Have you ever read a book where you sorta know you shouldn't rate it five stars because it is misleading to others, yet you LOVED every minute of reading it? No? Well that's what happened to me with this book.

Let me share the flaws first so you are forewarned.

1. This book is like a COPY of Wild by Cheryl Strayed. If you liked Wild, you will like this one. If you hated, Wild, back away slowly. Basically the plot is "girl hikes Pacific Coast Trail and finds her inner strength". Sound familiar.

2. I hated the author pretty much the entire time I read the book. Ok, hate may be a strong word, but I think she has a narcissistic personality disorder. Or something. Her judgement is sorely lacking. Even for a 19 year old.

Ok, so you are forewarned.

But on the flip side, the girl can write a story.

I was pretty much riveted the entire time. Her descriptions of the outdoors were beautiful and vivid. But they didn't overwhelm the book. I just thought her writing was very engaging and accessible. I could have read the book in one sitting, no problem.

And okay, I love a good tale of outdoor adventure. I just do.

EDIT: Ok, I really couldn't let this book stand with a five star rating. After a few days passed, I just realized that even though I loved reading it, the book is truly not original, and the writing, while completely engaging, isn't really enough to merit the rating either. But it is a very entertaining read, so if historically I gave out stars for the entertainment factor alone, it might have earned the fifth one.
( )

Interesting, but it got a little tiresome reading about her back and forth between wanting a man to walk with and wanting to walk alone. Girl could not make up her mind. I don't blame her but it got exhausting to read. ( )

I tried very desperately to like this one. I like women who set out on the trails but Aspen came across as a very spoiled rich girl who had no sense of self or her privilege. That doesn't change at all throughout the book. ( )

I thought that the premise was interesting, but the execution felt slightly sloppy to me. Rather than a polished memoir, I felt like I was reading a copy-and-pasted diary. I don't want to demean her experience in any way, but this book seemed to be all over the place. At times it felt like a travelogue, at times it felt like a psychological portrait of her recovery, but she never really found a theme and stuckw ith it. ( )

Aspen Matis's newly released memoir, Girl in the Woods, had me captivated from first page to last.

From the book's cover: "On my second night of college, I was raped. Shattered and alone, I fled to the Mexican border and headed north through 2,650 miles of desert and mountains to Canada, walking the height of America in search of home. This is the story of how my recklessness became my salvation."

More and more, we hear and read stories of walking as a form of therapy and healing. And I agree - walking clears the brain and allows time to think. The physicality of walking such a distance through so many climates is truly overwhelming and simply remarkable.

Matis led a sheltered childhood, allowing her mother to make many of her decisions, including dressing her (up until she was sixteen) Yet, on the other hand, she had attempted other solo extended hikes by lying to her parents about where she was. She purposely found a college a great distance from her childhood home to try and find her own footing. But she is unprepared in many ways, both mentally and emotionally for what life away from home will bring. And as the introduction says - the second day there....

I found the first few chapters of Girl in the Woods so compelling and couldn't put the book down. I couldn't wait to see where this walk wold take Aspen - both figuratively and literally. Real life is so unpredictable. Does Matis make choices that everyone would agree with? Absolutely not. Some of those choices put her life in danger - more than once. But, the courage to attempt such a journey has to be applauded. That journey is not just physical - Girl in the Woods is a 'coming of age' story for Matis as she struggles to shed her passivity and find her own footing in the adult world. A large part of that is dealing with the rape and her own sexuality.

The descriptions of the trail, the people and the scenery were detailed and vivid and had me imagining what it would be to do such a walk. But this couch potato will continue to live vicariously through others who share their stories. Inevitable comparisons will be made to Cheryl Strayed's Wild. The two women's walks were at different points in their lives and their journeys reflect that.

I am fascinated with memoirs - the baring of someone's personal life for public consumption - and criticism. I can't criticize someone's choices and life - I can only say thank you for sharing. Does Matis find her happy ending? Yes - "the trail has shown me how to change" - and no - but that's another story. Isn't that life though? Moving ahead one step at a time, never quite knowing what's around the next bend. Girl in the Woods was a really good read for me. ( )