This is one of those books that are hit or miss for me and unfortunately this was a miss for me. The characters were interesting but the plot for me was lacking. I think that this is one of nature fiction books that will work for a lot of people it just wasn't the kind that worked for me

This book really touched me and left me thinking about it long after I finished. I felt very attached to the family and it felt like I was reading about a real family. Beautiful writing. Taking away one star just for some slow pacing in certain areas.

I really enjoyed Damnation Spring and found it very well written and compelling. The logging jargon is a bit much in the beginning, but the story gels together. I'm definitely looking forward to any future books by the author.

👋 Hey, Hey, Hey - Mini Reviews 👋

Hey! Zoe and I are still here, but it’s taking longer than anticipated for me to get back to regular posting. 😜 Having kids out of school makes unpacking harder and I knew we had a ton of stuff, but phew! 🫣 It’s ridiculous even with the excessive purging. 📦📦📦

Here are the books I’ve read since I’ve been absent/moving…I’m still reading! OK, so audiobooks mostly, but I’m getting them checked off! ✅✅✅

Damnation Spring - I really liked the writing on this one and the story had such a good pull. The ending wasn’t my favorite, so I took a star away. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A clear picture of an era when the public consumers were becoming more aware of the dangers and long term consequences of the timber industries management of resources. One family's journey into conflict with th eindustry that will expose their conflicting actions to reach a common goal. Damnation Spring will pull together the town and it's residents to save their way of life. But what will be the cost to an industry already facing severe dangers? A great read that will leave you with many questions that have no clear answers.

Damnation Spring is a historical fiction novel set in the 1970s about a small Pacific Northwest town. This book sets up the conflict between a town's livelihood, corporate greed, and environmentalism. I really liked how the characters in this book were developed with backdrop of their logging town. Logging has been the livelihood of the people in this town for generations and the corporation that they work for has been spraying toxic chemicals around the trees. When townspeople and environmental groups start to see an impact of these chemicals on the health of the people, an environmental conflict is set up. I thought the main characters in this book were well developed. As the reader, I obviously knew who was in the wrong and that the environment is more important than the corporation making money. However, it's easy to see where some of the characters are coming from, even those who don't want to push the environmental issue as their jobs are at stake. I think my favorite character in the book was Colleen, and I think her character's arc is developed really well as she tries to be a good mother and wife while also trying to figure out what is causing the health issues in her hometown.

The pacing of this novel is slow. Especially in the beginning, it was a slow start and I did find myself wanting the story to hurry up. While the pace doesn't really pick up at all in the book. I felt for some reason it made more sense in the second half of the book. I did like the writing style and certainly found myself more immersed in the story as I got to know the characters and the central conflict was set up. Overall, I think Damnation Spring was an interesting read that explores the themes of family and also attempts to capture the conflict between corporations and the environment and how corporate greed impacts small communities. I would definitely recommend this historical fiction novel.

It took me entirely too long to read this book, but it was worth it! The characters really pulled me in and it was so easy to visualize the forest and the roads. My only "complaint" was that it felt a little wordy at times. Still recommend though!

A really well written story that places one family at the center of a debate over a fading way of life and one company’s greed being placed over the well-being of a few.

I wanted to love this book as it was well-reviewed by many critics, however I feel that the book dragged in many places. The premise is interesting - man vs. big company tearing up the environment. Unfortunately, the author gets lost in details that do not further the plot of the story and it makes the book a chore to read.

I loved this book so much!! I really enjoyed the pace and how this story felt so realistic to me. I'm always down for a family story and this one was written so well. I was sad when this ended because I felt like I became a part of this family.

This novel was beautiful and so atmospheric. I was totally enthralled with the scenery. It was a character in itself. Although it was a bit slow paced, I was interested through the whole thing and got through it quickly. I really enjoyed the characters and the fact that we had time to get to know them. Overall a very solid read.

This is one that I definitely think will be served with a reread. I loved how immersive this felt. Davidson writes characters in a way that feels very lived in. Rich and Colleen felt so worn into their lives before the narrative peeks in on them, which is such a difficult skill for authors to master so I loved spending time with them. I think I went in with extremely high expectations for this, given some of the reviews I'd read and what I'd already known from other readers in my circle. And while this didn't quite live up to what I was expecting, I think it's a solid debut novel, and I can't wait to see what Davidson puts out next.

I received an advanced copy of Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson from Scribner via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Colleen and Richard are raising their young son, Chub, in a logging town on the California cost that isn’t what it’s used to but as the environmental movement and parks keep coming, their way of life is threatened. Rich who has worked as a tree-topper, a job that killed his father and grandfather died doing it, and hoping for a better life for his son, Rich buys a swath of the ancient Redwoods. Colleen, a midwife, is desperate to have a second baby, and when data presents itself suggesting that the herbicide could be responsible for the many birth defects and her miscarriages, she finds herself against the logging company and her own husband.

What I Loved: This book is going to be one of my favorite books of the year. This book is very dark and depressing and I would encourage supreme caution if you struggle with infertility and themes of pregnancy loss, this might not be the book for you. Okay, now that we covered that the writing is brilliant and transformative, I felt like I was living in this town surrounded by these people. I couldn’t stop listening and needed to know how all this shaped out. While this book is quiet and not plot driven person, I truly felt it was compelling and unputdownable. This book is a masterpiece that pushes you outside your comfort zone and challenges your views. I truly loved this one.

What I Didn’t Like: This was a close to perfect book for me. I really liked all of it to be honest.

Who Should Read It: People who love books with excellent writing, challenging topics, and push you outside your comfort zone.

Summary: A logging town faces a reckoning as the human impacts of their market are exposed.

Initially, I thought this book would be one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Although, I did like this book—I wouldn’t say it was one of my top favorites.

The premise sounded good but it's quite the slog unfortunately. I personally found it tedious and repetitive. Got full technical information on lumber business and timber. I couldn't get past the main character bad decisions. I think it takes more than half the book for the story to move forward and even then it dithers.
Full review on YouTube

This book takes a while to get into, as Davidson shows off her research and takes us through too much logging jargon and detail. It's 464 pages, which is probably close to 100 more than needed.

However, once I bought into the setting, I was willing to give Davidson the space to develop the location and characters through the use of all those details, and I ended up loving the book. There's a lot going on, with the book serving as a sort of long frame romance, a muckraking expose, a study in backwoods characterization, and a beautiful homage to the Pacific Northwest and especially the redwood forests. Throughout, as we meet the characters and uncover their relationships to the trees, the author builds a sense of what it is like to live on the edge of survival with any new day possibly bringing the final disaster. In the end, Davidson manages to realistically bring the story around to a conclusion that is both sad and hopeful at the same time.

This is an excellent debut novel, and I will definitely be watching for Davidson's sophomore book.

Damnation Spring is a book that I thought I would have loved. While I enjoyed it, I wanted to love it. The plot is one that I am into and I love the full concept, big picture of this novel. But, the story is very slow and there’s a lot of information about logging. It is also a long novel coming in at over 400 pages.

Overall, the story is heartbreaking and it tackles a big issue of water, safety, and people having clean water which is still a problem today. It is heartbreaking to hear about the babies and animals that are affected unknowingly by contaminated water which is the fault of humans.

This book is an eye opener and while it is set in the 70s, this topic is true today. A solid read that I almost loved. Thank goodness I also had the audio to help me get through the slower parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Damnation Spring was a novel that I highly anticipated reading due to the high praise received due to high praise. However; I was unable to connect with the characters and plot line. I did not finish this story at 10 percent in.

Damnation Spring is the story of a small logging town, and its struggles to continue a way of life that is fast disappearing.
Ash Davidson makes you fall in love with the characters, and you worry for their safety and welfare as they try to survive. This book is heart wrenching and deals with heavy content such as the environment, miscarriage, and infidelity.

I am quite surprised at the glowing reviews for this novel. I could only read about 1/3 before I gave up. Yes, the prose is flowery and beautifully descriptive, but there are so many descriptive passages that they overpower the story. There are so many characters that I had a difficult time distinguishing between them. I was intrigued by the storyline and the setting. To tell the story of a logging family and the trials of living that life is clearly a passion for the author, but sometimes the characters almost seem a sideline to the environmental agenda. Obviously other readers found the story much more compelling, I did not. I found it slow and sometimes even boring, and I have other books to read.