Life of Pi by: Yann Martel

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Adventure 
Published: August 29, 2006 by: Seal Books
Pages: 356
Rating: 5/5 stars

Life of Pi is a story about hope, faith, and love. It follows Pi Patel, a young Indian boy whose family runs a zoo. The family and their animals load onto a ship in search of a better life in Canada. However, a tragic accident occurs and suddenly Pi finds himself stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with no one besides a hyena, a chimpanzee, a zebra and an adult Bengal tiger. Pi must rely on his faith and optimism to survive; if he can tame the animals.

This book was beautiful, full of intricate writing and an amazing lesson. I had to read this for my English class, and everyone warned me that it was such a bad book. I went in expecting the worst, but what I got was a thrilling tale that made me think.

I loved the writing in this book. It was so clever and emotionally-driven, and every line was captivating. It is quite a sad book, but Pi provides enough comic relief to make me fall in love with this heartwarming character. He was so positive about life, and he didn’t let anything stand in his way.

I liked how this book had a lot of psychology in it. It taught me a lot, but it wasn’t so heavy. I didn’t find that this book was hard to understand, I actually thought it would be perfect for teenagers because the lessons in the book would be able to stay with us for our entire life.

Religion plays a big role in this book, but I think it would be an amazing book for anyone, no matter what your beliefs are. It accepted diversity, with the main character being committed to three religions. It was such a unique book.

Overall, I fell in love with this book. It taught me so much, the ending was so brilliant and it gives you a glimpse of what it’s like when you lose everything, but build it back up.

Have you read Life of Pi? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess