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wordsofclover 's review for:
Fierce Kingdom
by Gin Phillips
4.5 stars
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Joan is in the zoo with her son, about to head home for the evening when suddenly she finds herself running for her life, clutching her son Lincoln to her chest. Over the next few hours, readers follow Joan and Lincoln as she navigates the life-threatening danger they are in and tries to keep them both safe.
Well, I started this at about 11pm thinking I would read the first few chapters to make a start before the rest of the weekend, and then it was 2:30 in the morning and I was a shaking ball of nerves reading the last couple of pages. I simply could not put this book down.
This book literally had me shaking with nerves and sick anticipation as I followed Joan and Lincoln and Joan's desperate thinking on how she could make them safe, event though they more or less trapped in a large enclosure like sitting ducks. There were times that no danger was near-by but I was still left terrified because Joan was constantly thinking of the situation and all the different things she could do to protect Lincoln. There was also a moment in this book where Joan mentions a news story about people being killed in flash flooding in Texas, and that made the story so present and visceral for me in that moment because at the time I'm reading, tropical storm Harvey has hit Houston and people are losing their homes and even dying in the flooding.
One of my gripes in this book is probably that not all of the flashbacks we got were strictly necessary. Sometimes they pulled me too out of the story for a moment, though other times they did give me a breather and a chance to calm down before diving back into the present scenario. I'm not sure we 100% needed the short POVs near the start with Mrs Powell and Kailynn either. Meeting them properly the second time would have also sufficed as the first meeting.
I thought Robby's first part in the book was good as I 100% thought he was a victim of the shooting before he took out his gun. I was left shocked and had to read it again to make sure I'd gotten it right. I did HATE the fact that they also killed the animals (the poor Colombus monkey, and the elephant!!). Is it terrible to say I can deal with books about people killing people better than when people kill animals trapped in enclosures/cages with no chance to run or understand what is happening? It tore my heart apart. Also, because this is a general zoo setting I couldn't help but picture this story being played out in my own beloved Dublin Zoo and maybe that's why I was just so sick with fear and tension while reading this.
I normally have issues with thrillers that do the cheesy epilogue at the end about how everyone who survived is fine and dandy again but in this case I would have liked one. I think someone like a news report would have been good to sum things up properly.
This book was really great for me, and I always love a book that keeps me up all night. I do have to recommend though I do warn people that this is a scary book!
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Joan is in the zoo with her son, about to head home for the evening when suddenly she finds herself running for her life, clutching her son Lincoln to her chest. Over the next few hours, readers follow Joan and Lincoln as she navigates the life-threatening danger they are in and tries to keep them both safe.
Well, I started this at about 11pm thinking I would read the first few chapters to make a start before the rest of the weekend, and then it was 2:30 in the morning and I was a shaking ball of nerves reading the last couple of pages. I simply could not put this book down.
This book literally had me shaking with nerves and sick anticipation as I followed Joan and Lincoln and Joan's desperate thinking on how she could make them safe, event though they more or less trapped in a large enclosure like sitting ducks. There were times that no danger was near-by but I was still left terrified because Joan was constantly thinking of the situation and all the different things she could do to protect Lincoln. There was also a moment in this book where Joan mentions a news story about people being killed in flash flooding in Texas, and that made the story so present and visceral for me in that moment because at the time I'm reading, tropical storm Harvey has hit Houston and people are losing their homes and even dying in the flooding.
One of my gripes in this book is probably that not all of the flashbacks we got were strictly necessary. Sometimes they pulled me too out of the story for a moment, though other times they did give me a breather and a chance to calm down before diving back into the present scenario. I'm not sure we 100% needed the short POVs near the start with Mrs Powell and Kailynn either. Meeting them properly the second time would have also sufficed as the first meeting.
I normally have issues with thrillers that do the cheesy epilogue at the end about how everyone who survived is fine and dandy again but in this case I would have liked one. I think someone like a news report would have been good to sum things up properly.
This book was really great for me, and I always love a book that keeps me up all night. I do have to recommend though I do warn people that this is a scary book!