become an independent young adult upon starting college, only to become the victim of rape almost as soon as she arrived. She left for the PCT to heal from that experience and I SO DESPERATELY wanted to see it happen, and I could not believe the ridiculous decisions she made. Dumping out her water before entering the desert. Not carrying enough food. Attaching herself to a boy and declaring her love for him after like three hours. Calm down there Juliet. GETTING ACTUALLY KIDNAPPED WHAT.
However, she does overcome all of those obstacles and setbacks, and I had to remind myself that she was only 19 at the time, and 19 year olds do stupid things. But she did survive them and I guess she did grow, in the end. I wish this was a story more about her experiences with the trail than with the people on it. I wish the sections covering Oregon and Washington were as detailed as the one covering California. I wish it didn't morph into some weird romance story and drift away from the hike at the end. I guess if that's the story you want, go read Wild. But if you want the story of a kid growing up, surviving, and relearning to trust other people then this one is for you.
She describes the bizarre upbringing she had, including her mother dressing her-physically putting her clothes onto her body for her- until she was SIXTEEN. Her mother putting her down, telling her she was incapable of doing mundane tasks. It all sounded like narcissistic abuse to me. The author tries to escape and become an independent young adult upon starting college, only to become the victim of rape almost as soon as she arrived. She left for the PCT to heal from that experience and I SO DESPERATELY wanted to see it happen, and I could not believe the ridiculous decisions she made. Dumping out her water before entering the desert. Not carrying enough food. Attaching herself to a boy and declaring her love for him after like three hours. Calm down there Juliet. GETTING ACTUALLY KIDNAPPED WHAT.
However, she does overcome all of those obstacles and setbacks, and I had to remind myself that she was only 19 at the time, and 19 year olds do stupid things. But she did survive them and I guess she did grow, in the end. I wish this was a story more about her experiences with the trail than with the people on it. I wish the sections covering Oregon and Washington were as detailed as the one covering California. I wish it didn't morph into some weird romance story and drift away from the hike at the end. I guess if that's the story you want, go read Wild. But if you want the story of a kid growing up, surviving, and relearning to trust other people then this one is for you.
The first 80% of the story was OK. The action was interesting enough to follow but I found the overwhelming repetition of "I trust my brother more than anything", "We have to keep the cameras rolling", and "omg ratings" a bit over the top. The climax turned everything around however, and the impact it had was wonderfully reflected in the narration and internal monologue that followed. If you like dystopian future stories, definitely check this one out.
I read this over a year ago but apparently never reviewed it. Overall, I think it is the best book of the series. The story is gripping but not yet to the point of "yeah yeah, we get it, this stuff again" that the later books get.
