Review: state of wonder

Title: State of Wonder
Author: Ann Patchett
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Reviewer: Annie

Summary: (From Amazon) Research scientist Dr. Marina Singh is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have disappeared in the Amazon while working on an extremely valuable new drug. The last person who was sent to find her died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding answers to the questions about her friend's death, her company's future, and her own past.
Once found, Dr. Swenson is as imperious and uncompromising as ever. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina.
State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss. It is a tale that leads the reader into the very heart of darkness, and then shows us what lies on the other side.

Review: This book follows a research scientist as she travels to South America to find another researcher who has lost touch with the company they both work for and find out about the mysterious death of another of their co-workers. I now know why Ann Patchett is such a popular author, her writing was fantastic. This a bit of an odd story with some really weird twists and turns, but I was thoroughly interested the whole time. Some of this credit should be to the narrator since I listened to it on audio, but I think it is also very well written. I had no clue how to feel about the main character Marina, she just seemed to always try too hard to be everything everyone wanted her to be. Yes, she was driven but really had no direction. I’m not sure I could pin point any of the characters that I actually liked expect maybe the little boy, but somehow I was very involved with the story the whole time. I highly recommend this book, especially the audio version!

~ Annie