Title of the Book: Wild
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Number of Pages: 315
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Review:

At 26 Cheryl Strayed decided she was going to backpack more than a thousand miles from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon—on her own. One step at a time she would heal her past and bridge a new path for her future. Cheryl would face wild animals, harsh terrain, facing rain, snow, and extreme heat. Wild gives an up close and personal view into the strength of a single woman.

Strayed was slowly falling beneath the cracks, after her mother's death she watched her marriage fall apart and her family separate from heartache. Cheryl thought she had lost it all until the day she stumbled upon a hiking guidebook of the Pacific Crest Trail. She believed her fate could turn around. Strayed not only captures the extreme battles she's faced with on the trail but she exposes the battle she was fighting within.

Wild gives a unique outlook on finding yourself through defeat, and triumph. It’s not every day that a woman sets out on a solo backpacking trip without previous knowledge of what it takes to be an avid backpacker. Cheryl needed a drastic change in her life, and she knew it would take extreme measures. Cheryl journaled about her trip; the people she met, the animals she came faced with, the ups and downs, and her realization that she was healing. Strayed became Queen of the PCT. Wild has no dull moments and is filled with adventure, the kindness of others, and emerging yourself into the wild. Her humor and vivid images of the PCT compelled me to keep reading. Seeing the PCT through her eyes gives me a strong belief that the unimaginable is possible.

The fearless and somewhat reckless decision of hiking alone through the backcountry intrigues not only women but all walks of life who have been faced with trauma or a life-altering event. This book is for anyone looking for something different in life, it is not only uplifting and powerful but it is a clear realization of how disconnected we are from the wild. Strayed is beautiful, strong, brave, and a master at showing us what life has to offer and “how wild it was to let it be.” (Strayed, 311)