Ms. Adventure is just that an adventure! A wonderful, charming, scientific adventure that everyone can enjoy no matter your science background. Who doesn't love volcanoes?! Jess Phoenix is everything I want young women to grow up aspiring to be. A healthy dose of knowledge, a keen sense of discovery and desire to have adventures, a take no shit attitude with a healthy dose of respect, and the goal of continuous learning. This book is one of my favorite in the science genre.

We’ve only started 2021, but I think Ms. Adventure is going to be the nonfiction read to beat for me this year. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Timber Press, and Jess Phoenix for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jess Phoenix is a badass geologist and fills Ms. Adventure with stories of her research, education, travel, and life. From research in Death Valley to encountering drug cartels in Mexico onto filming a TV show that tried to incorporate more stunts than science and running for office, her life has not been boring. It’s a short read with each chapter consisting of a new site visited.

I loved Jess’ story telling style. She incorporates science that you don’t need to be a geology student to understand and takes you along on her adventures as though you were riding along with her. Her tone is casual, friendly, and frank. It was wonderful to be able to read some of her journal entries from expeditions at the ends of certain chapters, making her encounters that much more interesting. Even in these journal entries, she has a true flair for writing.

Jess’ honesty about her experiences is what I found most engaging. She talks about her journey to discover her interest in geology, something I found wholly encouraging. Whether your interest lies in geology or another field, it’s a wonderful reminder that it’s never too late to pursue your passions. She didn’t gloss over details of struggles in her work or pass off each assignment as being absolutely fascinating; in fact, she is straightforward that sometimes science can be boring, but it’s necessary to get through the boring bits to appreciate the discoveries.

I wasn’t expecting the closing chapter to involve a political discussion, as politics were never brought up earlier in the book, but I enjoyed seeing a scientist’s take on the previous election and hearing the fears many of them shared as a man took office who worked to discredit science. Some of the fears I was familiar with as I had them myself, but there were several others that hadn’t even occurred to me. It was encouraging to see a young scientist interested in pursuing a public office in an attempt to quell those fears and encourage public support of the science community. She’d absolutely have my vote!

Finally, I think Jess’ encouragement to stay curious and not let society strip you of your need to discover is crucial, words everyone can benefit from, which stayed true with the tone of the book. Ms. Adventure can be enjoyed by a wide-ranging audience, whether you’re looking for travel writing, scientific writing, adventure, or a memoir. Rarely have I been saddened to see the end of a nonfiction book. I would gladly immerse myself into more of Jess’ stories and hope this will spark a trend of more published works by womxn scientists.

Very entertaining. I love to read about adventures in exotic places and there are no better adventures than the scientific ones! Volcanoes are a fascinating topic so getting a glimpse of the research on them was very interesting. And Jess Phoenix is a perfect guide: instantly likable, unpretentious, funny, with contagious enthusiasm.

I just wished that the book would be longer, as I was curious about other stories from her work and life.

Thanks to the publisher, Timber Press, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed this. It was extremely readable and a good mix of personal and scientific. I would recommend this to students looking for inspiration about science careers. Thanks to Timber Press for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fascinating to learn a little bit about volcanos and geology. Her story and how she came to do the things she has is very interesting. I would use snippets of this book in Science and Health when discussing careers and geology to give students a picture of what types of things a geologist may do. It was a great read!

I loved this book. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for an opportunity to read this! I first learned about Jess Phoenix and what a volcanologist was on the podcast Ologies. It was a fascinating episode and I immediately started following Jess on social media. Her life is certainly one of adventure and I learned through this book just how interesting and difficult her job is.

I absolutely loved hearing about some of the places she visited and although I am not even remotely interested in geology, this book was SO good. The science behind her decisions was easily understood in the way that she describes it and it felt like hearing about some intense trips from a good friend. It's clear that she takes her job seriously, cares for the planet and is an all around badass. I specifically love that she's a woman doing a job that is considered a man's. I relate to that on a professional level as well, along with her fighting through the pain of injuries to get the job done.

I would highly recommend that you read this book of you want to learn some amazing facts about something I think the average person knows very little about- volcanoes- but hear it from someone who has got to be one of the coolest, down to earth individuals ever. This book was epic.

Snapshots of a blossoming career in the Geology. Totally has a scientist’s level of detail and precision. My highest praise is that if I could visit with ten ladies at an Explorer’s Club function, I guarantee I could identify Jess.