Plot - 14/20
Characters - 15/20
Creativity - 15/20
Writing - 16/20
Pace - 8/10
Ending - 8/10
76/100 = C+
3.5/5 stars

I enjoyed this book but it wasn't anything special in my opinion. I read this because one of my school friends said it was his favorite.. ever so I had to give it a go! Wasn't bad but didn't blow my mind or anything. I was completely content in putting and down to do other things, wasn't gripped at all... wait on second thought Brian ends up dropping the Hatchet in the water. That sense was intense and gripping besides that I found myself just along for the ride.

What I'd read this book for: if you're looking for a short and easy read. a vaca, no hard thinking or new world's, etc.

In all, it's good book and I can see how it became a classic for middle grade students.

I love this book! This is the 4th time reading it and I still love it. It starts off pretty quick and my favorite aspect of it is that events go by fast enough to not get boring, but not too fast. You see the character progress into an almost different person. I would say if you like survival this is a need to read.

Hatchet has a very narrow target audience, and I was definitely not an included member of it. While I can see the value of the overall survival story that Gary Paulsen has concocted, I was thoroughly bored and annoyed over constant repetitions within the same page and the same chapter.

Perhaps middle-grade readers are less likely to find this negative. I wish it could have just been straightforward story without constant repetitions.

As it sits, I couldn't rate it as more than "just ok". Goodreads sets that rating for a 2 star.

They let you board the plane with an AXE!?!

I originally read Hatchet sometime in elementary school, and I loved it. I couldn’t remember much about it though, so I went into in this time not sure what to expect. I did like it, but the writing kind of bugged me. It has the sort of simplistic writing that I don’t much enjoy as an adult, but the story itself is pretty good.

RIP, Gary Paulson, October 16, 2021

I have read Hatchet a few times and listened to it with the fam a couple times in the car, and taught it and each time it reads better and better. Just listened to Peter Coyote read it while riding back from Yellowstone, and loved it. Great story, well told, well read.

An adventure story in part based on tough guy (with a big heart) Paulson's own survival of a plane crash and other near death experiences. When I think of that kid there finding ways to survive at a lake in Nowhere, Canada, miles from civilization, I see it precisely, I have been there, in the way of the best books. And some genuine heart-pumping moments.

Paulsen's great achievement. How is it it rates only 3.61 from GR readers?! Read it, or read it again, in honor of this great book, probably written for middle grades, but really all-ages in the way of classics.
Great book!!

link to blog

A book i have heard about my whole life but never actually picked up… Hatchet has been sitting on my TBR pile for over 8 years and finally, i decided to pick it up. Being as it is a middle-grade novel and not as mature as i am used to, i am going to review it that way and not compare it with other YA or Adult novels. I have to say i was surprised by how much i enjoyed it even though it definitely held some major flaws.

The writing style is one of those flaws; i did not like it. I’m sorry, but when you repeat lines over again and again for no apparent reason… it gets old, fast! Let me make an example for you. “My name is Larissa, Larissa Bullen. I’m a 21-year-old woman with blonde hair, Blonde hair that’s as golden as the sun, that’s the colour of my hair, blonde.” Can you see how aggravating that can become when reading? I really am not sure of the point of it but i definitely hated it. It made it hard to get through.

I did really enjoy our sole character Brian. He was a very adept 13-year-old boy going through some real struggles in his life not only caused from his plane crash. The development of his character is immense which would make sense considering he went from a spoiled city boy to living in the wild with nothing and no one to help. I like that we get to see his growth and how he learns from his mistakes and success to continue to live in the harsh environment. He is definitely a survivor and someone you can connect with.

The story itself is pretty straightforward, i mean there is not much you can do with a survival story when you stay in one place the whole time, but it’s a short book and it progressed well. I definitely enjoyed it but because of the writing style, i don’t think i would read another book by this author again. Repetition is a killer for the story!!

I have to be honest. At first I was having a serious 'really?' moment as I started listening. The 'really?' was because this is a three-time Newberry Award winner, and I thought the prose was way too repetitive. The same word would be repeated three times. The same sentences twice. I was steeling myself to keep listening and hope it got better. It did. By the end of this novel, I totally realized why it is a Newberry Award winner.

Hatchet is a story of survival. The protagonist is a thirteen-year-old city boy who ends up stranded in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot of the small plane he's flying in has a heart attack and dies. I have to tell you, I am very impressed with this kid. I think I would have freaked like nobody's business. He does freak out at first (and I don't blame him), but ultimately shows a fortitude that inspires awe in this reader. He goes from a scared, helpless boy to a survivor. The Brian that was has to be broken down and reassembled into a Brian that can survive his new reality. He learns how to meet his needs in the harsh wilderness, and he comes out of it forever changed.

I love reading books/watching tv shows and movies about surviving. I don't know why, really. I don't even go camping or hiking, although I love the outdoors. I think it's because I love the idea of a person being resourceful and pitting their skills and mentality against the unprejudiced, often unsympathetic wild. Not conquering it, but learning to live in harmony, becoming a part of a vast ecosystem in a way that we can't do stuck in our comfortable city and surburban environs, another entity in the web of life. I would definitely recommend this book if you are of a similar mind.

I liked that Brian doesn't get it too easy. Not at all. He has to learn from his mistakes, and take the advantages that providence sends his way. He learns to keep food in his belly, to make a secure shelter, and to appreciate and anticipate the dangers of his environment. And in the process, he finds peace. He looks inside and finds his true self. That's what solitude and a oneness with nature will bring. I have always felt my most at peace in two places: in a spirit-filled church or by myself and with my heart open in prayer; and outside, surrounded by nature. So I really appreciated this aspect of the book. Brian starts out a boy who is emotionally lost at sea when his father and mother divorce, weighted down with the knowledge of his mother's infidelity; and finds that what seemed like tragedy and the end of his world will not conquer him. If he can survive the harsh elements of nature, all by himself, he can live with his family's fragmentation, and live to see the next day and the days after that.

I think this book is a metaphor for life. Life is harsh and we have to grow and change to survive it. We can't give up, descend into pity, and expect to be saved. We have to be strong and fight to save ourselves, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally.


Although this book had a very shaky start, I do have to agree that this is a winner. And I tell you what, this young man had a lot of lessons to teach me, lessons he learns the hard way. That's the power of a good fiction novel for me.

I never read this book in elementary school, and I really can’t tell you why. I think I was already experiencing the desire to not like what everyone else loved. While now I understand how stupid that idea is, I feel like that could be what stopped me from reading this sooner.

However, after seeing the gorgeous 30th anniversary edition of this book at the bookstore, I just had to pick it up. From the first page alone, I immediately became engrossed in the determination of Brian.

I could feel every thought he had and I could experience every effect that nature had on him. I was hit by every blow of anger and frustration at each setback. I was hollowed out by the disappointment he felt from each passing day. But most importantly, I learned the importance of resilience and the stupidity of feelings when it comes to survival.

Paulsen’s writing style is very repetitive, and I understand why some people don’t like it, but it just so happened to click for me. My mind followed the exact same train of thought as Brian, and Paulsen’s writing made me feel like I was stranded in the woods as well.

I’ve found a new overly-specific genre that I enjoy: survival in solitude. I don’t like survival stories that involve fighting and miscommunication; I enjoy survival stories in which one must learn one’s own limits. A person can accomplish much more than they can ever anticipate.

So, thank you, Hatchet, for teaching me that I am capable of so much more than I thought. If Brian can do it by simply taking a step back, then so could I. And, most importantly, so could you.

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson was trapped in a small plane when the pilot had a sudden heart attack and died. Brian brought the aircraft to a forced landing and survived. The first thing Brain did after he crashed was he panicked, he felt lost, and he missed his family. The author described other emotions Brian felt when he was alone in the forest like hopelessness, desperation, and hunger. Every time the author expressed a feeling, it would always paint a realistic picture in my head, sometimes sending chills down my spine.
I wondered “If I was in that situation, what would I do?” Although I think I would lose hope in these situations, I will get myself together and try my best to keep my self from negative emotions and hunger. It's in human nature to have a strong desire to survive. Reading this book reminded me of the movie "The life of Pi." Surviving on a boat with a tiger for 227 days?! I would rather drown myself. What made Pi survive was faith. When you have faith, you have hope. When you have hope, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's what motivates you to overcome difficulties and achieve your dream. Faith is what made me get up 6 o'clock in the morning to attend swimming lessons. I am still young, there will be a lot of difficulties I will be facing in my life, but I think as long as I have faith in myself, I believe I can overcome a lot of challenges and achieve my dreams.

(fwiw this is a book I read my kids aged 6-10)

I'd give this book 3.5 stars if I could. Basically the stuff which makes it a classic and is indeed very good is the adventure/survival stuff (he is the sole survivor of a plane crash deep in the woods and has nothing but a hatchet). Both the details of what he is doing to survive, and the psychological changes he goes through in his attempt to survive are believable, interesting, and illuminating.

There is a second thread in the book which is him processing his parents' divorce and in particular "the secret" which is that even before the divorce he saw his mother kissing some other guy. I wanted to retch every time this stuff came up. I found it much less believable and also generally an intrusion into the main story. I tried to think of some deep connection between the divorce / "the secret" and his survival which enabled readers to make connections and learn things about one or the other that they otherwise would not have been able to, but I really couldn't.

Survival part gets 4.5 stars; his relationship with his parents gets 1.5 stars (my overall is 3.5 because the survival stuff is dominant).

Brian is excited to have a chance to visit his dad who is living in a remote area of northern Canada. Before leaving, his mom gives him a hatchet as a gift. Things go terribly wrong when the plane Brian is traveling in crashes in the wilderness. The pilot does not survive, and Brian is left alone with only his hatchet. This exciting story of survival will appeal to middle schoolers.