Set in 1997, The Red Grove by Tessa Fontaine revolves around sixteen-year-old Luce Shelley who along with her mother Gloria, younger brother Roo and her aunt Gem, has spent the last eight year of her life as a part of the Red Grove, a secluded community in the redwood forests of California. Luce’s family moved to the Red Grove after an act of violence left her aunt in a vegetative state. The community, mostly comprised of women, offers a sanctuary for those seeking a haven from the violence of the outside world. Luce is deeply attached to her community, believing in its ideology and way of life. However, when her mother suddenly disappears after a disturbing incident with a visitor, Luce is compelled to question the very bonds that tie the community together and the truth behind the principles upon which the community was founded and is still governed, as laid down by its founder Tamsen Nightingale in the 1850s.

Beautiful writing, the atmospheric vibe and an interesting cast of characters render this an engaging read that revolves around themes of womanhood, secrets, belongingness and connection, trust and community. The narrative is shared from Luce’s perspective with the story of how the community originated shared in segments interspersed throughout the novel. The author deftly combines elements of family drama, coming of age, mystery (with a healthy dose of the surreal) and magical realism into a narrative that, though not quite cohesive, did hold my interest. I loved the vivid descriptions of the California redwoods, the deep connection between the community and its natural surroundings and their rituals. Luce is an endearing protagonist and though I did question a few of her choices, I was invested in her journey. Tamsen’s story was fascinating, as was the symbolism of the mountain lion. I thought the author did a remarkable job of depicting Luce’s dynamic with the members of her family and her community. However, the pacing of the novel is on the slower side and the story picks up only after the halfway mark. The story has strong feminist overtones and while I appreciated the themes that are addressed in this novel, I was a tad disappointed with the lack of intensity and depth with which certain aspects of the story were presented in the 1997 timeline. As far as the mystery is concerned, the final reveal is not entirely unpredictable, but I did like how the author chose to end the novel.

I paired my reading with the audiobook narrated by Erin Moon who did an amazing job breathing life into these characters and the story. The audio experience certainly elevated my experience with this novel.

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the digital review copy via NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the ALC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

THE RED GROVE by Tessa Fontaine is read by Erin Moon and is an atmospheric suspense coming March 13th.

Luce was born in this magical place where they say no harm can come to a woman, deep in the Redwood forest. Her aunt Gem, in a perpetual semi-comatose state, and little brother Roo are strangely left when Luce's mother Gloria goes suddenly missing. Luce begins to ask some questions about this home of hers, and discovers answers that may threaten not just herself but the entire community.

I really enjoyed getting taken down this slow burn. The build was steady and I kept wondering what this magical force was. I won't give anything away, but the process of revelation was well done.

The narration kept the underlying tension as the story went from Luce's narrative back to the beginning of the fabled community. I was fascinated to see how trauma and violence leave scars through time.

Thank you to @brilliancepublishing & @netgalley for this fascinating audiobook! I am excited to see what Fontaine does next!

I wanted more from this book, it was partially there, but didn’t fully deliver the emotional aspect. The Red Grove is a society in the forest where women can go to be away from men who harm them. The narration by Erin Moon was fantastic and she did a great job portraying the different timelines and different POVs. The storyline was easy to follow, and it was well written. As much as I wished there was more emotion in the story, I did think that each of the characters were well developed. The ending I thought was just OK but could have been better.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

I really wanted to like this. It started off great then it kinda went blah for me.

The unique plot of this book was so refreshing! I love multiple timelines/povs but they can be very tricky to pull off. However, Tessa Fontaine executed it flawlessly! The female characters were filled with "girl power" vibes that played beautifully to the overall storyline. I love a strong female lead in a novel. The narration, which can make or break an audiobook with this type of layout, was phenomenal and made it easy to distinguish between the timelines/povs. This book gave me Weyward vibes and I dare to say if you loved Weyward you will love The Red Grove. There was only one issue I had with this book, and that is the fact that I figured out the ending early and wasn't really surprised. The great thing is that even though I nailed the ending, I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

2.5 stars rounded up

I am still uncertain how I feel about this book. The Red Grove is horror adjacent/suspense that is supposedly feminist? The thing is, there are a few moments in the book that read as trans-exclusionary, but given the ending I'm also not sure what to make of that. And the book simply doesn't give the reader enough to go on to be certain what the intent of those elements is. I'm also not clear on how we are meant to interpret the ending.

The Red Grove is about this community where women supposedly can't be harmed for mystical reasons. It's intended to be a sort of utopia and haven from things like domestic violence. We follow a dysfunctional family including a psychic in a coma, her twin who supposedly interprets her comatose visions, and the twins two children- a true crime obsessed teen girl and a young boy. But then she disappears...

The writing is fairly engaging and there are creepy elements that work. But ultimately it's hard to talk about this one without spoilers, so warning that the rest of this review will be spoilery...

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So obviously men are not the only people who can enact harm on women, even if they are the statistical majority of perpetrators. The whole premise of this place is that women are safe from men. Except that the ending is all about the harm women can do to each other. I'm not sure how to read that.

Is this supposed to be raising an alarm about misandry? Commenting on the fact that violence can occur in queer relationships? (this seems tangential to the plot, but maybe part of the point) And the trans-exclusionary elements aren't commented on or part of the perceived problem with this place. The happy ending is that they let a minority of men have input. Is this feminist? I'm really not so sure. This isn't a bad book in terms of writing, but I nearly DNF'ed it a few times and I'm left feeling unsettled about the author's intent. And regardless of intent, I don't love that there are TERFy elements left unchallenged either overtly or subtly. The reviews for this are largely positive but also vague about the ending. I hope this review is helpful for people wondering if they should continue. I can't tell you what to do, but I can say I found the ending unsatisfying. The audio narration is great though. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I had a hard time staying interested and some parts were a little bit out there. This was not quite what I was expecting after reading the summary.
The narrator did do a good job though.

I wish I had enjoyed the entire story as much much as I enjoyed the last quarter.

I suppose I was dismayed by the simplicity. The Red Grove felt more like standard thriller fare, while I had anticipated powerful social commentary on violence toward women. What did exist within the storyline regarding that topic felt rather forced and lacking in nuance. There was some fact dropping, as well as limited illustrations of the community inhabitant’s past experiences, but it all felt relatively superficial. I know you may be sick of me writing “as a survivor,” when criticizing books of this nature, but when you carry personal experience into your reading, you do want to see that experience accurately and profoundly illustrated. So, as a survivor, I had hoped for something more complex. As a woman who has researched this topic for years and has spoken to a multitude of female victims, I felt frustrated by all The Red Grove lacked.

I was also expecting something more lyrical. There were a few lovely lines, but it wasn’t maintained throughout the prose. While I know plain writing can still convey a meaningful story, this one remained uncomplicated and that storytelling style did nothing to boost my satisfaction.

Had I gone into this expecting a more straightforward thriller, perhaps I would have appreciated it more, although I think the middle would have felt dull to me either way. I loved the concept, and I did feel satiated by how the mystery unraveled. Those factors did, at least, keep me from hating the novel.

I am immensely grateful to Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.