Above all else by Dana Alison Levy : Book review

Title      : Above all else

Author : Dana Alison Levy

Genre   : Teen & Young Adult ; Sports

Pages    : 320

I received this Advance Review Copy by Netgalley and  Charlesbridge Teen in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Charlesbridge Teen!!

Mountains are not fair or unfair. They are just dangerous. 

-REINHOLD MESSNER (Mt. Everest First solo ascent  without  supplemental oxygen)

Blurb

Rose Keller and Tate Russo have been climbing for years, training in harsh weather and traveling all over the world. The goal that kept them going. Summiting Mount Everest, the highest point on earth. Accompanied by Tate’s dad, the two will finally make the ultimate climb at the end of their senior year. But neither Rose nor Tate are fully in the game–not only is there a simmering romance between them, but Rose can’t get her mind off her mother’s illness, while Tate constantly fails to live up to his ambitious father’s standards.

Everyone on their expedition has something to prove, it seems. And not everyone is making the best decisions while short on oxygen and exhausted, body and mind. The farther up the mountain they go, the more their climbing plans unravel and the more isolated each team member becomes. Rose and Tate will have to dig deep within themselves to determine what–or who–they value above all else.

“The challenges here are tremendous, and the risks are sobering. But there is no place I would rather be than in the mountains.”

-Lucien Cartier (Character in the book)

Review

Above All Else is the story of two teenagers Rose and Tate who aims to summit Mount Everest. Summiting Mount Everest is not the simplest of things, even daring to wish for it is a task in itself. This book will make it possible for every reader to summit Mount Everest in their heads with the help of this beautiful piece of work by the author. The readers can vividly see Nepal and the Mount Everest in their mind’s eye pretty distinctly. It also clearly broadcast how it feels to climb the highest mountain in the world. The experience acquired from reading this book will always stays with the readers, just like they had been a part of the summit in reality.

The emotional turmoil encountered by the characters while taking the climb has been described efficiently. Although certain behavior of the lead characters initially seemed to be unreasonable but gradually it started to make more sense as we travel with the characters to higher altitudes. Both Rose’s and Tate’s reasons behind their hesitation to go for their lifetimes ambition was natural and humanlike. The character development of Rose was initially good but towards the end it kind of slumped slightly. Whereas Tate’s character was filled with lot confusing thoughts and decisions but in the end his clarity and development as a person was remarkable and appreciable. The romance parts between Rose and Tate seemed pretty forced, them falling into love din’t bring about any earth shattering changes. The story would have been as affective, even if they had remained friends. All the side characters were super good and helped in the maturation of the plot. Most of them managed to make an imprint on the reader’s heart.

This book also focusses on describing the life of Sherpas in Nepal who helps the climbers in achieve their goal and at the same time it also talks about the economic status of the country and the people. All these were said in the book in a readable and entertaining manner. The plot was sharp and clear and also unexpected. It will definitely takes some time to get into the plot and understand the characters but after that, with each passing page everything only seem get more and more better. Towards the end and all, it was written so beautifully and emotionally. The writing style was easy but in the beginning the perspective swap between Rose and Tate was mildly confusing, author could’ve brought some kind of variation to make the swap easier for the reader.

In the end the book emphasis on the ability to say “NO” to something in which one’s heart is not into. Saying no to things at times seems like a stupidest thing to do but what we all tend to forget is Saying No is actually healthy and  everyone should inculcate this skill.

Apparently the author has nearly taken 7 years to complete this book, she has done a lot of research on climbing the Everest and has even visited Nepal many a times to gain first hand experience about climbing. And of course all her efforts are clearly visible in the book.

“No is my superpower and amazingly, it hasn’t blown anything up.”

-Tate Russo (Character from the book)

My views

A senior of mine has ascent Mount Everest when we were at school. I used wondered, what is so special and difficult about climbing Mount Everest while seeing all their picture at the Everest. This book came as an answer to all the questions I had in my head back then. I know I will never be climbing the Everest ever, I don’t have the stamina or the mindset to accomplish it but this book made me ascent the Everest in my head. After reading this book I almost felt I summited the Everest and that feeling was really satisfactory. It also helped me understand the mindset of the climbers and hurdles faced by them throughout the journey. I really enjoyed reading this book.

I would suggest this book to young adults, teenagers and to people who are into climbing and adventures. And I also suggest it to people like me who are too lazy to climb the Everest but still wanted to experience the climb. You guys will definitely enjoy this book.

My rating for this book is 3 / 5 stars

Click here to Pre-order this book

Release date : 13 October 2020

“It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves.”

-SIR EDMUND HILLARY (First climbers to ascent Mt. Everest along with a Sherpa)

Happy Reading Folks!!!

~Meenu