Reviews

The Wild Before by Piers Torday

missbookiverse's review

2.0

While I was a big fan of Torday's [b:The Last Wild|18079596|The Last Wild|Piers Torday|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1380495703l/18079596._SY75_.jpg|24068971] trilogy (and didn't much care for his [b:There May Be a Castle|30528383|There May Be a Castle|Piers Torday|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469462793l/30528383._SY75_.jpg|51051801]), this prequel to the series was an utter disappointment. I don't know if my tastes changed or if the author's storytelling and writing isn't what it used to be. The first half of the novel feels aimless and redundant, I had a hard time concentrating on the words and picking the book back up. After that the pacing gets a bit better but the dialogues still feel unnatural and have no coherent flow. Also, many of the animals are supposed to be funny by showcasing silly quirks like rudeness (robin), singing (mouse), or exaggerated declarations of love (Bite-Hare), but instead of endearing I found them utterly annoying. Something else I can't get behind in a children's book published in 2021 is the use of disfigurement for a villainous character. Have you paid any attention to representation in the past few years?? The overall message of the novel is sad and urgent but also presented without subtlety: A great terribleness (climate crisis) is coming, only the young animals are willing to help, their parents don't think they can change anything anyway, somebody else can do it, and the humans are literally not listening to what the animals are saying. Metaphorically this has potential but to me it felt too blunt. The target audience might disagree with me though.

alongreader's review

3.0

Ok, confession time. I have not read The Last Wild. I'm sorry for it now; I enjoyed this, but I think it would have been even better if I'd caught the nods and winks. For instance, so much weight is given to one character mentioning another, the mentioned one must be important in Last. And, of course, this story doesn't really end, as it leads into those books.

As a story I did enjoy it. It calls to mind Watership Down, and that book about hares that I read as a child and never remember the name of. (Helpful, I know.) A lot of books with animal main characters have them act so human that they aren't really animals any more. This one avoids that and keeps them all animals in behaviour.

I'll be watching out for the rest of the series from now on, as I'd really enjoy reading them to see where this one leads, and I really enjoyed this. It's a great, touching read that I think will do really well.

paperbackmo's review

3.0

This is a prequel to [b:The Last Wild|18079596|The Last Wild|Piers Torday|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1380495703l/18079596._SY75_.jpg|24068971] series but you can read it as a standalone.

Also mentioned in my August Wrap Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GttOu6yjwhY

A little hare, named in a prophecy to save the world.. a beautiful story of how even small things can make big changes.

It's also so awesome to see the focus on climate change for younger readers.

3.5 stars

amycaitlin08's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

windmills's review

5.0

Bit monotonous but I realised that the backstory actually helped me u serdar do the books better. It was a while ago since I read the first three so this was like realisation. :)

missbookiverse's review against another edition

dark hopeful slow-paced

2.0

bookmousebekah's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

kasiaslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

3.75

acascadeofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0