This book deals with an interesting and relevant topic however it gets bogged down in too much description.. There are logging descriptions, equipment details, and logging slang used without reader explanations. Way too many intricate descriptions of Rich’s logging job and Colleen’s every day life. It slowed the pace of the story and made a great topic tedious.

Damnation Spring begins as a very detailed description of the lifestyle of Pacific Northwest loggers in the 1970s, after the heyday of redwood harvesting and at the beginning of the environmental preservation push. Rich is the last of a long line of loggers, married to Colleen, a self-taught midwife. They and their young son Chub live on the edge of some of the last redwood groves in the area, the redwoods having been harvested for generations. The locals mostly subsist off the land and use water from the local springs and waterways in their homes. As the book progresses, the reader begins to see the relationship between Rich and Colleen evolving, as well as the relationships among the logging company, environmental activists, and the loggers.

The first 2/3 of this book is a bit of a slog, although a very well-written slog. The story picks up after the halfway point and it’s this last section in particular that led me to give this book four stars. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in descriptive settings and/or fans of environmental books such as Silent Spring.

A heavy, lengthy read about a unique topic. This book is well written with excellent plot and character development although it is very wordy.
Its a story about family tackling life in a California logging town in 1977 with a lot of hardship and heartbreak.
It’s definitely a commitment to finish this long book, but worth it if you can get through the slow start.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Damnation Spring was an incredible portrait of a family, their community, and their livelihoods.
It was poignant and heart-wrenching with characters I cared about. The 1970s forestry ecology theme on the dangers of spraying and clearcutting connected directly to today's climate change issues.

Rich, a high climber following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, is married to Colleen, who works as a midwife. They have just one son, but not for lack of trying. Colleen has endured several miscarriages. A former high school classmate (and former boyfriend), Daniel, is back in the area doing scientific research on water quality in the logging areas of the community and is trying to raise awareness of the water quality issues. Colleen starts connecting the miscarriages and birth defects among her clients (who are her neighbors) and begins to believe Daniel's warnings. Meanwhile, Rich has secretly purchased a virgin woodlot next to his homestead, intending to make his fortune with one last harvest and finally retire from logging while still living in the woods he loves.

Davidson's descriptions draw you into the actions and emotions of the well developed characters and their lives. It was a truly incredible read and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner/Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

Northern CA in the 1970's, this is about timber and redwoods, and how environmentalism impacted the logging industry-and the people involved. Rich is a logger, Colleen is his wife. He loves his job and the land. Environmentalists come in and start bringing up questions about the chemicals that are being sprayed, and the effects of logging on the environment. Colleen has miscarried 8 times-she finally realizes that maybe it is not her body that is at fault, but other factors and the water they are drinking. This is a beautiful family story, and the sense of place is amazing. Some of the technical description of logging was a little much for me. Very worth reading. #damnationspring #ashdavidson #damnationspringashdavidson #debutnovel #bookstagram #booklover #booksbooksbooks #bookrecommendations #bookreview #tbr #netgalley #lovetoread #bookloversofinstagram #readersofinstagram

Damnation Sprint is a phenomenal read that truly focuses on what is important in life. It's a breath of fresh air in this chaotic time, and I loved it! That's saying a lot since it's outside my normal thriller/mystery genre. I'd give it 5 stars hands down. Just wow!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Shedding light on environmental issues and domesticity, Damnation Spring is a work of literary art. Beautiful and heartbreaking, the story follows Rich, a fourth generation logger, his wife Colleen, a self-made "mid-wife" though she won't use that word to describe herself, and their son Chub who is just trying to grow-up near Damnation Spring and make sense of this thing we call life.

I won't say I really "enjoyed" this book as the subject matter was heavy-hearted and sometimes downright gloomy. But it was well-written and held my attention so for that, I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of literary fiction that has a message to convey to its readers. An excellent sense of place puts you right there in the logging world, as well.

When Stephen King said this was a great book, I was immediately sold.

Then I started reading, and I was wondering when I was going to get to the good stuff. There’s so much introductory phase, so much description, so much back story.
It felt less like the actual situation at hand (drama between the loggers and environmentalists - which really did intrigue me, or at least I wanted it to) and more just about the specifics of logging.

I ended up getting lost. Then interested. Then let down because the story was over.

The book was getting so much praise, I was so excited, and maybe it just didn’t live up to my expectations. I’m not sure.

I loved this book. It did start slow, and for me was a more difficult read as it seemed to jump around a lot, but it was completely worth pushing through. It is a topic that is relatable in this day, but a subject I didn't know much about.

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson will enlighten and enrage you as the story of life among the giant redwoods in the 1970's unfolds. The livelihoods of the timber loggers and their families in the backwoods are dependent on the industry that is poisoning nature and the streams that are necessary for survival. This is a tale of wonder and woe but one that is difficult to put away.

Absolutely incredible! Once you get past the logger talk, the story is heartfelt and touching. Don’t miss this one.

Damnation Spring is set in a logging town of northern CA in the 1970s. A couple is on opposite sides of a hot button issue involving herbicides used by the logging company. I was most intrigued by the ecological premise of the book (thinking of the feel I got from Once There Were Wolves), but ultimately that piece ended up lacking a bit for me.

This is the kind of book that will stay with you for days! I was unfamiliar with the logging community, but not unfamiliar with the environmental impact of companies and the effects on communities. The two combined made for a really interesting read. Rich and Colleen, the couple at the center of this story, were very compelling characters and I couldn't wait to find out what happened to them. All of the surrounding characters were also really interesting.

My only complaint about this book was that the logging jargon was often confusing with no explanation for the reader. I found myself re-reading sentences to try to understand what was happening.

Unfortunately, Damnation Spring was all "damnation" and no "spring". I attempted to read this book with a friend and we both did not finish. While the cover, title, and synopsis are A+, the writing was bogged down and stuffy, and felt like you were trudging through mud.

I'm able to admit this wasn't the book for me but that others may love it.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this one! I wish it would have worked out.

The question of community comes up against the concern for that communities welfare. The central theme in this story so rich you can small the timber, that feeds this community. A lyric novel of a family caught in a crossroads. The Pacific California coast serves as the backdrop for a showdown between a life inherited and a life newly formed. Colleen, who helps bring new life into the world as a midwife begins to suspect that the miscarriages and infant deaths she sees are related to a chemical used in the area. A threat to the way of life , the only life many here know, brings about a heat and pain none saw coming. The time for truth will test and in some cases prove the mettle of this tiny community.

initial thoughts: I really wanted to like this one, but I just didn't.

the story, the location, the characters, all of it appealed to me as soon as I requested this one on NetGalley.

however, all three of these things fell short for me. the story didn't pick up for me until about halfway, and then the author seemed to gloss over the actual conflict between Rich & Colleen. I wanted more. the location was also a bit of a snooze, focusing way too much on logging technical jargon. as for the characters? I was bored all the way through, not really caring what happened to whom.

this book was also overly descriptive. and if I hear the words "burl bowl" ever again, it will be too soon.

I received this book as a "Read Now" copy after the publication date, and therefore it became a lower priority for reading and review without a clear deadline. Boy, was I wrong to delay! Damnation Spring was that rare book that educates the reader about the logging of the redwoods and all the politics and pressures that are involved in the lumber business while spinning a compelling story with interesting characters. Ash Davidson also makes a case against the use of toxic herbicides to clear the land, and the efforts of environmentalists to get the substances banned. I found the detailed descriptions of the work of the loggers to be necessary to understand the motivations of the opposing groups in the story, and the author wrote beautifully about the redwood forest, as well.

Rich and Colleen Gundersen are raising their son near Damnation Grove, and Rich, a third generation logger whose own father was killed on the job, buys a section of the redwood grove in a bid to make a better life for his son, Chub. Colleen wants another child, but after eight miscarriages, Rich is not thrilled with the idea of trying again. Colleen is a midwife, and what she has seen is concerning--a high incidence of birth defects and miscarriage in the county, which she starts to believe are the result of herbicides that have contaminated the spring. Politics and business collide with environmental concerns, and threaten the livelihood of the entire community.

I am struggling with a star rating for this book, as it was a real page-turner for me. I cared deeply about Colleen, Rich and Chub, and found the actions of the lumber company to be disgusting, particularly as evidence mounted that irreparable damage was being done. I learned a lot about how the logging industry works and what dangerous jobs it involves. On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed that some storylines are left dangling a bit with unresolved issues left up to the reader to imagine what might have happened. On the whole, I really liked the book, though, and will be looking for another by Ash Davidson in the future.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Ash Davidson for the electronic copy of the book Damnation Spring. This review represents my own opinions.

I have to respectfully disagree with everyone who says this book is just about logging. It was about so much more than that. This book is about a family. This book is about a community. This book challenged me in a way I wasn’t even ready for. It really made me think about two sides of an issue. It made me hug my husband and my children. It broke my heart. If you put this book down because you didn’t understand some logging terms, try again. I didn’t understand every single logging scene with full clarity- that’s not the point of the book. At the risk of being punny, you’re missing the forest for the trees.

Wow, this is a hard one to rate, but I'm rounding up. It was so engaging, although sometimes overly detailed or repetitive. Set in California in the late 70s, we see a community struggle as the way things are begin to be questioned, truths are uncovered, and sides are taken. It's very complex, with most people doing what they think is right while others are...well, not. This would be a great book club pick, with so many relationships and lots of symbolism to discuss!

This book wasn’t for me. I don’t think it was necessarily a bad book but I realized the deeper I got the more it was not my style. Writing was well done