4 1/2 stars....

This book was something different - - in a good way. Even though it had the feel of other classics with its atmospheric and often creepy vibe, it stood solidly on its own merit as a brilliantly written piece of work. I'm leaving a very vague review because there is so much at play with this story and I absolutely do not want to risk giving up any of the "goodies."

I'll just say it starts with a missing woman and a troubled, yet gifted man looking for her. Where it goes from there is flat out clever and a little bit crazy. I highly recommend that the reader go into this story as blind as possible in order to not risk spoilers that could give part of the plot away. The setting, characters, everything are just so well written. It's easy to become immersed in this story.

So, my recommendation is to grab a copy of this book, get comfortable and hang on tight because this little gem will take you on one heck of a ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I chose to read and review this book and the opinions contained within are my own.

If you like a good cult book, this would be the book for you. I was hoping it would focus more on the mystery of the missing people and the hunt for them. Obviously they are intertwined but the book is much more focused on the cult and what people can and can't do. And, in general, it felt very similar to most cults in fiction: enigmatic leader who abuses his power, people killed for trying to leave, etc. Additionally, perhaps the timing was off a bit for publication. Reading about people scared to leave the cult because of a scary virus in the trees (or a little rain) seems almost comedic after dealing with COVID for the past 2 years. But I did like how it all came together at the end and where the various characters ended up.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley, for an advanced digital copy of A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw, which is set to release in the US on December 7th.

"I’ve found it, a community forgotten, hidden for the last fifty years. A myth deep in the woods. Carved into the sign is a word, a welcome for those who have made it this far: Pastoral."

I don’t read a lot of ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copies). I find that my TBR is already stacked full of books that have been published that I already don’t have enough time to get to. But one day I was nosing around on NetGalley and saw the captivating cover of A History of Wild Places. I loved the ink blots, so I read the synopsis and was immediately drawn in, so I requested it and to my surprise, I got it. It took me about a month or so to pick it up, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.

It’s difficult to talk about this book without spoiling anything, and I hate spoilers. I usually go into most books without reading the synopsis or without knowing much about them. It’s the way I choose to read and it definitely influences my reviews. My version of the synopsis of A History of Wild Places will be short and very close to what you will find on Goodreads. Mainly because I don’t want to give away too much of this book.

"The mind is a weak, pliable thing, so loose and full of holes, easily manipulated."

Travis Wren is a detective, of sorts, with an unusual ability to locate missing people. When acclaimed children’s book author of the Eloise and Foxtail series, Maggie St. James goes missing, her parents hire Travis to help find her. On his search to find Maggie, Travis himself mysteriously disappears. After Travis goes missing, we are transported to Pastoral, a remote community deep in the woods. This community was founded in the seventies by a group of people who wanted to live away from the noise of the world around them. The community is a peaceful one where everyone works together and takes care of one another. When we arrive in Pastoral, the community members are bonded together by their fear of Elm Pox, more affectionately know as “the rot,” a disease that seeps from the trees surrounding their community. Fear of catching the rot and dying a painful death after spreading it to the other community members, has made crossing the boundary between Pastoral and the rest of the outside world prohibited. We follow these characters as their lives, their memories, and what they thought they knew begin to unravel before their eyes.

The majority of this book takes place in the extremely rural community of Pastoral, which the author does an incredible job building. Pastoral is exactly what I would expect from a community built by its founders’ own hands in the middle of the woods. Rustic and natural, filled with salt of the Earth type folks who’s way of life is more back to basic than what we’re used to. I felt like I was stumbling around the woods while reading this book.

"But when you become familiar with the dark, with slithering, rotting things, you forget the feeling of sunlight. You forget what you should miss. And then there’s no going back."

The beginning of A History of Wild Places is told from the perspective of Travis Wren, the man hired to find Maggie St. James. We listen as he tells his story, racked with the numbness that accompanies years of grief. We get glimpses into how he is able to find so many people who have gone missing. After Travis vanishes, we immediately jump to Pastoral and the story shifts to alternating perspectives of Theo and Calla, husband and wife, and Bee, Calla’s sister, all who live in Pastoral. At the beginning of the switch in perspectives, this book felt very disjointed, almost like it was two separate books, but they do eventually find themselves woven together in a satisfying way.

The main characters in this book are:
-Travis Wren—a man wracked with guilt after the loss of someone close that he feels he could have prevented. He has special abilities for finding people and is on the hunt for the missing person Maggie St. James.
-Calla—Pastoral community member who’s garden supplies the community with herbs needed for healing. She also takes the rules of her community very seriously and and begins to question if her husband Theo is hiding secrets.
-Theo—Pastoral community member who’s job is to guard the gate at the road that leads from Pastoral into the outside world. He watches for anyone coming and going and he begins to obsess over what’s out there at the end of the road.
-Bee—Calla’s sister and Pastoral community member who went blind as a teenager. Her blindness allows her to use her other senses in a more powerful way. She is also a trusted advisor of Levi, the community’s leader.

The beginning of this book was a bit slow for me. I thought it read like most of the thrillers you see these days and I wasn’t as interested, but as soon as the perspective shifted to being in Pastoral and following the community members there, I was hooked, reading more than half of the book in one single day. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The author’s writing style is so captivating, often leaving chapters on a cliffhanger, that I needed to know what was going to happen. The chapters were short and that allowed me to use my favorite phrase over and over again. “Just one more chapter.”

"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 is usually the part of my review when I tell you what this book made me think of, how it made me feel, what themes I took from this, but I honestly don’t want to say much else about it. As I mentioned earlier, I personally like discovering things about a book along the way. I don’t like when people tell me what to think about a book and I don’t want to plant an idea in your mind that would spoil this book for you. The best part about reading is discovering what you will take from the book, what the book made you think of. I think it’s best if you go into it not knowing anything about it.

I will say that the last 20% of the book was wild. I did expect part of the ending, which didn’t ruin this experience for me. If anything, being right about a particular part of the ending only enhanced my enjoyment. There were other elements to the way this story ends that I truly didn’t see coming.

I would highly recommend this book if you:
-Like psychological thrillers that don’t fit the current mold
-Like books that are set in nature
-Enjoy reading about communes and they way they function
-Don’t mind a book that starts off a bit slow

I would not recommend this book if you:
-Aren’t into books that are a bit creepy
-Don’t like sticking around for a slow burn
-Don’t like books that make you guess what’s going on the entire time

Any book that can keep me hooked, turning pages and ignoring everything around me, is a book that earns 5 stars from me.

This book was so freaking good. I was on tenterhooks the entire time. I loved the depiction of cult mindsets and was definitely shocked by the twist at the end.

Maggie St. James, an author of dark fairytales is missing. Trevor Wren, a clairvoyant, is requested to locate her. That was year ago, and now….they are both missing.

Pastoral, a hidden community deep within the forests of North Carolina, hold the clues to both their disappearance.

Told alternatively through Theo, Calla and Bee, all lifelong members of the commune, we creep closer to the truth and deeper into an atmospheric thrill ride of a read.

A fast paced, immersive story that is sure to keep you enthralled until the bitter end.

What I can say is, grab it as your BOTM choice or go to your local bookstore on December 7th!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @sheaurnshaw for the chance to read this beautifully crafted and atmospheric read.

This book is mysterious in multiple ways. Not only is Travis, a kind of psychic finder, searching for a children's book author gone for five years, but the structure of the novel -- which abruptly stops following Travis as he's searching in some spooky rural woods and then picks up with a family of three living in a commune in the same woods, with no connection made to Travis -- is puzzling and suspenseful. The storyline fills the reader's mind with questions. Why would a successful author want to disappear? What has compelled people to remain in a commune with a dictatorial leader? Why are the trees dying from "rot"? Did Travis visit the commune family in the past? Will the children's book author be found?

Shea Earnshaw's first adult novel's enchanting atmosphere mesmerizes the reader, like a good, albeit dark, fairy tale. The seemingly disparate threads of many lives eventually weave in to a whole as the answers are finally opened to the reader. Deliciously creepy and ultimately satisfying.

What I Enjoyed:

A History of Wild Places is one of those books that I just want to talk about millions of tiny details but then realize to do that gives away spoilers. And who wants their reading experience to be spoiled? None of you – I know that for sure.

The story begins with Travis Wren, a man with the unusual ability to see past imprints of people. This makes him the ideal person to solve missing person cases. But Travis has inner demons, and all he wants to do is run away. He agrees to take on one more case – that of missing author Maggie St. James. And where that leads just blew my mind with each twist, turn, and surprising revelation.

A History of Wild Places is a slow-burn psychological thriller, but that in no way impacts how utterly compelling the story is. I stayed up late into the night because I couldn’t tear myself away from the story, and that doesn’t often happen – never with slow-burn stories. The rich and immersive atmosphere pulled me in, and I couldn’t let go. The descriptions themselves, starting with the very first sentence of the story, just drip with sensory experiences that made me feel like I stepped onto the page and never looked back.

There are four narrators in total, but it is never confusing switching between them. Each narrator adds a different and relevant piece of the tale that all work together to develop the plot and the characters so well that I felt like I knew each and every one, as well as I know my co-workers and neighbors.

I figured out a few of the plot points ahead of time, but most of the revelations floored me as I never expected the story to twist and turn as it did. Each plot gap is filled in, and each secret is revealed so that by the end of the story, I had a complete picture and no more questions. I loved how well the story is brought together without diminishing the element of surprise or prematurely giving away secrets.

Characters:
Travis Wren has the uncanny ability to see imprints people have left in the past. He is haunted by personal demons but determined to find Maggie St. James.

Maggie St. James is an author. She writes dark children’s stories that have created controversy as children have perished trying to find the secret land in her stories. She is at a crossroads and, one day just disappears.

Theo was born and raised in Pastoral, but he can’t resist the compulsion to explore beyond the town’s borders despite dire warnings.

Calla was also born in Pastoral. She grew up with Theo and one day finally noticed him. They are married and living with Calla’s sister Bee on the family farm at the edge of town.

Bee is the blind sister of Calla and has been in a relationship with Levi since they were both young and before she lost her vision.

What I Wish:
There is nothing I could possibly wish for a story as sublime as this one is.

To Read or Not to Read:
Everyone needs to read this story because it has so much that any reader will enjoy and love to contemplate.

A History of Wild Places is a dark, atmospheric novel with heavy doses of both mystery and magical realism without really fitting squarely into either genre. The story is about Travis, a finder of missing persons. He has a gift unique to him that gives him his knack for finding people. A well-known children's book author, Maggie St. James is missing and Travis sets out to find her. On his search is a hidden community called Pastoral that once he finds it, he disappears himself. The story is told through multiple perspectives and has a fairy-tale turned nightmare tone throughout. It reminds me of The Village. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out A History of Wild Places today!

BOOK REVEIW: A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw
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SUMMARY: Travis, an investigator with second sight, is on the trail of a children’s book author who disappeared into the forest five years earlier. There are rumors in the area that the forest contains a closed community of people looking to live a simpler life. But when a young couple in the community realize the strangers have vanished, they become determined to find out what’s really going on.
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I really enjoyed this one!! Because of the setup, it reminded me a lot of M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village”, but with a darker, more sinister undercurrent. I knew that something was afoot in the community, but for the majority of the book, I couldn’t be certain where it was coming from. Even when it did become clear, the scariest part to me was the willingness of the community just to go-along to get-along. Very much a “when good people do nothing” situation.
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The writing was strong and the overall vibe reminded me of Station Eleven, the 2014 novel about a post-apocalyptic world. My only critique would be it dragged a bit in the middle, but overall I thought it was really well done and would definitely recommend it to those looking for an interesting story with dark, somewhat magical undertones.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
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The pub date for this one is Dec. 7 (coming soon!), but it’s also one of this month’s BOTM picks.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I am DNF at 53%. A History of Wild Places started off SO STRONG for me. Our main character, Travis, is tasked with finding a missing woman with his unique abilities to hold objects and see their pasts. The beginning of the book had me gripped, had my interested in the general mystery and dark vibes that were going on, but eventually the story shifts.
We get new characters, a new setting, and almost a complete departure from how the book started. Some elements transfer over...but it wasn't enough. The 'mystery' seems to be rather oblivious after a certain point, but I find that I don't really have the energy to keep dragging through pages and pages of "what's happening" and "oh no" scenarios.
I believe if the pacing would have been tightened a little, this would have been an enjoyable journey. But sometimes, as the reader, it's annoying to keep reading when it feels clear what is going on but the author continues to dance around the mystery.

Okay, wow. I’ve sat with my thoughts a few days after finishing this, and I still don’t feel ready to give this a proper review. Somewhere around the 1/3 mark of the book, I tucked into reading and forgot to make notes. What is going on in Pastoral? Is it merely a cult, or is something supernatural at play here? Do the people in Pastoral have it right? Does the world outside exist? I haven’t read other reviews as I usually do because people tend to spoil books like this, so I would recommend not reading any before reading the book.

A History of Wild Places is incredibly atmospheric. The writing draws you in from the very start, making you desperate to figure out what is going on in Pastoral. I loved the touch of psychic going on with Travis. I was annoyed when I first got into his story, and then poof, Ernshaw was like, put a pin in this. But I didn’t realize what was happening, and wow, clever, because the story unfolds in pieces, and I had no idea what was going on. It was a brilliant way to tell the story. I cannot discuss one aspect of the book that seems a little farfetched, so you have to suspend some belief when you get to that aspect. It’s a non-issue if you’re able to do that. Seriously, this is a fantastic and addicting, 5-star read. Thank you, Atria Books, for sending this along!

Maggie St. James, the popular yet controversial author of the children’s Eloise and Foxtail series, has gone missing. She’s been gone for five years, and her parents are desperate enough to call on Travis Wren. Travis has a special power—he can see memories in objects. He follows Maggie’s trail to a town named Pastoral, a homestead community removed from the rest of civilization.

We soon go into Pastoral itself and learn where the community came from, and where the community is headed. Told between split perspectives, the mystery only grows as the residents of Pastoral find clues from Maggie and Theo, and the forest’s disease comes closer.

I enjoyed Shea Ernshaw’s writing in The Wicked Deep and was excited to see this was an adult novel. It has been mistakenly tagged as young adult, but it is definitely adult. I loved watching the characters’ secrets come out and their storylines flush out. My only issue is this seemed a bit long, and there was a little repetitiveness, but definitely worth the read. I flew through it in two days.

Thank you to Net Galley, Atria Books, and Shea Ernshaw for the chance to read this advanced review copy. A History of Wild Places releases on December 7th.

CW: suicide, childbirth, domestic violence

Travis Wren has always been able to glimpse images of a person whenever he touches an object that belongs to them. He uses his uncanny gift to find missing people, and this latest case takes him to remote woods searching for a missing author. Maggie St. James was a well-known author who created a dark fairytale series for children, but one day, she walked into the woods and never returned. Following the trail of afterimages, Travis is led to a commune in the woods called Pastoral, a reclusive community formed in the 1970s by like-minded people who wanted to live a simple life. Travis believes his mission is over, but just like Maggie, he quickly disappears as well.

No one is allowed in or out of Pastoral, but years later, Theo, a life-long Pastoral member, decides to take a chance and ventures out beyond the border. While roaming the woods, he comes across Travis's abandoned truck. As he digs deeper into the disappearance of Travis and Maggie, Theo starts to get flashes of a life that may have once belonged to him. Unraveling the mystery brings forth long-buried secrets that Theo, his wife Calla, and her sister Bee have kept from one another. Secrets that may prove that Pastoral may not be as idyllic as it seems.

I've only read one other book by Ernshaw that I thought was just ok, so I wasn't too sure about this one going in. The writing was beautifully atmospheric and dark, but I thought the overall plot needed a bit more work. It was a little too slow for my tastes (particularly the first half), and I was able to guess where the mystery was going to go before it happened. There were a fair bit of twists thrown in, but they were almost glossed over, so they didn't impact the story as much as they maybe should've. I think the premise of this cult-like commune in the middle of the woods had all the potential to be creepy and out there, and I wish Ernshaw would've played that up a bit more. Overall, I liked the ambiance but wanted just a little bit more oomph.

Wow, I really loved escaping into this novel. It was a very dark, mysterious and atmospheric read. It was a bit predictable, but I actually didn’t mind. I was so engulfed in She Ernshaw’s writing that I probably could have read this book in one sitting if I didn’t have all the adult responsibilities. I would have liked to have learned more of Travis’s ability as well as been more a part of the aftermath of the ending. Overall, A History of Wild Places was a journey that I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of.

Travis Wren is a "seer" - when he holds an object, he has visions of what happened to the owner, which is why he is often hired by families of missing persons as a desperate last resort. We meet him just as he has been hired by author Maggie St. James' parents, who went missing five years earlier after a scandal following her last book. Then Travis goes missing himself, after tracking Maggie to an isolated community deep in the woods called Pastoral. From there we meet the residents of Pastoral, mainly centered on Theo, Calla, and Bee - who wonder, and to varying degrees, explore - what's outside the boundaries of their village, despite warnings from Pastoral's leader Levi, that anyone who does so will infect their community with the "pax."

This is a slow-burn mystery, a little too slow for me, and the characters did not draw me in enough - both Travis' and Maggie's backstories felt more compelling, though only thinly sketched. I would definitely read a prequel. There were a couple surprising turns that I appreciated, though felt rushed into the last 15% of the book. 2.5 stars, rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book absolutely blew me away! It's been a while since I have read a mystery/thriller that has sucked me in as much as this book did. Shea Ernshaw's writing is beautiful and the story is absolutely captivating.

Travis Wren is hired by the family of the famous writer Maggie St. James to track her down after she went missing 5 years prior. Travis gets led to dark community, Pastoral, that was founded in the 1970s. Soon after, Travis himself disappears.

A History of Wild Places bends genres - this story is somewhere between magical realism, thriller, fantasy and mystery. The twists were top-knotch and jaw-dropping. This book really has it all - unique plot-line, vivid descriptions, unreliable narrators, multiples POVs, and so much more.

I thought this was a solid new story in the adult genre from Shea Ernshaw. The plot is interesting, and I love the small town story. It was dark and thick with atmosphere, creating a slow-burn that at times was a little too slow for me though. Ernshaw's writing is as always, absolutely beautiful and vividly descriptive, but it could have been reduced a bit to speed the story up. The mystery was interesting, and I enjoyed the magical elements!

I’m always hesitant when a novel is described as “atmospheric” because too often I think that translates to “the author describes the scene in agonizing detail and no real action happens.” “A History of Wild Places” has been described as atmospheric but I think that term is a disservice to the wonder of this novel. Instead, it should be called “experiential” because Ernshaw doesn’t just describe the scenery; she makes you experience it - you become the character and feel what they feel, see what they see. You’re tense and guilt ridden at times, idyllically content at others, confused and unsure. Ernshaw draws on primal human emotions of wanting to belong and fearing the unknown to explore the formation of identity. Is our identity our own choice or are we a culmination of various influences?

I was quickly drawn into this uniquely original story and wanted to stay with the characters until the very end. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES by Shea Ernshaw is a dark fairy tale that has shades of THE VILLAGE and WILDER GIRLS, and it pulls off everything it sets out to do. Ernshaw has two mysteries at hand here. The first is what happened to Maggie St. Clair, an author who walked into the woods and never returned, and what happened to Travis Wren, the man who followed her trail. The other, more present mystery has to do with Pastoral, the forest commune that Maggie was looking for, as a couple years later members are starting to question their realities in the group. Theo and Calla are married and are finding evidence of Maggie and Travis, which is making them question what their leader Levi is hiding from them. Bee is Calla's blind sister who is in love with Levi, and who steadfastly believes that there is a deadly disease that keeps the villagers isolated for their own safety... Until something happens that makes me believe that they need to venture forth out of the woods for help. This book is strange and dreamy, and incredibly intense at the same time, as people start to realize that things may not be what they seem, and that they are part of a dangerous cult like influence. And it kept me guessing the entire time.

A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES is the perfect creepy read for a cold winter's night. I cannot recommend it enough.

Congratulations to @sheaernshaw and her absolute masterpiece of a modern-day classic 𝘈 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴.

Several days after finishing this book, I’m still thinking about it even though I’m halfway through my next read. I don’t imagine I will forget this one anytime soon. It’s a genre-bending and atmospheric fairy tale turned nightmare come to life, and I was left breathless by it.

Let me try to narrow it down for you. In this book, you’ll read about:

- a missing women who also happens to be the author of controversial macabre fairy tales for children
- a man who essentially “sees dead people”
- a secret, inaccessible, cult-like commune deep in the forest
- a pox
- and other ominous and thrilling elements I can’t reveal here without spoiling.

M. Night Shyamalan 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 vibes, anyone?

The characters here are flawlessly crafted, and the plot construction is brilliant. The ending leaves the reader hopeful—and as I’ve already stated, the story lingers. Believe me when I tell you that you will not easily forget #whathappenedtomaggiestjames.

At its heart, 𝘈 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 is about loyalty, family, and decisions that have the power to transform one’s entire world. I found it to be such a meaningful and enthralling read with tragic suspense, unexpected twists, and a genuinely unique storyline. Read it!

My thanks to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book before its publication date.