|
Book: Wilderness
Author: Roddy Doyle
Story: Tom and Johnny’s parents are having problems, but when their mother decides to take them on an adventure holiday to snowy Finland, what little worries the boys had drops out of their heads and are replaced with sled dogs, campfires and skiing. While the boys are having the trip of a life-time, their half-sister, Grainne, prepares to meet the mother who abandoned her and her father, an uncomfortable experience. But as much as Grainne’s holiday isn’t a pleasant one, Tom and Johnny’s dream holiday takes an unexpected turn...
Opinion: I bought this book when I was bored in an airport, and it was one of the best buys I ever made. The wonder and delight the boys feel when they enter their winter wonderland jumps off the page, and the sibling rivalry is brilliantly realistic.
Grainne is such a stereotypical teen that I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of some people possibly thinking of me in that light...ugh... but it is so refreshing to not have a character fighting to prove that they are not part of a certain image, and she is brilliantly written. I felt the tension between her and her father, as well as the parents, so much that it actually gave me chills. The adventure aspects of the story are without the doubt the best I have ever read. The best random airport buy I’ve ever made.
Rating: **** (4/5)
back to reviews
|
|
