MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.
i requested this ebook on netgalley and got approved for it. i requested it because the cover caught my attention and the description of the book sounded interesting, specially bc im into survival books and this book delivered what i wanted.
it follows 3 siblings who are survival experts bc their parents ran a survival school, but after an avalanche kills both their parents, jon 17, korka 14 and aron 10 decide to runaway and hide in the mountains until jon is 18 and old enough to be their guardian since they didnt want the childrens services to seperate them. i liked the story ive never read a story like this, the kids were soo smart and capable and strong and brave. i also like that it takes place in canada but the kids and parents are scandinavian, the youngest kid aron is very interesting he has a very good instinct and he just feels/knows things, he doesnt speak much and hes afraid fo small spaces. korka is badass she knows krav maga. and jon who thinks he has to be the leader and protect his siblings. theres also mark who is jons best friend but we only see him a bit. theres officer vine and his wife who wanna take the kids in. but the kids dont like him and dont wanna stay with him. they are kinda rude and disrespectful to aron just bc he doesnt talk much. i liked all the moments that aron was feelings things like when he didnt want his parents to go out the door that day like he know somethin bad was gonna happen to them. or when they in the mountains and he knows/feels/hears things and animals for them to hunt. like all siblings and specially in such harsh environment they fought specially korka and jon. its mostly jons point of view but sometimes we ve korkas and arons. sometimes we also have flashbacks. each chapter is also short and its easy and fast to read.

SPOILERS:

in the begining of their trip aron was sick for a while with a fever. and later on korka got a sprained ankle. but im sooo relieved there was nothing worse that happened. they also fought some wolves for food. they also had to hide from party searchers lookin for them in the mountains. i also liked the ending, and that it didnt just end abruptly right when they were found but that we got to see a bit of after too.

Over all rating - 3.5 stars
I did really enjoy the concept of this book, the story telling and writing style. There was amazing family dynamic and it really did feel like three siblings going on an adventure.
There are a few things that I thought throughout though; there are pretty clear stages to the book - i.e. before, during and after. There’s not a lot of dealing with what they actually happened and what they went through. It’s almost like they find out their parents die and then go on an adventure and the two completely unrelated when, I feel there could be a lot of potential for that trip to be their process of dealing with the trauma. Although I did like their family dynamic there were definitely times when I felt like the kids were described doing or saying things that wouldn’t be normal for their ages.
Aside from that though, this book was a really enjoyable quick read :))

As a fellow Canadian I liked the fact that survival in our harsh climate was included. The story line was good, the book moved at a good pace. I was not crazy about the characters but they were ok. I found some of the story line implausible in regards to how the children came to be runaways. I also felt like they really skimmed over the story of the other runaway, while alluding to a deeper story. This book was average for me but lacked depth. Disclaimer I am an adult and I feel this would be more appealing is I was a teenager.

“After all, they’re a family”

First I just want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

This book interested me just by reading the title. I liked that the survival tactics and the hiking theme were included; i am not a person who is usually in nature but I found them interesting.

The dynamic between the siblings seemed realistic to me. I'm not an only child, so I understand what it's like to fight with your siblings. There were times when they fought with each other but at the end of the day they continued to love each other and work to get ahead together.

I would have liked to see a little more development in the characters, since with everything that was happening to them I feel that it would have been good to deepen the aspects of their personality and emotions.

There were also issues that seemed confusing to me, such as that when the eldest son turned 18, he could take care of his siblings. I understand that a whole legal process is required and it is quite time consuming and it is not that easy. I also would have liked to see a little more about the death of the parents, because I ended up with some doubts.

Other than that, I liked the book and it was quick to read. Thanks a lot!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
I liked this book. It was definitely an entertaining read.
I did have some issues with it feeling like a guide on survival at times and i didn't really like that....
In the end though i still ended up enjoying it and I did learn some things.

This book is wonderfully descriptive and really enables you to imagine the world and live in it. The writing was really excellent and I was intrigued by the premise.

I think that this book is heavy on the survival information in places in a way that feels info-dumpy / takes me out of the story ; The interactions between the characters felt realistic and I enjoyed that, but I wish there'd been more pages in the book for character and plot development. Overall, this was just okay.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a great read, i didnt want to put it down! I would recommend this to my friends and family

When the parents of Jon, Korka, and Aron die in an avalanche, the three siblings are left alone. Jon is 17 and so the siblings need a guardian because there are no relatives. The three kids are well versed in survival skills because their parents ran a survival school. They don’t want to be separated, and so they take off for the mountains. They hope to reach a deserted mining village and then a small town. By then, Jon will be 18 and they can be on their own without Children’s Services taking them. Along the way, they meet a runaway girl, an elk, wolves, a moose, and a cougar. Someone gets hurt. Will they make it to the village safely?
As they try to survive, Jon remembers his dad saying “ a strong leader creates other leaders.”

First off I would like to thank netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately interested in this book from the cover and title having always loved books like into the wild and Hatchet while growing up.
I enjoyed that the three siblings had a typical rivalry even while having to endure such difficult situations.
I enjoyed the writing style and all the knowledge and research that was put into this book. The references to pemmican, elevation numbers and outdoor survival tips were great and I believe they would make great stepping stones for teens to get into outdoor survival or even camping after reading this.

Overall really easy quick read that kept me engaged the entire time. I did find some areas were a little disjointed and had me wanting more information. Such as, more information on Leah and her backstory and what actually happened to the kids and their parents leading up to the accident.

First, I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

I really enjoyed this book. I could absolutely picture the world that was built. I am not an outdoorsy girl, but it (almost) made me want to do some long distance hiking. I thought all of the survival skills that were included were super interesting.

Once thing I really liked is that this rang true with the interaction with the siblings. Yes, they pulled together, but there was sure some sulking, some arguing and some pettiness. And if you have any siblings, you know that won't suddenly resolve itself. I expected this to be the family against the elements. And yes,, there was a good deal of that. But it was also the family against itself too.

I thought the writing was really good and I was able to lose myself in this book. I read it in a day - I was absorbed into it.

However, all that being said it was not all perfect. There were a few things that bothered me:
SPOILER ALERT - SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DONT WANT ANYTHING SPILLED.. I felt like there was a mystery about the parents death. This was built up to a degree and then never resolved? Why DID the father do what he did, and why did the mother run after him all of a sudden?

OK, SPOILER OVER.

Something that bothered me was that I felt like there needed to be more character development up front. It almost felt disjointed. Here is the family before the tragedy, now the tragedy, now the kids run to the mountain. It almost felt like 3 different stories in a way - I felt like that needed to flow better. However, keep in mind that I am reading this 8 months before the publication date - this could be really improved by then, so take it with a grain of salt.

The ending also bothered me. The resolution of the issue seemed too pat, and all of a sudden "woo hoo - everything is good" was not realistic to me. The premise is that the kids want to run away until the eldest turns 18 so her can get custody of them. But can that happen in real life? Or would he have to go to the court and ask for custody? I thought the entire assumption that his turning 18 would resolve everything was a little shaky.

Ok, well I think you get the idea. I had a few issues with it - BUT - I was engrossed and I escaped into the world that was built and isn't that what we ask for?

This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I loved the topic and the scenery sounded new, refreshing and original. However, the book is missing some things. It's not missing much to be a great story.
The narration was really good and the plot too.

Here are the cons of the book:
-It was too short. It seemed like the story was a bit rushed. We went straight to the point, then the missing and resolution of the story. It deserved more plot and character development, more pages...
-So much information on how to survive in the mountains. The start of the book has so much factual information in only a few pages that I felt like I was reading a guide rather than a story.
-The dialogues are so short and sometimes unnecessary.