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On Heaven’s Hill
Kim Heacox
376 pages
The good news is that the author of this book is an expert on Alaska. The setting is so lush and vivid in this novel that it is virtually a character. He has written any number of nonfiction texts about Alaska. The bad news is that he has not written many other novels. My hope is that he will continue to bring readers into his fictional landscapes that are so realistic that you feel like you are there and have you start looking on the internet at vacation packages.
It is not only the landscape that drew me into this book; the characters were so vivid as well. One warning: this novel is work. There are many characters and they are not always easy to follow. It takes work to keep track of them but it was worth it. It helped that there are three perspectives and they were rotated exactly throughout, and two of them were human. The third perspective was that of the wolves. I was worried that this might be gimmicky but given the plot and theme, this worked. The characters, including the wolves, were full of rich details portrayed through actions and interactions. Some characters were likeable and a few were not but they were complex, making the reader hopeful for change.
This author has a very clear message about the environment, so be forewarned. There were a few moments where perhaps this message was a bit heavy handed. But it wasn’t only about that; it was about families and neighbors coming together and the difficult choices we need to make and how we do that. There is so much to unpack in this novel, that I may just need to reread it. It is also very timely given our current political climate.
Also, readers might want to know that this is not a brand new book but has actually been republished.
Thanks to Turner Publishing Company and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this excellent and absorbing reissuance that is coming out on Tuesday, November 19th, in exchange for my unbiased review.
It is not only the landscape that drew me into this book; the characters were so vivid as well. One warning: this novel is work. There are many characters and they are not always easy to follow. It takes work to keep track of them but it was worth it. It helped that there are three perspectives and they were rotated exactly throughout, and two of them were human. The third perspective was that of the wolves. I was worried that this might be gimmicky but given the plot and theme, this worked. The characters, including the wolves, were full of rich details portrayed through actions and interactions. Some characters were likeable and a few were not but they were complex, making the reader hopeful for change.
This author has a very clear message about the environment, so be forewarned. There were a few moments where perhaps this message was a bit heavy handed. But it wasn’t only about that; it was about families and neighbors coming together and the difficult choices we need to make and how we do that. There is so much to unpack in this novel, that I may just need to reread it. It is also very timely given our current political climate.
Also, readers might want to know that this is not a brand new book but has actually been republished.
Thanks to Turner Publishing Company and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this excellent and absorbing reissuance that is coming out on Tuesday, November 19th, in exchange for my unbiased review.
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