I also felt the vibes of The Village reading this, it was a suspenseful read, but at times it would lose it's intrigue and then build up again. The ending was a bit perplexing, I got it, but still wished for a bit more with it.

Shea Ernshaw's adult debut is beautifully written, atmospheric, and eerie. The book is mainly a mystery, but it includes touches of magical realism, dystopian, and even mild horror. However, I found the pacing to be so incredibly slow.

The premise of the book is a bit confusing: a man tries to track down a missing woman, but goes missing himself. A couple years later, residents of the isolated community of Pastoral find traces of those missing people, but no one in the community ever saw the people themselves. And they can’t leave because of “rot,” a disease in the surrounding trees that can spread to people. And everyone has secrets. Something was definitely wrong with Pastoral, but it was very unclear what the point of the story was or how all these pieces fit together until well over halfway through the book, making the mystery more frustrating than intriguing.

The short, suspenseful chapters kept me immersed in the story, and the pace finally picked up with some great twists toward the end, but I couldn’t get over my earlier frustrations at the slow beginning and middle of the story. This book was simultaneously trying to do too many things at once and not doing enough.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free eARC.

Shea Ernshaw’s History of the Wild Places is a breathtakingly quiet, sinister tale about finding home. Written from multiple, mainly internal, POV, she relays the stories and mythology surrounding a lonely man with unwanted powers, an inquisitive woman in love with a charismatic mad man, and a mouse of a woman afraid for her husband and of what lurks in the trees surrounding her home. We don’t get to hear from the monster in the woods, the one stoking their fears, but its presence shadows and stalks the thoughts of the others.

Their stories are woven into a bittersweet memorial to lost souls and homecomings. I was riveted by Travis’s voice in the first chapter, noticing only the increased tension in my body but never struggling to break free of the hold until the final page. In the end, I grieve. I hate leaving that wood and its people behind. It’s a book you want to talk about and recommend so you can talk about it some more. It’s perfect for book clubs and classrooms alike. Ernshaw shines!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Audio for gifting me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Travis Wren is good at finding people, he has a gift for psychometry (though it’s never called that in the book). When he touched things he can see things about people which helps him in his line of work. He’s hired to find Maggie St James a missing writing who seemed to have vanished without a trace into the woods one day. The problem? Travis goes missing while looking for Maggie...

Deep in the woods is the secret forgotten community of Pastoral where Theo helps to guard their boarders while feeling unusually curious about the outside world. These days nobody leaves and nobody comes to Pastoral because of a mysterious illness. But while doing something he’s not supposed to be doing he stumbles across Travis’s truck left out in the words years before sparking a mystery and throwing his life and the lives of his wife Calla and sister-in-law Bee into chaos. Because nobody has come into the community in 10 years yet it seems like 2 people must have come there and disappeared since then. Everything in Pastoral is not what it seems....

Was this book basically like a better version on The Village? Yes it was, I liked it way better than that. You couldn’t really guess exactly what was really going on in the town and you really couldn’t possibly guess what really happened to Maggie and Travis. There were quite a few twists and turns here. It was an enjoyable read couldn’t put it down and I’ll be looking into the author’s other work.

I had a hard time getting into this. Then I was rapt and could put it down. Then I didn’t care. This is a weird atmospheric mystery that’s set deep in the woods and is kicked off by a mysterious disappearance. There’s some otherworldly stuff happening and there’s a lot of similarities to M Night Shamalyans The Village. Interesting way this was handled but was just ok for me in the end.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Shea Ernshaw does it again! I loved this book so much! Her writing always is able to transport me to such amazing yet realistic places with beautiful and simple words. Pastoral was an amazing place filled with so many secrets to unravel. It's a place that I wish I could walk into and dig around to learn more about its history.

The characters are also utterly enjoyable. I loved Calla, Theo, and Bee (especially Bee!) and enjoyed learning about them and the deep truths they hid beneath the skin. Having a character like Bee who is disabled was a wonderful change of pace from most books nowadays, getting to experience the world the way she does despite her disability. The struggles of married couple Calla and Theo were interesting to watch as they pulled apart and came back together for a common goal, only to realize their love for each other. It was so realistic in that they weren't puppy-dog in love, but the way adults are.

My only issue with the book is the twist in this book was a bit obvious. I had it figured out halfway through (except for the smallest twist at the very end) which made reading the book more like "yup, called it" rather than "ohmygosh I didn't see that coming". I expected more along the lines of The Wicked Deep levels of twists that I became accustomed to with her writing. I wish it had been a bit more hidden and the reader had been given false clues to throw us off the trail. It doesn't help that the book gave off massive The Village by M. Night Shyamalan vibes, so it was a bit easy to figure out.

Overall, A History of Wild Places was a great breakthrough book for Shea Ernshaw into adult fiction and I can't wait for more of her books in the coming years! Thank you again to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

A History of Wild Places
@sheaernshaw
Pub Date:
@atriabooks

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5star read

Shea Ernshaw is master at creating ominous creepy setting. Very descriptive prose that drops the reader phenomenally within what ever world she has created.

A History of Wild Place is another incredibly meticulously written book. Complex individuals, along with sinister situations and settings. This book is completely different from her past novels. An adult fiction, with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. Someone is missing, but this time she takes down a psychological mystery and a dash of magical realism.

An exceptional book that is perfect for those cold wintery nights, just make sure you keep a candle lit for this one.

Gwendalyn’s Books
@gwendalyn_book_

This Book from page one took off like a rocket ship especially for me getting through the first 20 % to see what happens with Maggie St. James who has disappeared. There are two story lines to follows. The first follows Travis Wren who is in the business of finding missing people, he has a special talent and he is very good at his job. His current task is to find where Maggie St. James who is a famous author and where she went or at least what happened to her.

The second story line revolves around a community started in the forest that is very will hid from outer society and the people that live there want it that way. This community is called Pastoral and was founded by people done with stress and struggles of modern society in 1970 and wanted to live of the land. You follow three main characters that live within this society Theo, Theo's wife Calla and Calla's sister Bee. There is alot of mystery within the walls of this very dark community where people will not go for medical care and are afraid of the rain. The author does a great job with weaving these story lines together to an interesting end. This book is fast paced all the way through as you cannot wait to see what happens next.

A beautifully written, twisty, tale, with surprising twists and an overarching sense of mystery and hidden secrets. I really enjoyed it.

This book was very suspenseful and had a few twists. It was beautifully written (with a gorgeous cover!) and I was engrossed while reading. My biggest gripe was that I think I’m too untrusting to believe that so many Pastoral residents would blindly believe what they are being told by their leader. I wish I knew more about Maggie’s background - she wasn’t fully formed out for me. This reminded me of (spoiler alert!) The Village and I think I would have rated it higher if it didn’t feel so similar to me. I think a lot of readers will enjoy this one!

A History of Wild Places
@sheaernshaw
Pub Date: December 6, 2021
@atriabooks


I received an advanced readers copy from one of my absolute favorite publishing houses and the plot sounded so intriguing. I have not had the best luck reading authors are making their debut into adult fiction from young adult fiction but hold the phone cause damnnnnnnnn it’s good.

Down and Dirty Take:
Commune setting
Multiple POVs
Slow Burn mystery
HUGE twist
A sprinkle of some magic

I really recommend this book to readers of all genres. I think it will satisfy across the board. One of the best I’ve read this year!

"There is always danger for those who are afraid." - George Bernard Shaw.

Travis Wren, who has a talent for finding missing people, has been hired to find Maggie St. James, a missing author. While looking for Maggie, his talent leads him to place many believed to be a legend.

A perfect community away from it all - Pastoral. It's a place to be safe, a place to start over, a place to leave everything else behind. But when Travis follows Maggie there, he disappears just as Maggie did.

Years later, Theo, who has lived in Pastoral finds Travis's truck beyond the boundary of Pastoral. It is forbidden to leave the boundary as you risk catching the pox. But Theo can't help himself. He is inquisitive and wants to explore past Pastoral. He is not the only one who wants to explore beyond the Boundary, there is another person curious and willing to take risks

There is fear of the Rot and the pox it brings, but there are also secrets lurking there. Deep, dark secrets. Horrible secrets. The adage "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" applies in this book. I enjoyed getting to know most of the characters and in the back of my mind wondered what happened to Travis and Maggie. I really enjoyed this one and it's strong "The Village" vibes. The fear of the outside world, the stories about what will get you if you leave, the being self-sufficient and the wondering what to do when someone needs medical help.

You will need to suspend some disbelief here and sit through a disturbing scene or two. I had to tell myself not to over think the fact that they were living in two story homes and not in huts or tents. That somehow away from it all, deep in the woods, was a community of built homes that they just moved into or perhaps founders had built. But I digress. After suspending some disbelief, I found this book hard to put down and as thy secrets began to fall like leaves falling in the forest, I soon realized what the real Rot was.

I enjoyed the underlying sense of something not being right of underlying danger, mounting dread and the fear of breaking the rules. It had a very low-key creepy vibe at the heart of it, you won’t feel or notice it at first, but as things are uncovered, you will sense it as the community members begin to sense that their community isn't quite so perfect after all. This book is atmospheric and dark. Naturally, I was intrigued from the very beginning.

This was my first book by the author, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Dark, captivating, and clever!


Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for an early copy of A History of Wild Places in exchange for an honest review. This book was unlike anything I've previously read, and I loved it!

The writing in this novel is absolutely beautiful, and Shea Ernshaw has a gift for creating stunning imagery. I was in awe of the beautiful descriptions and they brought so much to the story. The story was suspenseful and addictive, and I truly did not see the twist coming! This was an amazingly crafted and well-written book that I highly recommend!

I loved this book!

It started so mysteriously, with a man using his unique gift to find a missing woman, and then switches gear to a commune. I spent so much time trying to figure out what was going on but the twist and the ending I did not see coming!

Shea Ernshaw has a superpower with atmospheric writing. She is able to completely transport you into her stories. Because of this, she's easily one of my favorite authors! Her books are always bumped to the top of my lists. For her first adult book, I think it was a great step out of YA. It was dark, exhilarating, and a major page turner. I will say I was missing a lot of the magic like in her previous works, but this was still great.

Shea Ernshaw is known for writing complex characters in unusual settings. I really enjoyed The Wicked Deep with it's supernatural elements, peopled with characters who had many dimensions. I mostly enjoyed A History of Wild Places, the author's newest offering. There were a few supernatural aspects to the story, but it wasn't strictly needed. This is, at its heart, a novel about how people in power use fear to control others. No matter how you feel about politics, it's obvious that leaders use this tactic effectively in real life. This book just presents an extreme example.

What I Liked:

Characters:

I really liked the portrayal of Theo and Calla, and Calla's sister Bee. These are three characters who love living in Pastoral, but keep secrets from each other that put strains on their relationships.

Although he loves Calla, Theo is restless and wishes he could leave Pastoral. He starts has some risky behavior that could mean brutal punishment, if he is caught. Plus he worries that Calla will think he doesn't want to be with her, anymore.

Calla loves the security of Pastoral, but also senses that something is wrong. She knows that Theo is keeping secrets from her, and wonders: can we ever really know our spouses?

Bee, Calla's sister, is blind, but freer than most of the people in the community, People often forget she's there and they speak more freely around her. She then gives the leader, Levi, lots of juicy information that he uses as part of his control of the community. Why would she do this? Because Bee is in love with Levi.

Themes:

While the leader, Levi, preaches that the community is based on creating a strong community, with everyone helping each other, he also peddles a healthy dose of fear to keep his flock in line. He's even gone so far as to convince everyone that there is a terrible illness just beyond the perimeter of the settlement, and if you leave, even for a moment, you will catch it and die. He has men monitoring the boundaries with guns. But are they to keep people with the illness out of Pastoral, or to keep the residents in?

Levi uses fear of the outside, and community guilt, to control everyone. How can you think of leaving Pastoral and put all your loved ones at risk? When there is severe discipline for some who push back, Levi makes sure that the community feels that it's necessary, in order to keep everyone safe. These are obvious parallels to issues we face today, with America's boarders, and even with the COVID pandemic.

What I Didn't Like:

Use of the Supernatural:

One of the characters can touch an object and know things that happened to the people who touched it. I've seen this device used well in books like The Diviners, by Libba Bray. But in this story, the character's ability is rarely used. It could just have easily been dropped from the story with no difference to the outcome of the plot.

Plot Twist:

While I will not give any spoilers away, I was not impressed with the plot twist in the last part of the book. It didn't make sense to me. At. All. There could have been many other explanations for the cult leader's hold on his flock. But the reason given is ridiculous. I was disappointed, because (again), this was an unnecessary stretch. Given how strong the psychological manipulation was in the cult, several other, more realistic, reasons should have been given.

A History of Wild Places
Shea Ernshaw

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Two people vanish after entering the same woods, a creepy commune, and a sinister forest drew me in to read this creepy and promising book.

I’ve never read any Shea Ernshaw books previously but thought the plot sounded like a winner. It grabbed from the beginning and slow burned its way to the end with excellent pacing. Atmospheric, creepy, and unsettling this book did not disappoint.

I only wished the ending was a little less anticlimactic and some of the commune details were explained or flushed out but overall very well executed!

Thank you to @atria and @netgalley for the advance readers copy of this book!

Oh my what a beautiful book!

A book of mysteries, loss, heart ache, and yet so hopeful. Told in varying perspectives (Travis, Theo, Calla, and Bee) from two timelines. It begins with Travis who's been hired to locate a missing woman, Maggie St James. He follows her cold trail into the wilderness and stumbles across a community called Pastoral. I loved the narrative from all the perspectives, it really made you feel as though you were entwined with the community and had a first class seat to the story unfolding. This is not a fast paced mystery but it still pulls you in and holds you there to the last page. The ending was perfect for the story. A great reminder that it's never to late to search for a place you belong. This is my first book by Shea Ernshaw and I can honestly say my reading goal in 2022 is to pick up and consume everything she's published!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a unique and wild story! Maggie, an author of dark fairytales, goes missing. Travis, with a strange ability to track missing people, sets out to find her. Without revealing too much, I will tell you that you’ll find a cult (commune? what’s the difference?), cooties (or the Pox, as it’s referred to in the book), and some really bizarre behavior. You’ll see the term “atmospheric” used repeatedly to describe this book (which I personally think is overused in book reviews) but it fits here perfectly, Mysterious, dark, twisty, this was a great read. I recommend going into this with as little information as possible.

"No matter where you go, there are cracks in the plaster, nails coming loose, you just have to decide where you want to piece yourself back together. Where the ground feels sturdiest beneath your feet."

This book is a story within a story and I really enjoyed the feeling of unwrapping it in layers. It’s atmospheric and a little bit dark and full of the intricacies of human emotions and relationships.

The book is about a writer who goes missing and a man with an unusual talent who sets out to find her. Maggie St. James writes dark children’s books but disappeared without a trace five years ago after the death of one of her young readers. Travis Wren can sense memories from objects and uses this to find missing people. On his hunt for Maggie, Travis stumbles on a secret community called Pastoral who never lets anyone in or out for fear of the rot.

The rest of the book is set sometime in the future about members of Pastoral as they uncover the secrets surrounding Travis and Maggie. Calla, her husband Theo, and her sister Bee share the POV as they each uncover secrets the others and their community are keeping.

Again, I loved the story within a story within a story (if you count Eloise and the Foxtail). It was captivating and mysterious, but I was actually hoping for something a bit more dark fairytale based on the children's story within the books and the premise. It was also a little slow at times and I think the twist was predictable though I didn't know how it would be explained and THAT threw me for a loop! I loved the look at our main characters but would have loved a little more from the supporting characters since they were all in such a weird little environment.

I loved the quick chapters, the kept me flipping even when the story itself was a bit slow and I loved the ending! It made a lot of sense to me and it spoke of hope and love and building something new when the old and expected doesn't work for you.

Over all, I would DEFINITELY recommend this one for someone looking a twisting and captivating story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my ARC!