Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: survival

  • When We Are Invisible

    When We Are Invisible

    We are well and truly into 2021 and considering the crappy year that was 2020 you would be forgiven if you thought my book review will be about something nice and happy. But alas it is not. Instead we have When We are Invisible, a post apocalypse drama set in our own backyard.

    When We are Invisible is the second book in a series and takes up where the first book, The Sky so Heavy, finished off. The basic premise of the first book is that while we are living our quiet lives in Australia nuclear war has broken out. And with nuclear war comes a nuclear winter with all the joys that come with it.

    Unlike the first book, When We are Invisible takes the view point of a teenager by the name of Lucy. She is introduced to the reader in the first book as a love interest to that book’s main character Fin, but it is in When We are Invisible that we get her perspective regarding the whole armageddon journey. Having survived the anarchy of Sydney going down the pan she, Fin and Fin’s younger brother Max have escaped to the country.

    However the problem with a nuclear apocalypse is that there is no escaping its effects; both enviromental and social. Instead Lucy and her companions are beset with the issues familiar with characters in fictional post apocalypse settings the world over; food, shelter, warmth and who to trust.

    When We are Invisible is a solid though not revolutionary entry into the post apocalypse genre. The book is told in first person perspective which is neither here nor there. Oddly enough, though not strictly similar, I got Tomorrow when the War began vibes. For those who don’t know, it is a series based on a young female teenager who has to survive with her companions out in regional Australia with the only difference being instead of a post apocalypse nuclear war, Australia has been invaded.

    I admit I found it hard to follow the story initially. However this has more to do with the fact that I didn’t read the first book, The Sky so Heavy, rather than any problem with the story itself.

     In conclusion When We are Invisible is a novel for a teenage audience that is fairly interesting to read. It covers a fictional scenario which, considering the luck humanity has been having recently might end up coming to fruition.

  • Forever Skills: The 12 Skills to Futureproof Yourself, Your Team and Your Kids

    Forever Skills: The 12 Skills to Futureproof Yourself, Your Team and Your Kids

    Forever Skills is a book about change, change that is positive, will last and also challenges the accepted norms of change being the only constant in life, and if this is so, being able to develop the skills to future proof in a constantly shifting paradigm.

    As society appears to live in an environment of fear, an environment which breeds nothing good, Flanagan and Gregory have set out to change the balance to one of calm, researching, presenting and coaching ideas that will offer fresh new perspectives, along with techniques to help accept ‘the inevitability of change’ with equanimity.

    They have selected twelve skills which are considered vital to this new world in which business is conducted, one that appears to unpredictable, beginning with the three spheres of change: what’s changing, what’s unchanging and what needs to change!

    Also addressing the fundamentals of fear, new opportunity and rethinking areas, they expound upon the Three Key Areas of Forever Skills, which is what this is all about – forever skills.

    Overall, there is nothing new in the book as far as the structure of the business environment goes, which is now one of a rapidly changing global forum. The new, refreshing information is how, in world that is presenting what appears to be new challenges daily, as business drives ever harder to succeed at all cost, how to adapt, how to come on top and how to develop the skills that will be forever skills, that will last; skills that have been entrenched since humans had to learn to survive in what, centuries ago, even then, was an ever changing world.

    Refreshing, forth right, and inspiring this is a book that will breath a breath of sanity and hope into the workplace of today’s world, as well as offer blocks on which to build a successful future; skills that are transportable, realistic, with the added bonus of also applying to everyday life.

    If you are lost in the maze of career confusion, wondering where the world and everyone in it are heading, Forever Skills can help make sense of the changing world by establishing some hard and fast rules that will become Forever Skills, skills to success in both your business and personal life, skills that have been lurking somewhere inside just waiting to be re-discovered and shown the light of day once again.

  • Lyla: Through My Eyes – Natural Disaster Zones

    Lyla: Through My Eyes – Natural Disaster Zones

    Through my eyes- natural disaster zones, is a wonderful series. It is a way of bringing real life happenings to our understanding, and especially for the younger reader. The story is told by a secondary school student, in her words, and about her life. Many of us remember the huge earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, but Lyla tells us exactly what she saw, felt and did, during those months following the main quake.

    For Lyla and her family, earth tremors were a regular occurrence, and a nuisance that you just tried to ignore. On the day of the major quake, Lyla was in town with some friends, when the earth “Shook itself to bits.” This wasn’t an aftershock, that occurred regularly, the shaking earth knocked the girls to the ground, and the earth kept” Bucking and buckling and heaving.” Fifteen seconds was all it took to bring chaos to the city. The girls’ first thoughts were that it was foggy, but that was the dust, and that many buildings had begun the process of falling down.

    They had always been taught to head for open spaces away from buildings, after a quake, but Lyla saw a heavily pregnant woman with a toddler, and an injured man, and helped them both. The group made their way home, aware of the devastation around them. Their school was destroyed, and so many houses were just a dusty pile of rubble. Lyla’s mother and father both worked in the support industry, and although the network was jammed, she texted them to say I’m OK.

    The pattern of her family’s life would change forever after this day. All the things taken for granted such as running water, electricity, and a safe house were gone. Luckily, although the floor sloped, and all the rooms were strewn with possessions, the house was still sound. So Lyla and her brother began to search for neighbours who were not so lucky. They pulled mattresses onto the floor, and welcomed people inside, who were wandering and dazed. The immediate danger was over, but so many after- shocks were felt the children became expert in gauging the measurement of the shock.

    After a time, things began to settle, but it was many days before basic services could be restored. The striking way this story is told, through the eyes of a teenager, brings to life the despair, the loss of life and familiar surrounds, and the loss of friends, whose families just couldn’t stay in that city. Many people were left with fears, quite a normal reaction. The fear of large buildings, and going up in lifts, were some of the things that scarred the people of Christchurch. The day to day monotony of loss and grief is poignantly shown here, and we view this tragedy with a great deal more understanding.