Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

I've read reviews by those who thought that Cheryl Strayed was just a silly young woman who decided to hike the PCT with no experience and received special treatment on the trail because she was a young woman, hiking alone.

To all of those people, I have to respectfully disagree. If that's what you think about this book, I think maybe you haven't been through something as profoundly life-changing as suddenly losing someone in your life who's extremely important to your own identity.

I identified with Cheryl so completely - it felt like she was saying exactly what I feel. I lost my mom suddenly and unexpectedly in 2014, when I was 27 years old and she was only 54. Then, in January of this year, I lost my unborn son, Jonah, to a heart condition. He was stillborn.

Finding yourself and re-learning who you are after something so life-altering is a huge, difficult experience. You know you've changed...you're hardened by life's hardships. You know this, but you don't know HOW you've changed. It's like going through adolescence all over again, awkwardly figuring out who you are, what you want from life, what's important to you, and what you believe.

Wild is an amazing and truthful account of struggling with that finding of yourself, and of going on a journey to do so. My heart, broken and changed by my losses, felt a kinship with Cheryl as she navigated the trail, her thoughts, and her (new) life.

I recommend this book for anyone who's experienced a momentous change in your life - one that makes you feel like you're no longer you. I don't often give books 5 stars, but this one, I had to. I'm in love with Cheryl Strayed, now, and I can't wait to read more of her books.