I received this copy from James Lorimer & Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alternate title choice: Disappointment
I'm not totally sure what I expected this book to be but it sure wasn't this.
The cover and description make it seem like it's going to be this fun, romantic, dramatic book but it's not. Literally nothing happens! But it's nothing disguised as confusingness and questions. I never truly understood what was happening.
The book description says:
"The strangers meet in a wilderness park on Vancouver Island, where basic survival is a challenge. As they work together to find food, water, and shelter, they find the strength to take control of their own lives. "
But that's not true. It's a wilderness park. That place is teeming with other campers, forest rangers, and CLEARLY MARKED TRAILS! It's literally just a park! One with real campgrounds and bath-house. There's no struggle to survive. And, it wasn't really very clear, but, I'm pretty sure they were only out there for a few days anyhow. At one point, Seth is so hungry he eats kelp. KELP! He obviously had no idea whether or not it was edible and he'd only been in the park for 1 1/2 days at most. He'd never be that desperate!
Seth was my least favorite of the 2 characters because he was completely irrational and stupid in his decisions of "survival" and just stupid overall (yeah, go ahead, pee in the stream, that's much easier than turning your body away. And walking around in the wilderness half naked seems like a great idea! Good job guy!). Also, his "backstory" was just weird. Why is he so attached to his dog? I mean I love my dog but.....I don't know. He seemed kind of obsessed with Patches (?). I just hated reading anything from his POV.
During the first half of the book I actually enjoyed reading Brooke's POV. But then she got her period and met Seth an she just started being stupid too. After a while I just hated the everything about both characters, but at least she knew what the heck she was doing out in the park.
The prologue was weird. I'm pretty sure I found that moment in the story, but it was written so differently I couldn't tell. Also, the ending sucked. Yay, Seth gets to go live with his dog and absentee father whom he hates, whoo hoo! WHO CARES!?! At least Brooke's story was somewhat entertaining and left you wondering what had happened to her, but there's co conclusion for her! We have exactly no idea what happened to her physically or in her love life or familiar life. It....just.....UGH!
There were a few good (ish) parts to this book though. It's short. I finished it in the time it took for the rest of my family to watch Batman vs Superman (which, by the way, is the weirdest, most confusing superhero movie there is. Why is it a thing? Lex Luther was the only redeeming quality. Great hair.) and, even considering everything I've listed that sucks, I was still able to get through the whole thing. And I have absolutely no problem not finishing a horrible book (cough, cough, Hatred Day) so it's not the worst book to read. But I don't recommend it unless you're bored out of your mind and it's the only thing available to you.
Sorry Jodi Lundgren. Please don't hate me!
Alternate title choice: Disappointment
I'm not totally sure what I expected this book to be but it sure wasn't this.
The cover and description make it seem like it's going to be this fun, romantic, dramatic book but it's not. Literally nothing happens! But it's nothing disguised as confusingness and questions. I never truly understood what was happening.
The book description says:
"The strangers meet in a wilderness park on Vancouver Island, where basic survival is a challenge. As they work together to find food, water, and shelter, they find the strength to take control of their own lives. "
But that's not true. It's a wilderness park. That place is teeming with other campers, forest rangers, and CLEARLY MARKED TRAILS! It's literally just a park! One with real campgrounds and bath-house. There's no struggle to survive. And, it wasn't really very clear, but, I'm pretty sure they were only out there for a few days anyhow. At one point, Seth is so hungry he eats kelp. KELP! He obviously had no idea whether or not it was edible and he'd only been in the park for 1 1/2 days at most. He'd never be that desperate!
Seth was my least favorite of the 2 characters because he was completely irrational and stupid in his decisions of "survival" and just stupid overall (yeah, go ahead, pee in the stream, that's much easier than turning your body away. And walking around in the wilderness half naked seems like a great idea! Good job guy!). Also, his "backstory" was just weird. Why is he so attached to his dog? I mean I love my dog but.....I don't know. He seemed kind of obsessed with Patches (?). I just hated reading anything from his POV.
During the first half of the book I actually enjoyed reading Brooke's POV. But then she got her period and met Seth an she just started being stupid too. After a while I just hated the everything about both characters, but at least she knew what the heck she was doing out in the park.
The prologue was weird. I'm pretty sure I found that moment in the story, but it was written so differently I couldn't tell. Also, the ending sucked. Yay, Seth gets to go live with his dog and absentee father whom he hates, whoo hoo! WHO CARES!?! At least Brooke's story was somewhat entertaining and left you wondering what had happened to her, but there's co conclusion for her! We have exactly no idea what happened to her physically or in her love life or familiar life. It....just.....UGH!
There were a few good (ish) parts to this book though. It's short. I finished it in the time it took for the rest of my family to watch Batman vs Superman (which, by the way, is the weirdest, most confusing superhero movie there is. Why is it a thing? Lex Luther was the only redeeming quality. Great hair.) and, even considering everything I've listed that sucks, I was still able to get through the whole thing. And I have absolutely no problem not finishing a horrible book (cough, cough, Hatred Day) so it's not the worst book to read. But I don't recommend it unless you're bored out of your mind and it's the only thing available to you.
Sorry Jodi Lundgren. Please don't hate me!