Tag Archives: Survival

In an Instant, by Suzanne Redfearn

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A tight-nit family along with a few friends go on their annual trip to a secluded cabin that has been passed down for generations. Along the way, they swerve to miss hitting a deer. This instant changes their lives forever and their camper falls below the guardrails on the side of a mountain into the snow. Finn, a sixteen year old, is immediately dead, but does not pass through to her next world. She continues to watch her family through survival, rescue, guilt, and grief.

The chapters are short and there are a total of 94 chapters. The first 14% (ch.1-5) of the story were the days leading up to their trip before the accident occurs. When the accident hit, it really picked up. I couldn’t read fast enough. There is a huge “omg” moment that happens while they are fighting for survival. I was astounded, angry, and my jaw dropped when this happened.

At 38 % the rescue takes place but not all survive. (Meaning only 14-38% or ch. 6-35 of the novel was their survival story, the rest is what happens after they get back home.) From this point on the family is drowning in blame, grief, and hate. Guilt radiates the life and relationships of those who survived and a secret is kept about that fateful night. This is the bulk and focus of the story; so for most of the story it is not very happy.

Paranormal aspect- The narrator is dead and narrates all of the story for the family/characters. She watches them while lingering in limbo. (They cannot see her, but she talks to them in their dreams.) Towards the end this narration style got repetitive.

There is some minor mundane stuff that happens like watching baseball games, rescuing kittens…to help them with their grief. There is cussing and sex, but not the sexy details. Overall, I enjoyed it though I would definitely classify this as a young adult novel.

The ending Author’s Note is a must read which explains the real story that inspired this fictional novel.

Author Suzanne RedFearn’s has written two other novels called Hush Little Baby and No Ordinary Life.

Visit Suzanne RedFearn’s website or follow her on Twitter.

Suzanne Redfearn, author of In An Instant.

| Purchase on Amazon | Goodreads Review |

The End of the Ocean, by Maja Lunde

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Synopsis for End of the Ocean taken from Goodreads:

Mostly, I was bored. There was good descriptive writing, but it lacked an engaging storyline. It covers the timely issue of climate change, but overall the story lacked a concrete direction and was tediously executed.

The story is told in two time periods. Signe’s narrative is told in 2017. Signe, a seventy year old woman in Norway, mostly recalls flashbacks from her childhood throughout her young adult life; her memories reflect the growing climate change and the power of water. David’s narrative is told in 2041 in France, a time when water is scarce and refuge camps account for the majority of the land.

I enjoyed David’s chapters more and felt the desolate atmosphere was adequately mirrored, but the story for David ultimately went nowhere. I liked learning about the importance of water in our climate through Signe’s chapter, but (again) the direction for her chapters were ambiguous. The setting was there but the story was not.

There are sex scenes and the topic of abortion is explored.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions are my own

Maja Lunde is an author based in Norway. Visit her website to learn more.

Maja Lunde’s novel The History of Bees was a best seller about climate change. Watch the book trailer below.

| Purchase on Amazon | Goodreads Review |

The Speed of Falling Objects, by Nancy Richardson Fischer

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Danny, sixteen about to be seventeen, lives with her mom. Her dad is famous but she has little to no relationship with him because he is too busy as a survivalist TV star; her relationship with him consists of watching all of his shows on TV. When her dad calls to invite her to be on his next survivalist show, she hastily accepts. But, the plane crashes, lives are lost, and they are faced with the true wilderness. Danny begins to see her dad for who he truly is, but can she forgive him? Sacrifices are made in order to survive, but does that mean sacrificing human decency? While the group struggles to survive in the Amazon wild, they also struggle to cope with each other.

Family resentment and forgiveness is celebrated through Danny’s tale of survival. She battles the ghosts of her parents decisions: Did her mom keep her from having a relationship with her dad? Why didn’t her dad try harder to see her and form a meaningful relationship with her?

Overall thoughts: The beginning is mostly about the background relationship between Danny, her mom, and her dad until 24%. Because of this, the beginning was slow. Danny’s dad had little to no redeeming qualities throughout the entire story. Danny wants to be part of his life so bad, and wants to be accepted by him for who she is. Manipulative and egotistical, I did not like him and he is a major character. Without him though, Danny could not experience the growth she had in the end. I did enjoy the constant reminder of how manipulated the world we live in is; the insurmountable negation of our natural world even to the state of death itself is echoed in this novel.

Image above taken from the author’s website. Visit here to learn more.

Read Hypable’s article interviewing author Nancy Richardson Fischer’s firsthand account with fear.

To view all of Nancy Richardson’s book, click here.

| Purchase on Amazon | Goodreads Review|