Book Synopsis:
What do you do when a mission trip suddenly leaves you caught in the middle of a revolution?
Will Peterson is part of a mission team that has traveled to Costa Verde to rebuild the wall of a school. It's been a great trip-until a revolution breaks out just before they board their plane to go home.
But then it becomes a desperate race to escape: from a firing squad, from savage animals in the depths of the jungle, from prison cells and revolutionaries with machine guns.
One of the girls is showing Will amazing things about what it means to be truly fearless. And one of the guys has the makings of a real hero. None of them will go home the same. If they only survive.
My Review:
4/5 stars. I started off not liking this book as much as I thought I would, but then it got better. It was very action-packed and suspenseful, especially in the second half.
The description of the book immediately piqued my interest. Being a missionary in third-world countries can be really dangerous sometimes, so the book sounded realistic and like a situation that could happen in real life. The book was a little different than I expected, but I still enjoyed it.
One thing that was a little distracting reading this book was the main character's voice/POV. He's a 16-year-old, and the author clearly wanted to show that in the way the narration is written. It feels too casual. There were too many "really"s and "sort of"s and "you know"s. It kind of took away from the seriousness of the story at times. Most books I read are from the point of view of a teenager but they're never written like that.
I didn't connect with the characters that much. Early on, they're very stereotypical and one-dimensional. You have the spoiled girl who's never thought about people living in poverty; the overly political kid who thinks he knows better than everyone; the rough, cold ex-military dude who doesn't care about people; and the kind, brave, almost Mary Sue character. By the end of the book, they have more depth and personality, some more than others, but I still wish there was a little bit more to all of the characters.
Speaking of the characters, though. Meredith was probably my favorite. At times I thought she seemed a little too perfect - she always knew how to comfort people and was never scared or worried - but after her backstory is revealed, it made sense. Her backstory was so emotional and gut-wrenching and made me like her even more.
I loved how much Will, the main character, stood up for the people around him. Even if he didn't do anything, internally, he felt so compelled and ready to fight for what was right. Even when he was terrified for his life, he was still thinking of his friends.
One small thing that I found a little unrealistic is how well the characters who aren't fluent in Spanish are able to understand rapid conversations in Spanish. Even if they don't understand the words, they somehow still grasp most of the conversation.
At one point towards the middle of the story, Will believes he's going to die. He feels like, even though he knows he'll have eternal life in Heaven, he doesn't want his life on Earth to end. That is a really relatable thought.
Something the author did well was describing sensory details. Every little thing Will sees, hears, and feels is written in a way that makes it very easy to visualize and imagine the scene playing out in real life.
Starting a little before halfway through the book, I was hooked. The action scenes were suspenseful and exciting. Even when something wasn't actively happening to the characters, the in-between build-up to things happening made me want to keep reading.
I haven't done this in a while, but as for an age rating, I'd say middle school and up. There's a lot of wounds, blood, injuries, etc. described because there's a lot of fighting, so if someone can't handle that kind of stuff then I wouldn't recommend this to them. There's no language, though, and only one kiss at the very end of the book that's not detailed at all. The writing style is not super complicated.
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