I read this book because John Green recommended it on a recent Vlogbrothers video and I have been super into survival stories lately. This book was well-written and I enjoyed the meshing of past and present. I had a lot of anxiety reading it, and one scene made me cry pretty hard.

Boring

4.5 stars (rounded down).

“To survive you need to learn to hold contradictory things in your head at the same time. I am going to die; I am going to live. There is nothing to fear; be wary of everything.”

If you’re looking for a thrilling survival read that will pull at your heartstrings, look no further than this one. Aside from its near perfect pacing and story format, I Am Still Alive is a must read simply because of how immersive the writing is.

“Here the sounds that wrapped around me were wild sounds and the smells were wild smells and there was no light to stain the sky except the sun.”

The book features a main character who has a disability and is struggling with loss and trauma after losing her mother in a car accident.

“They think I’m wounded, but there is a difference between a wound and a scar. I’m done bleeding. I’m tougher now.”

Although reactions may vary based on every reader’s sensitivity, one should read with the assumption that the story will be moving and may be difficult to read at times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and I highly recommend picking it up!

I picked this book up on a complete whim. I started reading the first few pages and was hooked. It was an easy read and I absolutely loved it from start to finish. The struggles Jess had weren't related to the fact that she was a city girl, but due to a car accident leaving her with a physical disability and finding ways to overcome and problem solve those issues. Throughout the entire time she fights the harsh Canadian winter in creative and smart ways and clinging on to her happy, and not so happy, memories of her parents and close friends. The emotion was raw and you felt as though you were fighting alongside with her the entire time.

After her mother dies unexpectedly, Jess is left to live with her estranged father who may be involved in an antigovernment conspiracy in the Alaskan wilderness -- only it's not the Alaskan wilderness after all, but a remote piece of wild in middle-of-nowhere Canada. In dual timelines, Jess shares how she came to the cabin in the woods and what happened after her father, too, met his demise without warning. Now left to fend for herself in unfamiliar lands with no wilderness survival skills and no one but a dog for company and the rest of that conspiracy group may be after her.

This stunning survival novel is gripping at every turn, with a plot that truly leaves the reader wondering whether or not Jess will make it to the end of the pages alive. With a journal style narration, the possibility of Jess's own death remains strong throughout the book. Marshall underlines the immediacy and urgency of Jess's situation with a harrowing plot, throwing curveball after curveball at Jess, who knows that with winter approaching, her survival is unlikely at best.

Alongside a great external plot is Jess's character development, which is easy to follow for readers who prefer more marked development while maintaining high interest. Jess is a consistently refreshing character with bare motivations and drivers that, while not always necessarily pleasant, are always interesting and strike a note of realism readers will appreciate for its reflection of themselves.

While I didn't do any sort of fact-checking, the events and circumstances of the book seemed reasonably plausible enough. Despite the extreme things Jess experiences, none of them seemed impossible, which helped elevate the stakes and make the book exciting as a whole.

With little to interfere with the raw plot that is the survival novel, readers might expect I Am Still Alive to be a slow read. And to some degree, it is. The book is a deliberate one that is more about Jess's development than it is her story of trying to survive the Canadian wilderness and a group of radical antigovernment conspirers, but Jess's internal story is so thoughtful and interesting that it truly grips the reader from beginning to end.

Readers of survival fiction will eat this up, as will anyone who simply enjoys a good story with solid writing. Don't miss this one.

Jess is all alone. Dealing with the injuries from a car accident that killed her mother, Jess comes up to the Canadian wilderness to live with her dad. But something strange is going on, and Jess doesn't know quite what. After her father is murdered and their cabin burned to the ground, jess must survive if she wants revenge. But survival is difficult when you have no food or shelter. Jess must fight the wilderness in order to exact her revenge and escape.

This was not my favorite book. I found the pacing a bit slower than I personally like, though it was interesting to see Jess fight for survival. It was a unique story that I haven't read anything like before.

Content/Trigger Warning: mild violence and gore.

A fast paced and exciting survivalist story, but many unrealistic and not well explained elements. For instance, why did she not know her dad, and what social worker thought it a good idea for her to go live with him far off from the place she knew after a traumatic accident? My 2nd biggest complaint-why did her dad demand she stay with him instead of sending her to a place to heal after her accident and continue physical therapy? My biggest complaint-why did the dog have to die?!

Listened to on audible!
I really enjoyed this unexpected listen. A girl doing all she can to survive.
Definitely cried!!!!