Review by amosler911 -- Stranded In The Wild
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amosler911
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- Latest Review: Stranded In The Wild by Gary Rodriguez
Review by amosler911 -- Stranded In The Wild
[Following is a volunteer review of "Stranded In The Wild" by Gary Rodriguez.]
Stranded in the Wild by Gary Rodriguez follows the journey of four high schoolers as they get stuck out in the wilderness together after a white water rafting accident. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, and each having their own difficult pasts, the four teenagers have to come together in order to survive. Beginning right in the action with the rafting accident, the book backtracks and introduces the reader to the four characters as they meet for the first time in their adventure camp, Camp Arrowhead. Savi is the clear heroine of the novel, and comes from Mississippi. She meets Jade, a girl from San Francisco, with whom she becomes fast friends. These two meet Conner, a nearly instantly dislikable character, and Rico. Rico and Conner meet on the football field before rafting, and quickly develop a deep dislike for each other.
As the teenagers battle against various elements including: rattlesnakes, bears, mountain lions, and the ominous creature “Vexel,” they slowly do their best to get back to Camp Arrowhead. Along the way, they meet Luke, a hunter seeking vengeance on the creature “Vexel” for killing Luke’s father.
Stranded in the Wild is captivating. The action scenes and tension are page-turning. Each difficulty and challenge that arises creates an intense desire to continue reading and find out what happens next. Seeing if the teenagers will be able to overcome the odds and all survive propelled me through the novel. However, despite plenty of action, the book was lacking in character development. Although I really enjoyed Savi’s character, and felt that she was well-shown and explained, the other characters were not. Savi was an enjoyable, earnest, hard working character, who had realistic qualities and flaws that were shown not told to the reader. Her excellent character development almost overcame the flaws and deficits in the other characters. However, despite how much I enjoyed reading and learning more about Savi, the other characters were deeply lacking.
Conner comes across as an absolute jerk at the beginning of the novel. Although he had some character growth, the other characters seemed to fail to recognize this, and his role in the story felt disjointed. Furthermore, his character development never came full circle. Meanwhile, the reader is told what to see and believe about Rico from the moment he comes into the story. The reader does not get to know Rico on their own, or see him develop through actions and thoughts. Rather, the author explains who Rico is and expects the reader to believe this description. Moreover, Rico is supposed to be a rather likable character, but I did not feel that the descriptions the author gave at the start matched up with Rico’s actions in totality. Finally, Jade, who both boys are interested in due to her good looks, completely takes away from the novel. Clearly not a survivalist, Jade rarely helps, and consistently causes the other characters to be put into more difficult situations due to her lack of resolve and strength. She routinely degraded the quality of the novel; and both boy’s interests in this unlikeable character, and the eventual romance between Jade and one of the boys, makes little to no sense and is frustrating to read.
Additionally, all of the characters’ interactions felt stilted and awkward. The way they talked and acted was seemingly not in accordance with four teenagers lost in the wilderness. Conversations in the novel lacked flow and each of the characters got to know one another far quicker than they should have. Each revealed large truths about themselves that felt odd to share. Despite the life or death situation, the way the truths were shared was difficult to understand and again took away from the naturalness of the characters as a whole.
As a result, despite the action and intrigue of the novel, I would rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Overall, I really enjoyed reading it, but the lack of character development and character realism took away from the story. Unlike other survival novels where you get to know the character(s) and understand them, these characters, aside from Savi, all lacked levels of authenticity. However, I would recommend this book to readers who like adventure or thriller novels. Stranded in the Wild absolutely packed a page-turning punch.
******
Stranded In The Wild
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Stranded in the Wild by Gary Rodriguez follows the journey of four high schoolers as they get stuck out in the wilderness together after a white water rafting accident. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, and each having their own difficult pasts, the four teenagers have to come together in order to survive. Beginning right in the action with the rafting accident, the book backtracks and introduces the reader to the four characters as they meet for the first time in their adventure camp, Camp Arrowhead. Savi is the clear heroine of the novel, and comes from Mississippi. She meets Jade, a girl from San Francisco, with whom she becomes fast friends. These two meet Conner, a nearly instantly dislikable character, and Rico. Rico and Conner meet on the football field before rafting, and quickly develop a deep dislike for each other.
As the teenagers battle against various elements including: rattlesnakes, bears, mountain lions, and the ominous creature “Vexel,” they slowly do their best to get back to Camp Arrowhead. Along the way, they meet Luke, a hunter seeking vengeance on the creature “Vexel” for killing Luke’s father.
Stranded in the Wild is captivating. The action scenes and tension are page-turning. Each difficulty and challenge that arises creates an intense desire to continue reading and find out what happens next. Seeing if the teenagers will be able to overcome the odds and all survive propelled me through the novel. However, despite plenty of action, the book was lacking in character development. Although I really enjoyed Savi’s character, and felt that she was well-shown and explained, the other characters were not. Savi was an enjoyable, earnest, hard working character, who had realistic qualities and flaws that were shown not told to the reader. Her excellent character development almost overcame the flaws and deficits in the other characters. However, despite how much I enjoyed reading and learning more about Savi, the other characters were deeply lacking.
Conner comes across as an absolute jerk at the beginning of the novel. Although he had some character growth, the other characters seemed to fail to recognize this, and his role in the story felt disjointed. Furthermore, his character development never came full circle. Meanwhile, the reader is told what to see and believe about Rico from the moment he comes into the story. The reader does not get to know Rico on their own, or see him develop through actions and thoughts. Rather, the author explains who Rico is and expects the reader to believe this description. Moreover, Rico is supposed to be a rather likable character, but I did not feel that the descriptions the author gave at the start matched up with Rico’s actions in totality. Finally, Jade, who both boys are interested in due to her good looks, completely takes away from the novel. Clearly not a survivalist, Jade rarely helps, and consistently causes the other characters to be put into more difficult situations due to her lack of resolve and strength. She routinely degraded the quality of the novel; and both boy’s interests in this unlikeable character, and the eventual romance between Jade and one of the boys, makes little to no sense and is frustrating to read.
Additionally, all of the characters’ interactions felt stilted and awkward. The way they talked and acted was seemingly not in accordance with four teenagers lost in the wilderness. Conversations in the novel lacked flow and each of the characters got to know one another far quicker than they should have. Each revealed large truths about themselves that felt odd to share. Despite the life or death situation, the way the truths were shared was difficult to understand and again took away from the naturalness of the characters as a whole.
As a result, despite the action and intrigue of the novel, I would rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Overall, I really enjoyed reading it, but the lack of character development and character realism took away from the story. Unlike other survival novels where you get to know the character(s) and understand them, these characters, aside from Savi, all lacked levels of authenticity. However, I would recommend this book to readers who like adventure or thriller novels. Stranded in the Wild absolutely packed a page-turning punch.
******
Stranded In The Wild
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Stranded In The Wild by Gary Rodriguez
