“How the Penguins Saved Veronica” by Hazel Prior

Title: How the Penguins Saved Veronica
Author: Hazel Prior
Publisher:  Berkley
Year: 2020    
Genre(s):  contemporary, some historical fiction
Part of a Series: No

Rating: 

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: Eighty-six year old Veronica McCreedy wants to do something to save the world. After watching a documentary on penguins, she travels down to observe the scientists studying them. She forms a bond with them and the penguins. But when disaster falls, her recently discovered grandson travels to join them. Will the penguins help them connect or will it be too late?

Review: This book surprised me. I thought it would be a cute and fun read and it turned into something deeper than I expected – but in a good way.

Multiple narrators seem to be a growing trend in books. This one has two – we alternate between Veronica’s POV and Patrick’s. I think I’m getting more used to it but it sometimes felt a bit jarring and almost like a break in momentum. But for the most part, it was smooth so it wasn’t too distracting.

Veronica was a bit hard to root for. And it’s not because of her age. It’s because she’s prickly and believes she is always right. She looks down on almost everyone and you wonder why you want to read about her.

But you get to see her go on a journey toward opening her heart. She starts to reconnect with humanity and realizes that there’s more that she can do to change the world. And while she isn’t a completely different person by the end, she does become someone you want to root for.

I do feel as if her backstory probably could’ve been unveiled slowly over the course of the book rather than essentially info-dumped in the middle. It was well-written but still seems to veer off into a separate historical fiction novel that just got smooshed together with this book.

Patrick is more sympathetic character from the start. While his life is a mess following a breakup, you can tell he’s a good person who just needs to find the motivation to get his life together. It was fun watching his journey throughout the book though I worry his story got hijacked by Veronica’s backstory.

I do think Prior could’ve delved deeper into some relationships but I think we got a good amount. Especially between Veronica and Terry. Their friendship really drove the story more than anything else.

Prior maybe could’ve utilized the setting more, especially the small research base, but her descriptions were amazing. She brought the Antarctic to life.

Bottom line: A good read though it does drag in some parts.

Sex: Some mentions

Moonlight Musing

If you could go anywhere and money would not be an issue, where would you go?