In an attempt to reduce my ever-growing TBR list, I joined my local library and got some audiobooks to listen to. Fierce Kingdom is the first audiobook I have listened to for years and so my opinion of this book is very much shaped by the audiobook experience, so bear that in mind.
Firstly, I would not actually recommend this as an audiobook. The narrator is quite a prolific one it seems but while her normal voice was fine, the voices she gave many of the characters were unbearable. Fierce Kingdom is the story of a mother and her son who get trapped in the zoo when some shooters come. The little boy voice that this narrator does is honestly one of the most irritating things to listen to. Half of my listening experience was just me getting unbelievably frustrated by how stupid and annoying the child was being. I think if I had read this myself, I would still have been as frustrated by the character but the voice certainly didn't help.
Almost all of the tension from this book comes from the child character messing everything up. I know he is a young child and to be fair, maybe he is acting exactly how a real child would. However, I did not enjoy the fact that he refused to be quiet or do anything his mother said. Honestly it made me want the character to die and no book should have me wishing a child would do that.
The narrator also does extremely annoying voices for the two gunmen. I tried reading some of their dialogue in the book and it came across as far more menacing in the written form compared to her inexplicable decision to use whiny teenage voices for everything they said in the audiobook. Again, I know they were meant to be whiny teenagers. But they weren't scary for even one minute due to the fact that every time they opened their mouths, I wanted to punch one of them.
I can't judge the pacing particularly well from the audiobook (it was over 8 hours long and I read at a much faster rate than that myself) but it did seem that not much was going on, particularly early on. The plot itself is pretty gripping though and it definitely gets more interesting later on. I really liked the main character and I cared about her enough that it balanced out my hatred of her son. The other side characters were also really likeable and compelling. The dynamic between Mrs. Powell and Robbie was great, particularly the way that Joan wants Mrs. Powell to suck up to him and then is disgusted when she does. I feel that overall, the author handled a lot of complex emotions and reactions to such a terrifying situation with a great deal of depth and understanding. Nothing the characters did felt particularly unlikely or unrealistic, even if they didn't exactly always act in the best possible way.
As other people have noted, there are quite a few loose ends. If you're the kind of person that needs definite answers, I would probably avoid this book just because it will frustrate you. For everyone else though, I would still say this is worth a read if you like the sound of the premise. Just avoid the audiobook unless you have a high tolerance for annoying children.
Overall Rating:
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