As a memoir, this book would be incredible. I know, because I got halfway through this book thinking it was a memoir. It is NOT a memoir, though it does it’s best to make you forget. (In its defense, it does say a “a novel” on the cover, something I somehow missed) If The Barrens had been a memoir, it would be a searing, unbelievable tale of survival. As a novel, it stumbles. The repetition in the context of a memoir would be understandable, but in a novel it’s unforgivable. Long sections of the same thing (put the body under the water, carry a canoe, eat, tell stories) can be wearing on the reader. The main character makes unbelievable choices and has a pretty hard to believe backstory. The bones of a great survival story are here, but not in the way I hoped.
Also girl? Leave that body behind. Ew.