Subpar Parks: America's Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors

This is a genius hybrid blend of art, travel guide, and humor in a great package. I really hope all the one-star reviewers get their jaded asses handed to them at some point (as I’m assuming most are bored twelve year olds), or else the world is coming to an end even sooner than we thought.

You can’t please all of the people all of the time, but a 1-star review of Yosemite National Park (“Trees block the view, and there are too many gray rocks.”) or the Grand Canyon (“A hole. A very, very, large hole.”)?

Amber Share is an illustrator / graphic designer, and also a life-long afficionado of the United States’ National Parks. She’s an avid hiker and finds much to enjoy in wildly different climates and ecosystems, including some of the most remote park settings. So, when she stumbled upon some of the clueless 1-star reviews she just had to shake her head, and then laugh.

She turned to her talent for illustration and painted some wonderful depictions, graced with the clueless remarks of seriously underwhelmed show more visitors, and began posting them, once a week at first (on her blog? Instagram? … whatever). People loved them and clamored for more. This book is the result.

Each park “visited” starts with the illustration and the clueless remark, but Share then gives an informative description of the park, including some ranger’s tips / cautions, and other hints on best enjoying nature’s splendors. She also incorporates Native American culture and significance for most of these parks.

The text does get somewhat repetitious, especially when you’re reading this as a book, rather than using it as a handy reference guide, hence the 3-star review. But she gets 5***** for her illustrations! I’m inspired to visit another “Not much to do” park! show less

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 show more 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! show less

SUBPAR PARKS (Secondary title: America's Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors) is a short illustrated introduction to the United States National Parks system -- based on actual one-star reviews left by visitors on Yelp and other places. Honest!

Author Amber Share is a professional illustrator and graphic designer. As a lifelong visitor to (and lover of) our country's national parks, she was entertained by the ridiculous comments left by visitors. How, after all, can you visit Grand Canyon National Park and then leave as your public review:

A hole. A very, very large hole.

You can't make this stuff up!

Reviews complain about coldness (Glacier Bay), rain (Big Bend), too many mountains (North Cascades), bugs show more (Sequoia), mud (Cuyahoga Valley), color (Bryce Canyon), quiet (Kabuki Valley), and more. There's even someone who is upset he didn't get to touch lava at Hawaii Volcanoes!

I must admit I enjoyed reading the truly useless comments but found they didn't support the concept for an entire book.

Amber Share is also the book's illustrator, populating the book with attractive and large color illustrations and black and white drawings. She also offers a written overview of each of the 77 parks covered though it's quite basic information, not enough to actually plan a visit.

What may be useful are the tips from park rangers that are sprinkled throughout. For example, suggesting areas where there are fewer visitors in a given park.

SUBPAR PARKS would be a good book for a group read-aloud with friends. You wouldn't necessarily have to read the entire 200 page book. And it would likely spark both laughter and personal stories. show less

SUBPAR PARKS (Secondary title: America's Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors) is a short illustrated introduction to the United States National Parks system -- based on actual one-star reviews left by visitors on Yelp and other places. Honest!

Author Amber Share is a professional illustrator and graphic designer. As a lifelong visitor to (and lover of) our country's national parks, she was entertained by the ridiculous comments left by visitors. How, after all, can you visit Grand Canyon National Park and then leave as your public review:

A hole. A very, very large hole.

You can't make this stuff up!

Reviews complain about coldness (Glacier Bay), rain (Big Bend), too many mountains (North Cascades), bugs show more (Sequoia), mud (Cuyahoga Valley), color (Bryce Canyon), quiet (Kabuki Valley), and more. There's even someone who is upset he didn't get to touch lava at Hawaii Volcanoes!

I must admit I enjoyed reading the truly useless comments but found they didn't support the concept for an entire book.

Amber Share is also the book's illustrator, populating the book with attractive and large color illustrations and black and white drawings. She also offers a written overview of each of the 77 parks covered though it's quite basic information, not enough to actually plan a visit.

What may be useful are the tips from park rangers that are sprinkled throughout. For example, suggesting areas where there are fewer visitors in a given park.

SUBPAR PARKS would be a good book for a group read-aloud with friends. You wouldn't necessarily have to read the entire 200 page book. And it would likely spark both laughter and personal stories. show less

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.

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.