Fierce Kingdom
Ratings16
Average rating3.2
"An electrifying novel about the primal and unyielding bond between a mother and her son, and the lengths she'll go to to protect him. The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours--the entire scope of the novel--she keeps on running. Suddenly, mother and son are as trapped as the animals. Joan's intimate knowledge of this place that filled early motherhood with happy diversions--the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines--is all that keeps them a step ahead of danger. A masterful thrill ride and an exploration of motherhood itself--from its tender moments of grace to its savage power--Fierce Kingdom asks where the boundary is between our animal instinct to survive and our human duty to protect one another. For whom should a mother risk her life?"--
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I get a lot of book recs from r/suggestmeabook and this one came from there—I tend not to read up more on the book than what is stated there and because of that all i knew about this was that people were trapped in a zoo and had no idea this was an active shooter situation. Likely wouldn't have read if i had known that, but I enjoyed it regardless. Maybe it was a good way to get me out of normal thriller categories.
The baby situation was... a lot. I have too many feelings to swallow that and not get stuck, i found myself only thinking about the baby the entire rest of the book after the garbage can situation and was slightly upset to know know their fate.
I read the book over the span of less than 24 hours so i clearly enjoyed it and was hooked. My biggest complaint is that the didn't pull the zoo into the book more, it felt like the book could have taken place anywhere. I wish the setting was more intertwined in the chaos, especially considering the fact that it's not a normal location.
Good, quick read. Kept me hooked. Could have pulled the setting in a lot more. Rude that i don't know the fate of the baby.
This was a page turner. Very real, scary, and intense. It was very vivid and easy to picture the zoo, and I think this would be great as a short film or movie.
I picked up this relatively short and fast paced novel after seeing an online ad for it. It sounded exciting and it turned out to be somewhat less so than expected. The flap doesn't say what causes the mother and her preschool child, at the end of their zoo visit, to “keep on running” for the entire novel. An alien invasion? Flood waters? A lava flow? Since the promoters don't spoil it, I won't either. Suffice to say, what causes the conflict is mainly background to drive a story about maternal love and how much a mom knows and protects her child. Overall, I was generally satisfied with the plot, except for one ridiculous coincidence which moves the story forward, but made me exclaim in disappointment, “Really?” It didn't take me that long to read the book, so this frustration with a plot manipulation doesn't make me regret reading it. Yet, did author Phillips really need to rely on something that would take long odds to actually happen?
