The Puma Years: An Intimate Reflection on Life, Love, and Loss

EmanuelleKlimperstein: This book left me full of admiration for courageous people that did not give up on creating a better world. With self criticism and awareness for the limits of their actions, they still believe and most of all do!
Thank you <3

Germany on Sep 28, 2023

Barbara P.: Beautifully written and passionate. Such a loving and humorous story of Laura Coleman's time at the sanctuary. My views on the world are forever altered.

United States on Sep 21, 2023

Kindle Customer: This is the best book I've ever read (out of over 10K)
I love it because it's a unique subject, it's heartwarming, heartpumping, terrifying and so very beautifully written. You'll be there in the jungle with her, seeing, hearing and feeling every moment!

United States on Sep 12, 2023

chimneyman: It is hard to know whether the sanctuary which is at the heart of this book is there for the benefit of some mistreated animals or whether it is there for the benefit of a small number of troubled humans working as long term volunteers. At the time when Laura arrives, the place is a danger to life and limb in all sorts of ways but, later, we discover that the earlier managers of the place have moved on and the sanctuary has been drastically sanitised. It is interesting that Laura's story only tells of one volunteer who leaves on the same day that he arrives - I feel sure that there must have been quite a few who would have found the conditions intolerable. However, the story is a powerful one and well worth reading.

United Kingdom on Sep 11, 2023

Christine L.: Absolutely loved this story - a love letter to the jungle by an animal & environmental activist and artist. My complaints are that I struggled with the format of the book; I really needed more breaks / such as sections or chapters…I’d get so distracted waiting for the next chapter to come I’d lose track of the story. Also, there were so so so soooo many details of every single thing. It was frustrating that it took several pages (or minutes of audiobook) to get one, very minor point across. But because I loved the stories about the camp and the friends and the animals and all their trials and tribulations, those complaints weren’t enough give a rating lower than four stars. I do recommend this for anyone interested in Animal and/or environmental activism.

United States on Jul 22, 2023

Illanjana Bhadra: An unputdownable life story. Not all heroes wear capes, some turn into magnificent authors. Hands down to your beautiful life Laura Coleman.

India on Jul 16, 2023

Kathryn: Not a book i would normally pick but so glad I did. I was drawn in from the start & found it an enjoyable & emotional read.

Australia on Jun 28, 2023

Aditya Pande: This is a wonderful book. Such easily written that the characters are in front of you. Loved it. God bless Wyra.

India on Jun 28, 2023

Edie Nolan: Review of "The Puma Years"
Hot Toasty Rag

Laura Coleman was a twenty-something caught up in the modern London rat-race. She put tons of importance on social status, surface interactions, and people-pleasing for no real purpose. Something inside her snapped, and she decided to take some time off to volunteer at an animal rescue shelter in Bolivia. Yes, Bolivia. Her memoir, The Puma Years, doesn’t sugarcoat anything. She doesn’t just say, “There was no indoor plumbing,” and let it go at that. She describes the compost toilet in detail, from the feces-covered, flimsy walls to the brightly colored spider who lives there and watches over every bowel movement (whom she later names Hagrid). She doesn’t list mosquitoes, worms and tics; she makes you question her mental health that she would actually stay in Bolivia. Indeed, there were times when I truly believed Coleman had lost her mind. Voluntarily opting to live in such horrific circumstances year after year at the expense of her health and basic functionalities didn’t seem like the act of a sane person. Surely she and the other workers at the shelter were no longer in possession of their faculties!
Volunteers...

United States on Feb 10, 2023

JoQue_¤vidReader: This memoir follows Laura, an inexperienced volunteer, and her time at (CIWY) Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi in Bolivia. CIWY is a nonprofit organization that teaches young people about conservation, and provides sanctuary to abused wild animals. It was officially founded in 1992 with one determined woman and a few volunteers, there's more information inside the book if you want to help or learn more. Laura's journey doesn't start until 2007, when she quits her job to backpack through South America. Laura was hoping to find clarity, a purpose in life. Near the end of her trip she was no closer to a purpose and quite ready to give up and just go home. But happened upon a flyer asking for volunteers at CIWY. This one, seemingly inconsequential choice, changed her life. Especially when she met and fell in love with Wayra, an abused puma she had the privilege of working with. She had no prior experience with animals, quite the opposite with a bit of fear -especially involving spiders. Yet she rose above these things to meet the challenge before her. Other volunteers trained her to work with these animals while also doing their assigned jobs. I adored seeing the wildly different...

United States on Apr 17, 2022