I sort of liked the writing style but at times it was just too dense. Also, nothing really happened?

für mich war es eine sehr seltsame mischung aus dingen die für mich nicht wirklich zusammen gepasst haben und sich mehr angefühlt haben als hatte die Autorin mehrere ausschnitte halb fertiger scenes aus verschiedenen Bücher einfach zusammen geschmissen und halbwegs zusammen geschrieben das es vielleicht zusammen passt. 
Oder das buch ist einfach komplett nicht für mich geeignet. Beides möglich.

Short and sweet, Mountain is a YA novel set in a Canadian survivalist camp. The novel asks big questions about the next generation's mounting pressure to exist on line. In a world of instant interconnectivity, nature is the only real thing that can connect us without man-made intervention. I downed it like an espresso!

This was originally supposed to only get two stars because the first 50 pages out of the 90 or so were just not my cup of tea. They came off completely as something from a wanna-be-hippie novel.
The writer was trying too hard to execute eloquence in the book and make the stream-of-conscious thing seem like a string of beautiful epiphanies but rather lacked the flow and to be brutally honest, the knack for writing such things. 

Amateur writing, and as an amateur writer, I know when I see it - the author was still stuck into the days where apparently using a synonym of the word in the same sentence increased it's impact - nah! I believe the opening of a book contributes a lot to your impression of it as a whole and the first page of this novel (more a novella) wasn't good. Youngish. I met words like that and that too used on the first page; -ish is fine by me, I use it sometimes too but come on youngish?! What kind of a good author makes you go through that? The dialogue structure was cringe-worthy and the dialogue itself was clunky and too long, the writing just lacked the flow I wanted. 

Basically, the first half of the book sucked and made me want to dnf it real bad. 

The last half though did redeem the novel as a whole; the short stories incorporated had some good writing even though the author’s habit of shifting between one thing and the other made it hard to keep track with what was happening. There was a lot of 'dissociating people' (directly quoting the protagonist) thing going on which confused me a bit too. However, I liked the short stories and the change in the protagonist was something I loved. The diverse setting of the book was something that made me want to pick it up in the first place so kudos to the author for that! The ending if not great, was at least satisfactory and as a whole I'm glad I gave this a chance and finished it.

Received from NetGalley

The story sound really good. Girl of very different divorced parents, minor rock star for a dad and mom, who makes electronic stuff (wi-fi, satellite links,...)for outdoors gatherings, like festivals. On one such job, mom leaves her, to come back next day. Only she doesn't returns.

I struggled with writing most of the book, I often felt lost and wasn't sure what the story was really about, what is really shame. It could be really good.

"What are you," I finally asked, "a punk or a monk?"

* * 
2 / 5

Mountain was a bit of an odd book. Or, more accurately, a novella clocking in at about 140 pages. It's about a seventeen year old girl who goes to a "healing camp", a sort of festival / commune, with her wayward mother. One day Camden's mother goes down to town in the truck and never comes back, leaving Camden alone at the camp.

"Winter's ice was coming unstuck under the April sun, washing down the mountain through the camp"

First off, the whole synopsis on Goodreads gives away what was built up in the book to be a major plot reveal. Also the synopsis seems to be at conflicts with the book I actually read, which wasn't a big deal but was a little confusing. I picked up Mountain because I thought it might offer me a short insight into a different kind of lifestyle and explore different topics to the typical YA book. Whilst I certainly got that it, I just generally found the whole book a touch odd. For example, the ending was quite abrupt without a lot resolution. Then Camden's story is interspersed with the stories of other people at the camp who never seem to appear within Camden's story; I thought they interrupted the natural flow of the book and found them quite unnecessary.

What I did like about Mountain was Camden herself. Her parents are separated: a minor rock star father who thinks having a daughter just means giving her cash when she wants it, and a mother who lives a life on the road, travelling from camp to camp installing technology and power systems. Camden, who was born Amethyst, is tough, strong-minded, and has had a hellish childhood. She's both likeable and sympathetic. 

"But I do feel it, the mountain," I said timidly. "Like a dark strong rush pulling me down and up simultaneously, smelling of pine needles and snow"

When she and her mother arrive at a healing camp on the mountains of California, Camden feels out of place among "The Tribe". No technology and now no mother, Camden is used to the camper life but not like this. She befriends Skinny, a young man who acts as The Tribe's security. Their friendship is an odd one. Like Camden, I found the "healing" aspects to Tribe culture bemusing: healing crystals, poking people so they can experience their previous lives. Bizarre. I did like the focus on nature, the connection Camden feels with the mountain and the land as I'm a big advocate of the outside.

Overall, I didn't find Mountain that enjoyable. I got the impression that it was more of an artistic book, in a way, and found it quite directionless and the ending abrupt. I might have found it more enjoyable had the synopsis not been so revealing of the plot.  

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Mountain by Ursula Pflug tells the story of Camden O'Connor as she arrives at a camp with her mother, Laureen, a community isolated from outside communication and living a "basic" and "healing" life. Throughout we follow Camden as she gets to know the other members of the community and try and solve the mystery behind her Mum who has suddenly vanished. 

This book had an interesting concept and idea that I thought was very unique! I liked the idea of a community living a basic lifestyle (which makes it completely different to other YA books) and was refreshing to see a book which was set in such a different context. I also liked Camden as a character and found her endearing and very likeable. It was also great to see the different stories and backgrounds of the other members in the community and gave an insight into the different reasons why everyone was there. 

I did however, think the ending of this book was a little sudden, almost as if it was rushed. I don't think it came to a natural end and even within the 100 or so pages of this book, the characters felt very real and I feel this book would have been slightly better if the ending was described more or prolonged a little more. The story was progressing well and then suddenly, the last chapter offered a "2 years later" viewpoint of what had happened between them two years (when Camden was 17 and in the camp, and at present at 19). I feel this could have been explained in a better way and there was no reason as to why there was this sudden 2 years later time gap.

I would recommend this book if you were looking for something a little bit different in YA, especially because it is such a short read, but would be aware of the sudden and sometimes confusing timeline and ending.