Review by shoichee -- Stranded In The Wild

[shoichee]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Stranded In The Wild" by Gary Rodriguez.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Stranded in the Wild by Gary Rodriguez is an action and adventure-packed story targeted towards the young adult audience. It tells the feat of four teenagers traversing through one dangerous situation after the other after getting into a major rafting incident. With the resolve and determination, they work hard to make it back home.

I score the book 3 out of 4 stars. When I first started the book, I was rather put off by the interactions of the characters. The four characters were told to be teenagers around the ages of 16 and 17, but they acted more like 12-year-olds. The way they talked and acted made me cringe. However, when they got in an accident, everyone suddenly grew up mentally and acted either more like their own ages or older. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like the book because of the cringe start with how the characters were acting. Right after the rafting incident occurred though, everything changed, along with how the story was told. I immediately got hooked to the story because of the constantly growing suspense and scenes dealing with one problem after the next.

Vexel was frequently brought up, but it never seemed to be a prominent character, and the scene with him was somewhat anticlimactic compared to other problems that had occurred. At the beginning of the story, Vexel was made to sound like an impactful character but turned out to not have much depth other than a small background story of where he had come from. In my view, he is placed at the same level as the other problems that had occurred throughout the plot. Another lacking aspect was the romance. Although it was not supposed to be prominent, in some ways it seemed to pull down the story. It was shallow as the characters easily liked each other and got together, feeling more like a fling than kids who were in love with each other. It felt like the romance was just forced in there to appeal to the majority.

This book would mostly appeal to kids between the ages of 12 to 16. It is especially suited for those who enjoy action and suspense as there are plenty throughout the book. There is a bit of romance, but it is not a prominent factor in telling or being a part of the story.

Overall, the story was generally a good read that was hard to put down once the action hits, although it would have been better if some parts were more fleshed out. The book was well written and edited which makes it flow well and is nice to read.

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Stranded In The Wild
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