Book Review 360 - 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

Hiking into the remote Utah canyonlands, Aron Ralston felt perfectly at home in the beauty of the natural world. Then, at 2:41 P.M., eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, an eight-hundred-pound boulder tumbled loose, pinning Aron's right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. Through six days of hell, with scant water, food, or warm clothing, and the terrible knowledge that no one knew where he was, Aron eliminated his escape option one by one. Then a moment of stark clarity helped him to solve the riddle of the boulder - and commit one of the most extreme and desperate acts imaginable.

My Rating: 3.5/5

 

 

I was given this book for Christmas a few years ago and finally decided to read it. The closest thing can compare it to is Stuart Diver's autobiography I read about a decade ago.

 

 

I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with Aron's remarkable story. I had seen the movie prior to reading this. After reading the book, I am a little disappointed in how many key moments the film cut out, for example the amount of near death experiences Aron had had leading up to this moment and how long it took him to get help after freeing himself.

 

 

I found the mountaineering talk a bit boring at times, especially when he went back and described past treks. However this showed how he lived life on the edge and demonstrated how experienced he was.

 

 

I wouldn't recommend this book for those who have a weak stomach. He goes into extreme detail in how he cut off his arm - which I actually found quite interesting.

 

 

Overall I found this book pretty inspiring, it's a reminder of how precious life is and not to take it for granted.

Book Review #359 - The Tide Breaker by Sonya Watson

When it is discovered that Abrianna, an Amalgam, survived the mass cleansing orchestrated by Destiny her life becomes less then desirable since her only options are to be controlled or die.

 

 

My Rating: 2.5/5

 

 

I received this book for review from the author. The author's Goodreads page can be found here.

 

 

The major problem with this book is that it offers no introduction. The reader is thrown into the story immediately with absolute no world building.

 

 

I really wanted to love this book, but I just found it incredibly hard to follow. The characters all blended together and the plot jumped all over the place it was really confusing.

 

 

I liked the paranormal aspect to it, although I think that a lot more could have been elaborated on.

Book Review #358 - Blood Red Road (Dust Lands #1) by Moira Young

 

In a wild and lawless future, where life is cheap and survival is hard, eighteen-year-old Saba lives with her father, her twin brother Lugh, her young sister Emmi and her pet crow Nero. Theirs is a hard and lonely life. The family resides in a secluded shed, their nearest neighbour living many miles away and the lake, their only source of water and main provider of food, gradually dying from the lack of rain. But Saba's father refuses to leave the place where he buried his beloved wife, Allis, nine years ago. Allis died giving birth to Emmi, and Saba has never forgiven her sister for their mother's death.

But while she despises Emmi, Saba adores her twin brother Lugh. Golden-haired and blue-eyed, loving and good, he seems the complete opposite to dark-haired Saba, who is full of anger and driven by a ruthless survival instinct. To Saba, Lugh is her light and she is his shadow, he is the day, she is the night-time, he is beautiful, she is ugly, he is good, she is bad.

 

So Saba's small world is brutally torn apart, when a group of armed riders arrives five day's after the twin's eighteenth birthday snatch Lugh away. Saba's rage is so wild, that she manages to drive the men away, but not before they have captured Lugh and killed their father.

 

And here begins Saba's epic quest to rescue Lugh, during which she is tested by trials she could not have imagined, and one that takes the reader on breathtaking ride full or romance, physical adventure and unforgettably vivid characters, making this a truly sensational YA debut novel.

 

 

My Rating: 4/5

 

 

The first thing I am going to address about this book is the language. It seems that this is the main issue those who don't like this book have with it. For those who haven't read the book, a lot of words are purposely misspelt. This bothered me at first but by the end I didn't even notice it.

 

 

Saba is a very strong character, and one that would probably rival Katniss as the toughest female character in YA literature. I never understood her over infatuation with her brother though, especially when she couldn't even give one example to Jack as to why he was so special.

 

 

I liked Emmi by the end of the novel, but I found her extremely annoying to begin with (even more so than Saba did). Emmi probably had the most character growth throughout.

 

 

The plot was slow to begin with but it picks up pretty quickly and doesn't slow down at all.

 

 

The only thing that bothered me was the lack of chapters but I found myself reading huge portions at a time so it didn't really bother me that much.

 

 

I would have liked a bit more backstory to the world building as this would have given another dimension to the story.

 

 

I liked how many genres this book touches upon. It's definitively dystopian but has romance, action and even a bit of a western feel to it.