Publisher: Dutton books for Young Readers
Date of publication: August 2017
“This isn’t meant to be a confession. Not in any spiritual sense of the word. Yes, I’m in jail at the moment. I imagine I’ll be here for a long time, considering. But I’m not writing this down for absolution and I’m not seeking forgiveness, not even from myself. Because I’m not sorry for what I did to Rose. I’m just not. Not for any of it.”
Ben Gibson is many things, but he’s not sorry and he’s not a liar. He will tell you exactly how what started as a simple school camping trip in the mountains ended the way it did. About who lived and who died. About who killed and who had the best of intentions. And he’ll tell you about Rose. But he’s going to tell you in his own time. Because after what happened on that mountain, time is the one thing he has plenty of.
I had to think about this book for a few days before I wrote my review. After mulling it over, I have to say that I really didn't like it. This may get a bit spoilery, so if you want to read it, you may want to skip the review.
The book starts out with Ben admitting that he did kill his girlfriend, but we have to go through the whole story to find out why. I was curious, so I stuck with it. I'm sorry I did. The ending was terrible and the way and reason he did it was terrible and I just didn't buy into it. You must really suspend belief when reading the book. First, what teacher takes a group of kids into the Sierras in October without making them take cold weather gear? Really. The guy admits he hiked Denali and lets them pack and dress like it's summer. He also didn't bring a satellite phone with him or check the weather forecast. He is traveling with teenagers and he ignores the basic of precautions before traveling. Ben, who supposedly studied and prepped for this hike also neglects to do any of this. The kids also make bad decisions after bad decision. I just didn't buy it.
The book is being marketed as a YA. I would keep it to the over 16 crowd. It's a bit more adult than I would want my 12-15 YO to read. In the end, I really wouldn't recommend this book anyway.
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