Watership Down by Richard Adams
When I picked up Watership Down a month ago I thought to myself ‘how exciting can a book about rabbits be?’ Well, what can I say, this book has everything! Not only was I up ’til all hours of the night pacing around trying to stay calm over what might happen next, but I was brought to tears one minute and cheering and whooping the next. Forget The Hunger Games, if you want a thrilling, suspenseful, slightly terrifying novel look no further than this brilliant classic.
Brothers Hazel and Fiver were living peacefully in a full warren in Sandleford until Fiver had a vision of a horrible destruction that is to be brought upon the warren. Unable to convince the chief rabbits that such horrors are going to occur, Hazel and Fiver rally together a group of misfits who believe in Fiver’s vision and are willing to leave the warren. As the rabbits journey to find a safe place they encounter all sorts of predators, from humans to preying birds. However, it’s the other rabbits that just might be their biggest threat.
Watership Down was originally published in 1972 and has not aged one bit. This brilliant classic beats any new suspenseful dystopian novel hands down. Highly recommended for ages 10 and up, and also available in a beautiful hardback edition with gorgeous illustrations by Aldo Galli.