Touching the Clouds-Book Review
From the moment I started reading the new book Touching the Clouds by Bonnie Leon, I was unable to put it down. Each chapter of this book is filled with one adventure after another, as the reader follows Kate on her wedding day, making her escape into the clouds. Kate leaves behind her fiance, calling off the event and restructuring her future. With careful consideration, Kate decides to migrate to Alaska and begin a new life as a pilot.
In Touching the Clouds, author Bonnie Leon shares a cultural experience with her readers. Several characters are introduced into the Alaskan homestead, such as Kate the new arrival, Paul the native from California, and local Alaskan natives. Each character adapts to the challenges of living in Alaska. In the story, we learn how they depend on one another and survive living in the wilderness. We learn that many come to Alaska to hide from their past and begin a new life filled with challenges, just like Kate.
While the book does include a bit of romance, the central theme of the novel is adventure, and Kate has enough of them to fill all 364 pages in this book! As you read the story, you find yourself cheering for Kate and her friends. A bit of a warning though…the book is realistic and includes animal trapping and skinning. I found this made me uncomfortable, yet I knew it was essential to the story. The author balances this with the working dogs in the story, who carry the wood on sleds, guard their owners, and reveal a playful personality. You’ll even meet a raven bird who also becomes a character in the novel!
Overall, I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to my family and friends. The writing is simplistic, and a few times I thought the story could use more descriptive sentences and creative style. It was easy to read in just a day and a half, even with so many pages. As I sat in 100 degree weather reading about the Alaska winter storms, I did pause and wonder if the book would be better suited for a winter story than a summer story. If you’re going to read this, you may want to wait until winter, curl up beside a crackling fire, and imagine yourself inside the pages of the book.
I received an advance copy of this book from Revell Books, the publisher. For more information about Touching the Clouds, please visit www.RevellBooks.com or the author’s website at www.BonnieLeon.com
