Be Not Far from Me By Mindy McGinnis

Emily May

"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 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.

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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.

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Chelsea (chelseadolling 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

Tatiana

Ashley, you are a pretty white girl lost in the woods. PEOPLE WILL BE LOOKING FOR YOU. THEY’LL BE SHOWING YOU ON TV NON-STOP. Light the f-ing fire, and make it smoky (even I know how to do that, and I never camp). The helicopters will be there in minutes. There is no need to roam the woods for weeks and eat crap.

But seriously, what didn't work for me most of all was the characterization. This is a survival in the wilderness book, but there was not much of the actual survival stuff described, except the absurdly shocking, gross episodes. I feel like 75% of this short book were Ashley's reminiscences of how special and unlike those OTHER GIRLS she was - gun-carrying, deer-hunting, shit-kicking, through-pain-walking, God-loving, nature-knowing, scholarship-winning, hillbilly extraordinaire basically. She was even extra special at being poor. All of this was laid on so thick and was so performative and humble-braggy, that Ashley became a caricature of the real kick-ass fictional heroines like, say, Katniss Everdeen? Or better yet Ree from
Winter's Bone. Do things, show things, stop constantly talking about how cool at this survival thing you are and how bad-ass you are in general. Show me! It's just bad, simplistic writing.

P.S. Don't tell me there was no lighter of some kind in the meth trailer, okay? How will they cook it?!

karen

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. 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: MET

review to come!

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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!

Kai Spellmeier

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.

Nilufer Ozmekik

You’re not gonna believe this! I got an email this weekend titled: “Good Samaritan” and attached this book’s ePub file! HOLY SH... I mean holy shiitake pie🎊😂😂😂 read my previous entry below and by the way I may still accept any kind of goodness! My birthday is 21 days away! Mark your calendars on April Fools’ Day! ( I wish I was kidding but that’s the day I was born and I’m still pissed at my parents!!!)

Previous entry( before I got the email and my wish came true):

NEED. THIS. I don't want to sell my kidneys. I wish I found it left at my door by a great Samaritan!

Susan's Reviews

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!

Lala BooksandLala

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!

Michelle

DNF 43% - will not be included in my 2020 reading challenge.

I just can't spend another moment surviving in the wilderness with our MC, Ashley. It's been 4 days and I've got 11 more to go that I just can't muster the interest to trudge through.

I'll be honest, if the world goes to shit or if I'm in any situation that requires any sort of skill from me to survive, well, suffice it to say I'm a goner. I will be curled up in the fetal position waiting for death to take me. So I really can not relate to Ashley at all. She's a tough as nails girl that throws mean punches and knows how to set snares and start fire with a piece of hair and a twig. We couldn't be more different. Normally that isn't a deal breaker for me but she's just so unlikable and since the entire book is her alone in the woods thinking, pondering, and reminiscing about the days of her youth that reading this book became a chore.

I will say that there is a chilling scene with an opossum that I won't soon forget. 🤢

The writing is superb but this particular story line and the annoying main character ruined the experience for me. If you are a fan of bad ass chicks trying to survive then you will likely love this book.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Chelsea

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.

Bren fall in love with the sea.

“If you’re quiet in the woods long enough, you’ll hear something die.”
― Mindy McGinnis, Be Not Far from Me

Wow. The reviews for this one are sort of all over the place. I am in the "I liked it" category.

To be honest, I did not think I would. Survivalist stories are not usually my cup of t ea. But this one I was curious about. It really sounded good.

And it was.

Yes, as others have said 90 percent of the book has no actual dialogue. Ashley is alone and lost through most of the story . I however did not mind that so much.

Ashley herself I liked. She is kickass and tough and she takes no crap. I would not last a day in those circumstances. I respected her greatly.

She was also such a lost child in so many ways. Her thought process was so fascinating. In some ways she is old beyond her years. In other ways she is so innocent. She was fascinating to read about.

A word of warning..this is not for the faint of heart. I happen to be one of those faint of heart people who took a chance on this one and though I liked it..there is so much gore that I had to skim sections.

Also..as a person who hates animal violence in any book..I had to steel myself. YES,there is some. And that includes one scene involving a Possum that just about broke my heart. So PROCEED WITH CAUTION in regards to animal brutality.

I mean..it has to be there. I knew it would be., It is a survival book. Still, it almost lost me a few times. I doubt I could read it again.

But it is just so well written. I most likely would have given it a five without that Possum scene.

Ash is funny and also touching. Her wit was great. And I found her ruminations on the Meth lab hilarious.

I found the bond between her and her dad beautiful and touching.

Davey? So powerful. No spoilers on that one. I just can't.

If there was one other complaint, it is about the end. SPOILERS:

I wanted more of a confrontation between her and Duke. I really did. I mean..he WAS the reason she got lost..I'd have liked to see them actually communicate..see why he did what he did, if he ever really loved Ash etc. I realize this book is not romance but his character plays a huge role and I really wanted to know what he was thinking.

To sum up..a unique and powerful realistic YA book that I would not be surprised to see up for some GR Noms. Highly Recommended.

Elle (ellexamines)

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.

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Frank Phillips

This was an above average YA survival novel that I really enjoyed. I did feel like, if it had been an adult novel it would have been average, but for the YA demographic, it was definitely enjoyable. I really liked the protagonist, Ashley, who gets lost and injured in the woods after a night of alcohol and partying, and couldn't help but feel for her, rooting for her to survive and make it home. If I had to give this a single critique I would say it read a bit long in the middle while she was making her way through the woods and there could have been a bit more action, however I really enjoyed the ending and resolution to her story. Its clear that McGinnis has skills, and I will definitely continue reading her!

Maryam

4.5✨ | 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙚.

I’ll start off by saying that I was so not ready for this book. Damn what a freakin’ wild ride.

What’s this book about?
Ashley Hawkins considers the forest her home. When she goes partying with her friends in a secluded place near the forest and spots her boyfriend cheating on her, she runs in a drunken rage into the forest (after she punches him. go girl!). Normally, you’d want to go the exact opposite way. But no. She goes running headfirst into the forest, hurts her foot and gets lost. It’s a story of survival. Literally. And we’ll see how Ashley survives the forest that tries to kill her.

𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚.

The writing is my favorite part of this story and it’s hands down the best writing style in a contemporary novel that I’ve ever read. Mindy leaves not a single detail. The scenery, the thoughts and feelings, the harshness of nature, the survival of Ashley. All the hard parts and stuff nobody wants to read about and yet she made me want to read them. I admit that I had to pause the audiobook at some parts because they were so hard to read. I cried and I cringed and some times my heart twisted in pain for everything Ashley was going through. And here’s my second favorite part of this story.

𝘽𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚.
𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥.

Ashley Hawkins is a damn BADASS. She’s unbelievably strong, level-headed, determined and had a will made of iron. She had to be if she was going to survive the forest and she came out with her teeth and nails; dragging herself out despite her starved body, her bruises, her spent muscles and her tiredness. THAT’S the kind of character this story needed. She didn’t whine; she didn’t curse her luck and mostly importantly: she did NOT GIVE UP. I cheered her on so much and I cried for her and was actually so happy when she finally pulled through.

No doubt this is one of the best books I read this year. I listened to the audiobook and it’s AMAZING!! If you want to read this (and you should!) please try the audiobook!! thank you for reading💗

Trina (Between Chapters)

Read this in one night! If you love survival stories, this is a must read!

Audio rating: 5 stars, I love Brittany Pressley's work.

tw: cheating, gore, hunting (for survival), drugs & alcohol, abandonment.

Hilly

4.5 stars

Holy 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.

Tucker (TuckerTheReader)

Angela Staudt

“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.

Melanie Brinkman

Nature will not nurture you.

Ashley's always been more at home in the outdoors than any place with a roof over it. So when she goes hiking in the Smokies with her friends for a night of partying, the descending dark and random animal noises are no big deal. But when those closest to her give in to their primal instincts, she tears off in a drunken rage, only to be stopped by a nasty fall into a ravine. Morning brings the realization that she's lost, horribly injured, and only got herself to rely on.

The question of survival only ends in one of two ways.

Sticks and stones will break your body, but will they break your spirit? Both truth and tribulations hide in the trees.

********** POTENTIALLY SPOILERY TRIGGER WARININGS for gore, death, animal death, dismemberment, underage drinking, underage drug use, microaggression (challenged), mention of physical abuse, steamy scenes, graphic injury, blood, mention of hypothermia, neglect, abandonment, emotional abuse, derogatory language, and violence.**********

Blunt, logical Ashley had always been a fighter. Through abrasions, the misplacement of human decency, and scrapes with the poverty line, she knew what it meant to survive, or so she thought. Resourceful and stubborn, she didn't sugarcoat things, no matter how much they messed with her moral compass. I was terrifically impressed with the skillful girl.

Memories: your worst enemies and your best friends. Lost with only her mind for company, flashbacks freely stumbled through the text. As much as I loved the depth they gave Ashley's character, I was even more curious to see wether the past was going to help or hinder her present and future. Somehow, her stories made things even more intense.

Last year I got to meet Mindy McGinnis, and when she described this book, I knew I had to read it. In her signature style, she delivered a dark, gritty, and pulse pounding novel that I was unable to pull my eyes away from, even as my stomach threatened come up in my mouth. Ashley's overly honest inner monologue paired nicely with the miraculously gory realness of her situation. Everytime, I thought I was used to things steadily getting worse, something happened that had my heartbeat noisily crashing through the trees.

Cry, scream, bleed all you want, nature does not care. It's beautifully terrifying, stunningly scratchy. It demands your appreciation, and as this story showed, it refuses to coddle you. Bleakly fast-paced, Be Not Far From Me leaves you wondering if you have what it takes to survive in a world that is not tame.

If you can handle it, you will not want this novel to be far from you.

Alaina

This was not a book to listen to while eating or drinking something delicious. Just saying.

Be Not Far From Me was a pretty good audiobook to listen to. I just wish I knew what I was walking into when I was making my breakfast this morning. Long story short, it had some disgusting scenes.. that made me want to throw up and not look at my food. That feeling passed rather quickly and then I was hungry again. Then a disgusting scene would sneak in and attack me and my stomach.

So, yeah I'm letting you know to not eat food. You're welcome!

Other than that, I loved this entire book. Ashley, my girl - I feel terrible for her. She went through hell and back.. and I think this whole adventure made her a better person. Heck, I'm so glad that she dumped that cheater ex of hers towards the end. I would've thrown my phone at the wall if she took him back.

Let's go back to her journey of surviving. Kind of cool that she already knew how to do so many things out in the wild. ME? I would've died 20 minutes out there on my own. Maybe? Yeah, most likely. Then there's the twists and turns throughout this book and I was just on the edge of my seat the entire freaking time.

Overall, this was ugh - so good. I ate it all up.

rachel, x

Sadie meets
I Am Still Alive, but not quite as good as either

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Justine

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.

Ellen Gail

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

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.

Nastassja

I've always known my body, its strength and purpose, the long muscles of my legs and the lean bulge of my biceps. This is different; this is an intimacy with my skeleton, from the exposed broken tips in my foot to the sharp corner of my jaw digging into the ground as I try to get comfortable. I’m learning the deeper parts of me, maybe even past the ones a doctor can name. Right down into my soft bits and then further, where things you can’t actually touch live.

Be not far from me is one hell of a survival story: breathtaking, and cringy, and tears-worthy -- all in one! I am shook and I am disgusted, at the same time, because reading about surviving makes you admire people who went through a terrible ordeal to stay alive but also: reading about digesting worms is phew! I was ready to endure any worms and any amount of blood to see the story to the end because it was that intense and made me fidget at the edge of my chair. Mindy McGinnis is a controversy author for me but this time, hands down, she made me engrossed in the story and characters, which is such a rarity for me these days.

The story is about a girl - Ashley, who is camping with her friends and a boyfriend in the Woods. Ashley knows the Woods better than anyone because she's been living and exploring it her whole life. But one night she stumbles upon her boyfriend cheating on her with his ex, and, well, it sucks so much, Ashley runs away, drunk and terribly upset, which leads to a disaster that will change her whole life, if she makes it out of the Woods alive.

I don't want to give much of the premise because, really, there's nothing much to give: you just ought to dive into the story and feel for yourself the vibe - the desperation and horror of Ashley's situation. I am a huge fan of nature myself (hopefully I will make it to camping this summer!) but I am also afraid of it, in a respectful worshipping way. And I know that the Woods can be cruel as much as giving, and sometimes when you are surrounded by trees and listen to them talk, you find yourself in a state of absolute calm, a kind of peace you can find only in the Wilderness. My thoughts flow easier with my breath, oxygen penetrates my lungs and makes me a part of nature. It's all very romantic if you don't count gnats or something bigger that wants to eat you all the time. But that way you learn about the balance in nature, and you comprehend that brutality in nature is not the same as brutality in real life. I was in a way relating to Ashley and her journey, though hers was a painful one. What came out of it you will have to learn by reading Ashley's story.

Overall, Be Not Far from Me is a story about survival but more than that, in its essence, it is a story about finding one's self, which is an exciting and terrifying journey to follow, but, nevertheless, is worth every page of it.

sahar

white women with shitty boyfriends always get themselves in the worst possible situations. (*cough* midsommar)

this would've been a one star for me if i didn't love davey beet and his story.

Nev

For a survival story that has really high stakes I found this to be pretty boring and repetitive. Ashley and her friends are out drinking and camping in the woods. After she sees her boyfriend cheating on her, she drunkenly runs into the middle of nowhere. Seriously injured and alone, she now has to find her way back to civilization.

I was super invested in this story at the beginning, but as it went on I started to care less and less. It’s a pretty short book, around 230 pages, but it felt like it dragged on and on. I think it’s because the events in the story just keep repeating themselves.

Ashley gets injured, thinks about stuff from her past, has to find things in nature to help her survive, Ashley gets even more injured, thinks about stuff from her past, has to find more things in nature to help her survive, well would you look at that she got injured again, oh another flashback, use those nature skills girl, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Obviously when the story is just one person alone in the woods trying to survive there’s bound to be some repetition… but I just don’t think this story had the impact it could’ve had. It’s well-written and Ashley is an interesting character but overall I was just not really impressed with this book.

Candie

The idea of this book was good to me but the follow through wasn't my style. I enjoyed the lost in the woods part and found it interesting but I did not really like any of the actual characters. This book is filled with endless teenage sterotypes and annoying tropes. Each character had their own individual teen stereotype and it showed in every single thing they did or said. It was overdone. The way the teens acted and talked was very annoying to me. I also really disliked the main character and her not like other girls trope. She was really mean, a smart ass, tough and was constantly judging all of the other girls around her.

If the first section of the book wasn't there and it was just the lost in the woods part, then I might have enjoyed this a bit more. But, as it is, I don't really recommend this book.

Jenny Jo Weir

Holy cow! Mindy has done it again! Seriously, this book is deep, and not for the faint of heart. You FEEL Ashley's pain! I was so sad and unbelievably moved by her story as well as the subplot regarding the previous missing person.

This book will leave you feeling so many emotions. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off...or your foot ;) Too soon?

ᒪᗴᗩᕼ

MY RATING⇢ 4.25 ✰STARS✰

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ A CHEATING BOYFRIEND...A DRUNKEN FALL DOWN A RAVINE ⤏ LOST & HUNGOVER WITH A VERY BROKEN FOOT ⤏ GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF SURVIVAL ⤏ LIFE REFLECTIONS

MY THOUGHTS⇣

A gruesome tale of survival, filled with misadventure and ruminations about life. I haven't listened to a Mindy McGinnis book, yet, that I didn't enjoy. Her books are so varied and move between genres seamlessly. So far, I've consumed a dystopian duo about water shortage, and a stand-alone about heroin addiction, and now this.

Ashley (the MC) is badass...once you read this...I don't know how you cannot realize that about her. She also doesn't always make the best life choices, but when it comes down to it, she's does own them. My only question after listening to this...can a person really get that lost and off the grid and not see someone for that length of time? I've never been to the smokies, or even near them, so I guess I don't know if they are really that vast.

This story is super graphic, with some scenes that will make you cringe, but it moves along at a quick pace. The narration by Brittany Pressley is terrific...I really like her as a narrator...for me, her voice is perfect, not too high pitched or shrill and not too nasally either.

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ BRITTANY PRESSLEY
NARRATION RATING⇢ 5/5
BOOK COVER⇢ MISTY FOREST VIBES
SETTING⇢ A TENNESSEE STATE FOREST IN THE SMOKIES
SOURCE⇢ LIBBY AUDIOBOOK (LIBRARY)
AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 5 HOURS, 28 MINUTES

BREAKDOWN⇣
Plot⇢ 4/5
Characters⇢ 4/5
The Feels⇢ 4/5
Pacing⇢ 4.5/5
Addictiveness⇢ 4.3/5
Theme or Tone⇢ 4/5
Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4/5
World-Building⇢ 4/5
Originality⇢ 3/5
Ending⇢ 4.3/5

Title	:	Be Not Far from Me
Author	:	Mindy McGinnis
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0062561626
ISBN-10	:	9780062561626
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Hardcover
Number of Pages	:	240
Publication	:	First published March 3, 2020
Awards	:	Teen Buckeye Book Award (2021)

Be Not Far from Me by Mindy McGinnis

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