I just didn't like this unfortunately. The pacing wasn't great, and I didn't feel the want/need to find out what happens.

I am very interested in Africa and the challenges of wildlife conservation--that is why I wanted to read this book. However, very quickly into the book I struggled to figure out who the author was writing for. On the one hand, the story and dialogue were clearly aimed at a middle-school level of maturity, except for the F-bombs dropped needlessly.

There is no character development, it's really simply a thinly-disguised travel journal overlaid with facts and statistics. The author over-uses exclamation marks! Even on non-exclamatory statements! Part of what makes this difficult to read is that it is just a collection of small events, with little framework or description. The pacing is rather flat with no real tension or conflict. There is so much beauty to Africa, and this book really doesn't do it justice.

I'm not sure who I can recommend this to, since the story is so unsophisticated, yet the language is adult. I guess I would recommend it to a good editor to help the author decide whom he is writing to and re-write it consistently to that audience.

I received a complimentary copy of this e-book with the expectation I would provide an honest review. This is that review. ( )

As one who loves learning about other countries and cultures, I was excited about this book. I did enjoy reading the book, but it was a bit different than what I had expected, as it mostly exposes the reader to information about South African wildlife and conservation efforts through the main character's personal journey. I would love to learn more about the culture of the different people groups briefly mentioned in the book. The lion attack that was detailed was too graphic and intense for me, as I don't know if this is a reality that Africans and tourists frequently face, and I am taking my first trip to Africa soon (it has me a bit freaked out). The graphic description of the scene as well as the explicit language that was used at times throughout the book will prevent me from recommending the book to the younger readers that I work with frequently as a school librarian. I would recommend this book as an entertaining way for adults to learn more about South African wildlife and conservation efforts. ( )

I was expecting some adventure novel. Most of the book is covered with everyday interactions with other people. Although the book length is less, it took me long to finish due to lack of excitement. I think adding a detailed geography of the places they are visiting, their trees and animals, etc could make it better. Simply naming places with little description might be good of natives and who visited/studied those places. Not for others. I was fascinated about African forests, but I have limited knowledge and have never visited Africa. I was not able to connect with the novel. It looked more like a blog, rather than an adventure story. Further, I think there is too much emphasis on Frost visiting after 13 years and mentioned on too many places. That being said, I do feel there are informative content in the book. I also like how they are divided into small chapters. However, I feel adventure-related things should be more descriptive and other details should be filtered out. Otherwise, it is difficult to keep interest and continue reading. ( )

Based on the author’s real life experiences, this book is about a young man who returns to Africa after thirteen years away, to do conservation and volunteer work in wildlife parks. He travels down the Zulu river by canoe, assists at a wildlife rehabilitation center, and visits a game reserve in Kruger National Park. There are lots of encounters with wildlife- the larger and more dangerous ones like crocodiles, lions, hippos, rhinoceros, elephant, etc are particularly mentioned. Camraderie with his fellow volunteers is highlighted, while the narrator muses on how his first stay in Africa (those thirteen years ago) was soured by disagreements and teasing from his prior companions. Due to the awkwardness of his interactions and his near-encyclopaedic knowledge of animals, I did wonder if he was on the autism spectrum. The writing isn’t great. It feels flat, there’s lots of info dumping (though thankfully in short bursts) that feels like it’s supposed to be a part of conversations people naturally had, but is just a bit too forced. The dialog feels stiff and unnatural, it could easily be a record of what people actually said in real life, but it just doesn’t read well in a book. Too much is told, not shown- things I would love to see described in detail are simply mentioned in a single sentence and then the narrative quickly moves on.

I really struggled to finish this one. I wanted so much to like the content, but the execution was dull. There’s a slow love story in here, but I felt nothing about it at all. There are several chapters about a dangerous close encounter with man-eating lions, but it didn’t feel dramatic, tense or emotional to me, even though people were in fear for their lives. Doesn’t help to find a few typos, which always leap out at me. I did appreciate that as the book is very recent, some of the animal facts were new to me, all felt relevant especially the warnings on how many species are threatened or endangered, and the very real struggles of local and native people in South Africa to make a living and better their lives, while the wildlife eats their livestock or ruins their crops. ( )