Book Review: Fox Goes North by Jeremy Strong

 

A cute xenofiction I saw at the bookstore.

An elderly fox joins up with a moose, a bear, a llama, a toucan and an owl in order to see the Northern Lights. During her journey she'll have to come to terms with her own mortality.

This was just a breathtaking book. I legit didn't expect this at all with how juvenile the art-style on the cover is, but this just goes to show: Don't judge a book by its cover. 

This book is just fantastic. It has likable characters and a strong theme of friendship and to a lesser extent found family and maybe even reincarnation. But it also touches on mortality and death. And it handles these themes very well. It's obviously a book for a younger audience, but I think that this is an excellent way to teach young readers about death without it being seen as something terrifying.

The characters are also just so damn likable. I especially loved Moose, and Fox herself, of course. They just have this really sweet friendship. But even the other team-members have a really nice bond with each other. Wolf was also a really nice character.

I guess if I did have a nitpick, I don't like that the characters don't have names (each just being named after their species, e.g. Fox, Wolf, Little Owl, etc.). It feels a bit uncreative and doesn't make much sense when you consider that other animals of these species exist. Does every single fox call themself Fox? That'd lead to so much confusion!

But that's like, a super tiny nitpick. The rest of this book is masterful, a beautiful journey to see the Northern Lights together as friendships form. This book also made me tear up a little, which rarely happens for me. Please check this one out.

Rating: 5/5