So I've just finished this, like really only about 10 minutes ago, so I think my feelings may change over time, but wow. WOW!

It was intense, and boring at the same time. And I don't mean boring in a bad way at all, I mean in a mundane, this might be the end of your life "is this really fucking how I die?" kind of mundane. A real life mundane. I hear the complaints about there not being more "action", and I do get it, especially in the age of grip-lit and fantastical twists, but I just loved how real this felt.

The scenes with Robby and Mrs. Powell, where he's just another little boy who notices things like that his teacher cuts her orange peel, the way they bring him a personality, a humanity. The way there isn't some grand reason for what is happening, there isn't some revenge plot, it just...sucks. I think that's a lot more common than we think, and we try and avoid thinking about it because then we know that we are more vulnerable. That it might just happen to us and not someone else, who was being unsafe, or making bad choices or hanging out with "the wrong crowd". It might just be stupid bored teenagers while we go on a playdate with our kid.

I loved the ending, I loved that we have no idea what happened to basically, everyone. But I want to know what you think happened...

This book was just okay for me. While it had a good plot line, it just didn't grip my heart and emotions like I felt it should. It is a story of a mother out with her son on a normal trip to the zoo when gunmen come in and start "hunting".

I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.

I read this all in one gulp yesterday because it was such a completely gripping book. It's the story of a woman who has taken her young son to the zoo for the day--but as they go to leave, she realizes there's a gunman shooting people, and she has to hide to save herself and her child. And everything with her narration is so intense and compelling--my heart was in my throat for just about every page. The problem really is that there are brief interludes from three other POV characters, who aren't given enough space for a reader to get to know them (the Robby POV, in particular, needed to be beefed up or eliminated completely, because it just raises a lot of questions that felt unnecessary). It kind of took me out of the story. Still, a really interesting read, even if I did want slightly more from the end. B+.

What a great, suspenseful story! You can really feel the tenseness and anxiety all the way up to the very last sentence--I just couldn't put it down!

Make sure you have a nice stretch of free time before you start Fierce Kingdom. Otherwise, you may have to call work to say you need a sick day. Once you get started, you will have to finish. This is extremely entertaining.

A Mother’s Nightmare

Joan and her four-year-old son, Lincoln, are at the end of a long, satisfying day at the zoo. It’s closing time. As they reluctantly head to the entrance, Joan hears pops. She ignores them at first then the grim truth hits her. Men with guns are in the park, and they’re hunting people as well as the animals.

The nightmare begins. They’re trapped in a maze. Joan desperately wants to protect Lincoln and get them both to safety, but the terror mounts.

The story takes place over a few hours, but it’s packed with suspense. In some respects it’s a typical chase scene, but the author does a good job of making the reader feel Joan’s terror. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.

In addition to Joan’s point of view. We get inside the head of one of the shooters. I thought this was a brilliant device. His strange thoughts and memories play out against Joan’s terror and her drive to protect Lincoln.

If you enjoy thrillers this is a good one, but it’s more than that. It explores the maternal protective instinct as well as the fight or flight response to being trapped. I recommend it as a fast moving plot that will make you think.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.

Warning: think hard about reading this if you are currently in possession of a four year old boy…

This book gutted me.

It’s a simple plot, and a (sadly) increasingly familiar one in the headlines. Joan and her four-year-old, Lincoln, find themselves in the middle of an active shooter situation at the zoo. They barely miss being mowed down at the exit as they try to leave for the day. Joan knows the zoo like the back of her hand, and knows exactly where to go to try to give Lincoln and herself the best shot at survival. But four year olds are tricky beasts, so let’s be honest, Joan’s not really calling all the shots here, is she?

The whole book takes place over a couple of hours, and it’s incredibly intense. It’s a short book, and well-edited. It didn’t need to be any longer. In fact, I don’t think I could have handled the stress. With average writing, this book would have still been compelling for the story alone, but thankfully, we get a little more. The writing put me directly inside Joan’s brain. Even when she made decisions I don’t think I would have made, I got her logic and motivations, because I felt like I knew her. And there’s so much more to the book than just the active shooter. There’s also commentary on how we judge each other as mothers, and the lengths a mom will go to in order to protect a child. I’m sure this book was so intense for me because I have a son the exact same age as Lincoln, so every description of her fear, her love, her protectiveness, Lincoln's needs and quirks, really resonated with me.

This is a beautifully written, tightly constructed thriller that will stay with me for a long time.

I had to sit with this one for awhile before I was ready to review. it. Gin Phillips is incredibly talented. Do not start Fierce Kingdom until you are able to devote yourself completely to reading it or you will find yourself resenting any and everything that interrupts you. This title is hard to read due to the senseless killing of innocents, human and animal. Usually that get a book flung against the wall by me but I didn't with this one because I think it's unflinching look at the after-effects of violence will impact readers more strongly with these scenes in. But the scene with the little girl laying by the entrance, the baby, etc, etc, and the grieving monkey--I wish I could get them out of my head! I am not surprised to see this is going to be a movie--the suspense will come across well on screen.

This was a good book, but I don't think I can actually recommend it! The story is riveting and moves quickly, and I read it in one sitting. The bond that a mother has for her child is the strongest element of this story, but the minor characters were interesting and added depth to the narrative. As a teacher, though, I found a story about an active shooter to be disturbing, especially with the "new ideas" here that could be potentially used in real life. After we have a lockdown drill in school, I always have a hard time sleeping; this book had the same effect on me.