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David Berlin's Reviews > The Puma Years
The Puma Years
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The Puma Years is a memoir about Laura Coleman’s experiences volunteering in the Bolivian rainforest in an animal sanctuary. She was assigned, and fell in love with a puma named, Wayra.
Based on all the positive reviews, I know I am going to come off as an oddball, but I had to labor through finishing this book. I am an animal lover with a soft spot for cats. I am horrified by the growth of human population and the minimal action being done about climate change. I was truly disgusted by the buzz and popularity of the Netflix show ‘Tiger King.” It lowered my view of the human species. But it does not mean I have to love this book. The question to me was this a well told story?
The answer to me is NO! This book read very long and repetitive at 290 pages. This could have easily been cut in half. I was going into the book thinking that this was going to a story about Laura’s relationship with Wayra the puma. It seemed like 1/3 of it was. The other 2/3 were about monkeys and parrots, patuju, and some of her experiences with the other volunteers I did care about, because I never felt I knew any of them.
I want to say I found Laura, and many of the volunteers to be adventurous, brave, and good souls, but not that interesting, based on how they were written. I’m not convinced that the cages they had in the jungle for the pumas and jaguars are any better than being in a decent zoo.
I can totally see how Laura fell in love with Wayra. I admire Laura for following her heart and giving up an unhappy conventional life based on her description, but it does not mean I have to like the way she wrote her memoir. It was way too long and repetitive for my taste.
Based on all the positive reviews, I know I am going to come off as an oddball, but I had to labor through finishing this book. I am an animal lover with a soft spot for cats. I am horrified by the growth of human population and the minimal action being done about climate change. I was truly disgusted by the buzz and popularity of the Netflix show ‘Tiger King.” It lowered my view of the human species. But it does not mean I have to love this book. The question to me was this a well told story?
The answer to me is NO! This book read very long and repetitive at 290 pages. This could have easily been cut in half. I was going into the book thinking that this was going to a story about Laura’s relationship with Wayra the puma. It seemed like 1/3 of it was. The other 2/3 were about monkeys and parrots, patuju, and some of her experiences with the other volunteers I did care about, because I never felt I knew any of them.
I want to say I found Laura, and many of the volunteers to be adventurous, brave, and good souls, but not that interesting, based on how they were written. I’m not convinced that the cages they had in the jungle for the pumas and jaguars are any better than being in a decent zoo.
I can totally see how Laura fell in love with Wayra. I admire Laura for following her heart and giving up an unhappy conventional life based on her description, but it does not mean I have to like the way she wrote her memoir. It was way too long and repetitive for my taste.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
Finished Reading
August 15, 2021
– Shelved
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Hi Rebecca,There is nothing wrong with you. I won't write a review of a book unless I fully finish it. I am glad I am not alone on this. The second half was very redundant to the first half. You might be better off skimming. Reading should be a pleasure and not a chore, but I did labor through the second half of this book.
I'll probably finish it, but I might skim a bit! It's not worth reading a book I don't look forward to reading.