If We Survive 2 Tpc Paperback – July 9, 2013

If We Survive by Andrew Klavan is a fast-paced, action-filled, rollercoaster of events put into a 339-page package. Join Will Peterson and his three friends as they journey to Central America to help rebuild a school. Everything seems to be going well, as the rebuilding progresses, and they form friends with the local people around them. However, something happens that changes their lives forever: a revolution breaks out. Suddenly, Will and his friends are being targeted by revolutionaries with guns, and they must manage to survive in this extremely dangerous world. Traversing through a dangerous jungle, they must hide and escape from revolutionaries hunting them down with guns, all while trying to escape. However, they have one ray of hope: a veteran warrior who has lost all of his beliefs and may betray them at any second. Their only hope is to reach the U.S. safe and sound. Personally, my favorite part of the book was when Will and Nicki were trapped in a raging river, sandwiched between a waterfall to their back and a hungry alligator to their front. As both of them tried to survive this seemingly impossible situation, it shows how much danger all of them were constantly. They had to escape this deadly situation with only their minds, their wills, and an empty machine gun. Will managed to devise a plan to survive, which showed how much he had grown through all of the horrifying experiences he had experienced. When his plan worked, it demonstrated the unbreakable bond you had formed with the characters, something only a great novel can achieve. If We Survive is the definition of survival. Will and his friends are thrown, completely unprepared, into a deadly situation, and they must somehow find a way to escape alive. Through their many unforgettable experiences, they learn skills and ways to live, even in adverse circumstances. They are constantly hunted by revolutionaries with better guns, more people, and more skill than them, yet, they manage to come up with plans to help keep them alive in the gaping jaws of death. Klavan’s style of writing is very interesting. He takes an impersonal approach, choosing to narrate the story from the view of one of the victims trapped by the revolutionaries, high schooler Will Peterson. By taking this view, Klavan is able to form effective bonds between Will and his friends, and is able to develop Will’s character to its fullest extent. As the story progresses, Will changes dramatically, going from an initially timid, shy high schooler, to a brave warrior ready for anything by the end of the story. While other authors take similar approaches, Klavan does it like no other, emphasizing other characters’ personalities through the lens of a seemingly normal teenager thrown into a life-or-death situation. If you like adventure and action-filled novels, like The Hunger Games or The Thinning, you will love this book. Also, this story has romantic elements, but not to the extent where it is the main aspect of the story. As Will develops feelings for one of his friends, but finds out that she likes someone else in their group, he must decide how to handle his feelings in spite of the deadly situations he and his friends always find themselves in. I recommend If We Survive to anyone who likes realistic novels about teenagers finding themselves in situations that change their lives completely, for good or for worse. If you like seeing characters like everyday, ordinary people being thrown into adverse circumstances, you will definitely find this book very interesting. In conclusion, If We Survive by Andrew Klavan is a novel everybody should pick up because of its fast-paced action, excellent character development, and valuable life lessons. After all, haven’t you ever wanted to be chased by thousands of angry revolutionaries with machine guns through a deadly jungle, all to find an airplane that may not even exist in the first place? I thought so.

This novel is great to read with teens or even kids. I read it with my 12-year-old and 8-year-old.The teenaged protagonist is thrown into a situation where there are no good choices. There is no room for idealism. You either shoot the bad guy or he kills you and your friends. Nor is there a "good choice" between the oppressive government of the fictional country of Costa Verdes, and the supposedly righteous communist rebels. Both groups are equally bloodthirsty. These "no good choices" situations keep coming up again and again in the book (basically once every chapter), and they help readers think through their personal philosophy of how to be a good person in such circumstances. The narrator, Will, is a relatable ordinary teenage kid from a small town, and the moral dilemmas in the book are expressed in his simple but insightful language.Because this is a book by Andrew Klavan, every single chapter ends on a cliffhanger and all hope is lost several times. The number of obstacles the kids have to get through to escape the country, and the way the challenges just keep coming, is reminiscent of an Indianan Jones extended action sequence. Also there are cool ancient temples, catacombs, and a pre-Christian ceremony. All my favorite stuff. Highly recommended.

If We Survive is an absolute fantastic lesson in propulsion. There are times when the story stops to let you catch a breath and then starts up again before you even have a moment to completely fill your lungs. And better than the mere speed and velocity with which the adventure unfolds, the seemingly one dimensional characters you meet in a little South American cantina develop and grow in a wonderfully natural progression...even more so than in the Homelanders series, which I also loved. Very few moments occur that have parents of teenage children cringing at the use of supposed "hipster" language and instead you are left to cringe at nothing but the thought of your children in the very same situation five missionaries find themselves. While none of the attempts at teenage-esque language Klavan used in Homelanders made the books any less effective, the absence of a large number of those attempts makes a story like this immensely more enjoyable. Balancing out the teenagers, which are very difficult to write unless you are a cynic attributing them with adult traits most children don't hold, Klavan wisely provides an adult foil to their immature ways. While this story is an all-encompassing tale with no real loose ends, Palmer Dunn is an immensely interesting character that you would hope to see team up with characters like Mitch Rapp in some future mission. That is, if he survives... Even if he doesn't make it through this novel, you can see the potential of a mashup novel where Klavan's characters inhabit the world of some other well known globe trotting patriots out to protect the American people.A terrific novel and a wonderful read with great meaning, layers of subtext and overt points that are hit without a hint of obnoxiousness. Well worth the time for any reader, YA or simply just A.

Arrived on time, and in good shape. I bought this for my son, and he says he is enjoying it. I haven't read it yet myself. After I read it, I may amend my review.

I absolutely love this book its brand new and came before expected delivery I definitely would recommend this book to others

Fun book.. thats it..