Ever since I saw the amazing-looking cover I've wanted to check this one out. Spoilers ahead!
A young girl named April and her father are shipped off to an abandoned island in the far north for her father's job. Here, April likes to explore, and much to her surprise she finds an injured polar bear on the island, a species said to be long-gone there. Carefully, she manages to befriend the bear, but it's not an easy friendship to keep up, with her father not believing her and their food storage slowly running low. April has only one choice: to find a way to help her new friend escape the island and get him to Svalbard where the other polar bears live.
So, yeah, kind of a basic story but I really, really like the execution. It's just a super wholesome and well-written tale. I love April and how she always stuck to her guns when it came to protecting and looking after Bear, even at the cost of her own safety sometimes. And I loved Bear who was just a very kind and gentle understanding being.
I also really appreciated how their bond wasn't instantly great from day one. Like, Bear never really seems to consider actually hurting April, but even early on he was still a bit more shy and distant from her. But we got to see them truly grow a close friendship and it was just so well-written. Their bond felt genuine and real, as did the conflict and the very real threat of bear being left behind to starve forever.
Heck, even April's father who tries to get her safely off the island isn't really a villain or anything here. He sees that their work is over, the island isn't a safe place for a young girl (especially with him thinking April just made Bear up), so it's totally logical that he wants to get her safely back to the mainland. He's not a perfect father, but you do feel he genuinely cares about April and is still trying to do what's best for her.
Of course, April wants none of this and just wants to get Bear to Svalbard one way or another. Bear can't survive on the island: there's not enough food for him and he's literally the only bear here, with no ice within reasonable reach for him to swim to. April tries her own way of getting him to safety (with a tiny boat and paddles), which of course backfires. But shortly thereafter they're both rescued and thankfully her father and friend Tor eventually back her up and Bear does get to go to Svalbard. Heartfelt goodbyes and the story ends.
Just an all-round very heartfelt and warm tale, despite taking place on a derelict, stormy and icy-cold island. Of course, I do need to put an obvious disclaimer (which I'm very glad the author also included in the afterword) that in real life these are not responsible wildlife interactions. But that's also just very much a me-thing with me not being able to turn off my critical human-wildlife interactions part of the brain.
But like I said, a fantastic story. I think there's also going to be a sequel? But this also works as a standalone, definitely check it out!
Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment