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If We Survive
They came on a mission of mercy, but now they’re in a fight for their lives.
High schooler Will Peterson and three friends journeyed to Central America to help rebuild a school. In a poor, secluded mountain village, they won the hearts of the local people with their energy and kindness.
But in one sudden moment, everything went horribly wrong. A revolution swept the country. Now, guns and terror are everywhere―and Americans are being targeted as the first to die.
Will and his friends have got to get out fast. But streets full of killers . . .hills patrolled by armies . . . and a jungle rife with danger stand between them and the border. Their one hope of escape lies with a veteran warrior who has lost his faith and may betray them at any moment. Their one dream is to reach freedom and safety and home.
If they can just survive.
High schooler Will Peterson and three friends journeyed to Central America to help rebuild a school. In a poor, secluded mountain village, they won the hearts of the local people with their energy and kindness.
But in one sudden moment, everything went horribly wrong. A revolution swept the country. Now, guns and terror are everywhere―and Americans are being targeted as the first to die.
Will and his friends have got to get out fast. But streets full of killers . . .hills patrolled by armies . . . and a jungle rife with danger stand between them and the border. Their one hope of escape lies with a veteran warrior who has lost his faith and may betray them at any moment. Their one dream is to reach freedom and safety and home.
If they can just survive.
352 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2012
204 people are currently reading
2463 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Klavan
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 434 reviews
March 4, 2020
i read this because i was curious how christian themes would assert themselves in a survival story with guns and revolutionaries and the dangers of the jungle, and i was wondering how far the "turn the other cheek" and "the meek shall inherit the earth" would hold up in a pressure cooker.
better than you would think, but don't worry - "the lord helps those who help themselves," so this is not a "sit around and wait for divine intervention" kind of story. there is plenty of action, and i think it is a good book for those reluctant reader boys who are smart, but just don't really like to sit down and read. because while there are a lot of great action sequences, there is also a fair bit of deeper-meaning stuff - some political, some self-reflective, and, yes, some religious, so it is a touch more substantial a story than a lot of the books geared towards the reluctant male YA crowd with the "piew piew piew!" (those are laser-gun noises)
the religious elements are definitely present; there is a pastor character, a lot of praying, and some ruminating about the soul and man's limitations and possibilities in the greater plan of the divine.
but it wasn't overly distracting. it does slow down the pacing, but my concern before reading was that it would be ham-fisted and didactic, and it wasn't.
to backtrack into plot-territory.our hero, sixteen-year-old will peterson, goes on a philanthropic retreat to build a school for children in costa verde, along with his pastor, and some other kids from his school - a shrill and pretty shallow fancy-girl named nicki, and a boy named jim, who is all starry-eyed for the plight of the revolutionaries and probably has a million posters of che guevara in his bedroom. joining them at the site is a slightly-older woman named meredith, who oozes competence and serenity, and is more like a unicorn than a human girl. ordinarily, a character like this would irritate me,but i really liked her, and i appreciated her calm, but still very brave, presence.
because there is a lot of need for courage. on the day they are scheduled to leave, revolutionaries take over costa verde, and the kids find themselves caught up in a civil war and must rely on the experience of palmer,a bitter ex-marine who was supposed to be their pilot outta there, to guide them to safety. again and again.there are so many dangers to be faced: dinner-plate-sized spiders, snakes, crocodiles (or maybe a caiman), firing squads, heat and thirst, and mendoza, the head of the local revolutionary group, who has it in for them in a big way.
so, naturally, the kids are gonna learn some harsh realities through hardships, and there will be much growth and many challenges and many selfless acts. but it's not an after-school special. and it's not super-proselytizing, which was a relief.
occasionally, the "teen-voice" in this rubbed me the wrong way: so many things are "really" this or "really" that, and there is a forced quality to the tumbling, repetitive speech patterns, especially at the beginning, and nicki is mostly just a cardboard "privileged girl has eyes opened in difficult situation" construction, but overall, i liked it, and i thought it was an interesting slant on the typical survival story.
come to my blog!
better than you would think, but don't worry - "the lord helps those who help themselves," so this is not a "sit around and wait for divine intervention" kind of story. there is plenty of action, and i think it is a good book for those reluctant reader boys who are smart, but just don't really like to sit down and read. because while there are a lot of great action sequences, there is also a fair bit of deeper-meaning stuff - some political, some self-reflective, and, yes, some religious, so it is a touch more substantial a story than a lot of the books geared towards the reluctant male YA crowd with the "piew piew piew!" (those are laser-gun noises)
the religious elements are definitely present; there is a pastor character, a lot of praying, and some ruminating about the soul and man's limitations and possibilities in the greater plan of the divine.
but it wasn't overly distracting. it does slow down the pacing, but my concern before reading was that it would be ham-fisted and didactic, and it wasn't.
to backtrack into plot-territory.our hero, sixteen-year-old will peterson, goes on a philanthropic retreat to build a school for children in costa verde, along with his pastor, and some other kids from his school - a shrill and pretty shallow fancy-girl named nicki, and a boy named jim, who is all starry-eyed for the plight of the revolutionaries and probably has a million posters of che guevara in his bedroom. joining them at the site is a slightly-older woman named meredith, who oozes competence and serenity, and is more like a unicorn than a human girl. ordinarily, a character like this would irritate me,but i really liked her, and i appreciated her calm, but still very brave, presence.
because there is a lot of need for courage. on the day they are scheduled to leave, revolutionaries take over costa verde, and the kids find themselves caught up in a civil war and must rely on the experience of palmer,a bitter ex-marine who was supposed to be their pilot outta there, to guide them to safety. again and again.there are so many dangers to be faced: dinner-plate-sized spiders, snakes, crocodiles (or maybe a caiman), firing squads, heat and thirst, and mendoza, the head of the local revolutionary group, who has it in for them in a big way.
so, naturally, the kids are gonna learn some harsh realities through hardships, and there will be much growth and many challenges and many selfless acts. but it's not an after-school special. and it's not super-proselytizing, which was a relief.
occasionally, the "teen-voice" in this rubbed me the wrong way: so many things are "really" this or "really" that, and there is a forced quality to the tumbling, repetitive speech patterns, especially at the beginning, and nicki is mostly just a cardboard "privileged girl has eyes opened in difficult situation" construction, but overall, i liked it, and i thought it was an interesting slant on the typical survival story.
come to my blog!
July 5, 2013
Meh. It starts off with a bang, as a group of self-congratulating christian missionaries only trying to do their (condescending) best to those backwards brownish folks and meet their h.s. do-gooder credit requirement get caught in a Latin American revolution. There's a mouthpiece leftist among them who is shown over and over to be an idiot for actually having read up on the country before he went there (messages: books? fah, who needs them? Listening to both sides of a debate? only for weaklings), the Latin Americans are thugs and rapists and sadists and yadaydayda (except for the noble savages among them, who get shot), and no revolution every has any legitimate complaint behind it (meaning, by the way, on the day after its anniversary celebration as I write this, exactly what about the American Revolution?? hmm??) and no anti-American sentiment is ever justified and and everybody on earth should be protestant and white and american and only then would everything be good. Oh, and women? They're either shallow mirror-obsessed weaklings or mystical madonnas (the white american madonna of the book is able to mystically soothe a grieving mother in five minutes where all those brown people with their clearly inferior Catholicism fail after hours of trying). I was willing to read anyway, as the beginning was pretty well done, but the middle sagged badly, got very repetitive, and slowed more and more until I was reminded of asphalt in southern Arizona in June. So I flipped pages until I could say I'd read it, but I was skimming a lot of the time. Internalization content is repetitive, conversations are repetitive, and external events are repetitive. You could actually skip from 1/4 of the way through to the last 2 chapters and not miss a lot. It ends exactly as you thought it would, so at the end, there was no insight into human character, no revelations on the meaning of life or politics or human nature, nor anything, really. It sort of sits there, a pile of pages. For the right sort of person, it'd be soothing as it affirmed their prejudices. And so it goes.
March 21, 2013
I was excited for If We Survive from the minute I read the synopsis. However, I honestly wasn't expecting to like it so much. I went into it expecting a cliche Christian action/adventure novel for teens. I was so wrong.
This was probably one of the best Christian fiction books meant for young adults that I've ever read. It was really well written.
I'm kind of an action junkie. I read action/adventure books like a little kid eats candy, and I won't deny I read through this one at a really fast pace. That's mostly because I couldn't put it down though. The author kept throwing all these twists and impossible situations at the characters, but you know I loved that. I was convinced that my favorite characters were going to die on every other page. It was that good.
I found myself getting really attached to the characters. They all had a way of jumping off the page and wrapping their way around my heart. The villains were also really well done.
I don't think I've ever been this emotionally invested in a set of characters, in an action novel. Ever. I actually teared up at one point and that never happens.
Palmer and Meredith where by far my favorite characters. I don't care what bad stuff people said about Palmer, he was a riot. He kept it together when it was most needed and still managed to be his sarcastic, hilarious self. I loved him. Meredith was by far the strongest female character. I adored her.
Jim and Nicki start out as really annoying characters, but by the end of the story I kind of liked them too. The author did a brilliant job of character development with them. The POV character Will, didn't stick out to me as much as Palmer/Meredith, but he was a pretty awesome character overall.
The political side of this book fascinated me as well. This was just a really well done book. My hat is off to Andrew Klavan for writing such a genius novel.
This was probably one of the best Christian fiction books meant for young adults that I've ever read. It was really well written.
I'm kind of an action junkie. I read action/adventure books like a little kid eats candy, and I won't deny I read through this one at a really fast pace. That's mostly because I couldn't put it down though. The author kept throwing all these twists and impossible situations at the characters, but you know I loved that. I was convinced that my favorite characters were going to die on every other page. It was that good.
I found myself getting really attached to the characters. They all had a way of jumping off the page and wrapping their way around my heart. The villains were also really well done.
I don't think I've ever been this emotionally invested in a set of characters, in an action novel. Ever. I actually teared up at one point and that never happens.
Palmer and Meredith where by far my favorite characters. I don't care what bad stuff people said about Palmer, he was a riot. He kept it together when it was most needed and still managed to be his sarcastic, hilarious self. I loved him. Meredith was by far the strongest female character. I adored her.
Jim and Nicki start out as really annoying characters, but by the end of the story I kind of liked them too. The author did a brilliant job of character development with them. The POV character Will, didn't stick out to me as much as Palmer/Meredith, but he was a pretty awesome character overall.
The political side of this book fascinated me as well. This was just a really well done book. My hat is off to Andrew Klavan for writing such a genius novel.
February 28, 2023
Superb action/adventure/ thriller by the great Andrew Klavan. This book is in his Young Adult genre but is certainly enjoyable by an adult of any age. Finished it ion one day.
January 9, 2013
This book didn't only get two stars for the writing style: I would have give it one but the author is great at telling an exciting story! I wanted to like this book, but couldn't avoid being very offended by the worldview offered through this story. As someone who lives in Latin America, I thought the story was extremely prejuidiced towards American views. The rebels were painted as evil: no consideration of their personalities or desires they might have to relieve suffering in their country and make their world a better place. This book was written from the strong viewpoint of someone who has never understood poverty or how the rest of the world outside the United States thinks and really lives.
That's why I couldn't give it more than 2 stars. Reading books like this does not help anyone to understand other countries. In fact, it only teaches stereotypes that are incorrect.
But it is an exciting story.
That's why I couldn't give it more than 2 stars. Reading books like this does not help anyone to understand other countries. In fact, it only teaches stereotypes that are incorrect.
But it is an exciting story.
October 13, 2016
Took me a bit at first to get into it... But not long at all, was just a little wary at first, with the characters and the voice and the way it was told. Caught me off guard.
I really liked this book.
At first it was like 'eh, OK...' but then there were just parts... Little pieces... Words... That were so true. It was insane. Those little bits had me shaking my head or nodding and they packed punches.
Great book. Look forward to reading more from this author.
(P.S. I'm sick, so I've been reading a lot... i.e.... I read two entire books in one day I almost forgot I was such a speedy reader omword...)
I really liked this book.
At first it was like 'eh, OK...' but then there were just parts... Little pieces... Words... That were so true. It was insane. Those little bits had me shaking my head or nodding and they packed punches.
Great book. Look forward to reading more from this author.
(P.S. I'm sick, so I've been reading a lot... i.e.... I read two entire books in one day I almost forgot I was such a speedy reader omword...)
February 14, 2013
In this YA thriller, five people go as a church group to rebuild an orphanage in a fictional South American country and are caught up in that country's civil war. It's an exciting and well-paced novel with plenty of action, and I think it hits its mark exactly. The main character, Will, is a realistic 16-year-old: full of uncertainty yet driven with a desire to do the right thing. Palmer, the group's pilot, ends up being their reluctant guide and protector as they try to escape the country, and he treats Will as the competent person he wants to be, with the result that that's exactly who Will becomes.
What I like most about this book is its even-handed treatment of Christian faith. Religious characters are far too often dupes or hypocrites or villains, but Klavan portrays his characters' religious faith as natural and fitting for them, without being preachy. That Will and his friends turn to prayer when facing challenges is charming and believable.
There's also an interesting dynamic between the adults of the group, the cynical Palmer and the saintly Meredith. Again, Meredith (who is seen through Will's infatuated eyes) could have been as perfectly perfect and composed in the face of danger as Will thinks she is. And it's true that one of the quibbles that I have with the book is that the reason Meredith has such rock-solid faith didn't seem powerful enough to have turned her into someone who can face death without flinching. Despite this, she doesn't seem perfect and makes an excellent foil for Palmer, who came very close to leaving them all behind (though it's impossible to believe he would have, because the story would have ended right there). Overall, it's an enjoyable and exciting story.
What I like most about this book is its even-handed treatment of Christian faith. Religious characters are far too often dupes or hypocrites or villains, but Klavan portrays his characters' religious faith as natural and fitting for them, without being preachy. That Will and his friends turn to prayer when facing challenges is charming and believable.
There's also an interesting dynamic between the adults of the group, the cynical Palmer and the saintly Meredith. Again, Meredith (who is seen through Will's infatuated eyes) could have been as perfectly perfect and composed in the face of danger as Will thinks she is. And it's true that one of the quibbles that I have with the book is that the reason Meredith has such rock-solid faith didn't seem powerful enough to have turned her into someone who can face death without flinching. Despite this, she doesn't seem perfect and makes an excellent foil for Palmer, who came very close to leaving them all behind (though it's impossible to believe he would have, because the story would have ended right there). Overall, it's an enjoyable and exciting story.
April 16, 2018
Only rating this two stars (instead of one) because the writing style was pretty good and Palmer was pretty great. Other than that, this was such a 'ugh' book. The main character was immature and didn't change and had a creepy crush on a girl four years older than him. Meredith and Nicki were completely unrealistic (the author, a guy, obviously has no idea what girls are really like). Jim was written stupidly and Pastor Ron was just...no.
June 19, 2021
That was absolutely fantastic🤩🤩
December 14, 2015
Well, I'm a sealed fan of Klavan's now. My 5th book of his to read and just as enthralling to me as the other 4. Nice to see everything tied up in one book instead of a series (for these days series can wear me out). Will is a very different character/narrator Charlie. He's at a different place in life, and has different lessons to learn of and about himself in his particular trial than Charlie did. I really liked that. I almost felt like I could relate more to Will and his insecurities/fears/lack of experiences. I think teen readers may find the same. Not that I didn't love being in Charlie's head and looking up to him. But Will seemed like a typical 16-year old, which made the the situation even more dire and suspenseful.
Loved seeing, again, great morals in this work. Also loved that killing and violence was not glorified in any way. Respect for life was paramount, which is something that needs to be re-instilled after our society/media has de-sensitized us to too much.
So excited to recommend it to many of my teen readers--especially my guy readers.
Loved seeing, again, great morals in this work. Also loved that killing and violence was not glorified in any way. Respect for life was paramount, which is something that needs to be re-instilled after our society/media has de-sensitized us to too much.
So excited to recommend it to many of my teen readers--especially my guy readers.
March 15, 2019
This started what I thought would be a somewhat typical thriller. A group of young people with their pastor are in South America to help rebuild a school when everything turns pear-shaped. Along the way, we get more depth with some brilliant writing that strikes beyond your normal thriller. You think there are just plug-in characters to present some view to be against, but again it transcends this with character development tightly weaved into the story.
September 23, 2019
All the adventure and action you could ask for in a book. I love Andrew Klavan' s writing! His fast pace thrillers are hard to put down. And his message is gold. It look me a bit to like some of the characters,they had flaws. Which is good really. They were realistic.
Now that I am finished I am wanting more fast pace reading.
Now that I am finished I am wanting more fast pace reading.
October 4, 2016
Actual Rating: 4 stars (+1 star for Palmer's badassery and awesomeness!)
This was a really good book. From the moment it began, it was high-paced, non-stop action. The survival aspect of the book wasn't boring for a second. Story wise, this was super well-written, with great and interesting characters, and a good narrator to balance it out.
I wouldn't call this Christian fiction, even if it's regarded as one. In the end there is no mention or acknowledgment of the gospel. Just a group of kids that believe in God and all that, but nothing beyond that. That was disappointing to me. But like I said, story-wise, it was good. Just wish the gospel had been presented in a book labeled Christian fiction.
This was a really good book. From the moment it began, it was high-paced, non-stop action. The survival aspect of the book wasn't boring for a second. Story wise, this was super well-written, with great and interesting characters, and a good narrator to balance it out.
I wouldn't call this Christian fiction, even if it's regarded as one. In the end there is no mention or acknowledgment of the gospel. Just a group of kids that believe in God and all that, but nothing beyond that. That was disappointing to me. But like I said, story-wise, it was good. Just wish the gospel had been presented in a book labeled Christian fiction.
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January 25, 2022I was excited for this story. But the entire first chapter is describing each of the characters one by one and I just cannot get through that today haha.
Klavan is great so maybe I’ll try this again another day.
Klavan is great so maybe I’ll try this again another day.
June 2, 2018
This book was quite a ride. The tension was just about nonstop, although the little flashes of humor throughout kept it from being overwhelming. Suffice it to say that just about anytime I thought, "it can't be that easy, " it wasn't. Even most of the time when there was nothing in the least easy about the last part of their struggle, there was something else coming that made the previous trouble look like a walk in the park.
The unique quality of Will's narrator voice was one of the strongest parts of the story in my opinion. I can't think of another book in my experience that feels more like it was actually narrated by a sixteen-year-old boy. There may have been one small stretch where the "you know"s got to be a little much, but in general, I enjoyed it immensely. Often, the unintentional humor (unintentional by Will, not the author) was my saving grace when the tension was just about unbearable. And on the subject of narrators, I listened to this on audiobook and thought that narrator did a fantastic job as well. ;)
In addition to being a great narrator, Will was a wonderful character. He's a completely real and normal teenage boy, but there's a lot of potential and real heroism lying under the surface, even when he doesn't see it himself. That was another aspect of his voice that I really appreciated; his blunt honesty about his faults, his confusion, and his fear leaves him looking not at all heroic in his own eyes, while the reader is allowed a deeper glimpse than anything he can see. That's extremely difficult to pull off with a first-person narrator, but it's done to perfection here. I also loved the way that Palmer sensed his potential and drew it out, even though Will was oblivious to it.
For the other characters, Nikki and Jim were pretty much one-dimensional, although they both experienced growth over the course of the story. Meredith had me shaking my head for most of the early part of the book, unable to believe that anyone could be that calm and perfect. I was ready to write her off as extremely unrealistic, but somehow the glimpses we had of her as the story progressed helped to bring her down to earth a bit more and make her seem more human. (Also, Will's perspective on her was brilliant, especially halfway through the book when he admits, "I guess I had a crush on her." Yes, thanks, Will--that hasn't been extremely obvious from the start. :D)
And Palmer--wow. His character was amazing. From the way the story began, I was prepared for the stock rough, sarcastic, ex-military hero/antagonist who tolerates the people he has to and might end up coming around after the adventure's over. Palmer certainly seemed to fit that mold, but--no. His character was so much deeper and richer than the mask he projected. Amazing--just amazing.
The book deals with harsh and gritty topics, and it doesn't sugarcoat, although it doesn't get gratuitous with descriptions. Revolutions are violent, and this book reflects that. People are beaten; people are shot; people die. I'm in total agreement with the use of violence in self-defense or the defense of others, but I really appreciate the fact that it's not presented as an easy or obvious decision. Even though Will knows the logic and the truth behind the kill-or-be-killed scenarios he's presented, the aftermath isn't easy or sanitized, and I applaud the author for not glossing over those realities.
Aside from the outright violence, there are a few references to people cursing (never the words), people speaking about or looking at women in a suggestive way (not descriptive), and a couple of references to violent video games and zombie movies. One kiss and a forehead kiss are mentioned, but even Will's obvious crush didn't leave me feeling uncomfortable with his descriptions. The faith content was pervasive, although sometimes it rang just a bit hollow, but I did appreciate Will's use of a Bible verse and prayer to counteract his fear.
One scene in the beginning of the book bugged me enough to knock about a half star off my final rating. At one point, Will describes a native ceremony that the team was invited to, which consisted of the idol worship that the native villagers kept alive in addition to their Catholicism. I realize this is true to life and does happen in a lot of places, but what bothered me was that none of the Christian characters seemed to have a problem with it. Even if you could offer a good argument that the mission team would have offended the villagers by not attending the ceremony (for the record, I'm not persuaded), I would definitely have liked to have some sense that they were uncomfortable with it or saddened by it or something beyond Will's wide-eyed descriptions of how "cool" the whole thing was. Cultural appreciation is one thing, but accepting an idol-worshiping ceremony is another. The scene was short and not important to the story, but it made me very uncomfortable, and I would have much rather have done without it.
The unique quality of Will's narrator voice was one of the strongest parts of the story in my opinion. I can't think of another book in my experience that feels more like it was actually narrated by a sixteen-year-old boy. There may have been one small stretch where the "you know"s got to be a little much, but in general, I enjoyed it immensely. Often, the unintentional humor (unintentional by Will, not the author) was my saving grace when the tension was just about unbearable. And on the subject of narrators, I listened to this on audiobook and thought that narrator did a fantastic job as well. ;)
In addition to being a great narrator, Will was a wonderful character. He's a completely real and normal teenage boy, but there's a lot of potential and real heroism lying under the surface, even when he doesn't see it himself. That was another aspect of his voice that I really appreciated; his blunt honesty about his faults, his confusion, and his fear leaves him looking not at all heroic in his own eyes, while the reader is allowed a deeper glimpse than anything he can see. That's extremely difficult to pull off with a first-person narrator, but it's done to perfection here. I also loved the way that Palmer sensed his potential and drew it out, even though Will was oblivious to it.
For the other characters, Nikki and Jim were pretty much one-dimensional, although they both experienced growth over the course of the story. Meredith had me shaking my head for most of the early part of the book, unable to believe that anyone could be that calm and perfect. I was ready to write her off as extremely unrealistic, but somehow the glimpses we had of her as the story progressed helped to bring her down to earth a bit more and make her seem more human. (Also, Will's perspective on her was brilliant, especially halfway through the book when he admits, "I guess I had a crush on her." Yes, thanks, Will--that hasn't been extremely obvious from the start. :D)
And Palmer--wow. His character was amazing. From the way the story began, I was prepared for the stock rough, sarcastic, ex-military hero/antagonist who tolerates the people he has to and might end up coming around after the adventure's over. Palmer certainly seemed to fit that mold, but--no. His character was so much deeper and richer than the mask he projected. Amazing--just amazing.
The book deals with harsh and gritty topics, and it doesn't sugarcoat, although it doesn't get gratuitous with descriptions. Revolutions are violent, and this book reflects that. People are beaten; people are shot; people die. I'm in total agreement with the use of violence in self-defense or the defense of others, but I really appreciate the fact that it's not presented as an easy or obvious decision. Even though Will knows the logic and the truth behind the kill-or-be-killed scenarios he's presented, the aftermath isn't easy or sanitized, and I applaud the author for not glossing over those realities.
Aside from the outright violence, there are a few references to people cursing (never the words), people speaking about or looking at women in a suggestive way (not descriptive), and a couple of references to violent video games and zombie movies. One kiss and a forehead kiss are mentioned, but even Will's obvious crush didn't leave me feeling uncomfortable with his descriptions. The faith content was pervasive, although sometimes it rang just a bit hollow, but I did appreciate Will's use of a Bible verse and prayer to counteract his fear.
One scene in the beginning of the book bugged me enough to knock about a half star off my final rating. At one point, Will describes a native ceremony that the team was invited to, which consisted of the idol worship that the native villagers kept alive in addition to their Catholicism. I realize this is true to life and does happen in a lot of places, but what bothered me was that none of the Christian characters seemed to have a problem with it. Even if you could offer a good argument that the mission team would have offended the villagers by not attending the ceremony (for the record, I'm not persuaded), I would definitely have liked to have some sense that they were uncomfortable with it or saddened by it or something beyond Will's wide-eyed descriptions of how "cool" the whole thing was. Cultural appreciation is one thing, but accepting an idol-worshiping ceremony is another. The scene was short and not important to the story, but it made me very uncomfortable, and I would have much rather have done without it.
October 2, 2014
In a nutshell: Ok, so I hovered between 2 and 3 stars. I think if I could take out the stuff that bugged the crap out of me, it would have been a pretty good read. But as it is, I really couldn't stand it. So... to punish the stars cause of my bias or not? Currently, i'm doing so. Just know that if I were a teen, maybe I wouldn't have been so bothered. And also, DO NOT listen to the audio... I think I may have liked this better if I had read it.
Pros:
1. Adventurous - A group of teen and adult missionaries go to a poor central american country to help re-build a school. Rebels in that country overthrow the government and chaos ensues. The group must escape.
2. Politically aware - I suppose this stuff should be of interest to kids. Gives perspective on american life and the lives of other countries.
3. Good boy book- decent male character
3. Clean/ Good for people who are into religion/God/faith being part of their stories. All his religious and political talk drove me bonkers! However, I recognize that those are rare in mainstream teen books... and so it is nice to have that options for younger readers.
Cons:
1. Its too preachy for me. The political/religious stuff is so obvious. And frankly, a huge turnoff. At least for me. I think if I could edit out all that stuff out I might have enjoyed it. I have read plenty of teen books that take on philosophical issues without sounding so absolute... so I know its possible. This one, just poses his opinions as fact, and I found them irritating.
2. The book felt so juvenile to me. Not the content, but the characters... or at least, the way it was written. Maybe its a case of reading below my maturity level, or maybe I just found the whole thing unbelievable... but really, I think it was this....
3. The reader!! Was AWFUL!! SOOOOO not a good match for the voice of the main character. Why didn't they get a young person?? When he said "dude" in one of the conversations it sounded so stupid...
Pros:
1. Adventurous - A group of teen and adult missionaries go to a poor central american country to help re-build a school. Rebels in that country overthrow the government and chaos ensues. The group must escape.
2. Politically aware - I suppose this stuff should be of interest to kids. Gives perspective on american life and the lives of other countries.
3. Good boy book- decent male character
3. Clean/ Good for people who are into religion/God/faith being part of their stories. All his religious and political talk drove me bonkers! However, I recognize that those are rare in mainstream teen books... and so it is nice to have that options for younger readers.
Cons:
1. Its too preachy for me. The political/religious stuff is so obvious. And frankly, a huge turnoff. At least for me. I think if I could edit out all that stuff out I might have enjoyed it. I have read plenty of teen books that take on philosophical issues without sounding so absolute... so I know its possible. This one, just poses his opinions as fact, and I found them irritating.
2. The book felt so juvenile to me. Not the content, but the characters... or at least, the way it was written. Maybe its a case of reading below my maturity level, or maybe I just found the whole thing unbelievable... but really, I think it was this....
3. The reader!! Was AWFUL!! SOOOOO not a good match for the voice of the main character. Why didn't they get a young person?? When he said "dude" in one of the conversations it sounded so stupid...
November 23, 2018
Wow! This book might have made my mouth drop open a number of times. There were no slow parts of the book, and it kept moving at a rapid pace without feeling rushed. It had a lot of violence in it due to the subject matter, but it also had a lot of Christian content that I really enjoyed. Many times the characters relied on God to help them through a seemingly hopeless situation.
At the beginning I was not sure what to make of this book, but it got better and better. I really enjoyed seeing Palmer and Nikki grow as characters. I am disappointed that there is not a sequel.
This book is definitely for anyone who is looking for an action/adventure book and loves a thrilling tale.
At the beginning I was not sure what to make of this book, but it got better and better. I really enjoyed seeing Palmer and Nikki grow as characters. I am disappointed that there is not a sequel.
This book is definitely for anyone who is looking for an action/adventure book and loves a thrilling tale.
June 29, 2020
5 out of 5 stars! I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
I plot line was super good, the characters were realistic, and the writing style was amazing. If you have never read one of Andrew Klavan’s books before, you must do now.
I plot line was super good, the characters were realistic, and the writing style was amazing. If you have never read one of Andrew Klavan’s books before, you must do now.
April 2, 2018
That was an amazing book, the only bad part was that Will didn't get with Meredith.
September 23, 2016
Have you ever been held captive as a hostage in extreme warfare? Probably most likely not. But have you ever been so scared so afraid for your life that something or someone may hurt you. You try to escape the feeling but it just seems so realistic that you wish you could just jump out of your skin and just keep running and never stop and you don’t look back because you’ll see yourself sitting there about to be in so much pain that you can actually feel your bones rumble like thunder. That’s how this book makes you feel. It makes you feel helpless, unhopeful and that you’ll never escape. The title of this book is If We Survive by Andrew Klavan which is a suspenseful book that takes place in a very small town called Costa Verde in Central America which is very outdated and most of it is just a couple of shacks made into houses, a cave with a statue, a restaurant and a school. Two of the most noticeable themes in the book were “Don’t ever give up on yourself or anyone else” and “Live like it’s the last day of your life”.
Four high school students travel to help rebuild a school that had been ruined in a mysterious accident in a small poor secluded mountain village where for their services they earned the trust and gratitude from the locals with their kindness and energy. However in a split second everything changes and turns for the worst and everything goes terribly wrong. A revolution is sweeping the country and now guns and terror and filling the air and Americans are being the first targeted because they overthrew and got involved in the revolution last time which only made them stronger and more powerful for the second time around. Will and his friends have to get out fast but the streets are full of murderers and the hills are full of army soldiers and the jungle full of danger stands between them and the border. Also all of their trust is in a veteran warrior’s hands who has lost his faith and could possibly betray them all as it seems he only cares for himself. All they want and wish for is freedom, safety and home.
The author tells this story through Will’s point of view which I think the author did on purpose so it would be really easy to understand what going on because there were no challenging vocabulary words, not a lot of figurative language or none at all and the writing was colloquial because he didn’t use very much detail and his sentences weren’t packed with detail he was just talking it seemed. This book wasn’t scary at all really which I don’t exactly know if it was supposed to be because if it was they should have used more deep and freighting language to make people jump out of their seats but it was very thrilling and exciting as one could tell because many events occurred where you didn’t know whether someone was going to live or die or whether anyone was going to escape.
The character Meredith I thought stood out a lot because she was so different which I liked. She was very calm in serious and chilling situations where everyone else was freaking out and going crazy. She was also very kind and caring for everyone whether they treat her right or wrongly. However when it comes to relating to a character I would most likely be Nikki in this situation. Nikki was freaking out the most out of everyone and was begging to be let go and not to be killed. She also seemed like she was kind of losing it at points because she was so scared and kept telling herself “this is just a dream this can’t actually be happening”. I probably would have acted the same way except a little more quietly and not have been so dramatic and make everything about myself.
I don’t think anyone could really relate to the situations literally in this book but there are some figurative lessons that someone could quite possibly relate to such as “sometimes you have to make sacrifices for others” which I bet many people have done to a certain degree. One could also relate to being scared or frightened like the Will and Nikki in the book.
My favorite part of the book, well one of my favorite parts of the book is when Meredith goes into a sobbing mother’s house who has just lost her baby and can’t accept it and tries to calm her down and quiet her by giving her some soothing advice and relaxing her by saying it’s alright and then taking the baby and burying with a funeral for the mother. The town and mother treat her with very high respects for her kindness and doings for others. I don’t dislike any part of this book but I kind of find it annoying how Nikki can’t pull herself together in the beginning and everyone else can and she just keeps repeating and repeating over and over again screaming “don’t kill me please” and other sayings and I think it just takes up a lot of time and is wasteful to keep writing that repeatedly.
If I could change one thing I would change the writing style. In books I find it very necessary for detail and impactful sentences with lots of juice and meaning. This book’s words I felt didn’t have any meaning and were just words with a story. There could have been so much detail and potential in what Will says. This author very clearly conveys the two themes I pulled out throughout the book. For “Don’t ever give up on yourself or anyone else” all of the characters helped each other out which tested each other’s trust making no one give up on anybody and every character learnt to have faith in themselves and not to give up because people need them and they also need themselves. In the book Will also says “Good things might happen in your life or bad things might happen, sometimes terrible things, but no matter what happens, your soul is your own. And no one and nothing can stop you.” The other theme “Live like it’s the last day of your life” is important to the characters because they now see how life can be taken away from somebody so easily and quickly like Pastor Ron’s that you just have to live every second to the fullest. Will also says “It's too bad you can't always live as if it were the last moment of your life. Because, you know, it might be-it might really be. And if we could really see it that way, really live like that, I think we'd all feel a lot differently about everything”.
The storytelling worked out well as it was very smooth and flowy and the narrator spoke very well although his language once again could be better. I would definitely recommend this book especially to teenager and younger kids because it’s very intense and has sort of like a movie storyline. I wouldn’t however recommend this book to anyone older because the wording sounds very childish and it’s not like an extreme story line with all these events happening and secrets unfolding. It’s seems it would be somewhat boring to someone who likes to read survival stories and thrillers because I feel there could have been so much more added. Overall however, I do find this a pretty good book for my age group and has a movie like storyline with words that give off imagery which adds interest.
Four high school students travel to help rebuild a school that had been ruined in a mysterious accident in a small poor secluded mountain village where for their services they earned the trust and gratitude from the locals with their kindness and energy. However in a split second everything changes and turns for the worst and everything goes terribly wrong. A revolution is sweeping the country and now guns and terror and filling the air and Americans are being the first targeted because they overthrew and got involved in the revolution last time which only made them stronger and more powerful for the second time around. Will and his friends have to get out fast but the streets are full of murderers and the hills are full of army soldiers and the jungle full of danger stands between them and the border. Also all of their trust is in a veteran warrior’s hands who has lost his faith and could possibly betray them all as it seems he only cares for himself. All they want and wish for is freedom, safety and home.
The author tells this story through Will’s point of view which I think the author did on purpose so it would be really easy to understand what going on because there were no challenging vocabulary words, not a lot of figurative language or none at all and the writing was colloquial because he didn’t use very much detail and his sentences weren’t packed with detail he was just talking it seemed. This book wasn’t scary at all really which I don’t exactly know if it was supposed to be because if it was they should have used more deep and freighting language to make people jump out of their seats but it was very thrilling and exciting as one could tell because many events occurred where you didn’t know whether someone was going to live or die or whether anyone was going to escape.
The character Meredith I thought stood out a lot because she was so different which I liked. She was very calm in serious and chilling situations where everyone else was freaking out and going crazy. She was also very kind and caring for everyone whether they treat her right or wrongly. However when it comes to relating to a character I would most likely be Nikki in this situation. Nikki was freaking out the most out of everyone and was begging to be let go and not to be killed. She also seemed like she was kind of losing it at points because she was so scared and kept telling herself “this is just a dream this can’t actually be happening”. I probably would have acted the same way except a little more quietly and not have been so dramatic and make everything about myself.
I don’t think anyone could really relate to the situations literally in this book but there are some figurative lessons that someone could quite possibly relate to such as “sometimes you have to make sacrifices for others” which I bet many people have done to a certain degree. One could also relate to being scared or frightened like the Will and Nikki in the book.
My favorite part of the book, well one of my favorite parts of the book is when Meredith goes into a sobbing mother’s house who has just lost her baby and can’t accept it and tries to calm her down and quiet her by giving her some soothing advice and relaxing her by saying it’s alright and then taking the baby and burying with a funeral for the mother. The town and mother treat her with very high respects for her kindness and doings for others. I don’t dislike any part of this book but I kind of find it annoying how Nikki can’t pull herself together in the beginning and everyone else can and she just keeps repeating and repeating over and over again screaming “don’t kill me please” and other sayings and I think it just takes up a lot of time and is wasteful to keep writing that repeatedly.
If I could change one thing I would change the writing style. In books I find it very necessary for detail and impactful sentences with lots of juice and meaning. This book’s words I felt didn’t have any meaning and were just words with a story. There could have been so much detail and potential in what Will says. This author very clearly conveys the two themes I pulled out throughout the book. For “Don’t ever give up on yourself or anyone else” all of the characters helped each other out which tested each other’s trust making no one give up on anybody and every character learnt to have faith in themselves and not to give up because people need them and they also need themselves. In the book Will also says “Good things might happen in your life or bad things might happen, sometimes terrible things, but no matter what happens, your soul is your own. And no one and nothing can stop you.” The other theme “Live like it’s the last day of your life” is important to the characters because they now see how life can be taken away from somebody so easily and quickly like Pastor Ron’s that you just have to live every second to the fullest. Will also says “It's too bad you can't always live as if it were the last moment of your life. Because, you know, it might be-it might really be. And if we could really see it that way, really live like that, I think we'd all feel a lot differently about everything”.
The storytelling worked out well as it was very smooth and flowy and the narrator spoke very well although his language once again could be better. I would definitely recommend this book especially to teenager and younger kids because it’s very intense and has sort of like a movie storyline. I wouldn’t however recommend this book to anyone older because the wording sounds very childish and it’s not like an extreme story line with all these events happening and secrets unfolding. It’s seems it would be somewhat boring to someone who likes to read survival stories and thrillers because I feel there could have been so much more added. Overall however, I do find this a pretty good book for my age group and has a movie like storyline with words that give off imagery which adds interest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2022
Andrew Klavan’s If We Survive is an adventure/realistic fiction book. The theme is working together will always help you succeed. I believe this because throughout the book the protagonist and his friends are faced with many challenges but working together helps them survive. Will Peterson and his friends go to South America for extra credit in high school. Their goal is to help a small town rebuild a school that was destroyed. As soon as they are about to leave, a group of terrorists invade their hotel and kill somebody. They narrowly flee and escape into the forest. They survive many days in the forest and have many close encounters. They need to make it to an airport that can fly them back home to safety. They take refuge in many places like a small town, a church, and an ancient jungle temple on the way to the airport, all while the terrorists are after them. They get to the airport and after many close calls, they make it to the airport and to America. Andrew captivated me so many times throughout the book that I could not put it down. One example is every chapter at the very end Klavan would write something that is so suspenseful, no reader would stop reading. Every end of chapter, something would happen that would heavily affect the plot and captivate the reader. Another fascinating thing Andrew would do is every time something was resolved another problem would pop up. This would set the main characters back majorly. Another amazing thing Klavan did was the change of setting. One moment they would be in a deadly jungle, the next in a town being hunted by terrorists. The last engaging thing Andrew did was he described things greatly. When Will kills somebody for the first time, Andrew describes how Will feels and how he feels for the guy he killed. As you can see, Andrew’s writing is key to his great books. If you are someone who likes adventure, survival, or action books you will like If We Survive. Also, if you like Andrew’s other books, you will like the book. This book is for people who like suspense and teamwork. If you like these things, go get the book right now!
April 12, 2021
What I liked:
If We Survive had a great cast of characters, each of which goes through significant change over the course of the book. The plot is exciting. The feel of the book reminded me of some books I enjoyed some years back and had a sweet, nostalgic feel. The genre was right up my alley—YA suspense with themes of man vs. wild and military upheaval. There was some great food for thought within the pages.
What I wasn’t a fan of:
Sometimes the style felt a bit amateur. Other characters said things that seemed like they were meant to be the POV character’s distinct voice. Or there was unnecessary filtering of the sense. For example: “I saw the grass sway” rather than “The grass swayed.”
If We Survive had a great cast of characters, each of which goes through significant change over the course of the book. The plot is exciting. The feel of the book reminded me of some books I enjoyed some years back and had a sweet, nostalgic feel. The genre was right up my alley—YA suspense with themes of man vs. wild and military upheaval. There was some great food for thought within the pages.
What I wasn’t a fan of:
Sometimes the style felt a bit amateur. Other characters said things that seemed like they were meant to be the POV character’s distinct voice. Or there was unnecessary filtering of the sense. For example: “I saw the grass sway” rather than “The grass swayed.”
December 28, 2024
This book was actually really inspiring. It was a little bit intense if younger people are reading, but, I'd recommend this for teens or even young adults. There's no inappropriate stuff in it, nothing gross. There's killing and violence and there may be profanity, but from what I remember, not that much.
July 28, 2018
I loved If We Survive!! It was a really fast paced book, the action started right away an never stopped. It was great! I really liked the characters and all the crazy animals they encountered. It was a super thrilling book and I’d definitely recommend it.
August 20, 2018
This was surprisingly entertaining despite the fact that it was not fantasy. The character of Palmer Dunn kept me engaged wondering what he would come up with next. The alligator / crocodile, caiman episode had me lifting my feet off the floor. I think teens would like this one.
September 29, 2019
Very happy that I read and finished this book! I was also very happy with how the book ended cause I like to see books that are crazy and sad then end out very happy.
April 18, 2020
Adversity reveals true character
I enjoyed this thriller that was a coming of age story with non-stop suspense and action. The transformation of the characters as their innocence and superficial concerns got stripped away drove the fast paced narrative. I'll look for more Klaven books after this enjoyable read.
I enjoyed this thriller that was a coming of age story with non-stop suspense and action. The transformation of the characters as their innocence and superficial concerns got stripped away drove the fast paced narrative. I'll look for more Klaven books after this enjoyable read.
February 18, 2025
This reads like a journal or a debriefing. Very much like a teenager describing the events. However, it was exciting from beginning to end and didn’t take long to read because I was interested in what happened next.
dnf
March 24, 2025Soft dnf. I’m just not vibing with it rn 😭 I hate being a mood reader! Maybe another time I’ll like it better
November 17, 2025
This was an exciting story and quick to read!!
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