Be Not Far from Me audiobook

"The world is not tame" Oh, I love opening a new Mindy McGinnis book! She is one of those authors that I can always rely on to try something new, never write the same book twice, and be just the right amount of evil. I have not loved all of her books - which is to be expected from an author who is constantly trying out different genres and themes - but I always get excited to see what she's writing next.Also, I don't usually quote the author's description, but this just seemed to sum it all up: “While her settings may change, you can always count on her books to deliver grit, truth, and an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us.” This is so true. Be Not Far From Me is no exception. Not unlike McGinnis' other work, this book is wild in all senses of the word. It is, quite literally, a survival story about a girl lost in the wild, but of course McGinnis also captures all the wildness of human passion and pain.I wasn't sure if this one would be a hit with me, I'll be honest. Girl trying to survive alone in the wilderness? Sounds a bit overdone. I don't need Katniss Everdeen 2.0... But that's the thing. McGinnis is a truly scary writer to read because you actually don’t know how dark she will get, how far into the pits of hell she will let her characters fall. You absolutely believe she can and will let her characters fail, break, and maybe even die. Katniss Everdeen can’t hold a candle to Ashley. Remember when Katniss gets some burn and down floats a perfect little cure-all? Yeah, that shit ain’t happening here. If you’re quiet in the woods long enough, you’ll hear something die. 90% of this book is Ashley on her own out in the Smokies. Her narrative is interspersed with flashbacks and anecdotes, as she pushes herself to survive even as her chances get smaller and smaller. As much as it is about the physical act of surviving, it is also about all her reasons to go on, to keep trying. The book starts when Ashley is out camping with her friends. She wakes up one night, a little drunk and unsteady, and sees her boyfriend with another girl. Upset and angry, she runs away without thinking and takes a tumble down into a ravine. When morning comes, she realizes her potentially fatal mistake: she's alone in the forest, way off track, with no supplies, and an open wound on her foot. But Ashley knows the wilderness well, and she isn't about to give up easily.I gotta say: I loved Ashley. She is tough as nails, but also likeable. Her jealousy and stubbornness add complexity to her personality, but both are relatable and understandable enough to make me warm to her almost instantly. I have to admire how she keeps her cool. As much as I imagine myself conquering the wilderness in hot pants whilst porno groaning like Lara Croft, if my foot was decaying in plain sight, I think I might just lay down and die. But even as things get worse and worse for Ashley, her commentary remains full of bite and dark humour. Maybe I’ll get a therapy dog out of this whole mess.Good thing I don’t have one now though, ’cause I’d eat it. It's tense, entertaining, and hard to put down. If I were to say anything negative, it would be that a few things that happened seemed a little too convenient (view spoiler)[such as her happening to stumble upon some whiskey and oxy right when she needed it (hide spoiler)] and there was one very big coincidence that was poignant but pretty unbelievable.Fans of survival stories with strong protagonists should enjoy Be Not Far From Me. Those sensitive to gore should avoid it. Facebook | Instagram

A new BookTube Video is Up all about whether you should buy, borrow or burn 2020 YA books! Let me know what you think! Because I was born with teeth and fingernails, and both of those were made for hanging on. Ashley has always known how to survive - it was a necessity for the long winters with very little food - but that will be put to the test in a way even she could never imagine. The world is not tame. Ashley and a few friends were camping in the woods. It was fun...at first. But then her boyfriend's eyes began to stray. ...all the stuff he's always said he likes me not doing seems to look pretty good on Natalie... And when Ashley catches Natalie and her boyfriend hooking up, she runs full-out, nearly blackout drunk, into the woods.And then, she falls. Down a ravine. Not a soul around to hear her screaming. I give it three days, maybe more before connections are made and everyone realizes I'm still in the woods. The next day she realizes that she's well and completely on her own. With only the clothes on her back and a severely injured food, Ashley must find a way out as soon as possible. Because every day in the woods is one day closer to death. I'm moving.But Lord do I wish there was someone to carry me. Ahhh. AHHHHH.I cannot get over this one. It had such a gritty Hatched/Into the Wild feel to it that I was glued to this book from page one.The survival aspect was so well-done - though, keep in mind, I have never attempted anything even close to what Ashley has done - but it all seemed really well-researched and thought out. Every page I read drew me further into the book.I didn't quite love Ashley at first - she felt a bit too brash/over-the-top for me but as I read more, she became far more likable. She had so much common sense... and then to just go running into the woods drunk? It was a bit...odd...but the excuse of her being alone in the forest aside, the rest of the book held very well.Fair warning though, this book contained mostly inner narration and flashbacks to Ashley's unique childhood. The stories ranged from heartbreaking to heartwarming, with my favorite being...well....you'd have to read the book for it - but here's a hint: So that's how I got a job guarding a meth lab... The craziest part of the book was DEFINITELY the first opossum scene.I'm not going to give away what happened but suffice to say, I physically CRINGED away from the book. Like, I could NOT stop that reaction. And I'm still not over it.All in all, this book was stunningly addicting. I literally could NOT put it down and I cannot wait for it to be published! With thanks to the author and Katherine Tegan Books for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All quotes come from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publication.Other videos starring this book: Another Booktube video - this time all about the Top 10 Books of 2020 (so far) .YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

This was a hard read at times but I REALLY enjoyed it. Mindy McGinnis has a way of writing books about topics that I didn't think I would be interested in and making them new favorites of mine. This definitely won't be for everyone (especially if you do not like gore and descriptions of intense pain!), but it was very much for me. TW: gore, hunting (for survival), death, cheating

The world is not tame. People forget that. The glossy brochures for state parks show nature at its most photogenic, like a senior picture with all the pores airbrushed away. They never feature a coyote muzzle-deep in the belly of a still-living deer, or a chipmunk punctured by an eagle's talons, squirming as it perishes in midair.If you're quiet in the woods long enough, you'll hear something die. Then it's quiet again. There's no outrage about injustice, or even mourning. One animal's death is another's dinner; that's just the way it is. What remains will go to the earth, yesterday's bones sinking into today's dirt..and that's how you open a book.i expected to like this book because mindy mcginnis and survival stories are chocolate and peanut butter, but it turned out to be even more aligned with my personal tastes than i’d realized. not only is it a survival story, but it’s a grit lit survival story, set deep in the tennessee part of appalachia's woods-and-mountain isolation, trailers and factories and working poor resourcefulness, with some unexpected meth. at the center of it all is wilderness queen ashley—independent and impulsive, reluctant to ask for help, not reluctant to get her hands (or fists) dirty (bloody), stubborn as balls, and entirely capable of being on her own in the un-airbrushed part of the woods. usually.on this occasion, she gets in a little over her head during a boozy camping trip with her friends, after catching her boyfriend reacquainting himself with his ex, and i admit—at first i was unconvinced that a girl so familiar with the do’s and don’ts of wilderness safety would find herself in this situation—getting herself lost after stomping off into the woods, barefoot and enraged, and—worth repeating—BAREFOOT, but then i remembered that inebriated teens lack judgment and i just rolled with it.and soon, ashley herself will roll with it, allaway down a hill, becoming seriously wounded on one of those bare, bare feet and separated from her friends with no supplies—no food, no water, no tampons. because—yes—mindy mcginnis has finally written the story i have always wanted to read—a survival story that directly addresses menstruation. mcginnis does so many things well here—there’s great character work and strong descriptions of nature, which is just bare minimum your job as an author, but she goes on to perform the more subtle operation of gradually fusing the two. ashley is a little messy, in the way of teenage girls—reactive and hotheaded (one of the first things she does when she finds herself in her predicament is to get pissed off at a squirrel; throwing leaves at him and calling him a dick), while nature is its own kind of messiness, uncultivated, amoral, ungovernable and not even a little bit impressed by temper tantrums. ashley is introduced into this environment as other, but as the days pass and she travels deeper into the woods, further away from civilization, she becomes absorbed into the wildness—just another creature struggling to survive (or not), feeding and being fed upon in nature's relentless cycle. eating a tick engorged with your own blood is some serious circle of life umami. ashley is knowledgeable without being infallible, and her abilities are realistic and commensurate with her background and experience, details of which surface throughout the book. every part of her past has something to contribute to her fight for survival—her poverty taught her to ignore hunger, her cross-country training taught her to push her body past the pain, her father and her wilderness mentor taught her...all of the outdoorsy things—and she draws upon all of it, stacking up skills like building blocks in a—let's call it capability stratum—of brain, body, and spirit that give her a much better chance than i'd ever have of making it through. did i mention she's barefoot? this pretty much sums up our ashley:…the scar on my calf, the remnant of a deep cut from the steel siding of a neighbor’s trailer that opened me down to the muscle when I was trick-or-treating, my Wonder Woman cape getting stuck in between the stacked cinder blocks they used for steps.I pulled my sock up and told them I was fine, because they were a nice old couple that gave out whole candy bars instead of bite-size, and I’d never had a whole candy bar to myself in my life. I limped home, shoe full of blood, and ate the candy bar in the back of the truck while Dad took me to the urgent care where they charge only half what the ER does and do stitches as good as anybody else.she's badass, and it's not as though she doesn't struggle, because she certainly does, but she's grown up with the woods as a playground (Our games were made of mud and sticks, rocks and dirt.) and as a school—learning how nature is through years of observation, then learning how to be a part of it: how to make fire, build shelter, forage, hunt, fish, track, etc. along with the skills that can be taught, she has the innate deepgut character traits of pride and stubbornness that make a person endure, against reason, fighting 'til the end. this character in this situation is so much more plausible than some other YA survival books i could name, like ohhhhhidunno (cue anger-slitted eyes) The Raft? that book features a scene VERY similar to one here, which only one of the books does right. (view spoiler)[ohhhh mama possum!!! unlike The Raft, in which the stupidest character of all time manages to kill a mama AND a baby seal but can't bring herself to eat either of 'em, your sacrifice was not for nothing. (hide spoiler)] man, that scene was so goddamn sad. but not sad AND wasteful, which is something.the only thing i wasn't crazy about was the coincidence-trail, wherein credulity was sacrificed for narrative appeal, and that's fine, but i didn't need it. what i DID need was that raccoon/buzzard story. it's only a couple of paragraphs long, but it says everything and it's a scene that's going to stay in my mind for a long time, reminding me to read anything she ever writes. ooh, especially if it is a reverse-jonah story written from the POV of that fish that ashley swallowed and then immediately vomited back up—still alive—into the water. what did he take away from the experience as he swam away? what did he do with his second chance at life? did he immediately forget being in ashley's tummy? these questions are more pressing to me than anything davey-related. it was the perfect book to usher me in to my new way of life—my world comprised of just these walls and what even is this "outside?" oh, it’s full of hunger and wounds and possums who try to eat your bare feet? thanks for saving me from that, cuomo! it is not for me.*****************************EXPECTATIONS: METreview to come!*******************************From the best-selling author of "Not a drop to drink" Mindy McGinnis comes a new contemporary book about a girl who gets lost in the woods. mcginnis having brought The Female of the Species into the world means this tiny synopsis is all i need to know i need this.come to my blog!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

The only person that can make me read a survival book is Mindy McGinnis. There was lots of cursing (which I like), self-dismemberment (which I don't), and insanely beautiful chapter artwork.

Just... WOW!Re the title of this book: Being a bit rusty on my bible, I had to look up Psalm 22 and, I must say, the excerpt is a very apt title for this mesmerizing story about a young teen having to stay focused and use all of her wilderness skills to survive in an Appalachian forest - and plenty did happen to this incredibly brave, resourceful girl!For sure I would have been howling "Why have you forsaken me?" on a daily basis in this young woman's place, but Ashley Hawkins put aside her fears and lamentations and went to work to "save herself." (Hence the title: Be Not Far from Me" - in this case meant: help me to help myself, which is exactly what Ashley sets out to do once she realizes she has been abandoned in the woods by her friends.)Ashley awakens the next morning after a wild party in the woods. At some point, enraged by betrayal and totally drunk out of her mind, she ran blindly into the forest, then stumbled off the path and fell down a steep ravine. She is alone and severely injured and soon realizes that it will be days before anyone in her group notices that she did not get home at all.As the story unfolds, we see, via flashbacks, that Ashley's world is one of generational poverty: there seems to be no way out of her run down trailer in small town Tennessee. This struck me as appalling. It also broke my heart to read that Ashley and her father (who often worked double shifts at a factory) usually went hungry - and yet Ashley fights with everything in her to survive and get back home. Her track and field scholarship was her one way out of that life, but the injury to her foot may have put an end to all of her chances of a better life.Ashley is beleaguered by constant bad luck, but she rallies every single time! Go, Ashley! I get what the author is saying here: it takes a certain kind of grit to endure the norm of deprivation, domestic violence and little or no health care. The pervading sense of hopelessness in Appalachian communities made it difficult to believe that anyone could escape from poverty's clutches: there were so few opportunities available to these people. The last few chapters were incredibly suspenseful and tense. There was no way I was going to get any sleep until I found out whether Ashley made it out alive after enduring so much hell! I could not put this book down and I read it all in one day. I highly recommend this awe-inspiring novel: a solid 5 out of 5 read. I will definitely be searching out more titles by Mindy McGinnis!

Book 2 of 30 for my 30 day reading challenge!Basically this girl gets lost in the woods and has to survive and find her way back, but also ends up injured and has some gnarly experiences out in the elements. I thought the length of this was perfect at just over 200 pages, but I was kind of waiting for it to have that signature weird Mindy McGinnis quality that I've come to expect! This was as advertised, a mix between Hatchet and Wild- with the focus being perseverance and strength. I came to appreciate what it did, and definitely recommend to my fellow "survival in the elements" book lovers. I wish it did a little more, but can't quite pinpoint where specifically it let me down tbh. Initially I gave this 3⭐ but I've been pondering it and am bumping it up. Thanks to HarperCollins for the early copy!

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that is hard to stomach. This one is not for the squeamish but it’s so dang good. If you’re a fan of super realistic survival stories, this is Hatchet meets Castaway meets Into Thin Air. Every time I read a survival story I like to think I could do it all too until I reach a part of surviving where I’m like nope...hard pass. This follows Ashley who after partying pretty hard in the woods and stumbling across her boyfriend cheating on her, takes off running into the woods. She wakes up to realize she has no idea where she is and fortunately she has legitimate survival skills and has to make her way through the wilderness. It’s pretty bleak at times but this is such an addicting story and you can’t stop rooting for this badass chick. She’s a freaking tough female lead who unpacks some emotional baggage while dealing with some extreme circumstances. If you’re looking to get lost in an intense survival story, this is the one to binge through in one sitting.

3 1/2 stars. Be Not Far From Me is a short book about Ashley, a former hiker, attempting to survive in the woods after a disastrous night out. In many aspects, this is a fairly standard survival story; a character with some knowledge of the woods gets stranded, and has to find a way back home. It succeeds because of excellent writing. McGinnis is a fantastic writer of suspense because she crafts characters who are easy to root for and puts them in dark, impossible-to-beat situations. Her characters succeed because they stay highly motivated. You believe in their mission, so you can continue to root for that mission. Be Not Far From Me is supremely well-written and tense, especially if you vibe with other McKinnis works. It is a book that refuses to pull punches. The scene with the opossums in particular definitely is a lot. TW: human death, animal death, gore. Blog | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | About |

4.5 starsHoly shit. I’m speechless. Trust Mindy McGinnis to write such a graphic and haunting book on an injured girl lost in the woods. I was glued to the pages from the moment I started chapter 1 and I don’t think that’s a small feat given the nature of this book.Be Not Far From Me could be my favorite book by Mindy so far. I always love how she explores the most hard-hitting topics and the flawless way she writes about them, but I’m usually let down by the pacing. Sometimes her books tend to drag a bit for me, but I love that this time she chose to tell the story with a quicker pace and less pages overall.What I liked the most about this book was the realistic portrayal of what happened to Ashley in the woods. I’m not easily shocked, but this book managed to make me cringe and gasp multiple times. The things she’s forced to do to survive and the descriptions of her condition/wounds were gritty and brutal even. I don’t know what this says about me but I loved it.I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about survival in the woods before, but tbh I think I found a new favorite topic to read about.

“The world is not tame.”Be Not Far From Me is a story of survival. Our main character Ashley, who is a badass, goes camping with her friends and witnesses something quite upsetting and takes off into the woods. Ashley knows the woods like the back of her hand, but when she gets severely hurt and can’t find her way back to the group things start to get crazy.“No, I’m not freezing and I’m not starving, and I know both of these things are true because I’m in pain. When you can’t feel anything is when you need to worry.”This is a short novel, but full of suspense and the gritty truth about being lost in the woods. Ashley’s perseverance was amazing, because I would have given up a couple days in trying to find my way out. Ashley is such a relatable character who is stubborn and won’t let anyone tell her what to do. During this gripping book, we follow Ashley trying to survive in the woods. McGinnis is such an amazing writer that with the descriptive writing and suspense, I felt as though I was there with Ashley. Not to mention we have flashbacks that come to Ashley as she is fighting for her life. I think that is what really connected with me as well.“Instead it lay down and died quietly of old age, either dappled by the sun or with soft snowflakes that landed on closing eyes. It died quiet, under the trees. I think that’s how I’d want to go too.”I have loved the author’s writing since I read her book Heroine. Be Not Far From Me was exceptionally written and I am still reeling from some of the scenes. If you’re looking for a fast-paced survival story than this is for you.

My second book by McGinnis, my first being This Darkness Mine. She writes across genres, so I knew this one would be different in story type. Even so, Be Not Far From Me shares the same raw, unsettling, and revealing quality that This Darkness Mine had.Engaging from start to finish, if a bit hard to read in parts.

The world is not tame. People forget that. Have you ever been completely demolished by a book and loved every damn second of it?Serious question - does Mindy McGinnis know how to write a bad book? Like it's not fair. Which okay, I'm damn good at my job too, but my work isn't literal art made out of words.Anyway, point being I love McGinnis's writing - bonus points for Be Not Far From Me being a survival story! I FUCKING LOVE survival stuff. She basically couldn't have tailored me a better story.Our story begins with a camping trip - or really just an excuse for a bunch of teenage friends and frenemies to get drunk deep in the woods. The untame woods of the Tennessee Smokies are a second home for our protagonist Ashley. But even she isn't prepared to leave the party in a drunken rage and fall down a ravine. When morning dawns, she's alone, seriously injured, and lacking supplies. Which makes for a terrible situation to be in, but one hell of a plot to read! Living things will fight to stay that way. On the surface, it's a simple story. Girl gets lost in the woods, has to try to survive. But it really excels in how it tells that story. Ashley is a hard character to like - she's violent, rude, and defensive. But it's her brash determination that keeps her going, makes her willing to do what most people wouldn't.Her survival is brutal and violent and gross. I mean, really gross (view spoiler)[Self - amputation, that poor fish, every single thing involving the opossum. (hide spoiler)]But I have to applaud Mindy McGinnis's willingness to go there. With her plots, her characters, and everything in between. She writes holding nothing back and it will make you simultaneously squirm and cheer. I take a deep breath that feels like it's scraping the back of my throat clear down to the spine, but it can't go deep enough, can't quite reach the place where everything that's happened to me rests. I'll never ever enjoy camping or any hiking that lasts more than a half day, but it sure makes for wonderful plot fodder. I don't know what else I can say. I fucking loved Be Not Far From Me. It's a hell of a brutal and beautiful book, and one I'm happy to have experienced.Thanks to Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen Books for the digital review copy!All quotes were taken from proof and are not final.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>