User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
***Ms. Ferencik has a new book coming out in March "The Girl In Ice", but you can read this one now***
Well I am happy to report that this is one book that really delivered! It’s not a thriller in the sense of a psychopath on the loose but I certainly found it thrilling and exciting to follow this young woman into the Bolivian jungle. This was real, true adventure, with thrilling scenes between people and animals and this is the animals home and we are not welcome. All that the indigenous women do every day are the things they need to do to survive, helping prepare the animals after they are killed, washing clothes, tending to many children and waiting for their hunter husbands to return. I think I know a bit more about the jungle than I did before, enough to know that I won’t be visiting it any time soon!
Reading the prologue I was already pulled into the book, unable to really fathom what the author had in store for me. The scene where Lily was being constricted by a python was in part “I couldn’t take my eyes off the grace of her as she coiled her ever thicker body around my knees now, wrapped herself around my thighs, pelvis, groin. Head swinging, unsupported, she opened her mouth . . . . . .and said aahhhhhhhhhhh! And this was just in the prologue.
I really liked this book because of the great characters. Lily Bushwold is a 19 year old young woman who had come to Cochabamba, Bolivia because of the promise of a job. When she gets here there is no job, she has little money and is pretty much stuck in Bolivia until she can make enough money to get out.
She meets a young native Amazonian named Omar and they quickly fall in love. Within a few weeks they are both off for Ayachero the very small town where Omar is from. He was called home because his nephew was killed by a jaguar and they need Omar to help hunt the animal.
After this there is pretty much something going on all of the time, and I mean this in a good way. I really liked that the character of Lily really learned and grew with the story as did Omar. Theirs is described as such a true, all consuming love, I really felt for Lily every time they had to be apart.
She has to learn how to use a blow dart effectively and know where the kind of frog that has the poison for the dart lives and how to prepare and store the darts. There are so many things that can bite, scratch, claw you, poison you or flat out maul you to death, that there is always more that Lily has to learn. Don’t forgot about the infections and diseases that can also kill you in this heavily insect infested jungle (no thanks I can hardly handle mosquitos!)
Other notable characters besides Lily and Omar include two missionaries known as “The Harriets” they do try to teach the Bible but they also love the people there and have come to know them, doctor them and in many ways they help each other, I loved these two!
We also have a telepathic shaman that Lily may or may not be able to communicate with and a river boat captain named “For God’s Sake” and I’ll leave you to find out the origin of that name.
What kept this book from being a solid 5* for me was that I just couldn’t believe it was all plausible, but that’s o.k., this is fiction. I really liked this book, it was well written with characters that I could get into and care about and the research must have been extensive for this book. The author does state that the book is partially based on a friend’s actual experience.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars rounded to 4"Hold on to your little flame of self, because the world wants to blow it out, my beloved son."This is one of those books that feels difficult to review, because it's heavy on plot progression and action, and those are all the things that I do not want to spoil for you. As in her previous book, Erica Ferencik has brought forth a suspenseful endeavor into nature, one I would never want to take myself, but I feel brave enough to tackle vicariously through the characters in her story. :) The strongest aspect of her two novels to date, in my humble opinion, is how nature is a prominent character throughout the story; she is unyielding and indiscriminating when it comes to who and what she decides to obliterate, which adds an extra level of tension throughout the read.
While this isn't a realistic story by any means, if you can put aside your need for something founded in the natural, I think you'll enjoy the ride that
Into the Jungle has to offer. There is a backstory featuring a woman who grew up in the foster care system, followed by an adventure through the Amazon rainforest including, but not limited to, dangerous over-sized wildlife, poachers, missionaries, shamans, etc. Oh, and did I mention one of the most suspenseful birth sequences I've read to date? Wowzers. If you're looking for a fast-paced, exotic adventure from the safety of your home, this is a great book to take your chances on. If you're new to the author, may I also recommend checking out Ferencik's debut novel,
The River at Night as well?
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
“You know where you are?
You're in the jungle baby
You're gonna die
In the jungle, welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your shun n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n knees, knees” -Guns N' RosesAbsolutely enthralling! Unputdownable!We’ve all read the same story-lines time after time. You know the one. Young American girl working in a hostile in South America falls in love with an older Bolivian man and follows him back to his village deep within the Amazon jungle.
I mean seriously! How many times have we read that premise?! 💁🏻♀️
NOT!🤣
Truly the most unique and thoroughly original books I’ve had the pleasure to read in a long time. Not a thriller. No mind bending twists. How can this be, you ask? Simple…it’s just outstanding, imaginative writing as the author guides you on a colorful adventure into a civilization few have ever witnessed or experienced.
You’re right there side-by-side with Lily as she struggles for acceptance by her lovers’ tribe, all the while fighting to survive the living soul of the dark jungle, which is always looking for a way to kill you.
Truthfully, I wouldn’t last a day. No seriously...not even an hour. Where’s my iced latte?! Just the thought of
camping gives me the heebiejeebies! Though I’ve squished a few scorpions 🦂 in my day, the monstrous, dawn-of- time insects in the Amazon jungle would leave me a quivering ball of goo!
You know you’ve just experienced an incredible read when you’re so sorry it has ended!
Should you be looking for a wild adventure, look no further! I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster.
Rating: really liked it
Down on her luck teenager Lily has had enough of bad foster homes and a system in the USA that's failing her, so the prospect of a job in Bolivia seems just the ticket. After she's stolen the plane fare and arrives in Cochabamba she finds the job has fallen through, so she's lucky to get a job at a hostel. There she meets up with a couple of fellow misfits, who spend their time drifting from bar to bar. Then one night in a bar Lily meets Omar, and her life changes forever.
Omar soon gets notice that his young nephew has been killed by a jaguar in the remote jungle village he comes from, so he must return. Lily, totally infatuated, tags along, wondering how hard could jungle life be?
This is the story of how hard Lily found the jungle to be! Poachers, Shamans, remote tribes, and killer insects, all seem to be out to get Lily, and she soon has to find the will to toughen up if she wants to call the jungle home.
While this book wasn't totally riveting, it was enjoyable. I found the descriptions of the jungle particularly vivid, and the characters well drawn. A good holiday read.
Rating: really liked it
Verdant, vibrant, pulsing with life and an infinite number of ways to die; this is the Amazon jungle. Merely brushing against a plant may kill you so one must always be hyper-vigilant when within the depths of the jungle. It is easy to become bewitched by the sounds and colors and to lose one’s readiness for the imminent danger concealed within the beauty. The indigenous Tantiga tribe has a word for this: umahtar. A late teenaged foster kid from Boston, through a series of immature decisions, winds up living in the Bolivian jungle. This work of fiction tells the story of her life in the tropical rainforest complete with a prowling jaguar, a shaman, slithering anacondas, howler monkeys, poison dart frogs, four foot capybaras, tapirs, caimans…the list goes on and on. Poachers steal game that provides food for the people and manmade roads leading to valuable mahogany groves threaten the delicate ecological balance. Despite some events that are implausible, this is an exciting trip to an isolated, brutal, and mysterious place on earth.
Rating: really liked it
"If you look up into the canopy and see nothing don't believe your eyes, because a thousand things are looking back at you."
Lily Bushwold, all of nineteen and a product of continuous foster care homes, has felt eyes locked on her since she was a child. Scrutinized, criticized, and rebuked for years, Lily decides to flip the switch on a teaching job in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Fending forever for herself, foster care survival taught her to slip essentials into pockets and snatch anything useful for later. Those skills are gonna have a big payoff later.
Lily becomes a magnet for young women like herself trying to make it on their own in Cochabamba. When prospects dry up, Lily and her friends take a job cleaning hotel rooms that never look quite clean. On a typical night at a local bar, Lily will meet someone who will forever change her life and her personal attitude long term. Omar is a motorcycle mechanic who spots Lily. He bargains with her to teach him English. Soon they only have eyes for one another.
Omar receives news that his four year old nephew has been killed by a panther in his village of Ayachero. His family needs him. Unable to let go, Lily boards a rickety plane with Omar that almost doesn't make its landing. This is the first knock on the door of life-threatening events that are to follow.
Lily seems to tumble into a bed of hot coals and unacceptance by the other women in the village. She's viewed as Princess America by the others who don't have the time nor the energy to help her acclimate to jungle life. The bottom falls out when Omar must accompany the other men in a hunt for the panther and our Lily must stay behind and somehow survive what's in the village and what's lurking in the jungle.
Now here is where Erica Ferencik sits you down and forces you to stare into that jungle yourself. Giant eels in the water, piranha, poisonous plants, gnawing insects, and creeping spiders the size of tractors await you. And there are howler monkeys who use poop as weapons from high up in the trees. It's all true, folks. I spent a month in the rainforests of Costa Rica on a nature sabbatical with Hercules beetles the size of your fist. Plenty of creep to go around.
Ferencik has done a lot of leg work in her research of the indigenous people and their lifestyles in this area. Her character of Lily will face the crossroads of a brutal present armed with ammo from a brutal past. Ferencik lines this story with a jaw-dropping transformation with such detail that you'll not soon forget Lily after the last page.
Into the Jungle will stretch one's truth and one's capabilities here and there to emphasize the absolute power of the human spirit. And at the core of Into the Jungle is the shiny element that we are more akin to one another in the scheme of things in this convoluted world than we ever thought possible.
Rating: really liked it
Ah the things you learn from reading… with Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik I learned that a trip into the Bolivian jungle will never be put on my bucket list. I’m not one that has a fear of snakes or spiders but when things are bigger than you are and quite hungry I think I’ll go the other way.
Lily Bushwold is an American teenager that has only known the life of bouncing from one foster home to the next. Lily wants nothing more than to escape that kind of life having grown up living out of her backpack so when she hears of a job in Cochabamba, Bolivia she scraps all the cash she can and buys a plane ticket.
Unfortunately for Lily things aren’t much better in Bolivia when her job falls through. Finding a few other girls she goes back to her stealing ways living at the local hostel and wondering where her next meal will come from. The Lily meets Omar, this handsome local wins Lily’s heart and when he is packing up to head deep into the jungle to his remote village Lily decides to go with him.
Into the Jungle is one of those books that is the perfect read for those curious about other countries and like to travel there through the stories they read. Erica Ferencik brought the Bolivian jungle to life to keep the pages turning wondering what hazard would come Lily’s way next and would she survive them all. For somebody like myself used to a McDonald’s or Starbucks at every turn it was fun to read about Lily’s adventure but I sure don’t think I’d ever try it!
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Rating: really liked it
A
unique tale where the chills are provided by the
dangerous South American rainforest, the jungle where lives can easily be lost to nature.
Growing up in South America, we would often spend holidays or vacations on the cold and beautiful Andes mountains or the pristine beaches of the Caribbean, a few driving hours would get you out of the city and into these
marvelous places. However, the jungle was never an option, it was out of the question,
forbidden. To this day, I have never visited it or gone nearby, its reputation would prevent us from going.
That is why when I learned about this book, I was eager to read it. It tells the fictional story of a young, American woman living in the Bolivian jungle. Its dangers, the people, the mysticism around it. It is what I expected, and more.
Overall, I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
Received ARC from the publisher via Netgalley
Rating: really liked it
Jaguars! Snakes! Tarantulas! INTO THE JUNGLE follows a resilient 19 year old Lily Bushwold from foster home to job opportunity in Cochabamba, Bolivia. There she meets up with a kind, gentle man who turns out to be a badass native Amazonian who leads her....and her heart on a dangerous journey to his homeland in the unforgiving Bolivian jungle.
The four hour flight over on a bush plane is a roller coaster of a nightmare in itself, but nothing compared to what lurks in the jungle at night....and day.
INTO THE JUNGLE has evil and deadly creatures, both animal and human, as well as infectious diseases and horrendous weather....with quite a variety of cool and unusual characters.
While not all situations seem plausible in the storyline, this very entertaining novel is eerily descriptive of jungle life and a journey well worth taking for this reader as it develops into a terrifying fight for survival.
(E.F.'s story inspired by a friend's actual trip to a remote river village in the Bolivian amazon....yikes!)
***Arc provided by Gallery, Pocket Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
Rating: really liked it
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
“I’m scared to death of this place.”
“It’s just life, Lily. You can’t be afraid of life.”
“Sure I can.” Lily isn’t like most 19-year old travelers. She had no silver spoon in her mouth or bottomless trust fund available for her to backpack around Europe. However, she still had a wanderer’s heart so when an opportunity to teach in Bolivia appeared she was all over it. When the job fell through, she holed up in the cheapest youth hostel she could find and ended up falling for a local named Omar who will show her the Amazon most people only read about.
Expecting something picturesque like this . . . .
Lily quickly discovers life in Ayachero is more like this . . . .
Is surprised to find this . . . .
And even more surprised by others like this . . . .
Who have been trying to find a mahogany grove for ages which will lead to deforestation and obliteration of the Tatinga tribe.
I loved The River at Night by this author and loved this one just as much. I don’t care if it was farfetched or unrealistic or whatever else naysayers want to point out. All I know is that Ferencik’s storytelling is hypnotizing, I enjoyed the undertones regarding conservation and the fragility of the Amazonian ecosystem without being beaten over the head by an eco-warrior (looking at YOU, Barbara Kingsolver), and I am now pretty much ready to poison myself with insect repellant every time I go in my backyard after reading about what bug bites could potentially do to my body. That equals a high rating and a two-for-two author who I will definitely continue to read.
Rating: really liked it
Unputdownable! You'll want to put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door before you start reading this Heart-stopping, Powerful, Terrifying, 5★ thriller!
Love the cover, too!!
"Something silky slid across my ankles, followed by a heavy, heated weight over my toes. Solid warmth oozed under my calves. Still half-asleep, I got to my elbows and looked down my body at the wide, trapezoidal head of an anaconda, neon green with flecks of yellow around her cleft mouth. As if suspended by some mad puppet maker, she hovered at eye level, swaying hypnotically. My eyes followed hers back and forth, my head doing this little dip along with her. I didn’t scream because even as I watched, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.
I couldn’t tell if she was real.
She encircled my ankles. Pellet eyes locked on mine, her head made its way up the length of my body as she languidly wreathed herself around my legs and oh dear God—why, I don’t know—but I didn’t feel like struggling. She had me. I could feel her eggs, solid lumps just under the satin of her white belly. The meat of her was soft and blood warm; I couldn’t take my eyes off the grace of her as she coiled her ever thicker body around my knees now, wrapped herself around my thighs, pelvis, groin. Head swinging, unsupported, she opened her mouth. Her vermilion tongue snapped out, forked end flickering. She blew her sultry breath on me and said aahhhhhhhhh."
******
Let me just start out but stating the obvious.... I am definitely not cut out for living in the jungle! No way. No how.
I don't suppose it helps to have a phobia of monkeys, either! Nevertheless, I had a strong sense of the heebie jeebies throughout the majority of this novel! This is nothing like anything I've ever read. And I loved it!
Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik had me absolutely transfixed from the very beginning all the way to the exciting conclusion! The scenery is depicted so vividly that I felt the jungle bearing down on me in every direction! The dizzying sights, the overwhelming sounds, the oppressive heat and humidity glistening on my skin, thick and hot in my lungs.
The heebie jeebies became much more relative the closer and closer I got to the conclusion, transforming rapidly into pure, unadulterated terror! I'm fairly certain that my heart stopped on more than one occasion, never mind remembering to breathe!
Electric eels, giant tarantulas, enormous anacondas, foot-long bamboo rats, aggressive monkeys, poisonous everything...... Yikes!
One of the best books I've read this year!!
With thanks and appreciation to NetGalley, Gallery/Scout Press, and Erica Ferencik for this advanced digital copy for me to read and review.
Rating: really liked it
The author, Erica Ferencik, writes vivid, vibrant descriptions about nature, both in the Maine forests (first book) and now in the Amazon jungle setting. I loved her first book, The River at Night, which I rated a rare 5 stars. I preordered Into the Jungle as soon as I learned about it, having always enjoyed books with a jungle setting.
Having had brief visits to a number of isolated settlements along the Amazon, I felt her descriptions of the places was authentic, as well as her writing of the steamy, verdant jungle, the vegetation, the river, the fearsome snakes, huge spiders, parasites, disease-inducing insects, as well as jaguars, tapirs, wild pigs, capybaras, howling monkeys, and hunting dogs. The fate of some of the animals was disturbing, although the hunt was essential to provide food for survival.
The story centres around Lily, formerly in foster care. She has become a ‘wild child’, a thief, a liar, and a discontented whiner who is a seeker of excitement. I found her obstinate and immature, and it was difficult to warm up to her character. At age 19 she has stolen enough money for a flight from Boston to Bolivia believing she has a job teaching English. On arrival, she finds the job to be non-existent. She joins two other young female backpackers and works in town as housekeepers, at a cheap, dilapidated hotel. Free time is spent drinking, shoplifting, and feeling bored.
The book begins with an extremely creepy and disturbing scene where an anaconda coils around her body as she lies in bed. I have never cared for scenes where an author introduces a sequence which turns out to be a dream. But is it? Later we learn that it may have been a manifestation of the mysticism inherent in native spiritualism which she experienced.
Lily’s boredom with the drudgery of her work and life in the small Bolivian city comes to an end when she meets Omar, a motorcycle mechanic. Omar is from a small jungle village, Ayachero, where he was a skilled hunter. On learning that his small nephew was killed by a jaguar, he is determined to return home to hunt for the animal. Lily and Omar have fallen in love. Lily insists in accompanying him to his home village. He warns her that she has no experience with jungle life and will find it dangerous. He will protect her but she must follow his directions.
After a harrowing flight in a small plane, they reach Ayachero, and Lily is disturbed by a number of scary events. The author focuses on some of the many problems in the area. Missionaries are causing natives to lose their spiritual beliefs, which are making them sad and confused. Deforestation is driving Indigenous tribes further back into the jungle, as well as being a threat to wildlife. Because of ruthless poachers, hunting for food is becoming more difficult.
Lily is reluctant to help with the demanding chores of the village women, but as she starts to cooperate she becomes accepted by the community. She is often lonely, as Omar and the men must journey further away to hunt and so are absent longer. Lily meets an old, outcast woman who is a shaman and believes they can communicate telepathically.
Towards the end, there is a too rapid change in Lily, where she shows great resourcefulness, cunning, bravery, and heroism. There are a series of propulsive scenes of action and high tension. I found this section melodramatic and unbelievable. Where I should have been feeling thrills and chills, it was just too incredible and over- the- top dramatic for my taste * 2.5 * stars.
Rating: really liked it
I LOVED this book so much!! Even though I am still pretty angry with you, Erica Ferencik, for what you did at the end of the book (unforgivable!!😣) I must say you are a master in writing beautiful and truly captivating descriptions of the jungle and its people. BRAVO 👏🏻 !! I was so utterly addicted and captivated by the writing that nothing else existed for me while reading this novel (yeah, I’ve neglected few things but no worries, I still fed my loved ones, 😉). I was “literally” transported to the Amazon jungle and I lived the life of the ingenious people, while holding my breath in anticipation of what is going to happen next in this beautiful, but oh so dangerous, part of the world. I just could not put this book down!!
Rating: really liked it
Lily is a young woman who moves to Bolivia to escape her not-so-great life in the US. When her work plans in Bolivia fall through, she decides to stay anyway. She makes some friends, has fun, and meets Omar. She falls hard for Omar, a local man from a remote jungle village. Omar learns that his nephew was killed by a jaguar, so he plans to return to the village. He asks Lily to travel into the jungle with him. She is in love, and follows Omar to live in a jungle village that no one has ever heard of. Lily is unprepared for what meets her.
Since Lily is young and in love, she agrees to travel to a remote village without really knowing anything about the jungle. Really, Lily seems aimless, but she has one thing going for her. She’s determined. Jungle life turns out to be much more challenging than she anticipated, but she works to find her place in the community.
This starts as a slow-paced novel, but gets more thrilling toward the end. It also gets more unrealistic as the story progresses. In addition to the adventure story, there are also moments of magical realism. I wasn’t expecting the magical realism element, but found it enjoyable. For the most part, I liked the story and was rooting for Lily to find her place in the jungle village.
An enjoyable read that combines adventure, thriller, women’s fiction, and magical realism. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the jungle. Exciting, mysterious, and wild.
Rating: really liked it
So, this is not the typical thriller you're used to where there's a killer on the rampage, or a person missing, etc. This one is the journey of Lily... who has no family and is just traveling along, doing enough to get by but (almost) perfectly content with it... as she's known nothing different. Then she meets Omar and in a very short time, he becomes her family so when he has to go to the Jungle to help his people, she gladly goes along. She just didn't know what she was getting into. But her life with the Ayachero and Omar brings more to her than she would have ever imagined... once she can get past the giant spiders, scorpions, eels, snakes, mosquitoes, howler monkeys and more!
You guys... when I was young I used to flip through my uncle's National Geographic magazines and would make up stories by the pictures and weirdly this book felt like these imaginations came to life (ish)... BUT BETTER! The lush descriptions really made me feel like I was in the jungle.... which may be a nice place to visit but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't survive there.
I laughed, I cried... oh lord, Erica - what did you DO TO ME?! One scene in particular just pierced my heart and I'm still recovering from it. Maybe it's because I don't run across this type of book very often but it just really hit home for me and I highly suggest you all pick this one up. Add it to your TBR. Pre-order it. I wish I could say one character was my favorite but several, even secondary and tertiary characters, were absolutely delightful in their own ways.
Looks like I'm going to have to take The River at Night off my shelf to read sooner rather than later because I've heard it's just as good, if not better.
Please read this. For God's Sake. Over.
Thanks to Scout Press/Gallery Books for this copy.
