Book 15/30.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Sighhh!!! I thought I would like this much, much, much more than I did. I watched the movie adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon a few years back and I rather enjoyed it so I was confident I would enjoy the source material as well.
Nonfiction is clearly NOT my thing as I did not enjoy all the descriptions of the trail, which kinda sealed the fate of the book given 99% of it takes place on/near the PCT. I also didn’t like Cheryl much and could not understand why she chose to hike the PCT so woefully underprepared. Make! It! Make! Sense! I also do not understand why she chose to blow up her marriage with her infidelity, but I do know how easy it is to break under the seemingly insurmountable weight that is The Mother of all Losses so I tried not to judge her too harshly for her piss poor choices. But damn girl! Heroin, alcohol, and gratuitous sex with strangers do not for good coping mechanisms make.
I enjoyed the writing as I could see some of my writing style in it. I really resonated with some of her insightful musings on grief, having lost my own mother on December 13, 2017 at 1:10 a.m. following a 5 ½ year battle with stage IV breast cancer. But I just did not enjoy this, partly because I do not like nonfiction, but mostly because I could not understand Cheryl’s piss poor choices pre the PCT as well as her “underpreparedness” pre and on the PCT.
View all my reviews
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 