I grew up in Alaska, and have always found stories of surviving in the wilderness very compelling. This doesn't technically take place in Alaska, but it definitely could have. This book was awesome. I freaking loved it.

I love that this book didn't follow some spoiled-girl-learns-to-fend-for-herself trope. Jess was put in a terrible situation from the get go. I think anyone would be able to understand why she didn't want to live with a father she never knew in the middle of nowhere. Especially taking into consideration the fact that she was still recovering from the car accident that killed her mother. It would be a lot even for someone who liked being in the wilderness and had survival skills. Her anger toward him and her catty nature with him was understandable. I would even go so far as to say it was justified.

The survival aspect was really intriguing. Again, I love survival stories. I'm not sure what it is, but reading about characters who are able to use their smarts in order to become self-sufficient just does it for me.

I shelved this as a YA book because the main character is sixteen/seventeen, but I can't think of another YA book that is anything like this. At least, nothing published recently. It was very unique.

I truly loved everything about this book. I also saw that the author is from the Pacific Northwest, which was obvious to me while I was reading. She seemed to have a deep knowledge of this area in many different aspects.