Funny premise, and I enjoyed the artwork. But this is a horrible format for e-book. None of the illustrations fit on my iPad screen which caused them to take up two screens. I also thought the text was not super interesting, and I would have preferred to read more about the bad reviews other than a short few paragraphs containing minimal (and very apologetic) snark about the national parks. ( )

I enjoyed the short descriptions of all the parks. The authors drawings of an iconic place at each park along with a one-star review were great! ( )

I'd never heard of the website and got this book as a gift. I think the concept is great....looking at one-star reviews of what are generally thought to be spectacular parks. But I think I would have preferred the website as the concept didn't hold my interest enough for an entire book. I'm not really interested in a sales pitch for America's parks. And while I appreciate the talent of the illustrations, I think the point would have been better made with more realistic art or photographs.

So if you like the website and/or are a lover of the National Park Service, this is for you. Not for me. ( )

This book goes to show, you can't please everyone. The 1 star reviews of some of the prettiest places in America was hilarious, but coupled with the honesty of the author it made for a great read. ( )

Humorous and informative and pleasing to the eye.

I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy these in book form, viewing & reading one right after the other, but I still loved them, as much as seeing the ones I’ve seen one or a few at a time online. There is a lot more to the book than the illustrations with reviews. I thought the book would be just the images with their short reviews/captions but there is so much more to it. There is a LOT more text than the short one star reviews. The author writes a lot about each park. It’s really interesting and makes for a fully developed book, though the book turned out not to be the very quick read I’d been expecting. I’d been looking forward to a really quick read but what I got made the longer read worthwhile. It’s not the coffee table book I was expecting though it’s beautiful and would work well as one of those too. When not on their own I didn’t have as many laugh out loud moments but the reviews and some of the other text are still amusing.

There is a lovely dedication page.

There is a great biographical introduction.

The parks’ art & reviews are organized by area.

The Contents:

Introduction/Behind the Scenes
A Brief History of the National Parks and How This Book is Organized

Alaska
Pacific West
Intermountain, Midwest
Northeast and National Capital
Southeast

General Tips for Park Visits
Acknowledgements
Resources

At the beginning of each of the geographical sections there is a pictorial map that shows where each park is located in the area and each has a miniature picture that represents something about the specific parks.

I learned a lot.

I’ve always been jealous of one friend who traveled to every single national park with her boyfriend then husband. I would have loved to do that. I’ve visited so few of them. This book whetted my appetite to try to get to a few more.

I love the art style of the illustrations. They perfectly fit their subject in an unique and I think creative way. The book’s creator is an illustrator but it turns out that she is also a (mostly) good and engaging writer. I appreciated the writing and especially the information about each location that’s included with the illustrations.

This is a book I’d love to own. I read a library copy. I requested that my public library buy it and they did.

Highly recommended! ( )