A missing author of children’s books containing dark fairytales, a private investigator hired by her family for using his ‘special gift’ to solve cold cases, and a commune hidden far from the view of outsiders. What more could I want! Ernshaw draws in readers with strong characters, a tense atmosphere, and lush descriptions of the surroundings. I was drawn in from the first few pages all the way to the ending that I didn’t see coming. Highly recommended! Thanks to #netgallery, the author, and #AtriaBooks for a chance to read A History of Wild Places in exchange for my unbiased feedback. I’ll be picking up Shea Ernshaw’s next book.

Secrets, a fabled place revealed as true, missing persons -- it's all here, in Shea Ernshaw's A History of Wild Places. Ernshaw weaves a complex tale which takes the reader on a journey to find a missing person, Maggie St James, a well-known author of dark, spooky children's books. You'll find your way to a commune, where a group of folks went to live a simple life, but stayed out of fears about the world beyond their community.
This book kept me intrigued from beginning to end. The darkness does indeed take many forms!

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the egalley!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for my eARC in exchange for an honest review. I started reading this book, excited because I had read Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw which I had found enjoyable. I was very interested in the first few chapters where the story revolved around the missing person and the guy who had the ability to go see others' memories to find out more about them. However, once we got into the compound, my interest waned because I didn't find the characters all that interesting. I wanted to go back to the initial plot line. I tried and tried but the compound story could not hold my interest.

This was a DNF for me. I recognize though that this could be purely subjective in that I might just dislike these type of stories.

I absolutely loved this atmospheric mystery! Perfect to curl up with on a cold winter day. It completely sucked me in and I finished in 2-3 sittings.

Atmospheric. Dark. Twisty.
This book has all the makings for a bingeable read. Doused in intrigue and suspense, the writing does a good job drawing readers in.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Review published on Goodreads, 24 December 2021:

I don't want to say a lot about A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES because it's one of those the-less-you-know-going-into-it-the-better kind of books. The plot isn't actually all that original, but Ernshaw's unique approach makes it feel fresh. Although I could see where the story was headed, making its Big Reveals kind of anticlimactic, I still found the novel engrossing and compelling overall. It kept me reading, even if I didn't absolutely love it.

If I could, I would give this book 3 1/2 stars; since I can't, I rounded up.

This was a great thriller, I devoured it in three days. I loved the twists and turns, the setting, and the characters. Definitely excited to check out more books by the author!

“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.”

A creepy slow burn that will draw you in and keep you interested through the last page. Secrets and twists galore. Missing (famous) person. AND, missing investigator of that missing person. Whaaaat?

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC! When Travis Wren follows a lead in a missing person's case into a remote forest, he is thrown into the local intrigue of a commune called Pastoral and the woman who he is tasked with returning, Maggie St James.

It is hard to write a review of this book without spoiling the twist.

I will just say that the idea for this book is very intriguing and I was very engaged in Part I, when Travis is entering the woods. After that, the plot did not support the concept. The reasons given for why things were the way they were were not given the time required to work, and the ending was weak and quick, like everybody was just tired and ready to wrap the novel up. Still, I have seen many good reviews for this book, so I am very happy that others connected to it differently than I did!

What a great read! I really enjoyed A History of Wild Places. It's been a while since I've read such a peaceful and homey, yet thrilling and intriguing mystery. It was just what I needed to transition into the fall. It is rather slow plot-wise, but I was still pleasantly surprised that it kept my attention the whole time.

The ending, while not exactly what I envisioned or expected, was still satisfying and left a lasting impact. But this is still where my one star drops off, as the details leading up to the eventual end events are quite far-fetched. There is also a magical element that is specific to a single character, which was really unneeded for the plot and just felt like an attempt to genre-bend.

I would recommend this to someone who's interested in the thriller genre, and doesn't want a flood of unnecessary graphic content, but still the eerie, unsettling feelings that come with it.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I have loved Shea Ernshaw's prior books. This was a more "adult" book but was still very enjoyable. The author has the ability to draw you in with descriptive phrases and a touch of magic (I love books with a lil bit of the odd). It took me a little bit to find my stride with this book but once I did i was racing to finish it.

Maggie St. James, an author of dark children's fiction, has gone missing.  Years later Maggie's parents hire Travis Wren to find her. Travis has a unique ability to see memories of people when he is holding an object of theirs.  Travis traces Maggie through a book charm of her necklace.  He finds himself in a hidden community in the woods.  Founded in the 1970's by a group of people looking for a simpler life, Pastoral is now a closed community with a group of people who fear the woods surrounding them, afraid that the woods carry the rot that could infect them all.  As soon as Travis finds Pastoral, he too disappears.  In Pastoral, lifelong members Theo and Calla begin to find clues of Travis and Maggie's presence in their community, but their leader, Levi, assures them that Maggie and Travis are not in Pastoral.

Suspenseful, haunting and unexpected A History of Wild Places is a contemporary mystery that I could not put down.  I was drawn in by Maggie's children's book and then brought into the rabbit hole even farther with Travis' abilities to see memories through touching objects and firmly glued with the introduction of the community of Pastoral.  There are definite "The Village" vibes happening with Pastoral, but with something deeper and unknown.  The mysteries of Maggie, Travis and Pastoral itself were captivating and the writing kept pulling me in.  I was invested in watching Theo, Calla and her sister Bee unravel the mysteries as they found objects, remembered things that were out of place and watched their beloved Pastoral begin to crumble.  Atmospheric, dark with a surprise twisty ending that I didn't see coming until the end. A History of Wild Places is a complex and exciting mystery.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I have read Shea Ernshaw’s YA works so I was not sure what to expect when diving into The History of Wild Places. I am pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised. What I expected was a novel full of magical realism with that classic fantasy feel to it and that is not what was delivered in this book. What we received was a novel about found family, what it means to have a life off grid and also what happens when too much power is left in one man’s hand. I found this story to be beautiful yet suspenseful, harrowing but hopeful. This book is also a complete atmospheric read and I was so lucky to read this on the deck of a cabin in the woods.

This book was a full five stars for me, and I have already pressed it into fellow book lovers’ hands who have also loved it.

I am ready for more of Shea Ernshaw’s adult works!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read a copy of this release.

Maggie St. James wandered off five years ago and never came back. Her family is desperate to find her, so they send Travis Wren, a man with a curious ability to find the missing. I won’t say too much else for fear of spoiling this book, but if you liked M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, this book will definitely deliver for you. It was mysterious and curious and very atmospheric. I highly recommend it!

I enjoyed this one. Thank you!

Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Often hired by families as a last resort, he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books—and is soon led to a place many believed to be only a legend.

Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it…he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James.

Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease—rot—into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed—and that darkness takes many forms.

Even with the slow parts in the middle of the book, I loved it.

It was an excellent mystery with likable characters. A History of Wild Places reminded me of The City of Embers with its dystopian feel.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

I fell in love with author Shea Ernshaw’s writing after reading her previous novel, The Wicked Deep.

Once again, I was transported by her storytelling in A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES as the mystery unfolds behind a man named Travis who has a gift of finding missing persons.

It was both atmospheric and haunting, and I loved it so much, and can’t wait to read more by this author!

*many thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I have been seeing and hearing raving things about A History of Wild Places.

I was beyond impressed with Ernshaw's writing style. Such atmospheric and beautiful storytelling. I really felt like I was reading this inside the dark woods.

I think that the setting is definitely the highlight of this story. This felt a bit YA to me.... and I know she has perviously written YA novels.

I was disappointed at the end when everything was revealed and was thinking really it went that way?!


Ugh, overall it was just an ok read.

Thank you to Atria and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I adore everything Shea Ernshaw has written! This departure into adult mystery/thriller was fantastic and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Her masterful writing and descriptions drag you into the world and leave you with a perfect image in your mind, while continuing to surprise you with every twist and turn.