Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Beast in the Clouds:
You’ll be begging for the heroes to fail.
Quick synopsis:
The story of the Roosevelt Brothers’ search for the elusive panda.
Fact for Non-History People:
Pandas weren’t known to the western world until 1869 and even then there were doubts until the Roosevelt brothers went looking.
Fact for History Nerds:
Dolphins can be found in freshwater rivers not just the ocean.
My Take on The Beast in the Clouds:
I have never wanted the main characters of a book to fail as much as I did with The Beast in the Clouds by Nathalia Holt. You see, this book follows the journey of Teddy Roosevelt’s sons as they hunt the elusive…(checks notes)…panda?! Yes, the friendly, sweet, and docile panda bear. Literally the nicest type of bear (yes, even according to science and not just my personal feelings). Did you know that there is no documented evidence of a panda killing a human? However, based on how we have treated pandas, maybe they should be more like polar bears who just love killing humans. I digress!
Holt tells a very lean story unlike the subject of the book (panda zinger for you). I love adventure books, but for some readers, they find the beginning of these books to be a bit tedious with their stories of how the expeditions come together and the minutiae of the planning. I love that stuff, but I get it. Holt wastes no time. The book opens with the players already on the trail and it never slows down. I hesitate to reveal too much. This book can be more in the vein of Heart of Darkness than a traditional story of an arduous scientific expedition. I very much enjoyed not knowing where Holt was going with the characters and I’ll leave it at that.
This is one of those narratives that will stick with you once it’s over. It is succinct for a history book, but it is not short on impact at all. A must read.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Atria Books.)
Verdict:
Absolutely riveting. Buy it here!
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