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    Be Not Far from Me
    Be Not Far from Me
    Be Not Far from Me
    Audiobook5 hours

    Be Not Far from Me

    Written by Mindy McGinnis

    Narrated by Brittany Pressley

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Hatchet meets Wild in this harrowing YA survival story about a teenage girl’s attempt to endure the impossible, from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Female of the Species, Mindy McGinnis.

    The world is not tame. Ashley knows this truth deep in her bones, more at home with trees overhead than a roof.

    So when she goes hiking in the Smokies with her friends for a night of partying, the falling dark and creaking trees are second nature to her. But people are not tame either. And when Ashley catches her boyfriend with another girl, drunken rage sends her running into the night, stopped only by a nasty fall into a ravine.

    Morning brings the realization that she’s alone—and far off trail. Lost in undisturbed forest and with nothing but the clothes on her back, Ashley must figure out how to survive with the red streak of infection creeping up her leg.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKatherine Tegen Books
    Release dateMar 3, 2020
    ISBN9780062977717
    Author

    Mindy McGinnis

    Mindy McGinnis is the author of several young adult novels, including A Long Stretch of Bad Days, The Last Laugh, The Initial Insult, Heroine, The Female of the Species, and A Madness So Discreet, winner of an Edgar Award. She writes across multiple genres, including postapocalyptic, historical, thriller, contemporary, mystery, and fantasy. 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. Mindy lives in Ohio. You can visit her online at mindymcginnis.com.

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    Reviews for Be Not Far from Me

    4/5

    273 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      4.5-5 stars
      Mindy seems to be a hit or miss for everyone and that’s because she writes the most raw and complex stories with major dark twists or reality checks. This is my third book by her and the second I loved. Everything about this book was so realistic, from Ashley’s rough and tough personality to the emotions and pain she went through to surviving to the very end.


      The narration by Brittany Pressley was really good too!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book was awesome!!!! Ashley was phenomenal and Duke can kick rocks.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It was Rugged and did not shy away from the brutal truth. Being lost in the wild is nothing like camping. It isn’t a good time. Far from it. Not only do you have to worry about the rough terrain, with ravines you can fall down. Plus the poisonous plants, insects and reptiles and the hungry meat eating animals who are always on the hunt for their next meal. You have to worry about you, yourself. Starvation, dehydration, being injured and alone....all those things will add up and your body and mind will suffer. Your mental health will plummet to the point where you won’t even remember your name or what day it is. You’ll be talking to yourself, arguing with yourself....contemplating if it would be better just to off yourself instead of going any further. Now that is terrifying!
    • 5/5
      Great story, excellent naration with a great ending. High recommendations
    • 2/5
      There was endless pain and suffering. It got repetitive. Also a lot of swearing.
    • 5/5
      Ahhh! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had a TRUE 5⭐️ One that makes you FEEL and LIVE THROUGH. I finished and thought, “wait… this isn’t a true story?!” It’s gory and harrowing but it’s something I’m sure is based on real events. A reviewer knocked off stars because the main character swears so much. My response to that is, if I had gone through what our protagonist has gone through, I would be swearing at every other word!! OMG!
    • 1/5
      I’m not sure if the story itself was bad or the audio of the book made it so bad. Good heavens can you say monotone.
    • 3/5
      As someone that loves to go camping and hiking, sometimes I wonder what would happen if I were to become stranded. Admittedly I don’t have the best survivalist skills, so I’m drawn to stories and movies where your average Joe has to beat the odds, just like the plot for this YA book. This book may be slim from the outside, but the plot inside grabbed me from the start and kept me turning the pages. Ashley isn’t your typical teenage protagonist, which I thoroughly enjoyed. She was raw, honest, and tough. She might have had some survivalist training, but in some situations she found herself unsure of what to do and had to concoct her own solution. When you’re not holding your breath in anticipation of what Ashley has to face next, you’ll be rooting for her to keep going.
    • 4/5
      I was completely engrossed in this survival story. So much so, that even though I am very squeamish and spent a large part of the audiobook yelling at her or being completely grossed out, I still didn't just throw the whole book away which is my normal reaction to any kind of gore. But I wanted to hear her story, how she stayed motivated to keep going and ultimately what happened. So, like Ashley, I persevered through the painful bits to get to the resolution. I would have rated this a 5 except there were a couple things that seemed a little too convenient to be believed. I'm excited to read more from this author. Excellent narration as well.

      Popsugar 2020 - First book you touch on a shelf (or in this case, first audiobook you choose with your eyes closed)
    • 5/5
      It seems almost wrong to say I enjoyed the harrowing ordeal this character experiences but this was such a page-turner. Thanks to a combination of heartbreak and alcohol, Ashley, normally at home in the woods, becomes so injured and lost that she may never find her way out. There are some blood and guts moments, necessary for someone attempting to survive, so they don’t feel like they’re just written for shock value, but they can be tough to read, some involve animals, some involve humans, so if you are sensitive to that sort of thing proceed with caution. I mostly had an easy time buying into everything that happened, with one exception. I’ll try to keep this vague and spoiler-free as it comes fairly late in the novel, there was a stop on Ashley’s journey where I thought there ought to be an overpowering odor, yet to my recollection Ashley doesn’t mention an odor (maybe I missed her mentioning it? As I said it’s a page-turner so I was reading quicker than I usually find comfortable). However, the more I thought about that stage of Ashley’s story, her own odor at that point, her state of mind and what she had just encountered, the more I was willing to accept that yeah, I guess under those circumstances maybe how something smelled wouldn’t be front of mind or even all that noticeable given all that she’s enduring. As for Ashley, I loved her, she’s angry and only apologetic about it where the apology is warranted, she isn’t traditionally feminine or sophisticated, she is smart and she is strong and a fighter. Ashley isn’t one for feeling sorry for herself which would have made for miserable reading, she is human though so she does have some down moments, but as I said, this girl is a fighter so she finds ways to pick herself up and keep moving forward even when she doubts she can move much further. If you’re inspired by characters who have no quit in them no matter how bleak the circumstances, you’ll want to go on this fast-paced, sometimes emotional, always riveting journey with her, a journey where you genuinely do wonder if Ashley will survive.
    • 5/5
      Mindy is one of a select few authors I always pre-order. While there are faint reminders of The Girl Who Lived Tom Gordon here, this is darker, deeper and grittier. You'll wince and cringe at points in it, but you won't stop turning the pages. Ashley's journey after losing it when she sees her boyfriend and his ex in a very compromising situation, might begin with emotional pain, but that is dwarfed by the physical hurt following it. She's gutsy and stubborn, but even more interesting, is her self-reflection, often merging with what might be hallucinations as she refuses to give up. This is a solid candidate for school and public libraries where strong female protagonists and gripping adventure tales are valued.