Brilliant White Peaks

By: Teng Rong

Narrated by: Jack Ridley

Winner of the 2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award - Children's/Young Adult Audiobook

A beautiful story of life, love, and loss in the animal kingdom.

Brilliant White Peaks follows a young wolf and his companions as they battle harsh weather conditions, scarcity of food, and other predators to survive in the wild.

Raised by a loving Ma and Pa, a wolf pup grows up with his shy sister White-Ears to be a ferocious hunter. However, while foraging for food in the winter, the family is attacked by a pack of hostile wolves, leading the young wolf and his sister astray from their parents.

Desperate to find his parents again, the young wolf slowly nurses White-Ears through her injuries and sets off for the ocean, where Ma and Pa promised they would be waiting.

©2021 Teng Rong (P)2022 Teng Rong

Baskerville Book Reviews

I’m not entirely sure what to say about this one. I’m kind of out of my element. While the summary covers the first half of the story, give or take, it leaves out one thing. The personification. The wolves are all very human. They use human language, referring to animals by the names we give them, referring to themselves as wolves, etc. They talk like humans do.

It has love and loss, action, adventure. It has the capacity to make you laugh or smile, cry and upset you. To me, for the most part, it was a very relaxing story to listen to.

The narration was alright. There were a few instances of repeated dialogue. Chapter 5 was noticeably louder than the one before it. On top of that, the narrator kept saying “acrosst”. There’s not a t in across. Where the hell do you get a t out of that word, especially when reading git off a page!? I can’t stand narrators who add made-up words to narrations.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

A beautiful book exploring the world of wolves

I find myself amazed that there are no reviews yet for this wonderful wolf-centered book. The author Teng Rong has a unique, almost lyrical style of writing, painting a beautiful picture of the wild and free world that wolves live in. I adored the fact that this book is completely free of the influences and challenges of humans, focused solely on the main character wolf as we follow him through life’s challenges.

Brilliant White Peaks does a wonderful job of capturing the innate spirit of a wolf. I most appreciated the fact that it didn’t feel like we were reading about anthropomorphized animals, but were instead given a glimpse into what a wolf might genuinely think and feel. There are some graphic moments and descriptors, reflective of the harsh life these beautiful carnivores live.

The narrator Jack Ridley was excellent throughout the book, conveying strong as well as soft moments with equal skill and spot-on pacing.

Thank you to the author for a complementary listener copy of this audiobook. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am excited to see what else you create!

A Wolfs Eye View

Brilliant White Peaks captures a point of view which is less anthrocentric, given a perspective that we don't often consider. Following the life of a young wolf and his family (pack), the author captures a different perspective well, which is both alien, but relatable. The laws which govern the wilds and life as an animal (anthropomorphized for our understanding) are captured and presented to us well. The story is immersive to that wolf point of view, the simple joys and struggles, love for family and frustration as well.

Parts of the book left me wanting more, threads which could have been explored (ie: Scruffpaw and the protagonists sister's stories) but the intent and core thread remains true. He lives with the choices, and mistakes he makes, not wallowing in pity or pain, but rather learning and growing, while the reader continues to be emotionally moved while understanding settles in as progress is the only choice afforded to him.

While I did not agree with all choices and decisions made, the story progresses well and I felt truly captures a point of view that we often forget, we share this earth with all life, and BWP does well to tell a story of that life we may otherwise dismiss.

Wholesome, beautiful story

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. A very enjoyable listen, one which conjures brilliant imageries of mountains, forests and the sea, the wild animals, the smells in the air and the feeling of the ground. Written in a unique point of view, and follows the life of a young wolf as it grows, this story brought me through the passage of time effortlessly, the realization and understanding of life as it dawns on the characters is subtle, touching and sweet. I also really like how Teng Rong constantly reminds me that I am experiencing this story not as a human, it makes the experience fun and fresh. Narration by Jack Ridley is absolutely wonderful, he has a very mellow and beautiful way of narrating, and it suits the story very well. He also expresses the emotions of the characters very well.