4.5/5
I was pleasantly surprised by this book and LOVED it.
First of all, the imagery. WOW! It helps that the book is set in a beautiful place (Patagonia) but the author really did a beautiful job of describing the setting. I could see everything in my mind like a vivid movie.
The story is incredible too. It’s a simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting journey about grief, love, friendship, and making time for what really matters in life. I found myself very frustrated with the main character at the start because he is impatient and worried about all the wrong things, but then I painfully realized I (and many others) are far more like the main character than we’d probably like to admit. This was one of my favorite sections that really captures one of the main themes of the book:
“She always begged him to stop the car and take photographs, but there was never time. There was never time for so many of the gentler influences of life. The smallest of gestures that slip through the fingers like grains of sand and are lost forever. It's the great lie that haunts us later when those grains turn to regrets. The lie that blames time when there is always time; but it's conscious choice that allows the grains to fall from our grasp.”
The unselfish care and love you see two characters give to the main character in the book are especially moving and remind you the importance of doing one of the things we’re called to do as humans and good neighbors: be kind and help others.
The only reason I gave it 4.5 instead of a full 5 stars is because there are A LOT of spelling and usage mistakes. But honestly the book is so great that I got over it.
If you want a book that explores surviving in the wilderness, the journey of grief, unselfish friendships, and the importance of family, I highly recommend.
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