Beast by Richard Van Camp

Sometimes, there’s someone in your life that you despise with a passion, who makes fun of you and bullies you for fun, who you want to punch directly in the face, but you also know they will get you in trouble with your parents. Well, in Beast by Richard Van Camp, these thoughts are scaled up by magnitudes when Lawson Sauren, a 17 year-old boy, finds himself in the midst of an invasion of monstrous beasts into the mortal realm, where not only he is in danger but where the whole world is at stake.

It’s 1989 and Lawson is living in Fort Simmer where he finds himself in a pickle trying to respect an ancestral treaty between the Dogrib and Chipewyan peoples that goes back centuries, whilst also trying to defend himself against a bully named Silver Crane. But this is no ordinary bully, because Silver is being controlled by a mysterious being who lives in the Spirit Realm, who manipulates people and takes medicine as a form of life power. When Silver threatens Lawson’s life, he must break the treaty to save himself. A trip to the shadowed world of the malevolent spirit that haunts Silver will see Lawson recruiting friends who are willing to help him take down this formidable foe before it grows too powerful. Accompanied by his beloved and newly-found friends, Lawson must find a way to stop this being from achieving its goal of entering the mortal realm and wreaking havoc. Beast is a thrilling, supernatural, and fun yet mysterious novel that will leave you mesmerised by its immense creativity.

The Spirit Realm housing the Dead One, the conflicts between the Crane family and the nations trying to protect the treaty, and the heart breaking backstories show Van Camp’s impressive world building skills; his ability to tie ideas together and make different conflicts and moments feel more realistic. When the Spirit realm is introduced there is an uncomfortable feeling to it, which makes the beasts all the more antagonising. Another key point that makes this story feel more emotional is Lawson’s mother has a strong place in the story as a kind hearted person who always cared for others, and these attributes make her death to save Stanley all the more sad.

Beast is a thrilling, supernatural, and fun yet mysterious novel that will leave you mesmerised by its immense creativity.

Another part that was executed in a very nice manner was the introduction of Sonny as this drunk old uncle who had nothing to do in his life, but as the story progresses, we find out more about his past, and how devastating his life had been. This gives us much more empathy for what he’s going through, and it builds up very important knowledge for the final fight. Overall, this story was portrayed in a very heartfelt yet vibrant manner, with different moments making me feel a rollercoaster of emotions. But even though this book was amazing overall, there are still some problems that I encountered.

While Van Camp’s story is very well written with lots of strong characters and settings, my one problem is with his pacing relating to a very lengthy build-up of events but with a rather short climax which leaves the reader wanting more. Another problem that I had was the visualising, since it didn’t give a lot of detailed descriptions of the Spirit Realm, and sort of left you guessing what it actually looks like.

The connections between the Spirit realm and the Human world is so engrossing and creative. Amazing storytelling from a First Nations perspective of the Dogrib and the Chipewyan peoples, with the Crane family in the middle of a treaty that makes for such a creative and fascinating plot.

Overall, Richard Van Camp’s Beast was an adventure-filled read that I would recommend to readers aged 11-15, because it has a lot of plot points that could be confusing for younger ages, and some disgusting and slightly gory moments that are best suited to older readers.

This is an overall great read, and a solid 9/10 stars!

Richard Van Camp is an internationally renowned storyteller and best selling author. Born in Fort Smith, NWT, he is the proud author of 27 books honouring the Northwest Territories of Canada. You can visit him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud and at www.richardvancamp.com. Mahsi cho!

Publisher: Douglas And McIntyre (October 12, 2024)
Shipping dimensions: 8″ x 6″ | 312 pp
ISBN: 9781771624145

Aiden Lee

Aiden Lee is from Vancouver, BC. He’s in grade 8 and enjoys playing volleyball and playing badminton with his family. Aiden is always up for a challenge and he loves reviewing many different genres of books; some of his favourite genres include mystery, sci-fi and adventure. He enjoys going on adventures with the characters; he hopes he can help other children find books they can enjoy as much as he does.