Blog Tour: The Wild Before by Piers Torday

Author: Piers Torday

Genre: MG

Published by: Quercus

Publication date: 19/08/21

Pages: 240

My rating:  ★★★★★

I received a free review copy from Midas PR and Quercus in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Can one hare alone change the world? The captivating animal adventure destined to be loved by readers of all ages.

A stunning hardback edition from the bestselling, much-loved author, Piers Torday. One stormy, snowy night, a pure silver calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm by the light of the moon.

This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time. According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great Terribleness will come – rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire, the end of all things… and Little Hare vows to persuade all the animals to protect Mooncalf, whatever the cost. But it’s easier said than done, and soon Little Hare realises that he is the only one who can save the world… A stunning prequel to the award-winning, bestselling The Last Wild trilogy, touching on timely themes of climate change, friendship, and above all, hope. ‘Piers Torday is the new master of books for children’ The Times

I have to fess up to not reading The Last Wild trilogy, or realising this book was linked to them when I signed up to the blog tour. I’ve probably missed some nods to the trilogy, The Wild Before being a prequel. I don’t think this hindered my enjoyment, I think I would have loved it even more, though. I’ll definitely be going book shopping to get the trilogy asap!

Animals? Check. Amazing story? Check. Unforgettable? Check. What’s not to love? The Wild Before follows Little Hare, chosen to save the Wild from the Terribleness that will follow if he doesn’t save Mooncalf by the Cow Moon. I couldn’t stop reading once I had started, every aspect fascinated me, from the animals relationship with each other to their perspective and way of processing climate change. There is a guide in the book to explain terms used throughout, no need to worry about words or names I’ve used that don’t make sense yet. It’s definitely a timely and relevant story given the current global pandemic and climate change. This is the perfect book for children to read for those reasons, it conveys the urgency of acting and doing your bit to help in a far less terrifying way. There’s also the added bonus of animals, I love how Torday approached these topics.

I’m not sure what else to say without spoiling everything, other than to say this book is phenomenal and everyone should read it.

The Wild Before is brilliant from start to finish, I cannot recommend it enough! I can’t wait to work my way through Torday’s previous works.

Buy from: Waterstones Hive