A Solitude of Wolverines

Would I Recommend It?
Absolutely! That is if you’re in the mood to learn about wolverines and wildlife conservation–while getting large doses of edge-of-your-seat-nail-biting reading action.

Thoughts?
Hurray! Found myself another author who writes about the outdoors and conservation. Plus she has done (and continues to do) her own science field work to back up her words. LOVE. IT. HER. All of it.

Excited to read her next book in the series, A Blizzard of Polar Bears. Probably my all time favorite of wildlife animals (in addition to hedgehogs, but the latter not being in that much danger of going extinct).

But going back to wolverines. What a fantastic title and a wonderful collective noun Alice H. has come up with for them. I learned all kinds of cool info about them. Sad stuff, too, like that they have been hunted to extinction in states such as California and Colorado. And that Buddy traveled all the way to Lake Tahoe from Idaho but then couldn’t find himself a mate cause females don’t travel as far as males. He was the first sighting in CA since their extinction in 1922. So sad. (And we ain’t talking Buddy who thinks he’s an elf. Although, he too, traveled quite far to find himself a mate. I digress.) Okay, so the nitty gritty facts on dates are in the Acknowledgments, but as you read the story you do get to learn how scientists use live traps to “capture” wolverines.

I also learned that Picachu is based off picas. Mind: BLOWN. Picas are sooooo much cuter and cooler than Picachu. Do people who love Picachu even know what picas are? Meeeeep!

As for the story? Totally thrilling. So much action. So much, “I must keep reading tonight or I’m gonna not get an ounce of sleep.” The story did get a weeeee bit outlandish, but it still totally worked. It also further solidified for me that ski resorts are creepy. It managed to freak me out on a recent hike we did in Mount Spokane that traversed several ski slopes and stumbled on a broken creepy chair lift. (You can view the hiking story here.) Alice H. does thrilling action descriptions really well. 

Couple of minor negatives that I think might rub people the wrong way and perhaps I cringed just a little in reading them. Not that there isn’t truth to it, but it was a little preachy. The explanation of why Alex is a vegetarian and the meals that she ate. One doesn’t have to be full blown bean-eating vegetarian to help with climate change and animals. Cutting back on beef is a big step in the right direction, but don’t have to go all out veggie-bean fanatic. I would just say toning it down on the “preachy” tone of Alex’s meals and not make meat eaters feel that horrific about themselves. Humans are meant to eat meat just as wolverines are meant to eat meat. The other topic was ranchers and Alice H. seems to want to make them be the bad people. And they do cause problems, for sure. But in recent Zoom events and books and articles I’ve read the key seems to be to work with and educate the public and ranchers. So perhaps instead of making them out to be the bad guys, I hope that in one of Alice’s books there will be a part about how it’s important to work with instead of against those who are impeding conservation of wildlife. (I know that there are definitely bad people out there, but let’s get the good ones on our side to fight for wildlife and nature.)

Quotable Quotes:
“People like Jim were all too common, not understanding the allure of the wild, largely, she suspected, because they’d never been out in it.” – page 22

“She caught the barest hint of him, a combination of his shampoo and his own natural scent. It was inviting.” – page 39
This totally appealed to my senses. Instead of describing the smell of the scent she just left it open so then I could just create the smell that I would be attracted to in a man. Cause, yeah, I’m totally crushing on Alex’s crush in the book. =)

“But it was just nice to meet someone who really understood the lure of the wild. She’d been defending her desire to be out in remote places for so many years.” – page 42

“With a martyred look that said he had to tap fathomless depths of patience to deal with her…” – page 125

Donation:
Alice Henderson, your P.S. section totally made me cry. Thank you for the work that you do and your countless efforts in keeping the wild, wild. I already follow Conservation Northwest and they made your list of organizations and I donated a nominal amount to them and asked it go toward wolverines. =)
Donation to Conservation NW:
Wolverine project(s) – I’d like for this specific donation to go toward the protection of wolverines–directly or indirectly such as through creating wildlife corridors. I credit author, Alice Henderson, for her efforts in fighting for wildlife and in bringing the public’s attention to the need to protect wolverines in her book A Solitude of Wolverines. Thank you Conservation NW for your efforts. I’m an ardent follower/user of your newsletters and petitions.

Book:

A Solitude of Wolverines

Author:

Alice Henderson

Genre:

Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Conservation, Wildlife

My Rating:

4.5 Stars