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Janet's Reviews > The Human Wilderness
The Human Wilderness (A New America Trilogy Book 1)
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Janet's review
bookshelves: books-read-in-2017, netgalley, spring-challenge-2017, may-2017
May 15, 2017
bookshelves: books-read-in-2017, netgalley, spring-challenge-2017, may-2017
The Human Wilderness, by S. H. Livernois, is a novel set upon the premise of “would you face monsters for the ones you love.”
The first characters we meet in The Human Wilderness are Eli Stenz and “Squirrel” are residents in a settlement called rather ironically "Hope". Eli and Squirrel are out hunting for meat for the other people in Hope. Everyone that lives in Hope has a job to do, Eli's and Squirrel's jobs are to hunt for food and to kill parasites if they see them. Squirrel ends up being caught by the parasites and is bitten. Eli is close by and attempts to kill the parasite before it bites Squirrel but he is a second too late. Eli faces returning to Hope, having to tell Squirrels family and the other residents what happened. People are busy with preparations for the anniversary celebration and don't take the news very well. Some of the residents of Hope blame Eli. Eli becomes an “outsider.”
Later in the book, we learn that Lily has disappeared. Her father’s first thought is to go after her and he asks for people to go with him. Sadly the community attitude is if Lily is on the outside of Hope's walls if she isn't dead already, she will be soon. Eli, Frank and the doctor Jane go in search of the missing Lily. Lily is quite clever as she leaves strands from her friendship bracelet for her family to find and to help guide them to her.
As a whole, I struggled to get through this novel, and could not connect to Eli as I felt his whining and self-loathing left a lot to be desired. Though an interesting spin on the whole zombie phenomenon right now (they could work together, use tools, retained some higher functions, etc), I am not overly zealous about reading the next book in the series. I gave this novel 3 out of 5 stars as I liked the concept, I just think there should be a bit of character review.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the novel. I appreciate NetGalley, S.H. Livernois, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this zombie thriller.
The first characters we meet in The Human Wilderness are Eli Stenz and “Squirrel” are residents in a settlement called rather ironically "Hope". Eli and Squirrel are out hunting for meat for the other people in Hope. Everyone that lives in Hope has a job to do, Eli's and Squirrel's jobs are to hunt for food and to kill parasites if they see them. Squirrel ends up being caught by the parasites and is bitten. Eli is close by and attempts to kill the parasite before it bites Squirrel but he is a second too late. Eli faces returning to Hope, having to tell Squirrels family and the other residents what happened. People are busy with preparations for the anniversary celebration and don't take the news very well. Some of the residents of Hope blame Eli. Eli becomes an “outsider.”
Later in the book, we learn that Lily has disappeared. Her father’s first thought is to go after her and he asks for people to go with him. Sadly the community attitude is if Lily is on the outside of Hope's walls if she isn't dead already, she will be soon. Eli, Frank and the doctor Jane go in search of the missing Lily. Lily is quite clever as she leaves strands from her friendship bracelet for her family to find and to help guide them to her.
As a whole, I struggled to get through this novel, and could not connect to Eli as I felt his whining and self-loathing left a lot to be desired. Though an interesting spin on the whole zombie phenomenon right now (they could work together, use tools, retained some higher functions, etc), I am not overly zealous about reading the next book in the series. I gave this novel 3 out of 5 stars as I liked the concept, I just think there should be a bit of character review.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the novel. I appreciate NetGalley, S.H. Livernois, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this zombie thriller.
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Reading Progress
May 6, 2017
– Shelved
May 14, 2017
–
Started Reading
May 15, 2017
–
Finished Reading
